Last Ever Tooley St London Dungeon Tour
Since opening in 1974, the London Dungeon has fuelled guests appetites for gore and shocks and has spawned a number of copies and imitations around the globe. Built in some empty railway arches under London Bridge Station, the attraction has always felt genuine and many people quite naturally believed that they were indeed stepping into some historic site. As it was - they were just being fooled by some quality effects, a genuinely creepy atmosphere, and a smell of old and damp that could be man- made, but felt more organic and real.
The show has evolved over the years and used to be quite static in its delivery. In fact at opening, the tour was more like the original Chamber of Horrors at Madame Tussaud's as guests used to walk past grisly tableaux showing horror and torture from the past. As some of the more limited capacity shows and rides were introduced the whole experience changed into something more linear and show based. In fact each show element is identically timed so that once people enter the first room they are quickly and efficiently moved from show to show.
In the past big set pieces such as The Great Fire of London, and the Jack the Ripper experience dwelled longer on certain stories. Now, everything feels more even paced and more thrills and scares have been introduced - which is a template that all future Dungeon installations have copied.
But with the redevelopment of London Bridge Station, it was time for the original Tooley St show to close. So with a brand new installation due to open on March 1st in County Hall - we went along for the last ever public tour after 38 years of operation.
Waiting outside Tooley St on the last day was interesting. There were lost of people obviously trying to get one last trip through and the operations staff were efficient at keeping everything moving. So when the final members of the queue-line had gone through - our group of 22 were invited in. With marketing and PR teams there to welcome us, the doors were shut and locked for the final time. As we lined up to start our tour, it sunk in that this would be the last time we would enter this historic building. While waiting for our tour to start properly, the rat man was out with Ramone and some of his friends (see Rat Factor article). We are sure these rats will love the peace and quiet over the next few weeks!
From here on in we encountered the full Dungeon tour, and all the actors were giving one final performance to be proud of. Having had a long day and being late in the evening, their energy levels were extremely high and each one appreciated the keen audience participation that came from us having a great time! Being a smaller than average group, it meant we knew everyone who got picked for each of the shows such as Torture, The Judgement of Sinners and Surgery. The group cheered and laughed as each "volunteer" was picked on with vicious glee, including one very rousing chant of "burn him, burn him" in the Bloody Mary scene.
For many of the group, this was the first time they got to experience the new Fog Freeze show which has replaced Sweeney Todd, who has already left for the new venue. Unfortunately this replacement show is the weakest of the whole tour and left most of us wondering what the hell had just happened. It's good to see that this show is NOT part of the new line up going forward!
With the rest of the show completed - it was just Extremis left to conquer, and our group filled the last seats to drop to our deaths at this venue. As we emptied out into the gift shop - it was hard not to be sad that it was all over. Although we are all looking forward to the new venue, there will always be a scream with our names on lingering in those arches!
We would like to thank all the Dungeon staff for being so friendly and helpful on this final tour. The actors were as fresh and engaged as we would expect and the staff and management were extremely welcoming and helpful in giving us this final tour. Now just a few weeks until the new one opens at County Hall.
The London Dungeon is dead, long live The London Dungeon!
The show has evolved over the years and used to be quite static in its delivery. In fact at opening, the tour was more like the original Chamber of Horrors at Madame Tussaud's as guests used to walk past grisly tableaux showing horror and torture from the past. As some of the more limited capacity shows and rides were introduced the whole experience changed into something more linear and show based. In fact each show element is identically timed so that once people enter the first room they are quickly and efficiently moved from show to show.
In the past big set pieces such as The Great Fire of London, and the Jack the Ripper experience dwelled longer on certain stories. Now, everything feels more even paced and more thrills and scares have been introduced - which is a template that all future Dungeon installations have copied.
But with the redevelopment of London Bridge Station, it was time for the original Tooley St show to close. So with a brand new installation due to open on March 1st in County Hall - we went along for the last ever public tour after 38 years of operation.
Waiting outside Tooley St on the last day was interesting. There were lost of people obviously trying to get one last trip through and the operations staff were efficient at keeping everything moving. So when the final members of the queue-line had gone through - our group of 22 were invited in. With marketing and PR teams there to welcome us, the doors were shut and locked for the final time. As we lined up to start our tour, it sunk in that this would be the last time we would enter this historic building. While waiting for our tour to start properly, the rat man was out with Ramone and some of his friends (see Rat Factor article). We are sure these rats will love the peace and quiet over the next few weeks!
From here on in we encountered the full Dungeon tour, and all the actors were giving one final performance to be proud of. Having had a long day and being late in the evening, their energy levels were extremely high and each one appreciated the keen audience participation that came from us having a great time! Being a smaller than average group, it meant we knew everyone who got picked for each of the shows such as Torture, The Judgement of Sinners and Surgery. The group cheered and laughed as each "volunteer" was picked on with vicious glee, including one very rousing chant of "burn him, burn him" in the Bloody Mary scene.
For many of the group, this was the first time they got to experience the new Fog Freeze show which has replaced Sweeney Todd, who has already left for the new venue. Unfortunately this replacement show is the weakest of the whole tour and left most of us wondering what the hell had just happened. It's good to see that this show is NOT part of the new line up going forward!
With the rest of the show completed - it was just Extremis left to conquer, and our group filled the last seats to drop to our deaths at this venue. As we emptied out into the gift shop - it was hard not to be sad that it was all over. Although we are all looking forward to the new venue, there will always be a scream with our names on lingering in those arches!
We would like to thank all the Dungeon staff for being so friendly and helpful on this final tour. The actors were as fresh and engaged as we would expect and the staff and management were extremely welcoming and helpful in giving us this final tour. Now just a few weeks until the new one opens at County Hall.
The London Dungeon is dead, long live The London Dungeon!
Unfortunately half the group was cut out the picture by the Fog Freeze artwork!
To find out more about the new London Dungeon - check out their fun new website - www.thedungeons.com
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