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York's Vikings 'excited' by Doctor Who teaser

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News that Peter Capaldi has revealed this week that Vikings will feature in the next series of Doctor Who has been welcomed by York’s own Norse residents at the JORVIK Viking Centre, who have been helping visitors travel back in time for over 30 years in the famous York attraction.

In an interview at Comic-Con, the incumbent Doctor revealed that he will have an encounter with Vikings on a space ship when the programme returns for its ninth season later this year.

“The Vikings were one of the most successful travelling races on Earth, so it is perhaps not too surprising that the writers of the show are stretching their voyages just that bit further into outer-space,” comments Ragnar, also known as historical interpreter, Nathan Wade.  “We’re hoping that they are friends not foes for the Doctor and Clara, though, as I suspect that the famous sonic screwdriver would have little effect when pitched against a long sword or battle axe!”

In the meantime, visitors who cannot wait for the return of the Time Lord a time-travelling fix are still welcome to visit the attractions in the JORVIK Group this summer, where their unique PastPort ticket will give them access to nearly 2000 years of history, from Romans at DIG, through the Viking invasion and settlement, and into Medieval and Tudor York at Micklegate Bar and Monk Bar, and Barley Hall.

Did you know…

  • York is the only city in the world to be ‘temporally twinned’ with a former incarnation of itself.  Visitors travelling in on many of the arterial routes into the city are greeted with signs that proclaim that contemporary York is twinned with the Viking city of Jorvik.
  • Just as the Doctor’s TARDIS regenerates at periodic intervals, so the vehicles used for time travel at the JORVIK Viking Centre have had three different guises: the original Time Cars which travelled backwards through a time tunnel, a dedicated Time Machine which showed characters morphing back through centuries of clothing and hair styles, and the current Time Capsules.
  •  The aromas of the Viking era which are used in JORVIK Viking Centre have been recognised as some of the strongest memory triggers in the country, with visitors instantly transported back in their memories to childhood visits decades earlier.
  • The unique nature of York’s waterlogged soil meant that many Viking artefacts were spared from the ravages of organic decomposition, being remarkable preserved for 1000 years until they were uncovered by archaeologists at the site of the current JORVIK Viking Centre during excavations in the late 1970s.

For more information on visiting the five attractions within the JORVIK Group, please visit www.thejorvikgroup.com

ENDS

For further media information or photographs, please contact:

Jay Commins

Pyper York Limited

Tel:         01904 500698

Email:    jay@pyperyork.co.uk

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