Latest news with #PaddingtonExperience
News.com.au
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
The Paddington Bear Experience: Unusual rule behind the London attraction's magic
IN LONDON From concerts to social catchups to even just a relatively attractive sunset, there's not a lot we don't feel compelled to capture on our phones. But for the tens of thousands of people who enter the immersive world of Paddington Bear in the heart of London, it's as though they're back in the pre-screen era. The Paddington Bear Experience, which just celebrated its first birthday, takes visitors into a multi-sensory adventure through a series of rooms, all inspired by locations within the original stories. It's huge, and colourful, and fun – exactly the kind of place you'd usually be snapping endless pictures. But a huge part of the magic is the utter lack of screens – a policy forewarned on signs from the moment you board the 'Paddington Station train'. 'You're immersing yourself in it – for that [hour], you're just there and you're just living it. You're part of Paddington's world and you are a part of that experience,' Nathan Brine, the Path Entertainment Group producer behind the Experience, told 'What's lovely is when people actually say, 'you know what? I was there, and I wasn't there through a screen'. Because in truth, if you want to watch that on the animated series or the films, you can do that at home. 'This is about being there, and being visceral and being able to touch everything and be involved in everything.' Taking my exuberant four-year-old Paddington-obsessed son through the immersive, actor-led adventure, I myself quickly lost the urge to pull out my phone, as most parents are usually programmed to do during moments of excitement and joy. Instead, the pair of us just got swept up into the Brown's home in Windsor Gardens, Peru, and all the extraordinarily-detailed bits in between – a rare break from technological connection. Crafting the Experience to pay due tribute to the beloved franchise, first created by author Michael Brown in 1958, was no small feat – but with the help of a 'huge volume' of props from the films, loaned by Studio Canal, it basically feels like you're visiting the real Bear and his pals. The iconic home of the Brown family, featuring the painted tree snaking up the staircase wall, is where most of them ended up. Some pieces from the film sets though, according to Brine, were simply too valuable to borrow. '[Things that] cannot be touched, cannot be broken, basically need to be insured for a lot of money … some of those are like, 'Okay, you keep holding on to them',' he told with a laugh. Six years in the making, the effort behind the Experience is evident around every corner. Whether a diehard or medium fan, or even just remotely interested in Paddington Bear and its cultural significance in the UK, it's impossible not to smile at the charming curation of his world at every turn. Finding the exact right location for it, though, was initially quite a challenge, but it ended up nestled along the Thames in the tourist hotspot which also hosts The London Eye, Shrek's Adventure and the London Dungeon. 'It was a bit of a crazy space, but we walked out of what is now Mr Gruber's antique shop, and out onto the South Bank and looked directly at Big Ben and were like, 'this feels weirdly familiar',' Brine recalled. 'And then we revisited the [Paddington] film posters and one of them is Paddington sat on that exact wall outside our entrance, with Big Ben behind. So it felt a little bit like destiny, like this is where he should be.'
Perth Now
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Scott Mills not planning to have children
Scott Mills "cannot imagine" having children. The 52-year-old star - who married Sam Vaughan last year after seven years together - admitted the hours he keeps as a result of hosting the BBC Radio 2 breakfast show makes him think having kids would be too tricky, but he is content to do "cool uncle stuff" with his family's children. He told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: "I've got a dog and I find that quite a lot now because I get up at 4am. No, I love being an uncle – I'm the best uncle ever. "You'll get the best presents from me, you'll get all the love in the world but I cannot imagine getting up at 4am and having children. I just cannot. Hats off to anyone who does that because I've got enough trouble from looking after one dog. "I get to do cool uncle stuff. Sam's sister has a little boy called Fred who's three now so I got to take him to the Paddington Experience and you just get to do great stuff and then you can be like, 'Bye!' So for now, I think that'll do us.' " The Eurovision host praised Sam for being "so supportive" of his work, even if it means disrupting any plans they have made together. He said: "One of the reasons I married him is that he is actually the most chilled out person on the planet. 'There's something else coming up soon, where we might have to lose an entire holiday. It's something that I should probably do because it's quite big but we're going to have to move everything and it's all booked. This happens a lot. "It was the same when I had the conversation about the Radio 2 Breakfast Show. I'm just completely honest – I tell it exactly like it is. Then I'll say, 'So I'll leave that with you.' But so far, every single time he's completely like, 'Yes, I think you should do that.' "That's another reason I love him, because he's so incredibly supportive of every single thing that I do. He just gets it, but before I said yes to this dream job on Radio 2, we did have to have that conversation.' But Scott thinks his relationship is stronger as a result because they always factor in time together. He said: 'If anything, it's made us more aware that the time we do spend together is so brilliant and so precious. "Sam will block weekends out in our diary and go, 'That weekend we're going away,' or, 'We're going out for dinner that night.' Date nights are absolutely key to the relationship.' The DJ couldn't be happier with Sam, 36, and thinks their relationship has had a positive impact on all areas of his life. He said: "I'm honestly the happiest I've ever been in my life. 'I honestly feel that because I feel safe and secure with him that every area has fallen into place. 'That will affect how good you are on air, how you appear, how you look, if you look happy… People now say to me every day, 'Oh my God, you look so happy with life.' And maybe they wouldn't have said that before. I really feel like I finally sorted it out and everything is in order.'
