Gunnersbury Park Museum “Set to Stun” Exhibition Review

If you are quick there’s an excellent free sci-fi exhibition in West London celebrating local history and how the area has been home to workshops and design studios since the 1960’s. The exhibition is at the Gunnersbury Park Museum in North Action and features authentic props and exhibits from various BBC shows and beyond.

The aims of the exhibition are described as “From laser beams to paranoid androids, exploring faraway planets to alien invasions – visitors will get to enjoy an engaging and interactive showcase of the sets, costumes, prosthetics, props, and artistic visualisations that went into British Sci-Fi classics, including Doctor Who, the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Red Dwarf “

It was my first visit with BBBP fellow writer Jordan Shortman to the museum and the Gunnersbury house and grounds are gorgeous. With a history going back to 1347, the Gunnersbury estate has been owned by merchants and lawyers, the Frowykes, Maynards and the Furnese. In 1762 Princess Amelia bought the property and it then over the centuries passed back to merchants again and timber makers until being acquired by the Rothschilds in the 1830’s. It stayed in their family until Leopold de Rothschild died in 1917. His son Evelyn, who would have inherited Gunnersbury, was killed in the same year fighting in Palestine.

Following that turbulent time when the estate could have gone into disrepair council ownership in 1926 saved it and has been open as a museum and park since then.

Exhibits are set over 3 floors but there is a lift so it’s easy for people with restricted ability to see the exhibits without using the grand “Downton Abbey” stairs unless they want to. What’s lovely is you are left to your own devices to navigate the exhibition, so you come across different rooms that reflect to the working history of the house so there are dressed drawing rooms or a butler’s pantry.

The sci-fi exhibition gives you some surprises as there are smoke effects and audio in the rooms and you may jump out of your skin or maybe that’s only me when an effect starts.

The exhibition is a lot of fun and has all you would expect if thinking only of Doctor Who such as a Dalek and a Cyberman in display cases but there is also so much more. There’s Marvin the Paranoid Android, monsters, helmets, masks, props, picture designs, and toys. Each room covers a different theme so you get an interesting walking experience.

I loved the drawings for 1970s stories which are well placed at eye level up close on walls, with clear explanations, and there are drawers available to open alongside the clear glass displays so you get these unexpectedly rich experiences to see hand and gun props from the 1980’s. There is also an opportunity to smell what space smells like!

If you remember sci-fi in the1980’s then there are some treats with recognisable practical props from other BBC sci-fi shows and they are in surprisingly good condition.

The exhibition feels put together with a lot of thought. Probably my favourite window and where we lingered the most were the displays of the 1960s, 1970s annuals and which has the original William Hartnell hat and signet ring which has been loaned to the exhibition by his granddaughter Jessica Carney. How brilliant is that?

This exhibition runs until the 2nd of June. Go and see it if you can as it’s a brilliant display of craft. The nearest station is Acton Town Tube Station (Piccadilly and District lines). Once out of the station turn left and it’s 10 minutes’ walk or two bus stops using the E3 bus which stops by the Popes Lane entrance to the park.