OWNER of 'The Museum of Classic Sci-fi', Neil Cole, will be attending and speaking on a discussion panel at ‘Doctor Who: Invasion Blackpool 2023’ on Sunday, April 30.

While being excited to speak about his favourite topic of all time, he is also excited to be back in Blackpool, where he first thought about creating the sci-fi museum, which he opened in 2018 in his hometown of Allendale.

"It is a place very close to my heart," Neil explains.

"‘BBC Doctor Who Exhibitions’ ran annually in the town from 1974-1985 and 2004 – 2009 and were popular exhibitions at the time.

"Blackpool has always had a history of Dr Who. In fact, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, and David Tennant were asked to perform the honours of switching on the legendary ‘Blackpool Lights’.

"My father took me to visit the 'Blackpool Doctor Who Exhibition’ and at age five, fiction and fact blurred, and I never forgot walking through the iconic TARDIS doors on 111 Central Promenade, Blackpool, emerging into dimly lit corridors festooned with monsters, drenched in radiophonic sound.

"The memory stayed with me and was the inspiration for ‘The Museum of Classic Sci-Fi’.”

In fact, Neil’s intention from the start was to try and recreate the atmosphere of the original seventies ‘Doctor Who’ exhibition.

He adds: "I just thought that modern exhibitions tend to take a more ‘English Heritage’ aesthetic to their presentation, the artefacts are more brightly lit with white light and generally all the exhibits are presented in one large room.

"So I wanted to go back the Blackpool approach... a twisting corridor with low lighting and a surprise around every corner!

"To be asked to speak about something that formed such an important part of first my childhood and then shaped the last ten years of my adult life, is astonishing- and a real honour.

"I think the fact that I have been restoring and preserving many classic ‘Doctor Who’ monsters and subsequently ensuring fans and the public have access to them again has endeared me to parts of the Who-community.

"I am just a fan, who by a mix of luck and a lifetime of amassing strange art skills, have been able to rescue some wonderful old monsters and build a very nostalgic museum in which to house them.”