Article by Emily Stewart, App for Devon Contributor and Founder of BASEDtraveler Books & Media

“Exterminate! You must be exterminated!” screeches from around the upward-sloping corner of Torwood Street, Torquay. I hear the high-pitched voice of a woman reply, “No! No, you silly thing! They are visitors—friends—you know what that means, stupid robot!”

These are the sounds I hear while patiently waiting my turn to gain entrance to the Torquay Museum for this year’s Sci-Fi Exhibit, titled Visions of the Future. Maybe it’s the fact that this seafront city is experiencing weather akin to the deserts of the planet Aargonar in Star Trek, but I am shocked by the amount of interest in the event. The conversation I heard is between a volunteer assigned to play with a working robot. They’re entertainment to visitors awaiting entry to Torquay’s costume and prop collection.

As Visitor Services & Marketing Manager Carl Smith later tells me over a strong French press coffee, “This is the third time we’ve hosted a Sci-Fi exhibit in six years. We just had a punt at the first one and it was so amazingly stunningly successful. Back then almost everything we showed was replicas. Today, we have almost 90% original pieces of 10% replicas. We’ve come to realize how truly obsessive fans are. We’ve found some collectors who are willing to share their Sci-Fi items with us. One of the largest contributors to this collection is an electrician living in Exeter.”

While posing in feigned agony between two aliens from the movie Predator, I wonder if their costumes are originals. Do the replicas look any less creepy? I feel a little weird cowering beneath their fangs, but the picture is priceless.

Speaking of prices, Carl explains just how valuable the original and replica pieces shown in the museum really are. “Costume buying and selling is a huge industry,” he says. “We have the original lightsaber used by Samuel L. Jackson in Star Wars. It’s valued at £25,000. Americans in particular will pay ridiculous amounts of money for Sci-Fi gear. Guess how much the Storm Trooper outfits sell for? £200,000 each! And that’s no helmet included.”

I ask Carl why he thinks these costumes are so valuable. How do they draw such a crowd on a sunny day in Torquay? “The whole genre really captures people’s imaginations,” he muses. Right on cue, a small child runs by shouting BLING, BLING, WHAM!, wearing a Batman outfit and brandishing his own lightsaber. “It’s sexy, really, with the suspended animation and romance and intricate story lines. So much can be woven into a good Sci-Fi.” As he says this I glance across the bright outdoor patio where Carl and I perch. There’s a couple of British guys sitting across from me; they drink lattes and eat chocolates, boasting the slight bellies and Sci-Fi themed t-shirts that epitomize stereotypical Sci-Fi nerds. Sexy, eh? I think.

Eventually Carl ends our interview when called to duty as a Storm Trooper. I proceed to tour the exhibit. It is very cool, even for non-Trekkies like me. Not only are there surprisingly detailed costumes but also the original i-Robot and Prometheus sleep pod, plus other famous props. Torquay Museum has invited the group Southern Troopers St. to the event. They raise money for Children’s Hospice Southwest by dressing up like Star Wars characters. As I stand looking at a signed photograph of Spock from Star Trek, Chewbaca and a tiny Princess Leia pose for a family portrait with some visitors. The whole scene is delightfully nerdy. I notice a lady wearing black lipstick and glitter eye makeup pounds a Monster by the doorway. She’s obviously feeling delighted, too.

Later I ask Carl what his favorite piece is. “I’m a Brit! Obviously, it’s the Dr. Who outfits.” I am not surprised that within all of these forward-looking costumes, a former archaeologist like Carl prefers stories from his childhood. Personally, I am mildly obsessed with Torquay Museum because of the nature of its founders. A famous explorer named William Pengally conceptualized the museum as a space to store fabulous trinkets he and his explorer friends ignorantly pillaged from across the globe during Victorian years. Imagining his extravagant, dangerous travels is as fun as looking at their remnants. “What do you think your founding explorers would think about this exhibit?” I ask.

Ever the scientist, Carl replies, “Well, it’s hard to hypothesize. You’d have to really know them in order to guess what they would think. Honestly, I think they might be a little disproving at first. But if this gets people into a museum then, in the end, I don’t think Pengally and the others would mind.”

On this thought, Carl continues: “For us it’s about introducing people to a museum who wouldn’t normally want to visit. The name ‘museum’ turns so many people off. We’re trying to persuade people that museums aren’t just a loud of dead objects stuffed in a case. That’s what this Sci-Fi exhibit does: Really brings the museum to life.”

Torquay Museum’s Sci-Fi exhibit is open until 5 September, 2015. See details on the App for Devon page: http://www.appfordevon.com/entries/torquay-museum