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

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
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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-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 follow the ever changing museum!

Working in tandem with researching and writing 'It Belongs in a Museum Vol Two' I'm busily illustrating it also! To see ...
22/09/2026

Working in tandem with researching and writing 'It Belongs in a Museum Vol Two' I'm busily illustrating it also! To see this finished 'Mind of Evil' - you'll have to grab a copy when its all done in early 2027! It's become a marathon journey....with each of The Third Doctor's stories investigated - alongside what is becoming a truly lovely photo archive of surviving production items from the era....and with each story further accompanied with a full page hand drawn illustration! For those of you who supported the first book.... I can promise you that this is an even stronger volume! I oscillate my activities between running the Museum (and the multiple roles that provides) and then researching and working on the book. Thank you so much to all my followers and freinds who have stuck with me now for over a decade - you have truly kept me going!❤️

Rebuliding The Garm!!!! One of the more daunting challenges in the Museum was deconstructing the original exhibition fra...
21/09/2026

Rebuliding The Garm!!!! One of the more daunting challenges in the Museum was deconstructing the original exhibition frame made for the Garm in 1983 for its appearance at Longleat.... a hastily built, rough timber lash up had really cut into the costume and latex components. Carefully removing the costume I made three attempts at constructing a new body frame....which once again returned the wonderful old dog to its full height ready for its return to full-time exhibtion at the Museum in Allendale. What also hadn't helped was that he had been severely truncated for the low ceilings at Langollen! Here I am with my MK 2 Garm frame....trying to get the dimensions right. Working through a North Pennines winter with no electricity is not something I'll forget in a hurry!!!!🤣🥰

20/09/2026

Thrilled to be able to share this! I now have copies of Reeltime Pictures' 'Tooth and Claw' documentary in the Museum shop! If you have ever wondered what it is like turning your collection into a Doctor Who/SF exhibition in a public art space .....then this is for you! Full of restorations, angst....and an art center - with bonus Sophie Aldred, Rob Allsopp and Keith Barnfather.....this is a fascinating little tale! Thanks to everyone involved including Johnny Banes for travelling so far to make the open day truly pop!!!!

Good morning! Looking back today to repairing the Museum's wonderful Engineer from Ridley Scott's Prometheus.... it will...
20/09/2026

Good morning! Looking back today to repairing the Museum's wonderful Engineer from Ridley Scott's Prometheus.... it will always be a 'Space Jockey' to me!!!!🤣

Good morning from The Museum! Happiness will prevail!!! Well....maybe not for this chap- but I'll do my best to cheer yo...
19/09/2026

Good morning from The Museum! Happiness will prevail!!! Well....maybe not for this chap- but I'll do my best to cheer you up on your visit!😀🤣

A little progress on 'The Curse of Peladon' illustration for the upcoming Volume 2 of 'It Belongs in a Museum'! Whilst I...
16/09/2026

A little progress on 'The Curse of Peladon' illustration for the upcoming Volume 2 of 'It Belongs in a Museum'! Whilst I'm writing in tandem and also producing the book's virtual Museum....I'm also dedicated to producing hand drawn traditional illustration for each of the The Third Doctor's stories! A4- biro and coloured pencil on real paper with human hand and zero software!!!!

14/09/2026

At the core of the Museum is preservation and where necessary, restoration. This then ensures that fellow fans and enthusiasts can once again have all year round access to unique historic pieces from our shared genre culture....including Doctor Who! One of the special aspects of our small Museum is that our restoration work isn't 'farmed out' to corporate companies, rather it is painstakingly done on the premises- further reducing any damage to artefacts in transit. For approaching three decades now, I self taught myself how to approach each piece....no two are the same!!!! Whilst I tackle construction (or reconstruction!) and ultimately painting- my wife Lisa (also an artist) is on hand to help with the crucial job of colour paint matching.... which can be tricky!!!! Anyway....thanks to a wonderful donation from my dear friend and Museum supporter Bedwyr Gullidge - the Museum now has a Weevil boiler suit to accompany it's restored head!!! This was the perfect time to look back at the restoration of the Museum's Weevil - actually the second of MFX's rather wonderful monster nasties created for the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood! As ever- to my freinds and supporters - thank you for hanging in there! #

Woke up to these images this morning.... quite surreal....These are pictures of yesterday's screening of Reeltime Pictur...
13/09/2026

Woke up to these images this morning.... quite surreal....These are pictures of yesterday's screening of Reeltime Pictures' 'The Monster Man' at Armadillocon - in Austin, Texas. Thank you to Keith for supporting my work over the last few years....this documentary is very special to me as it documents my work trying to save and preserve monsters from classic Doctor Who - most of which were approaching the end of the line. Saving, restoring and once again displaying these artefacts from our collective core British science-fiction heritage has ended up being my life's work. I began restoring over 25 years ago now! Thankfully - also rescuing- the historic, listed building that forms the Museum was a step I hadn't foreseen, but it has enabled all these historic pieces to have a permanent home that everyone can visit. Anyway....still a bit bewildered by it all....just five years ago I was still teaching classes of children art!!! Thanks to everyone who has stayed on the journey with me.....you know who you are!❤️

Good morning all! Just getting few VERY limited edition signed prints of my 'Cyberman in Miniscope' and 'Time Warrior' ...
12/09/2026

Good morning all! Just getting few VERY limited edition signed prints of my 'Cyberman in Miniscope' and 'Time Warrior' artworks from the upcoming 'It Belongs in a Museum: Third Doctor' book! This is an edition of 50 and are now in the Museum shop! Meanwhile....working away on the aforementioned book and the new Peladon artwork....and getting ready for an exciting upgrade to the Museum displays to bring proper in January! Do pop in for some nerdistic chat if you are passing! 🤣🥰 #

Flashback! Nearly 10 years ago now.... sculpting two new arms to complete the red Terileptil....as we approached the ope...
11/09/2026

Flashback! Nearly 10 years ago now.... sculpting two new arms to complete the red Terileptil....as we approached the opening of the Museum! I constructed and sculpted two new arms to complete this classic monster! The Terileptil now greets visitors to the Museum on a daily basis! # #

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

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