Peter Harrison Planetarium — Attraction in London

I remember visiting years ago to see a show regarding moons which I seem to remember liking. This time I attended a show called ‘Starstruck’ about the life cycle of stars. At £12 per head for a 30 minute show this wasn't cheap at all.

The presenter was an astrologist (great) but they weren't very engaging, unfortunately! The speaker's delivery was monotonous and they didn't really get to the crux of the most juicy and interesting facts for the audience's entertainment and enjoyment. The information was very basic. I know the show accommodates people as young as seven years old, but you can introduce more complex information as long as you can explain it in simple layman's terms. It doesn't seem they even bothered to try that! They somehow managed to make it feel convoluted yet insubstantial at the same time, choosing images of unengaging graphs and low res space photos - space photography should only ever be enjoyed in high resolution to represent all the details!

I think moving forward the astrologists should consult with professional creative writers on writing the scripts, but the shows themselves should be delivered by trained speakers who can make it lively, concise, and above all, engaging - from start to finish. Let the astrologists get on with their important work as scientists and let trained entertainers deliver well-written and engaging scripts.

As for the planetarium technology itself, the images weren't very sharp; in fact quite shockingly it was a disappointingly low resolution. If you look at the Las Vegas Sphere, it's a large spherical venue with both exterior and interior LED displays, featuring very sharp images with robust colours. In comparison, this planetarium only uses projector technology and the image isn't sharp or particularly vivid and colourful - you can tell it's a projection. It's nothing like a high-quality cinema projection; it's more akin to one you'd find in a school classroom. It felt very outdated.

Overall, a disappointing experience. It's high time they completely overhauled the experience, both the technology (start using high definition seamless LED screens instead) and rethink how the shows are presented to improve the experience. I'd suggest making standard shows 45 minutes at a minimum or be prepared to lower the admission fee.

Now for the good news. The Peter Harrison Planetarium is to close from 8 September 2025 as part of major upgrade work. The whole site is getting a £77 million makeover - a project that has been titled First Light and coincides with its 350th birthday.

However, whether the planetarium's visual technology itself will get an upgrade is unclear. There's a good chance the visual and immersive tech won't be the focus of the new investment - as nothing has yet been announced to...

After purchasing my tickets on Groupon which states that infants can sit on an adults lap I was told that my baby was not allowed to enter the planetarium. I politely asked a member of the front desk team whether it would be ok to go in and was shut down before I could finish my sentence with a “no”. I asked whether someone could ask the astronomer doing the talk if my baby could sit in under the condition that if she was to be loud during the sitting I would leave. I was told this would most likely be a no but he would ask. When the young man returned he very rudely said I’ve got the audience to thank for voting to let us in like we wasn’t paying ticket holders. I then assured the staff member if my baby were to be disruptive I would take her out as I wouldn’t want to ruin anyone else’s experience. The astronomer was very welcoming and made us feel comfortable in the theatre. 10 minutes into the viewing my baby was a little bit unsure of the darkness so I took her outside for 5 minutes with plans to re-enter when the astronomer had moved onto the brighter planet viewing which my daughter would have loved. Before I had a chance to do that a very unhelpful woman with a stand off ish attitude collected me from the doors and told me I was not allowed to re-enter after leaving the planetarium. I explained that I had popped out quietly to give my daughter a few minutes and left my bag with her milk in it inside the room to avoid disturbing others. She then proceeded to tell me I had to wait 25 minutes for the show to finish to collect my bags. In those 25 minutes I was watched like a hawk by all front desk staff and when they could see my baby starting to cry they did not approach me to let me in to collect my bag with her milk or offer to collect it for me. Just as well I didn’t have an epi pen in there and need emergency medical assistance! I am appalled by the lack of customer service and the fact that everyone looked like they had a grudge against babies. I will not be visiting again and the business need to sort out their messaging on third party...

The Peter Harrison Planetarium was a fantastic experience for me and my father, who are very into space. When planning on coming here, I looked long and hard at the reviews as each one is very divisive on the experience!

First of all, the staff were super friendly. We were able to arrive with five minutes to go before the show with no qualms or problems from the staff.

The presenter of the show, Greg, was incredibly entertaining! It was probably the best aspect of the whole show. He was clearly very passionate about the subject and gave a ✨stellar✨ performance!

The quality of the actual presentation does definitely leave something to be desired. Sometimes the picture can feel slightly smudged or out of focus, but allowing yourself to be immersed by the content and listening to the facts really does limit how much this impacts things. With all of that said, there were some imagery, especially of galaxies that filled the whole display which really were fantastic! They definitely shone through despite the sometimes lacking quality.

The show I went to see was Starstruck. It was very engaging and appropriate for all ages. Shows throughout the day were sold out and I heard some people being disappointed that they couldn’t purchase tickets on the door. I really recommend buying tickets online.

The Planetarium is very sadly closing soon and moving to the Naval College nearby, so I definitely recommend checking this out before it...