The Box: Media Lab (Updated 17/01/2026)

 This gallery features a permanent display of media related items as well as containing a cinema space where a variety of films are screened.  These films change regularly and may be connected to other exhibitions.

This room features the audio visual history and will be a popular room with anyone who appreciates these sorts of technical items.  It was interesting to see how technology has come along with many items being familiar, but other versions being before my time.  For instance there was a large display of Televisions, each one different.  I grew up with a small portable TV that had an aerial and a dial to tune in different channels.  These are things I remember, but I imagine must look pretty alien to younger viewers.  

It's a room with nostalgia.  This was added to by the series of clips shown across the televisions that featured things I remember seeing before.  I had seen the BBC news piece where they looked at holiday traffic queuing on the A30 and also footage of the Boscastle floods.  I think it is great to have this footage on display, I imagine there is all sorts that families could talk about.

There were also displays of radios, cameras and speakers, some of them quite beautiful.  Others would have been terrifyingly expensive and out of the reach of most.  The room also featured an alcove dedicated to local television where they had a green screen set up so you could be on the local news.  I think my husbands favourite thing though was to see an original Gus Honeybun.  Gus was a rabbit who delivered birthday messages to children across the South West on children's TV.  He once did so for my husband.  Huge nostalgia points there!  (and probably for many of a similar age who grew up locally)

I didn't do a deep dive in to this room, I admit.  There is a lot to see, it's not my specialist area!  If you are interested in cameras for instance, that one display would be an absolute delight...

I will be back though

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I returned to the box and wandered through this exhibition and gave a little more time to some aspects I had previously skipped.

The first was a touchscreen that covered some history of the cinemas in Plymouth.  I know from talking to my Dad that he used to go to the cinema a lot.  That they had programmes and you would go and see a variety of things as well as the main feature, such as news or cartoons.  Cinema was a far bigger part of life because very few had televisions when they first became available.

Despite knowing this, it was still a shock to see just how many cinemas there were in Plymouth.  It was a little sad reading the fates of them.  Some were bombed, some became derelict, others became bingo halls or nightclubs.  Most no longer remain.

I grew up in a town that decided to pull down its beautiful art deco cinema and replace it with an out of town multiscreen.  At the time it seemed like progress and it was exciting and brought choice.  Over time, it became clear it was a loss.  Not only is it sad we did not keep more of these stunning buildings but we also took people out of town centres.  The flashy new multi screens are often not built to last and you enter a cycle of redevelopment.  I remember that old cinema and it's grand staircase.

In Cornwall we are so lucky that many towns kept their cinemas.  Some of them even have theatres as a part of them and still have regular shows.

The other thing I took time with was a video about the film archive at the Box.  There is a programme now to look at the material contained in the archive and the way in which people are represented, particularly diverse groups.  Much of the material focuses on a particular area of society and as this receives the most attention, it's easy to forget the other stories.  In particular, researchers are looking for the stories of people of colour.

Much of the film has not been digitised and is described by a simple catalogue entry which gives little detail.  The film is stored in a cold store at, I think, minus 20.  People where special suits to go in to the store and take films out.  They are then defrosted for 48 hours before being watched.  In looking at what stories are represented in the archive, the Box is looking to find gaps in it its archive and then try to procure additional material.

One story that is being researched is that of Jack Leslie who was a striker for Plymouth Argyle in the 20s and early 30s.  He was the first black player to be picked to play for England but was dropped before he played any games.  Jack's story is well known, at least in Plymouth where a statue was added to Plymouth Argyle's ground, Home Park and he was posthumously awarded an England cap and entered in to the National Football of Museum Hall of Fame.  As well as researching more of Jack's story, they are looking to find other important stories.