Dan Dare & the Birth of Hi-tech Britain

Dan Dare’s rocket fleet roars high over Venus to trounce his arch foe – the power-mad Mekon. Meanwhile, back on Earth, another extraordinary future is unfolding – one which laid the foundation for Britain’s hi-tech consumer society.

After 1945, though war-weary and broke, Britain found huge pride in wartime advances such as radar, penicillin and the jet engine. Discoveries like these were now tipped to kick-start world-beating industries, bring prosperity and bankroll the emerging welfare state.

In an age before globalisation, products from rockets to radios sprang from local roots. Together they reveal a fascinating ‘lost world’ of British design and invention – a glimpse of a time when the TV in the corner was a Murphy, not a Sony.

This exciting new temporary exhibition explores the role played by technology in creating post-war Britain.

Explore the objects on display in the exhibition, and add your own knowledge and memories, on our new Object Wiki.