Last picture show:
Me with the venerable Zeiss projector at the London Planetarium on the evening
of 1995 January 2. The projector had just given its last public show – which, as it happened, was the final showing of the programme I had written for
them, called Planet Earth, which had been running for nearly two years, since
1993 February.
The Planetarium was then closed for a six-month refit during which the Zeiss
projector, in operation since the Planetarium opened in 1958, was removed to
make way for a computerized Digistar II. Hence I can claim to be the man whose
show closed the London Planetarium, albeit temporarily. However Madame
Tussauds, owners of the Planetarium, administered the coup de grace themselves
when they closed the attraction completely in 2006.
Footnote: I pocketed the Planetarium’s red laser pointer as souvenir, knowing they wouldn’t need it any more. I put it into service again 16 years later in the
planetarium aboard Queen Mary 2, which boasts the only seagoing planetarium on
planet Earth.
Opening night:
Me in high-albedo jacket with Mum and Dad on opening night of the Planet Earth
show, 1993 February 8. One from the family album.
