National Science and Media Museum

IMAX Cinema Experience

Experience cinema on an epic scale in one of Britain's first IMAX theatres. The enormous curved screen stands five stories tall (equivalent to four double-decker buses) and extends beyond your peripheral vision, creating total immersion in the film. Equipped with dual 4K laser projection and 12-channel surround sound, the cinema screens a rotating program of Hollywood blockbusters, nature documentaries, and specially produced IMAX films.

Recent showings have included space exploration documentaries, wildlife adventures, and specially remastered classic films. The cinema's stadium seating ensures excellent sightlines from every seat, while the sound system delivers rumbling bass that you can feel in your chest. Educational IMAX films about ocean life, the cosmos, or extreme environments provide unforgettable learning experiences for school groups and families.

The IMAX experience represents the pinnacle of cinema technology, and this installation remains one of the finest in Britain. Advance booking is strongly recommended, especially for weekend and holiday screenings.

Wonderlab Interactive Gallery

Wonderlab transforms complex science into hands-on fun through dozens of interactive exhibits exploring light, sound, color, and perception. Present your own television weather forecast in a working TV studio complete with green screen technology and professional cameras – then watch your performance played back.

Experiment with light and lenses, creating rainbows, exploring how cameras capture images, and understanding how your eyes perceive color.

Sound-focused exhibits let you visualize sound waves, experience how microphones work, and even record your own radio broadcast. Animation stations demonstrate how persistence of vision creates the illusion of movement, while optical illusion exhibits challenge your perception. The gallery successfully balances entertainment with genuine science education, making complex principles accessible to all ages.

Children particularly love becoming TV presenters, though adults find the exhibits equally engaging. Regular demonstrations by museum explainers add depth and context, explaining the science behind media technologies. Wonderlab exemplifies the museum's commitment to making science engaging and accessible through interactive discovery.

Photography Collection and Galleries

The museum houses one of the world's most significant photography collections, spanning from the 1840s to the present day.

The collections include over three million photographs, 2500 cameras and optical devices, and extensive archives documenting the medium's technical and artistic evolution. Experience Gallery showcases historical and contemporary photography, with regularly changing exhibitions featuring major photographers and important photographic movements.

The collection includes works by pioneers like William Henry Fox Talbot and Julia Margaret Cameron, as well as modern masters including Martin Parr, Don McCullin, and Cindy Sherman. The Kodak Gallery explores photography's technical evolution through historic cameras, from early daguerreotype equipment to modern digital cameras.

The Royal Photographic Society Collection, housed here, represents one of the world's most important photography archives.

Visitors can see the actual cameras used to capture iconic images, alongside the resulting photographs.

The galleries explore photography's role in documenting society, creating art, and shaping public opinion. Special exhibitions regularly feature contemporary photography, exploring current issues through the lens.

Television and Broadcasting Galleries

Discover television's remarkable evolution from experimental curiosity to the medium that transformed modern culture. The galleries house the world's oldest surviving television – John Logie Baird's original 1926 prototype – alongside equipment from the earliest BBC broadcasts and modern digital broadcasting technology.

Interactive exhibits let you explore how TV cameras work, experiment with green screen technology, and discover what happens behind the scenes at a television studio.

Extensive collections of historic television sets demonstrate how the medium evolved from tiny flickering screens to today's massive flat panels. Archives include vintage broadcast equipment, original scripts from classic programs, and props from beloved British television shows. The galleries examine television's social impact, exploring how the medium shaped public opinion, created shared cultural experiences, and changed family life.

Special exhibits feature iconic children's television, vintage game shows, and groundbreaking dramatic series. The collection demonstrates how television evolved from a technological marvel to an everyday domestic presence that fundamentally altered how we receive news, entertainment, and information.