A petition to save the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff Bay has been signed more than 2,000 times in just a few hours.
BBC Worldwide confirmed on November 7 that their five-year sub-lease from Cardiff Council of the much-loved space will end in summer 2017.
Doctor Who fans have expressed their disappointment at the news across social media since the news broke earlier today.
The petition, created by Bex Ferriday, states: “Ok, I admit: this sounds daft and there are many, many more important things out there we should be petitioning for or against.
“But not only is ‘Doctor Who’ a global institution, Cardiff’s ‘Doctor Who Experience’ brings much in the way of tourism to an otherwise socioeconomically deprived area, gives local people jobs, does much to improve the economy…and let’s face it: in these dark post-Brexit days, we all need some escapism.”
The petition has now received 2,154 signatures as of 20.36 GMT.
A Twitter account called Save the DWE has been created to promote the campaign, and an accompanying hashtag, #savetheDWE, has been used hundreds of times.
One person commented on the petition, “we need to keep this open! It’s a great puller of people to the Bay area.”
Xenia also commented: “DWE is a great tourist attraction and belongs where Doctor Who is filmed. Please stay!”
The centre opened in July 2012, and quickly became the place to go for Doctor Who fans from all over the world due to its mixture of props, sets and monsters from the series on display.
BBC Worldwide said that “the Doctor Who Experience has enjoyed a fantastic five-year run in Cardiff Bay but, sadly, our five-year sub-lease from the City of Cardiff Council will come to an end in the summer of 2017″. “As to opening somewhere else, we are not sure yet.”
A spokesman for Cardiff council said: ” The land currently occupied by the Dr Who Experience is owned by the Welsh government and their development partner, Igloo Regeneration.
“It was leased to the city council for five years to enable its relocation from Olympia to Cardiff on a temporary basis.
“It has always been the intention for the site to be developed as part of the ongoing Porth Teigr regeneration project.
“The agreement was always intended to be for five years only, reflecting the nature of the attraction.
“The decision to close the Experience at the end of the lease next summer has been mutually agreed by all parties involved, including the operators BBC Worldwide.”
