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 a souvenir, knowing they wouldn’t need it any more. I put it into service again 16 years later in the planetarium aboard the Cunard flagship liner Queen Mary 2, which boasts the first, and largest, 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.