The Crash of the Elysium is a one-hour theatrical work created originally for children by the British company Punchdrunk

Punchdrunk

Punchdrunk is a British theatre company, formed in 2000, the pioneer of a form of "immersive" presentation in which the audience is free to choose what to watch and where to go. This format is related to "promenade theatre"....

, centred on the unexplained disappearance of a Victorian steamer named the Elysium and its investigation by the Eleventh Doctor

Eleventh Doctor

The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...

 from the television series Doctor Who

Doctor Who

Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...

. It premiered at MediaCityUK in Salford

City of Salford

The City of Salford is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Salford, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Eccles, Swinton-Pendlebury, Walkden and Irlam which apart from Irlam each have a population of over...

 from 1 to 17 July 2011 as part of the Manchester International Festival

Manchester International Festival

The Manchester International Festival is an international cultural festival of original new work, held in the English city of Manchester. It is a biennial event, first taking place in June–July 2007, and subsequently recurring in the summers of 2009 and 2011...

, with a central narrative idea from Steven Moffat

Steven Moffat

Steven Moffat is a Scottish television writer and producer.Moffat's first television work was the teen drama series Press Gang. His first sitcom, Joking Apart, was inspired by the breakdown of his first marriage; conversely, his later sitcom Coupling was based upon the development of his...

 and written by Tom MacRae

Tom MacRae

Tom MacRae is a British television writer. He is the creator of Sky One’s Mile High. He has also written for Channel 4's No Angels and As If....

. It features the Weeping Angels

Weeping Angels

The Weeping Angels are a fictional ancient race of aliens from the Doctor Who television series, featured in the Tenth Doctor episode "Blink", and the Eleventh Doctor episodes "The Time of Angels", "Flesh and Stone" and in a cameo appearance in Series 6's "The God Complex"...

 and footage of Matt Smith as the Doctor specially recorded for the show. Its target audience is children from 6 to 12, with adults allowed in if accompanied by a child on "family" shows. A number of adults-only shows were subsequently added following requests from the public. On the 16th July 2011, Matt Smith made a surprise visit to the show, appearing in character in place of the final video sequence. The show will be remounted in London in 2012 as part of London 2012's Olympics festival.

Alfred Hickling of The Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

awarded the production five out of five stars.