What are the opening hours?

Monday 10:30am - 3pm Wednesday 10:30am - 3pm Friday 10:30am - 3pm Saturday 10am - 4pm Sunday 10:30am - 4pm

Neil Cole's Adventures in Science Fiction: Museum of Sci-fi

Home
United Kingdom
Hexham
Neil Cole's Adventures in Science Fiction: Museum of Sci-fi

The UK's permanent science-fiction museum, detailing the history of the classic sci-fi genre and cla Neil Cole: Artist & Museum Creator/Curator
(133)

This page documents the creation of the Uk's permanent science-fiction museum in the north-east of England. The museum is situated in Allendale Town- an extremely picturesque village in the North Pennines. Visitors to the museum will be able to find lovely coffee shops and amenities on hand, as well as stunning walks. The idea for the museum stemmed from my lifelong fascination with science-fictio

n. It tells the story of a young boy who dreamt of travelling to other planets- but didn’t quite make it. Instead, he had a lot of fun watching, reading, collecting, drawing, making and dreaming. From a handful of action figures and comics and staying up very late to catch old B&W movies with his Dad, this interest never waned. The museum sets out to tell a brief history of science-fiction from H.G.Wells to the current day through my experience of the genre. It will of course be biased to those movies, comics and ideas that have most affected me personally. The story will be told with many original, screen-used props and costumes, production items, animation cels and published artwork. This journey highlights the landmark worlds of Wells, ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Star Wars’, whilst also exploring key genre themes, such as robotics and dystopia. I will also be producing original, unique artwork for the museum. Keep checking back to the page to follow the ever changing museum!

05/09/2024

'It Belongs to a Museum' - book progress 3 - Pre-orders....progress...
16.30pm

05/09/2024

'It Belongs to a Museum' - book progress 2 - Pre-orders....progress.. 10
11.00am

05/09/2024

'It Belongs to a Museum' - book progress 1- Pre-orders....we are starting!!!! 10.00am

04/09/2024

Hello everyone! Thanks to the initial success of volume 1 of 'It Belongs in a Museum: The Second Doctor'....I can confirm that work is already a foot for the sequel - 'The Third Doctor'! I have just completed the fifth drawing for the next volume....an Axon mid transformation!!!! Commissioned by one of my stalwart museum friends and supporters, it is entirely hand drawn in biro and is not purely a copy from photographs, but rather a new interpretation! If you are interested in supporting the work I do I the museum and want to know how you could grab one of these unique original drawings then head over to https://www.museumofclassicsci-fi.com/copy-of-friends-of-the-museum !!!! #

04/09/2024

My little display from the Museum at Whooverville....a mixtue of my original art, publications, and original screen used pieces. Just huge thank you to everyone who stopped by. Now it's time to work on the Skarasen, update the museum displays, and pack up book orders for posting! scales!!!!

03/09/2024

Huge thank you to Galaxy Four for stocking my book!!!!! Just a quick note- Chris and I will begin the not insubstantial task of packing and posting preorders towards the end of the week- thanks to a very healthy pre-order we won't be able to do this all in one go, but rather over a few days, so please bare with us!!!! A huge thank you to everyone who pre-ordered (without which there simply wouldn't have been a book!) and everyone who came and bought a copy at Whooverville!

We're pleased to be stocking Neil's excellent new book about the surviving props and artefacts from the Troughton era and the often fascinating ways they were found, restored and saved from the dustbin. From yeti control spheres to Ice Warrior hands and everything in between.
https://www.galaxy4.co.uk/blank-cboj/it-belongs-in-a-museum

01/09/2024

I rarely get starstruck....but yesterday I absolutely was. What a truly adorable lady. Thank you Mike Burgess for dragging me away from the museum display to meet the legend that is Katy Manning- fingers crossed we will try and have a special event with her at the museum next year.....

31/08/2024

It's been a fabulpus morning signing copies of the book....made all the more exciting by meeting with Wendy Padbury- one of the Second Doctor's companions!!!!! #

30/08/2024

Well...after a looooong day driving...Northumberland-Gloucester-Derby...finally inn Derby....and the book is with us!!! The Museum's first book has arrived!!!! Sneaky glimpse from earlier today....in Gloucester....photo in the printer's car park as I took my first look at the book!!! Come and grab a copy at Whooverville tomorrow!!! A huge thank you to everyone who pre-ordered and make this happen!!!

30/08/2024

After about six hours on the road....arrived in Gloucester to pick up the books....tension is mounting!!!!!

27/08/2024

Nessie update! Work continuing....building up the collapsed eye sockets....and more scales!!!!

26/08/2024

A touch of spider web removal this afternoon revealed this little gem! #

25/08/2024

Coming soon...to The Museum of Classic Sci-Fi....I am excited to announce that our Gundan Robot will be gaining a screen-used face plate! The actual Gundan we have is one of the models mounted on a dummy that appears seated with Tom Baker in the episodes....it is still on its vintage foam BBC mannequin. Just one of several new exhibits coming this autumn! #

24/08/2024

Third pass in sculpting those pesky hexagons....finally beginning to get it!!

24/08/2024

Day of the Skarasen....part 2! Sculpting has begun as I build up layers of sealant!

24/08/2024

Good morning from The Museum of Classic Sci-Fi! On permanent display... the original Cyberleader head as worn by Paul Casey in 'Doomsday'! Kindly donated by Director par excellence - Graeme Harper. Do drop by and say hello!!!

24/08/2024

Well....day one of the Skarasen restoration I think has gone well....some thinned resin soaking into the foam nicely and some initial scale sculpting underway....deep breaths!!!!

23/08/2024

Skarasen update 2: as promised....

23/08/2024

Today is the day- SAKARASEN DAY!!!! Your restoration journey starts here! Keep checking back for updates as I restore this iconic bio-mechanoid from classic Doctor Who!!!!

19/08/2024

The museum's first book....is off to the printers!!!! Hooray!!! ! #

14/08/2024

The museum's first book!!! Nearly there!!! Just proof reading!!! #

13/08/2024

Hello everyone....just a quick book update....working around the clock on this behemoth....so is Chris - who is doing his level best to untangle any gnarly prose and obvious errors that my ADHD brain has flung forth!!!! Anyway....here is the back cover.....I'll be getting the entire book to the printers tomorrow evening by which time then entire book will have completed being nit-picked over!!!!!
I just want to thank everyone here who has supported this quite preposterous book and somehow brought it into existence!!!! General sale copies will be available after pre-orders have been dispatched and after the book's launch at Whooverville on August 30th!

12/08/2024

Me with my internal book illustration for The Enemy of the World- A4, biro on paper. Thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered the book....over a year of research, drawing and writing have gone into it! We have covered the printing costs thanks to you lot....Im just compiling the acknowledgement page and then off to the printer!!! #

11/08/2024

Good morning from the museum! Just getting ready to open up and saw this old fellow looking at me! Revisit Terminus and the Garm at the museum! #

08/08/2024

Good morning everyone! With The Fantastic 4 seemingly in good shape in the form if the new reboot...and signs do look rather exciting....I thought I'd share tow upcoming items that will be going into the museum this autumn! From Roger Corman's notorious copyright holder-movie....A production made cast of The Thing and a kindly made casting especially made by freind and museum supporter Richard Peake who took the Doom pull directly from the original mould! I adore the FF4....these lovely pieces will be joining the Michael Chiklis prosthetics already in the Marvel display. Sorry for the lack of posts recently....the 'It Belongs in a Museum' book has taken all of my time to get ready for printing! Can't wait to get back to prop restoration and display updates now!!!! # #

05/08/2024

Last call for pre-orders!!!! If you want your name in print in the new book I am starting to write them into the book tomorrow....you know what you need to do....email Chris urgently at [email protected] ....you'll regret it if you don't!!!!!

01/08/2024

Last call for pre-orders on 'It Belongs in a Museum'!!! LIKE and SHARE this post to WIN an original drawing from the book! Drawn at random, the winner will receive my illustration of a 'Chameleon laser gun' from 'The Faceless Ones'!

You now have until August 5th to make a pre-order by making a donation to the museum! Simply email Chris at: [email protected] - all donations will be helping us with the substantial printing costs!

The book is a glorious celebration of the era of The Second Doctor, featuring all new illustrations throughout by yours truly and a collection of largely never-before-seen photos from fellow fans from across planet Earth! I'm really excited about this book - a quite different look at the years between 1966 - 1969 and hopefully an enjoyable one! If volume 1 is successful, guaranteed volume 2 (Pertwee!) will follow!!!

150 A4 silk printed pages with quality card stock cover.... explore the surviving artefacts from the halcyon days of Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor!!!!

30/07/2024

Every so often, something entirely surprising and wonderful happens in the museum. Last week, a charming gentleman visited - only once we began chatting did he reveal himself to be Bob Richardson- one of the core BBC Exhibitions team who helped plan and oversaw the Blackpool and Longleat classic Exhibitions. I was able to tell him that it was my visit to the Blackpool Exhibtion waaaay back in 1975 that inspired my lifelong goal to create a Doctor Who Museum and public archive. He was so kind about the exhibits, and we went round together. Bob identified several props he had used in the original Exhibtions! Absolute gold!!!! What a gentleman! #

Address

Osborne House
Hexham
NE479BJ

Opening Hours

Monday	10:30am - 3pm
Wednesday	10:30am - 3pm
Friday	10:30am - 3pm
Saturday	10am - 4pm
Sunday	10:30am - 4pm

Website

http://www.museumofclassicsci-fi.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Neil Cole's Adventures in Science Fiction: Museum of Sci-fi posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Videos

'It Belongs in a Museum' pre-orders well underway!!! All signed and doodled!!!! Watch your post box over the next week or so.... #museumofclassicscifi #doctorwho #neilcoleartist #sciencefictionmuseum #neilcolesadventutresinsciencefiction #doctorwhoexhibition #doctorwhomonsters #scifiprops #doctorwhomuseum #seconddoctor #scifimuseum #patricktroughton #classicdoctorwho

'It Belongs to a Museum' - book progress 3 - Pre-orders....progress... 16.30pm

'It Belongs to a Museum' - book progress 2 - Pre-orders....progress.. 10 11.00am

'It Belongs to a Museum' - book progress 1- Pre-orders....we are starting!!!! 10.00am

After about six hours on the road....arrived in Gloucester to pick up the books....tension is mounting!!!!!

Starting to look at the Skarasen's face....amazing how the rubber has just collapsed here.... #DoctorWho #doctorwhoprops #doctorwhothecollection #doctorwhoexhibition #drwho #drwhomuseum #doctorwhoclassic #doctorwhofandom #doctorwho #doctorwhomonsters #zygon #fourthdoctor #sciencefiction #sciencefictionmuseum #scifiprops #scifi #scifimovies #neilcoleartist #neilcole #museumofclassicscifi #allendale

Day of the Skarasen....part 2! Sculpting has begun as I build up layers of sealant!

Skarasen update 2: as promised....

The day of The Skarasen is here!!! Classic monster restoration at The Neil Cole's Adventures in Science Fiction: Museum of Sci-fi

Today is the day- SAKARASEN DAY!!!! Your restoration journey starts here! Keep checking back for updates as I restore this iconic bio-mechanoid from classic Doctor Who!!!!

New exhibit reveal!!!!.a fab day! This evening I had the absolute pleasure of meeting in person Eluides Pagan ...he and his lovely wife had travelled from London today to visit...part of their UK holiday! It felt entirely appropriate to share a new exhibit reveal with Eluides....before popping to the pub!!!!

'The Monster Man'...new DVD documentary from Reeltime Pictures...coming April 20th... #museumofclassicsci-fi.com #neilcolesadventutresinsciencefiction #drwhomuseum #doctorwhocollection #doctorwhocostume #doctorwhofandom #reeltimepictures #neilcole #neilcoleartist

The Monitor of Logopolis has begun block computation on the museum's Type 40 external dimensions....standby for regeneration.... in time for the museum's Monster Men event on April 20th!!!! #tardis #policebox #sciencefiction #sciencefictionmovies #movieprops #doctorwhoprops #drwhomuseum #doctorwhofandom #drwhoexhibition #doctorwhoexhibition #DoctorWho #doctorwhoclassic #doctorwhocostume #doctorwhomuseum #SixthDoctor #timeandtherani #doctorwhocollection #sciencefictionmuseum #scifiprops #movieprops #fifthdoctor #neilcolesadventutresinsciencefiction #neilcole #museumofclassicscifi #Allendale #seventhdoctor #dalek #cyberman

Change....regeneration...coming to the museum's Type 40!!!! Ready for 'The Monster Men' special event on April 20th.... email [email protected] for information!!!!

For all Freinds of the Museum! The new newsletter and limited edition collector art cards are going in the post! #classicscifimuseum #museumofclassicscifi #Allendale #romanwall #dalek #allendalek #neilcolesadventutresinsciencefiction #doctorwhomuseum #doctorwhoprops #doctorwhofandom #doctorwhoexhibition #scifi #scifimuseum #scifiexhibition #neilcoleartist #neilcole

Drawing this evening ....working on an illustration for the upcoming Second Doctor book- 'It Belongs in a Museum'! Coming very soon!!!! Putting the 'menace' into 'The Underwater Menace'!!! #doctorwhoartwork #doctorwhofandom #doctorwho #seconddoctor #patricktroughton #doctorwhomuseum #doctorwhomonsters #scifimuseum #scifiexhibition #doctorwhoexhibition #museumofclassicscifi #allendale #neilcoleartist #neilcolesadventutresinsciencefiction

Sneak peek at new display....in readiness for its official unveiling at the museum's 'Monster Men' event on April 20th! #classicscifimuseum #museumofclassicscifi #Allendale #romanwall #dalek #allendalek #neilcolesadventutresinsciencefiction #doctorwhomuseum #doctorwhoprops #ReeltimePictures #doctorwhospinoff #doctorwhofandom #doctorwhoexhibition #scifi #scifimuseum #scifiexhibition #neilcoleartist #neilcole

Working this morning on the new Doctor Who spin-offs display...WIP.... #classicscifimuseum #museumofclassicscifi #Allendale #romanwall #dalek #allendalek #neilcolesadventutresinsciencefiction #doctorwhomuseum #doctorwhoprops #doctorwhofandom #doctorwhoexhibition #scifi #scifimuseum #scifiexhibition #neilcoleartist #neilcole #classicdoctorwho #doctorwho #ReeltimePictures

Shortcuts

Our Story

Please note: the museum will reopen on October 24th! This page is to document the creation of a new permanent science-fiction museum in the north-east of England. I hope to open in about a year, (although I suspect it will be about a year and a half, as I’m the creative designer, builder and everything else in between!). The museum will be situated in Allendale Town- an extremely picturesque village in the North Pennines. Visitors to the museum will be able to find lovely coffee shops and amenities on hand, as well as stunning walks. The idea for the museum stemmed from my lifelong fascination with science-fiction. It tells the story of a young boy who dreamt of travelling to other planets- but didn’t quite make it. Instead, he had a lot of fun watching, reading, collecting, drawing, making and dreaming. From a handful of action figures and comics and staying up very late to catch old B&W movies with his Dad, this interest never waned. The museum sets out to tell a brief history of science-fiction from H.G.Wells to the current day through my experience of the genre. It will of course be biased to those movies, comics and ideas that have most affected me personally. The story will be told with many original, screen-used props and costumes, production items, animation cels and published artwork. This journey highlights the landmark worlds of Wells, ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Star Wars’, whilst also exploring key genre themes, such as robotics and dystopia. I will also be producing original, unique artwork for the museum. Keep checking back to the page to see the museum (and its inhabitants!) begin to develop over the next year or so…the countdown has begun… Neil Cole: Artist & Curator- 2015