The weather is getting colder, and the Christmas lights are starting to sparkle across the streets. You may have begun to shop for Christmas presents for your family and friends. As the festive season approaches, some of the year’s most anticipated games are released. One video game in particular tops the GFK UK game sales charts at Christmas, outshining the rest. Let’s look at the games that have topped the charts over the last five years. 2018: Red Dead Redemption 2 From its fantastic story to its smooth mechanics, numerous elements made Rocket Games’ Red Dead Redemption 2 a hit. The prequel ..read more

For the vast majority of us, 2022 was our first time tuning into a Christmas Day speech made by a monarch other than Queen Elizabeth II. King Charles III’s speech, made from St George’s Chapel in Windsor, attracted an audience of 10.6 million, making it the most viewed TV programme of the day. It was the latest iteration of a tradition that stretches back to the 1930s and to Charles’s great-grandfather, George V. The initial idea for a royal Christmas speech was put forward by Sir John Reith, the founder of the BBC, in the 1920s as a way to capitalise on the emerging medium of radio. George V ..read more

10 years ago, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who with a fantastic exhibition. Doctor Who and Me – 50 years of Doctor Who Fans, celebrated its fans, their stories and their collections. Approximately 200 objects of different sizes and materials went on display, including a life size Dalek, Tardis and Cyberman – all of which I knew nothing about. I moved to the UK in 2013, and what a way to be introduced to such a pivotal part of British popular culture! Now, 10 years on, and to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who, I will take you on a journey through how we look after the ..read more

Being a conservator is spooky at times! I’ve encountered several creepy objects while hunting through the photographic collection of the National Science and Media Museum. One of my favourites is an album of spirit photographs that made its way to my workbench for some care, as it has found itself in a sticky situation. The photographs are eerie in their own right. The photographer used tricks to capture ‘spirits’ by taking double and triple exposures. But as a conservator, what truly sent shivers through my spine was… Sellotape. Us conservators fear sticky tape more than anything! Adhesive ta ..read more

The anniversary will be marked by three special episodes featuring the return of old fan favorites, including Catherine Tate and David Tennant reprising their roles as Donna Noble and the Doctor respectively, as well as the return of Russell T. Davies as showrunner. The specials will also feature Neil Patrick Harris as the Celestial Toymaker, an enemy of the Doctor who first appeared in 1966 facing William Hartnell’s First Doctor. A Dalek battles Frankenstein’s Monster in a classic episode of Doctor Who. Which other familiar faces might we see return to greet the Doctor in this new age for the ..read more

This year’s film selection for Black History Month means a great deal to me. I spent the past year finishing my Bachelor’s degree in Filmmaking at Leeds Beckett, supporting the Bradford Hate Crime Alliance through their own celebration of Black culture, and watching a lot of films. When I learnt I was going to be able to select some of my favourite films from talented Afro-Caribbean creators, I started writing a shortlist. I must have shown up to the first meeting with about 50. It was like Lenny Henry’s MOBO acceptance speech—I was just rattling off names for a couple minutes. Naturally, the ..read more

The museum is temporarily closed until summer 2024 while we undergo a ‘once in a generation’ transformation, and most of our colleagues are working from home or in temporary office accommodation. But the Collections Services team is still mostly working in the museum, getting objects ready to go on display in our two new Sound and Vision galleries. Collections Services team members work in roles that enable the care, management and use of the museum’s collection: conservation, collections care, storage, collections data, photography and digitisation, registration (managing loans), and supporti ..read more

Dance Dance Revolution ushered in a new era of foot-tapping gamers, fighting to keep rhythm with a soundtrack of pumping dance tracks in front of avid onlookers. It combined rhythm, dexterity and fitness to challenge gamers to stomp on the arcade machine’s pressure sensitive footpads in time with the music and on-screen prompts. Consisting of four directional arrows, Dance Dance Revolution rated players on their footwork, with each well-timed toe-tap achieving a ‘Perfect’, ‘Great’ or ‘Good’ rating, while poorly timed interactions would receive a ‘Boo’ or ‘Miss’. The game became an instant hit ..read more

In this blog we’re going to take a closer look at some of the stars of our season, Queens of the Scope Age, and the powerful performances we’ll be showcasing this September. Deborah Kerr and Jean Seberg – Bonjour Tristesse Deborah Kerr (left) and Jean Seberg (right) in Bonjour Tristesse (1958) Kicking off our season is Bonjour Tristesse, based on Françoise Sagan’s adolescent novella of the same name. Although most associated with the iconic performance of Jean Seberg, with this film choice we wanted to spotlight the remarkable acting of Deborah Kerr. Although she gets less screen time tha ..read more

The 1960s saw massive upheaval across America, with the fight for civil rights, the growing anti-war movement, and other campaigns for social justice. As the counterculture bloomed and public dissent took hold, societal tensions were reflected in the rise of a new, daring cinematic movement. Starting in 1967 with Bonnie & Clyde, the movement would become known as the New Hollywood. It turned its back on the costly studio musicals and historical epics of the 1950s, ushering in independent films helmed by young directors like Martin Scorsese and William Friedkin. The films were raw and viole ..read more