You describe Peter Gabriel’s 1st album perfectly. i heard how he allegedly had some input into the Dome which definitely explains some of the confusion . i’d always found Petes’ albums too diverse & muddled & some sounded dated like the horrible Dolci Vita song .he may be a very decent guy but in my opinion overblown minimalism was his speciality . by albums 3 & 4 how he’d fussily record the crustiest of African tribes chanting & banging skin or his smashing a windscreen then run it through the earliest extremely expensive Digital equipment & hey presto a sound of 2 extremes mashed . what is the point ? Edit i certainly don’t understand or appreciate Art Rock . But Peter giving Jimmy Pursey the time of day then producing with him when the NME were calling him nasty names can’t be bad at all ❤️🐢
Peter Gabriel made something more rediculous and nonsensical than the Genesis album "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway"? I thought it was mediocre overproduced dreck... until I saw concert footage. Peter Gabriel is pretty terrible. That's about the nicest thing I can say about that guy.
...why has this comment spiraled into a Peter Gabriel debate ? RUclips, sometimes, I swear. Btw The Lamb is one of the best albums I've ever listened to and I'll die on that hill.
An arcade owner in my hometown bought all the unsold merch from the Dome as prizes for the arcade machines. My friends used to win them in hopes that they would be valuable in the future. Their investment hasn't paid off so far.
I worked for O2 around the time they bought it. They invited as many staff as possible from their shops and call centres along with a plus 1 for the fire testing event before it opened. They took us down from Leeds on a coach. Put us all up in hotels and took us to the event. We had Mr vanilla ( Dermot O'Leary) present it. They had Tom Jones, Basement Jaxx, The Kaiser Chiefs and Peter Kaye as entertainment! It was ace. The queues for food were big as some stuff wasn't open. But we had a great time. But it didn't cost us a penny. Back when companies gave a crap about their staff.
It may had been a failure on paper, but for me as a 5 year old I found it absolutely awe inspiring and it holds a really special place in my heart. the y2k aesthetic of this thing became imprinted into my soul lol. The Millennium Dome was the first ever interactive attraction I had experienced and essentially made me fall in love with theme parks. I now work in the theme park industry, so I have a lot to thank for this thing. Sometimes I think it's worth having a go at something even if it does turn out to be a failure. Oh and hopefully not with taxpayer money.
Same, I was a bit sceptical to click on this video considering my experience at the dome was so positive as a child. The sheer scale of things inside and the focus on visual science was captivating to me. For me it did represent that optimistic feeling of the millennium.
That was my thoughts! This properly ignited my interest in science and technology as a 9 year old. I don’t think I would be as interested in coding now if it wasn’t for the day my parents took me to the millennium dome
Me too! I loved it as a 7 year old. I still call it the millenium dome instead of O2 because I have enjoyable memories of the millenium due to going there.
They probably didn't. Politicians don't think about what projects cost, let alone what money they can bring in. They only think about whether their name will be under it. Here in The Netherlands we're having a nice new project o re-vamp a train station and while we're at it: create four new lanes for a highway. And because some politician say buildings on top of a tunnel once, they are now trying to dig that highway into a tunnel. Have a wild guess at the cost. They started out with 1,6bln euro's. Then they started to do some more serious work and we're now at an estimated cost of 5.5billion euro's, and they are considering dropping on of the tunnels to save cost. The fact that that makes the other tunnel useless is something they have not realised yet. Oh, and this is for a stretch of road less than a single mile long.
I’m baffled he thought anyone outside Britain (aka 180 other countries) would have known of the millennium dome. And I do love the introspective comment of ‘one of the most popular venues in the world’
@@xr6ladit's a slightly strange measure, but the O2 arena is the second highest grossing large concert venue behind Madison Square Garden. So it's 'popular' at an international level, but really just has a huge local audience to serve.
I’ll be 32 in December and remember visiting the Millennium Dome when I was 8 years old or so. I grew up in a rural community in Somerset in a single-mother household with very little money. Nonetheless, after moaning that I wanted to visit the Millennium Dome more than anything, my Mum managed to scrape together enough money to take me. I remember we got up incredibly early and got the train and changed over to the Tube when we eventually reached London Paddington, a journey that took maybe 3 hours back then but felt like it took an eternity to a child. Coming from the middle of nowhere, visiting the Dome, city transport and infrastructure , and London in general completely changed my life and visiting was a formative experience. When I was old enough for a part-time job I travelled to London often for gigs, galleries and exhibitions, and the theatre etc. Once I turned 18 I moved to London, followed by Bristol, and my 20’s was well spent in these amazing cities. I’ve recently moved to the Scottish Highlands; London is too busy for me to live, but every time I have to visit London I get the same sense of childlike wonder that started because of the Millennium Dome!
Same! I'm 32 in February so would have been same age as you when I went. It was an amazing and unforgettable experience for me. I still call it millenium dome when I visit the O2 because of the memories.
Modern countries: we should build the modern equivalent of a colossus! Also Modern countries: but we’re on a budget so don’t spend more than 29 bucks on it.
To save costs, better build the colossus out of cheaper materials. Like clay - it's everywhere, it's been there for AGES, surely it's good enough for the legs!
The yellow masts literally look like cranes working on an unfinished building site.. giving the dome a 'stuck in construction purgatory' look that I can't get over
Odd as they look, they actually serve their purpose wonderfully - the mostly-tensile structure allows for a huge open space within the dome, with only those few narrow steel columns around the edge to interrupt it. The vast amount of indoors space, sheltered from the weather and unbroken by structural elements, makes an ideal flexible venue for large events.
I love we got little tibits of your childhood in this video. The art of you imagining the dome was adorable. The Iron Giant would have 100% made this arena cooler. Also we're pretty close in age!
I actually went *with* school, on a coach from York. It was the first time I’d deliberately been to London, having changed trains there with my mum many years earlier. I took a picture of The Body sculpture, that and the big open space where the acrobatics show was are basically the only things I remember, and I didn’t bring back any souvenirs. It was strange and underwhelming, and I had to have something like 90% attendance to qualify for the trip. The whole thing was wonderfully surreal. I’ve been to the O2 once since during the 2012 Olympics
I was 6 when we visited and I can honestly say I remember so much of it (not much of the hype leading up to it). I can remember the acrobat show and watching blackadder and how the play zone felt so futuristic and generally just a buzz of excitement around the whole place. I visit a lot of museums and it’s like no other experience I’ve had since. I think the whole idea was to simply document such a significant event in human history. No one in the next 800/900 years will witness the turn of a millennium. The exhibition was just a way of encapsulating shared experiences, our history, our expectations for the future, contemporary culture and imaginative ponderings. So while I can’t definitively say it was worth the money they spent (😂) it certainly filled little me with wonder and has given me lasting memories of that feeling.
That is a really good point. I went there too, I was 12. Just like you very vivid memories of going there. I went through a little period recently where I became obsessed with that point in history and revisiting my little experiences at the time. There was this sense of “the future is through that door and all we have to do is walk through it”. Do you remember watching “tomorrow’s world?”. The Millenium Dome had that sort of vibe about it to me.
Yeah I was around 9-10 and it was amazing. I don’t get why people of our age, like the guy in the vid, talk about it negatively. Like he said, maybe it was worse toward the end of the year but for me it was genuinely really good. I was pretty sad when they got rid of it and wouldn’t mind them bringing back an updated version. The dome (as it’ll always be called) shouldn’t be an events space. It should forever live as a home for the weird and wonderful that can also educate.
It was my happy place too!!! I was excited for it to be built as I knew it would be futuristic and exciting. I went there twice. Once with my sisters and once with my old friends. It did feel very futuristic, I still remember some of the zones. Home planet was very futuristic and Journey was my favourite. I was sad when it closed. I have visited the O2 few times. I hated it. I wish it would be named Millennium Dome again. The naming rights expire in 2027. Fingers crossed.
"John Minor" is such a perfect indicator of the tone of the video, which stands in such stark contrast against the entire body of content that is Fascinating Horror, that it's already made this one of my favourite videos on the platform. Bravo, sir!
I actually loved it at the time but would like to revisit it as an adult rather than a 15 year old on his first trip to London. It was a school trip and we had to fly down. I loved the big interactive music bit with the gigantic piano, and the bit with the Bond vehicles was cool.
I went with my wife and three young children. We had a great day out. We loved every minute of being there and seeing everything the dome included, and especially the aerial show. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!
I remember going to this, we were so excited to go to London, and that part of the day was amazing, going on the tube for the first time, seeing the sights Then we got to the Millenium Dome and we were all shocked at how blisteringly shit it was. It was little more than a pretentious art collection with massive queues despite the underwhelming number of people there. All that money and the only part of it I remember is buying my first 100% recycled pencil (which was also crap lol) Thankfully the day in London was fun enough that I don't look back at the experience too negatively Great video as always!
Yes I was hugely disappointed. The only thing worth the entrance money was the aerial ballet/acrobat show, which was simply fantastic. But the rest was rubbish.
Kristen, I've been watching you for over 4 years now - I've written 12 scripts for you - I've even had the pleasure of conversing with you about non-script related things. This, and I truly mean it when I say this, is your magnum opus (so far). You are professional and concise with _Fascinating Horror,_ yet this video, while also being concise and professional, allowed you to show your more 'sarcastic' side and sprinkle humoUr in. The combination of personal anectdotes and custom art as well - This video allowed you to show that you can do and be so much more than another Disaster Documentary RUclipsr (not to imply that's a bad thing, hee hee hee). I also love the editing style, especially with the 'small' animation and life you gave a few of the PNG's. It really adds to the production value of this video. In short - Hilarious, snarky, well put together, and basically what I aspire to be able to create with my own projects. 11/10 would pay £758M again.
It’s also embarrassing but not unexpected for a millennial that the bra advert slogan went right over his head. Millennials never seem to see things right before themselves. I’m male and not even in the U.K. but even I can see the reference connections.
I saw 2 or 3 shows at the O2 arena, including a rock concert. The concert was very good, but since the venue was never designed as a concert hall, the acoustic is terrible, due to the concrete floor and large open space.
I went in November - I remember that boy statue now you mention it, and the Blackadder show now you mention it ot too. I really don't remember a whole lot about it though which probably sums up the experience. My biggest memory though was that everything in the gift shop was reduced and I'd just had my birthday. I brought a pen a notebook and a sand timer thing but the sand is blue goo- I still have the pen and timer thing on my desk as an adult.
Pedantic I know but.... the year 2000 was not the first year of a new millennium, it was the last year of the previous one. For example, in a decade, year ten is the last year of the decade, the next one begins at the beginning of year 11. Australia got it right celebrating the new millennium a year later.
I recall going into a relaxation room and lying down before scanning the silent pod when I realised Robbie Coltrane was there. Highlight of the exhibition!
I volunteer at a local museum. About a mile away, there is a big, hyped-up, VERY visible place run by a chain that is based here. Many people decide to visit the museum before heading there, usually with their kids. The thing is, everyone around here knows that the place is a rip-off. It costs a lot of money and there isn't much to do or see. It's truly a "tourist trap" to the Nth degree, but from the outside looking in, it looks totally amazing. When museum visitors tell me "We're heading to [lousy place]," I just smile and nod. But we have had people say they enjoyed our museum far better -- even though we aren't flashy or nearly as well-known outside a niche group. This Dome reminds me a lot of that tourist trap.
@chessie2003 No, it is called the Turkey Hill Experience. There's a chain of convenience stores here called Turkey Hill. I volunteer at the National Watch & Clock Museum.
Sounds like Wall Drug Vs. Badlands National Park. One is a desolate wasteland with nothing but uninhabitable clay for hundreds of miles. Looking out across the water-starved landscape, the bones of the past promise you a paradise, but one that melts away once you arrive, leaving nothing but a pit in your stomach and the taste of ash in your mouth. A place where there is truly & utterly nothint. And, of course, the other is Badlands National Park, one of the most beautiful places in the country
Visited twice that year, it was a brilliant day out. The building is still there and still providing entertainment, has for for millions of people at this point. . Grand schemes sometimes are what's need to lift life from a mindless drudge into something more spectacular.
I actually thought it was cool in a scary way coz he looked so realistic, he’d be good in a haunted house type attraction if he looked a bit more scary, I’m sure that would freak people out
@@TayWoode I took it to mean he was a child finally entering the big wide scary world and he seemed apprehensive about which path to take (all the different zones.) The model must have been about the same age as me but even back then that's what I thought.
I was about 26 and working for a small company in the themed entertainment industry... The Boss decided it would be great R&D for us so those of us who were interested got a free ticket and we went during a work day. All expenses paid trip to London to see the Millennium Dome... Why not 😁👍 It was weird, interesting, a bit rubbish and I can barely remember anything about it now 😂👍 I did enjoy watching a YT video of the attempted robbery, very interesting 😊
At least it made a cameo in the latest Bond movie at the time! Sure it was arguably not a great movie, but the BMW Z8 was cool until it got cut in half.. what were we talking about again?
The BMW ad where even the motorcycle involved a close up of the BMW badge? I saw it at the cinema with my dad, Tomorrow Never Dies? There was a BMW parked in the cinema. It also features one of the world’s first smartphones!
The Crouching Boy Statue was interesting. To gain access to the Moving Parts, a Technician used to gain entry around the back, after pulling down the Trouser Waistband.😂😂😂. I remember vividly, it was the time that Gary Glitters misdemeanours first came to Light.
I’m glad you mentioned the Blackadder special and the acrobatic show with music by Peter Gabriel, which was released on his album “Ovo” The BBC had a very revealing 4 part documentary which was released at the end of 1999, “The Dome: Trouble at the Big Top: Our Finest Hour”. This had many scenes which captured the difficulty of how to fill the dome. I visited the dome twice during that year, the second time was in December near the end. My expectations were very low having watched the documentary, so I quite enjoyed my visits. The dome was never engineered to be a long term permanent structure, some of this contributed to the build speed and was part of the design. Some of the build cost were due to the reclamation requirements to make the site safe for people. The whole thing is emblematic of how the state has know idea about what people want, and free market economics will endeavour to make something profitable, if it is at all possible. At least some of the profits the O2 venue makes each year come back to the government in tax. They may have given it away for free and gifted the new owner the Jubilee line station and other infrastructure, but in the long term many people will benefit. Better than it never happening at all, or the whole thing being torn down after 1 year of use.
This video reminded me that there's a time capsule buried somewhere in my mums back garden with a load of dome merch and Y2K stuff in it. Im one of the few people that actually enjoyed it, so much so that I went a couple of times. There was a a lot of artsy conceptual stuff going on that was a bit wierd and completely lost on me, but I remember it just feeling very futuristic (for the time) and wanting to know how all the stuff worked. There was a single ride type attraction that had some pretty good effects work in it (again... for the time). they probably should have included more attractions like that and less weird sculptures.
I remember visiting on a school trip and although it was a decent enough visit, I didn't understand or appreciate most of it. Even then, I didn't really see the point of the exhibits. Some of it had value - I remember there being a display of cars of the future, with people in lab coats walking around. I remember noting that the cars looked 'weird', but today they'd look somewhat pedestrian. One thing I loved about the place was the aesthetic - they went balls deep into what 1999 society thought was futuristic, so you had that fantastic aesthetic you got a lot of at the time. I've always thought that 'well, the dome project was a bit of a waste of time, but at least it wasn't lost because o2 bought it", but I didn't actually know it was sold for £1. o2 must be absolutely cackling over that.
this may be your best video yet. funnily written, great art shown inbetween the real pictures of the thing tied in with your own personal experiences....fantastic. i may be american and have no ties to this thing but you've really sold how people felt about this thing
It was just built too soon! You needed to grow up and record this hilarious video! Then the owners could have had it available on a headset for a walking tour! I would have paid big money to experience this video live! Laughed & laughed😂😂. Well done❤
I personally have fond memories as well as souvenirs from going here in 2000, a good way to mark the millennium. It felt very futuristic and was a brilliant day out.
I SO badly wanted to visit this as a kid. Told my dad years later and he said “Why didn’t you say, I was also desperate to go but I thought you’d find it boring!” Never quite got over that. Although this video has helped a bit 😅
I was about 30 at the time and I liked it. I went twice. All the attractions were of high quality, if sometimes a bit strange. It was expensive to build, but so was the Great Exhibition and The Festival of Britain, which preceded it. We don't have an event on that scale often. It was a historic experience. 24 years later the temporary dome is still there and a great indoor venue. I'm sorry for people who didn't and don't appreciate it.
Ah the millennium dome. We went over to london on a school trip from Ireland and were thoroughly excited. After all, this was seen in the opening Bond chase from TWINE. Once we got inside... it was kinda dumb. I cant actually remember anything besides a bunch of nerf guns and a telly that showed you 30 years older with a queue that was too long. However, they had blackadder on the big screen which had the swear bastard in the closing song so for 11 year olds it was worth the trip.
Oof, the lack of creative direction is just oozing from every direction of those haphazard displays. It's funny though because it really does feel like a showcase of it's time, a world in massive transition, the internet as we know it still in it's infancy, right on the border before viral videos and social media took off, it was a very weird time in general.
I went there as a kid when it opened and enjoyed it. The exhibits I feel were mostly aimed at families which does limit the amount of visitors as you know, kids need to be in school and parents are too tired to go out to london in the evening. I imagine the place was only really busy weekends and during the holidays.
I went there soon after it opened. I found it a bit weird but thought the show in the middle was very well done. Also of course the Blackadder special!
I remember a mad part of it which was platforms everywhere, on the platforms were cannons the entire area was littered with foam balls that could be loaded and fired from the cannons. It was a giant free for all.
This has to be my favorite of your videos. It really made my day. Brilliant Tony Blair impression, I was rolling thinking of Blair thinking of a bomb threat while on a tour. That seems very Blair
The great architect Le Corbusier said “form follows function”. In other words, you have a definite purpose in mind before construction. They built the Dome and then couldn’t decide what they were going to use it for.
@@mambisa2690 actually, it was Frank Lloyd Wright’s teacher, the genius architect Louis Sullivan who coined the phrase in 1896: ‘Whether it be the sweeping eagle in his flight, or the open apple-blossom, the toiling work-horse, the blithe swan, the branching oak, the winding stream at its base, the drifting clouds, over all the coursing sun, form ever follows function, and this is the law. Where function does not change, form does not change... It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic, of all things physical and metaphysical, of all things human and all things superhuman, of all true manifestations of the head, of the heart, of the soul, that the life is recognizable in its expression, that form ever follows function. This is the law.’
I loved it - I visited twice and thoroughly enjoyed both visits. The building is still iconic - a decade later I saw Prince perform there during his residency.
I can say with complete honesty our family had a great day out there, the show was amazing, Blackadder was good, and we still talk about the flying spaceships...so for us it was great.
I seem to remember it was pretty cool. I like weird stuff, so it suited me down to the ground. Still got some 'plastic' pencils recycled from plastic bottles and maybe a keyring. Great documentary of it all.
The Millennium Tent has been a complete success, but first you must recall why it was built: 1) The land around the area where the dome was to be built had been polluted by toxic waste by private industry and was unusable. 2) Developers were not be willing to pay the cost of cleaning up the land. 3) The then Tory government decided to use public funding to clean up the land in London (no funding for the rest of the country that they had completely fucked up), create a stupid tent, then after a time long enough for the electorate to forget what had happened, sell the land off to private property developers. In summary, it was an exercise in public risk, private profit, and in that it has worked perfectly.
You're right, the site was an ex-gas works & one of the most polluted sites in Europe, contaminated water from the site leached into the river Thames, resulting in anything down stream of the site was pretty much life less.
This is not inaccurate, and is exactly what happened in Stratford for the 2012 Olympics, and honestly I don't fault it as a pragmatic strategy. So much of the money from London taxpayers goes to fund the rest of the country (because of how much local authorities rely on money raised to from general taxation rather than council tax, which central government has been trying to wean them off for decades, and a London and the South East are the only 2 areas of the UK that are net profitable so they are used as cash cows) that big projects are one of the few easy ways to invest in regeneration, and in turn better support the wider economy.
I went as a 4 year old. I remember a lot of it vividly. I loved it and remember being profoundly interested. Customer feedback was 86% positive, the narrative that it was unpopular was largely media driven.
Went to it when I was 8. I really loved it, can't remember too much of it but remember being blown away by the whole place. Shame to hear it went into disrepair and parts of it weren't working as they should.
Been a big fan of Fascinating Horror for years, and I have to say that I also really enjoy you cutting loose on these Fascinating Failures. The Wonder Bra tangent and the Tony Blair impression got a good laugh out of me.
Loved my visit. Still remember the WOW. And continue to love live events at the reborn 02. Sold for £1 is the saddest moment in your hard won attempt at mocking the achievement of the Millennium Dome.
A few years ago I became briefly obsessed with what happened to the Dome exhibits. I read that the giant body was sold in parts, but the parts they couldn't sell were buried in the ground, like a real body
I’ll never forget going here aged 7, I remember well the big human body exhibit and the aliens. Then, a few years later I played at the o2 Arena! Then again at the Indigo. A very special place for me. ❤️
I had the ‘pleasure’ of working at the Millenium Dome from about March 2000 to its closure. I was in the background on the News reports about the attempted Jewel theft and I still have items of my uniform and memorabilia knocking about somewhere.
Remember going to this for my Birthday in October that year, honestly the only things I remember (and only vaguely) is the queue outside to get in, the giant body and heart which was basically a glorified escalator, the million pound money display and the Blackadder short which was the only thing I enjoyed about the trip there! I think it may have been this experience which has made me extremely sceptical and wary of all Government funded sponsored projects!
I went when I was 20 a few days before it closed. It had been hammered so much by the press there was no way it could be as bad as they claimed and it wasn't. The Peter Gabriel show and body world were amazing and worth the visit alone. There was a stark contrast in the other areas between good and bad. I do remember the corporate feel being strange. I left feeling that it was a lot better than the press made out, but let down by the weak zones. The most impressive thing is the structure itself and was completely overlooked. Maybe a simpler events space inside would have been better (ie what it is now!).
Like most visitors, I didn't pay full price. Loads of categories of people were given 50% discounts as the organisers were desperate to get people in. I saw about half the exhibits, then gave up and went home, as they were all rubbish. I remember the Learning Zone as being a short film with no dialogue, followed by lots of pub quiz machines with questions that would not tax a 10 year-old. The Body Zone contained very little, and what there was made no sense, such as a load of animatronic brains wearing fezes and telling Tommy Cooper jokes! I enjoyed the floor show and Blackadder Back and Forth, but none of the twelve zones had anything worth seeing.
I absolutely loved the Millenium dome, it inspired a curiosity in me which has lasted my whole life. Which in turn made me passionate for science, and am now studying my PHD! Maybe bored 8 year old boys is who it was built for? Who knows.
Kristian, I just love your humor! Hearing you on FH, one would think that you were a very somber person. Your dry wit is very entertaining! (Especially with the headline from The Sun!) Not being from the U.K., I really knew nothing about the Dome, so this was new to me. Interesting story, great presentation! Can't wait for the next one!
I lived and worked in London at the time, but never went. The biggest problem was not knowing what was supposed to be on display inside. My mother and a a friend, both primary school teachers, took their classes (separately, for free) and sort of enjoyed it, but it was certainly not a "miss this and you'll regret it the rest of your life" thing. I wasn't going to pay the exorbitant entrance fee for an unknown when most people felt it should have been completely free for everyone. If I had been designing the inside displays I'd have gone with a potted human history and the measurement of time, in keeping with the whole 'clock' theme of the dome - but maybe that would have been too educational and not commercial enough. All the London Millennium projects had some problems. The footbridge near St Paul's had to be closed almost immediately to add vibration dampers. The London Eye got stuck while being raised into position and wasn't working for most of the first year. The big firework display on the actual night was a LOT less impressive than all the hype had led us to expect, especially compared to Paris and the Eiffel Tower display. To top it all off we were all panicked about the Y2K bug that might crash our computers, and leave us all stranded with no tubes running to get us home (to say the least). Actually the programmers behind the scenes had done all they needed to to prevent the possible crash, and there were very few instances (that I heard about) of any computer issued.
Oh, I didn't know you'd started another series! This is really cool--a nice little bit of levity (maybe schadenfreude?) to contrast Fascinating Horror. I love the artwork featured, and the anecdotes from your childhood!
I loved it as a kid, even though I only went once on a school trip and I can only remember the giant bodies and the water/oil blobby timer thing I bought as a souvenir.
Got this in my recommended and was like "Hang on, this lad sounds exactly like the fascinating horror voice!" Lmao. Glad I've found another one of your channels to watch ❤️
I visited the dome ! It was unbelievable ! UNBELIEVABLY AWFUL 😖 And ! It was not completed under budget, the "budget" was increased 7 times from conception to completion.
What a memory jolt! I forgot about this. Surprising, because I was living in another country and only saw it in design magazines and news articles, or a couple of TV clips. Thanks, Kristian.
as someone who was 8/9 when i visited, i remember being pretty chuffed. i think theres still a video of me "hosting" a sky news report about the dome somewhere
I was unlucky enough to get free tickets to it, from one of the sponsors. Not many people remember this, but there was a ride in there. You sat inside a small auditorium and the seat rotated around various scenes in the middle depicting the evolution of the world, it was OK. Certainly better than the artificial beach, talking about litter and how a discarded hotdog could last over a 100 years (I only remember it as it was so badly done).. One neat bit in the talk zone, was a 3D body scanner, where you were scanned then set in a digital video of yourself rinding an ET BMX through the sky, you could then download that at home.
Love the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth being shown at the start there. Another project with some failure- The project was originally called the Millennium Tower but was so far behind schedule they didn't start to build it until after 2000 and it didn't open til 2005. The external lift never worked, and they eventually had to abandon trying to get it fixed. It just sits on the outside uselessly. Because the external lift didn't work and they were trying initially to fix it, it wasn't certified safe for disabled access for many months until they eventually got an evac chair.
if they’d put it on Portsdown instead of at sea level , the visitors could see nearly twice as far & we’d see its lighted tip from Hengistbury Head & Devils Dyke 😁👍
"The dome was completed on time and within budget."
🤯🤯🤯🤯
An unexpected plot twist!
Unlike everything else lol
I let out an audible "No way."
Sounds fake xDDD
I CANNOT BELIEVE
Unsettling, overblown, weird and disappointing; so far, it DID represent the new millenium quite accurately.
Except there wasn't an actual bomb.
You describe Peter Gabriel’s 1st album perfectly. i heard how he allegedly had some input into the Dome which definitely explains some of the confusion . i’d always found Petes’ albums too diverse & muddled & some sounded dated like the horrible Dolci Vita song .he may be a very decent guy but in my opinion overblown minimalism was his speciality . by albums 3 & 4 how he’d fussily record the crustiest of African tribes chanting & banging skin or his smashing a windscreen then run it through the earliest extremely expensive Digital equipment & hey presto a sound of 2 extremes mashed . what is the point ? Edit i certainly don’t understand or appreciate Art Rock . But Peter giving Jimmy Pursey the time of day then producing with him when the NME were calling him nasty names can’t be bad at all ❤️🐢
Peter Gabriel made something more rediculous and nonsensical than the Genesis album "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway"? I thought it was mediocre overproduced dreck... until I saw concert footage.
Peter Gabriel is pretty terrible. That's about the nicest thing I can say about that guy.
Up until 2015.
...why has this comment spiraled into a Peter Gabriel debate ?
RUclips, sometimes, I swear.
Btw The Lamb is one of the best albums I've ever listened to and I'll die on that hill.
An arcade owner in my hometown bought all the unsold merch from the Dome as prizes for the arcade machines. My friends used to win them in hopes that they would be valuable in the future. Their investment hasn't paid off so far.
At least he will be set for the next millennium. Or his 7 times removed grandchildren, they can be on Antiques roadshow 3000
@@MrSCOTTtheSCOT Antiques Hoverway Hologram
I worked for O2 around the time they bought it. They invited as many staff as possible from their shops and call centres along with a plus 1 for the fire testing event before it opened. They took us down from Leeds on a coach. Put us all up in hotels and took us to the event. We had Mr vanilla ( Dermot O'Leary) present it. They had Tom Jones, Basement Jaxx, The Kaiser Chiefs and Peter Kaye as entertainment! It was ace. The queues for food were big as some stuff wasn't open. But we had a great time. But it didn't cost us a penny. Back when companies gave a crap about their staff.
Ah yes, we used to have tnt open days at atherstone
Remember when companies gave a crap :( damn
O2 have not bought it. It is just naming rights.
It may had been a failure on paper, but for me as a 5 year old I found it absolutely awe inspiring and it holds a really special place in my heart. the y2k aesthetic of this thing became imprinted into my soul lol. The Millennium Dome was the first ever interactive attraction I had experienced and essentially made me fall in love with theme parks. I now work in the theme park industry, so I have a lot to thank for this thing.
Sometimes I think it's worth having a go at something even if it does turn out to be a failure. Oh and hopefully not with taxpayer money.
I agree, as a kid I found it fascinating and the body Zone has been permanently etched into my mind in a good way
Same, I was a bit sceptical to click on this video considering my experience at the dome was so positive as a child. The sheer scale of things inside and the focus on visual science was captivating to me. For me it did represent that optimistic feeling of the millennium.
I was 15 and I loved it! Such mad exhibitions etc and a very different place indeed. Proper unique memories.
That was my thoughts! This properly ignited my interest in science and technology as a 9 year old. I don’t think I would be as interested in coding now if it wasn’t for the day my parents took me to the millennium dome
Me too! I loved it as a 7 year old. I still call it the millenium dome instead of O2 because I have enjoyable memories of the millenium due to going there.
I'm baffled that anybody thought that this would attract enough visitors to cover the monthly costs
They probably didn't. Politicians don't think about what projects cost, let alone what money they can bring in. They only think about whether their name will be under it.
Here in The Netherlands we're having a nice new project o re-vamp a train station and while we're at it: create four new lanes for a highway. And because some politician say buildings on top of a tunnel once, they are now trying to dig that highway into a tunnel.
Have a wild guess at the cost.
They started out with 1,6bln euro's. Then they started to do some more serious work and we're now at an estimated cost of 5.5billion euro's, and they are considering dropping on of the tunnels to save cost. The fact that that makes the other tunnel useless is something they have not realised yet.
Oh, and this is for a stretch of road less than a single mile long.
Perfect example to destroy the stereotype of the 'best and the brightest'! 😂
I’m baffled he thought anyone outside Britain (aka 180 other countries) would have known of the millennium dome. And I do love the introspective comment of ‘one of the most popular venues in the world’
@@xr6ladit's a slightly strange measure, but the O2 arena is the second highest grossing large concert venue behind Madison Square Garden. So it's 'popular' at an international level, but really just has a huge local audience to serve.
I cant remember anyone at the time wanting this to be build. It was dogshit then and dogshit now.
I’ll be 32 in December and remember visiting the Millennium Dome when I was 8 years old or so. I grew up in a rural community in Somerset in a single-mother household with very little money. Nonetheless, after moaning that I wanted to visit the Millennium Dome more than anything, my Mum managed to scrape together enough money to take me. I remember we got up incredibly early and got the train and changed over to the Tube when we eventually reached London Paddington, a journey that took maybe 3 hours back then but felt like it took an eternity to a child. Coming from the middle of nowhere, visiting the Dome, city transport and infrastructure , and London in general completely changed my life and visiting was a formative experience. When I was old enough for a part-time job I travelled to London often for gigs, galleries and exhibitions, and the theatre etc. Once I turned 18 I moved to London, followed by Bristol, and my 20’s was well spent in these amazing cities. I’ve recently moved to the Scottish Highlands; London is too busy for me to live, but every time I have to visit London I get the same sense of childlike wonder that started because of the Millennium Dome!
Same! I'm 32 in February so would have been same age as you when I went. It was an amazing and unforgettable experience for me. I still call it millenium dome when I visit the O2 because of the memories.
His impersonation of Blair sounds like my impersonation of Stuart Little.
It was brilliantly bad eh 🤣
Fitting for such a creature
I thought there were elements of Chris Eubank thrown in there too.
Modern countries: we should build the modern equivalent of a colossus!
Also Modern countries: but we’re on a budget so don’t spend more than 29 bucks on it.
758 million is not examply 29 buck, and this tent is not even worth 7.5 million.
@@lo2740 you must lead a very boring unfulfilling life.
@@lo2740 you’re probably gonna drop dead of shock when you hear how much the colossus must’ve cost back then.
We've got no money for benefits or the nhs, but billions for submarines and domes!
To save costs, better build the colossus out of cheaper materials. Like clay - it's everywhere, it's been there for AGES, surely it's good enough for the legs!
The yellow masts literally look like cranes working on an unfinished building site.. giving the dome a 'stuck in construction purgatory' look that I can't get over
100% agreed. Also minor hints of the abandoned gasworks.
My thoughts too
I don’t agree
Odd as they look, they actually serve their purpose wonderfully - the mostly-tensile structure allows for a huge open space within the dome, with only those few narrow steel columns around the edge to interrupt it. The vast amount of indoors space, sheltered from the weather and unbroken by structural elements, makes an ideal flexible venue for large events.
THIS! ⬆ 💯%
I love we got little tibits of your childhood in this video. The art of you imagining the dome was adorable. The Iron Giant would have 100% made this arena cooler.
Also we're pretty close in age!
The story about the odd painting of the sad boy almost made me choke on a chip from laughing! 😂
I actually went *with* school, on a coach from York. It was the first time I’d deliberately been to London, having changed trains there with my mum many years earlier. I took a picture of The Body sculpture, that and the big open space where the acrobatics show was are basically the only things I remember, and I didn’t bring back any souvenirs. It was strange and underwhelming, and I had to have something like 90% attendance to qualify for the trip. The whole thing was wonderfully surreal. I’ve been to the O2 once since during the 2012 Olympics
Sold to a private company for nothing. Best example of neoliberalism ever.
Yes, that's how neoliberalism works.
enshittification
I was 6 when we visited and I can honestly say I remember so much of it (not much of the hype leading up to it). I can remember the acrobat show and watching blackadder and how the play zone felt so futuristic and generally just a buzz of excitement around the whole place. I visit a lot of museums and it’s like no other experience I’ve had since. I think the whole idea was to simply document such a significant event in human history. No one in the next 800/900 years will witness the turn of a millennium. The exhibition was just a way of encapsulating shared experiences, our history, our expectations for the future, contemporary culture and imaginative ponderings. So while I can’t definitively say it was worth the money they spent (😂) it certainly filled little me with wonder and has given me lasting memories of that feeling.
That is a really good point. I went there too, I was 12. Just like you very vivid memories of going there. I went through a little period recently where I became obsessed with that point in history and revisiting my little experiences at the time. There was this sense of “the future is through that door and all we have to do is walk through it”. Do you remember watching “tomorrow’s world?”. The Millenium Dome had that sort of vibe about it to me.
i remember the Blackadder, but only because you reminded me... only other thing i remember was getting a chicken burger from mcdonalds.
Yeah I was around 9-10 and it was amazing. I don’t get why people of our age, like the guy in the vid, talk about it negatively. Like he said, maybe it was worse toward the end of the year but for me it was genuinely really good. I was pretty sad when they got rid of it and wouldn’t mind them bringing back an updated version. The dome (as it’ll always be called) shouldn’t be an events space. It should forever live as a home for the weird and wonderful that can also educate.
@@danielelvin4508 I can't believe the negative tone of the video, I thought the Dome was fabulous.
It was my happy place too!!! I was excited for it to be built as I knew it would be futuristic and exciting. I went there twice. Once with my sisters and once with my old friends. It did feel very futuristic, I still remember some of the zones. Home planet was very futuristic and Journey was my favourite. I was sad when it closed. I have visited the O2 few times. I hated it. I wish it would be named Millennium Dome again. The naming rights expire in 2027. Fingers crossed.
Love the humor. "Tragically sober."
HUMOUR
Yes!! In this episode the narrator abandoned his neutrality and delivered very authentic British sarcasm. Loved it!!!!
a genuine hearty LOL at the Blair impersonation
I could practically hear the thumb pointing 😁
Perf! 😅
I went to this as a child. I have very fond memories of it, this video reminded me of the big heart.
"John Minor" is such a perfect indicator of the tone of the video, which stands in such stark contrast against the entire body of content that is Fascinating Horror, that it's already made this one of my favourite videos on the platform. Bravo, sir!
I actually loved it at the time but would like to revisit it as an adult rather than a 15 year old on his first trip to London. It was a school trip and we had to fly down. I loved the big interactive music bit with the gigantic piano, and the bit with the Bond vehicles was cool.
I went with my wife and three young children. We had a great day out. We loved every minute of being there and seeing everything the dome included, and especially the aerial show.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing!
I remember going to this, we were so excited to go to London, and that part of the day was amazing, going on the tube for the first time, seeing the sights
Then we got to the Millenium Dome and we were all shocked at how blisteringly shit it was. It was little more than a pretentious art collection with massive queues despite the underwhelming number of people there.
All that money and the only part of it I remember is buying my first 100% recycled pencil (which was also crap lol)
Thankfully the day in London was fun enough that I don't look back at the experience too negatively
Great video as always!
Yes I was hugely disappointed. The only thing worth the entrance money was the aerial ballet/acrobat show, which was simply fantastic. But the rest was rubbish.
I’d love to know what your expectations were for a 100% recycled pencil that proved to be “crap”? 😂
'blisteringly shit'
I have to remember that one
Kristen, I've been watching you for over 4 years now - I've written 12 scripts for you - I've even had the pleasure of conversing with you about non-script related things. This, and I truly mean it when I say this, is your magnum opus (so far). You are professional and concise with _Fascinating Horror,_ yet this video, while also being concise and professional, allowed you to show your more 'sarcastic' side and sprinkle humoUr in. The combination of personal anectdotes and custom art as well - This video allowed you to show that you can do and be so much more than another Disaster Documentary RUclipsr (not to imply that's a bad thing, hee hee hee). I also love the editing style, especially with the 'small' animation and life you gave a few of the PNG's. It really adds to the production value of this video.
In short - Hilarious, snarky, well put together, and basically what I aspire to be able to create with my own projects.
11/10 would pay £758M again.
Its Humour NOT BLOODY, HUMOR.
Fascinating Horror is a great channel!
It’s also embarrassing but not unexpected for a millennial that the bra advert slogan went right over his head. Millennials never seem to see things right before themselves. I’m male and not even in the U.K. but even I can see the reference connections.
@@UnbelievableEricthegiraffe100%.
@@UnbelievableEricthegiraffe Jesus, it was a simple typo on my old crappy phone. No need to go into a tizzy.
I saw 2 or 3 shows at the O2 arena, including a rock concert. The concert was very good, but since the venue was never designed as a concert hall, the acoustic is terrible, due to the concrete floor and large open space.
I went in November - I remember that boy statue now you mention it, and the Blackadder show now you mention it ot too. I really don't remember a whole lot about it though which probably sums up the experience. My biggest memory though was that everything in the gift shop was reduced and I'd just had my birthday. I brought a pen a notebook and a sand timer thing but the sand is blue goo- I still have the pen and timer thing on my desk as an adult.
Pedantic I know but.... the year 2000 was not the first year of a new millennium, it was the last year of the previous one. For example, in a decade, year ten is the last year of the decade, the next one begins at the beginning of year 11.
Australia got it right celebrating the new millennium a year later.
I recall going into a relaxation room and lying down before scanning the silent pod when I realised Robbie Coltrane was there. Highlight of the exhibition!
Ticket price paid for!
I volunteer at a local museum. About a mile away, there is a big, hyped-up, VERY visible place run by a chain that is based here. Many people decide to visit the museum before heading there, usually with their kids.
The thing is, everyone around here knows that the place is a rip-off. It costs a lot of money and there isn't much to do or see. It's truly a "tourist trap" to the Nth degree, but from the outside looking in, it looks totally amazing. When museum visitors tell me "We're heading to [lousy place]," I just smile and nod. But we have had people say they enjoyed our museum far better -- even though we aren't flashy or nearly as well-known outside a niche group.
This Dome reminds me a lot of that tourist trap.
Ripley's?
@chessie2003 No, it is called the Turkey Hill Experience. There's a chain of convenience stores here called Turkey Hill. I volunteer at the National Watch & Clock Museum.
Sounds like Wall Drug Vs. Badlands National Park.
One is a desolate wasteland with nothing but uninhabitable clay for hundreds of miles. Looking out across the water-starved landscape, the bones of the past promise you a paradise, but one that melts away once you arrive, leaving nothing but a pit in your stomach and the taste of ash in your mouth. A place where there is truly & utterly nothint.
And, of course, the other is Badlands National Park, one of the most beautiful places in the country
Visited twice that year, it was a brilliant day out. The building is still there and still providing entertainment, has for for millions of people at this point. . Grand schemes sometimes are what's need to lift life from a mindless drudge into something more spectacular.
I am not easily creeped out, but the Crouching Boy is going to haunt me.
I had forgotten about that for nearly 25 years! I wouldn't have minded not remembering it again.
When we visited my family said he looked just like me, so I didn't find him particularly scary.
@@zachvalue Jimmy Savile _was_ still prowling around...
I actually thought it was cool in a scary way coz he looked so realistic, he’d be good in a haunted house type attraction if he looked a bit more scary, I’m sure that would freak people out
@@TayWoode I took it to mean he was a child finally entering the big wide scary world and he seemed apprehensive about which path to take (all the different zones.) The model must have been about the same age as me but even back then that's what I thought.
I was 22 when I visited, and can remember almost nothing about it. Says a lot.
I was about 26 and working for a small company in the themed entertainment industry... The Boss decided it would be great R&D for us so those of us who were interested got a free ticket and we went during a work day. All expenses paid trip to London to see the Millennium Dome... Why not 😁👍 It was weird, interesting, a bit rubbish and I can barely remember anything about it now 😂👍
I did enjoy watching a YT video of the attempted robbery, very interesting 😊
Sounds like your mind is blocking out what was no doubt a pretty in-tents experience?
😂😂😂
@@theshamanarchist5441 funny 🤣👏👏
This is hilariously scathing!
One of my earliest memories. This place was amazing on the millennium.
At least it made a cameo in the latest Bond movie at the time! Sure it was arguably not a great movie, but the BMW Z8 was cool until it got cut in half.. what were we talking about again?
The BMW ad where even the motorcycle involved a close up of the BMW badge? I saw it at the cinema with my dad, Tomorrow Never Dies? There was a BMW parked in the cinema. It also features one of the world’s first smartphones!
Okay no, The World Is Not Enough, Tomorrow Never Dies was too early. Still had BMW sponsorship! 😅
The Crouching Boy Statue was interesting.
To gain access to the Moving Parts, a Technician used to gain entry around the back, after pulling down the Trouser Waistband.😂😂😂.
I remember vividly, it was the time that Gary Glitters misdemeanours first came to Light.
Has podesta vibes definitely
Oh god it moved. God I have to sleep tonight.
Sounds like that Wizard of Oz scene!
How long did you spend making this up
I’m glad you mentioned the Blackadder special and the acrobatic show with music by Peter Gabriel, which was released on his album “Ovo” The BBC had a very revealing 4 part documentary which was released at the end of 1999, “The Dome: Trouble at the Big Top: Our Finest Hour”. This had many scenes which captured the difficulty of how to fill the dome. I visited the dome twice during that year, the second time was in December near the end. My expectations were very low having watched the documentary, so I quite enjoyed my visits. The dome was never engineered to be a long term permanent structure, some of this contributed to the build speed and was part of the design. Some of the build cost were due to the reclamation requirements to make the site safe for people. The whole thing is emblematic of how the state has know idea about what people want, and free market economics will endeavour to make something profitable, if it is at all possible. At least some of the profits the O2 venue makes each year come back to the government in tax. They may have given it away for free and gifted the new owner the Jubilee line station and other infrastructure, but in the long term many people will benefit. Better than it never happening at all, or the whole thing being torn down after 1 year of use.
i recognized your voice immediately. great to hear your amazing narration about less scary topics
I love your dry humour on this channel.
This video reminded me that there's a time capsule buried somewhere in my mums back garden with a load of dome merch and Y2K stuff in it. Im one of the few people that actually enjoyed it, so much so that I went a couple of times. There was a a lot of artsy conceptual stuff going on that was a bit wierd and completely lost on me, but I remember it just feeling very futuristic (for the time) and wanting to know how all the stuff worked. There was a single ride type attraction that had some pretty good effects work in it (again... for the time). they probably should have included more attractions like that and less weird sculptures.
I remember visiting on a school trip and although it was a decent enough visit, I didn't understand or appreciate most of it. Even then, I didn't really see the point of the exhibits. Some of it had value - I remember there being a display of cars of the future, with people in lab coats walking around. I remember noting that the cars looked 'weird', but today they'd look somewhat pedestrian. One thing I loved about the place was the aesthetic - they went balls deep into what 1999 society thought was futuristic, so you had that fantastic aesthetic you got a lot of at the time.
I've always thought that 'well, the dome project was a bit of a waste of time, but at least it wasn't lost because o2 bought it", but I didn't actually know it was sold for £1. o2 must be absolutely cackling over that.
this may be your best video yet. funnily written, great art shown inbetween the real pictures of the thing tied in with your own personal experiences....fantastic. i may be american and have no ties to this thing but you've really sold how people felt about this thing
It was just built too soon! You needed to grow up and record this hilarious video! Then the owners could have had it available on a headset for a walking tour! I would have paid big money to experience this video live! Laughed & laughed😂😂. Well done❤
I personally have fond memories as well as souvenirs from going here in 2000, a good way to mark the millennium. It felt very futuristic and was a brilliant day out.
I went to the preview day on the 19th December 1999. My friend's dad was the financial director of the dome.
I SO badly wanted to visit this as a kid. Told my dad years later and he said “Why didn’t you say, I was also desperate to go but I thought you’d find it boring!”
Never quite got over that. Although this video has helped a bit 😅
I was about 30 at the time and I liked it. I went twice. All the attractions were of high quality, if sometimes a bit strange. It was expensive to build, but so was the Great Exhibition and The Festival of Britain, which preceded it. We don't have an event on that scale often. It was a historic experience. 24 years later the temporary dome is still there and a great indoor venue. I'm sorry for people who didn't and don't appreciate it.
Ah the millennium dome. We went over to london on a school trip from Ireland and were thoroughly excited.
After all, this was seen in the opening Bond chase from TWINE. Once we got inside... it was kinda dumb. I cant actually remember anything besides a bunch of nerf guns and a telly that showed you 30 years older with a queue that was too long.
However, they had blackadder on the big screen which had the swear bastard in the closing song so for 11 year olds it was worth the trip.
Oof, the lack of creative direction is just oozing from every direction of those haphazard displays. It's funny though because it really does feel like a showcase of it's time, a world in massive transition, the internet as we know it still in it's infancy, right on the border before viral videos and social media took off, it was a very weird time in general.
Honestly, the whole vibe of the inside of the dome is my preferred aesthetic. Early 2000s optimism and design. A mix of the digital and the analogue.
«Odd» is absolutely the perfect description of this place at the time 😅
I went there as a kid when it opened and enjoyed it. The exhibits I feel were mostly aimed at families which does limit the amount of visitors as you know, kids need to be in school and parents are too tired to go out to london in the evening. I imagine the place was only really busy weekends and during the holidays.
I'm literally eating goat cheese while watching this, lmao
With the new millennium starting…the day after it was planned to close. Brilliant! Who decided the old millennium would be only 999 years?
I went there soon after it opened. I found it a bit weird but thought the show in the middle was very well done. Also of course the Blackadder special!
This is funny to me because growing up in 00s we went to the Millennium Dome and it was incredible! We were one of the schools who got free tickets.
I remember a mad part of it which was platforms everywhere, on the platforms were cannons the entire area was littered with foam balls that could be loaded and fired from the cannons. It was a giant free for all.
Did BAE sponsor those too I wonder 🤔
This has to be my favorite of your videos. It really made my day. Brilliant Tony Blair impression, I was rolling thinking of Blair thinking of a bomb threat while on a tour. That seems very Blair
"Clutching his family"! I wonder what Blair's wife said when they returned to No. 10!!
The great architect Le Corbusier said “form follows function”. In other words, you have a definite purpose in mind before construction. They built the Dome and then couldn’t decide what they were going to use it for.
Frank Lloyd Wright said “form follows function”
@@mambisa2690 actually, it was Frank Lloyd Wright’s teacher, the genius architect Louis Sullivan who coined the phrase in 1896:
‘Whether it be the sweeping eagle in his flight, or the open apple-blossom, the toiling work-horse, the blithe swan, the branching oak, the winding stream at its base, the drifting clouds, over all the coursing sun, form ever follows function, and this is the law. Where function does not change, form does not change...
It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic, of all things physical and metaphysical, of all things human and all things superhuman, of all true manifestations of the head, of the heart, of the soul, that the life is recognizable in its expression, that form ever follows function. This is the law.’
It looks like a giant jellyfish got its kneecaps sliced and died upside down on top of the city.
Er...jellyfish don't have kneecaps, or any bones at all for that matter.
I loved it - I visited twice and thoroughly enjoyed both visits. The building is still iconic - a decade later I saw Prince perform there during his residency.
I can say with complete honesty our family had a great day out there, the show was amazing, Blackadder was good, and we still talk about the flying spaceships...so for us it was great.
The sarcasm dripping from Your final comment is delicious !:-)
"I love the smell of my shit. It reminds me of my superiority"
I seem to remember it was pretty cool. I like weird stuff, so it suited me down to the ground. Still got some 'plastic' pencils recycled from plastic bottles and maybe a keyring. Great documentary of it all.
Please don't run out of these anytime soon. Your stuff is so educational and yet hilarious. Really appreciate you brother.
The Millennium Tent has been a complete success, but first you must recall why it was built:
1) The land around the area where the dome was to be built had been polluted by toxic waste by private industry and was unusable.
2) Developers were not be willing to pay the cost of cleaning up the land.
3) The then Tory government decided to use public funding to clean up the land in London (no funding for the rest of the country that they had completely fucked up), create a stupid tent, then after a time long enough for the electorate to forget what had happened, sell the land off to private property developers.
In summary, it was an exercise in public risk, private profit, and in that it has worked perfectly.
You're right, the site was an ex-gas works & one of the most polluted sites in Europe, contaminated water from the site leached into the river Thames, resulting in anything down stream of the site was pretty much life less.
This is not inaccurate, and is exactly what happened in Stratford for the 2012 Olympics, and honestly I don't fault it as a pragmatic strategy.
So much of the money from London taxpayers goes to fund the rest of the country (because of how much local authorities rely on money raised to from general taxation rather than council tax, which central government has been trying to wean them off for decades, and a London and the South East are the only 2 areas of the UK that are net profitable so they are used as cash cows) that big projects are one of the few easy ways to invest in regeneration, and in turn better support the wider economy.
Yup, built for £85 million and sold for £1... having lost a billion in the meantime... an impressive transfer of public funds into the private sector.
My only memory of visiting the dome was the giant, realistic beating heart inside the Body, a woman behind us passed out when she saw it
That exhibition was the best I've ever seen, especially the interactive exhibits/rooms.
One of my early memories is of this place. Surreal fun for kid me at least. Though even then I have distinct memories of how devoid it was of people.
I went as a 4 year old. I remember a lot of it vividly. I loved it and remember being profoundly interested. Customer feedback was 86% positive, the narrative that it was unpopular was largely media driven.
I really like the fascinating failures. Hope you’ll do more of them!
Went to it when I was 8. I really loved it, can't remember too much of it but remember being blown away by the whole place. Shame to hear it went into disrepair and parts of it weren't working as they should.
Looks like part of a sea mine.
Insert Hot Fuzz farmer scene here 😂
Been a big fan of Fascinating Horror for years, and I have to say that I also really enjoy you cutting loose on these Fascinating Failures. The Wonder Bra tangent and the Tony Blair impression got a good laugh out of me.
Loved my visit. Still remember the WOW. And continue to love live events at the reborn 02. Sold for £1 is the saddest moment in your hard won attempt at mocking the achievement of the Millennium Dome.
A few years ago I became briefly obsessed with what happened to the Dome exhibits. I read that the giant body was sold in parts, but the parts they couldn't sell were buried in the ground, like a real body
Ha ! That flasher was awesome. What a photobomb 😂
I’ll never forget going here aged 7, I remember well the big human body exhibit and the aliens. Then, a few years later I played at the o2 Arena! Then again at the Indigo. A very special place for me. ❤️
I had the ‘pleasure’ of working at the Millenium Dome from about March 2000 to its closure. I was in the background on the News reports about the attempted Jewel theft and I still have items of my uniform and memorabilia knocking about somewhere.
Oh and fun fact - I worked with Sarah Pascoe - now a well known comedian.
How old were you at the time ?
@@Maraguzzi I was 22 and in my prime! 🤣
Remember going to this for my Birthday in October that year, honestly the only things I remember (and only vaguely) is the queue outside to get in, the giant body and heart which was basically a glorified escalator, the million pound money display and the Blackadder short which was the only thing I enjoyed about the trip there! I think it may have been this experience which has made me extremely sceptical and wary of all Government funded sponsored projects!
The only good thing about it was the Blackadder special.
I went to the Millennium Dome and the highlight for me was the Blackadder film, a lot of the exhibits inside it to me had no relevance to anything.
I went when I was 20 a few days before it closed. It had been hammered so much by the press there was no way it could be as bad as they claimed and it wasn't. The Peter Gabriel show and body world were amazing and worth the visit alone. There was a stark contrast in the other areas between good and bad. I do remember the corporate feel being strange. I left feeling that it was a lot better than the press made out, but let down by the weak zones. The most impressive thing is the structure itself and was completely overlooked. Maybe a simpler events space inside would have been better (ie what it is now!).
Like most visitors, I didn't pay full price. Loads of categories of people were given 50% discounts as the organisers were desperate to get people in. I saw about half the exhibits, then gave up and went home, as they were all rubbish. I remember the Learning Zone as being a short film with no dialogue, followed by lots of pub quiz machines with questions that would not tax a 10 year-old. The Body Zone contained very little, and what there was made no sense, such as a load of animatronic brains wearing fezes and telling Tommy Cooper jokes! I enjoyed the floor show and Blackadder Back and Forth, but none of the twelve zones had anything worth seeing.
I absolutely loved the Millenium dome, it inspired a curiosity in me which has lasted my whole life. Which in turn made me passionate for science, and am now studying my PHD!
Maybe bored 8 year old boys is who it was built for? Who knows.
I remember going as a kid. Weird as hell. But, I look back on those memories fondly.
Kristian, I just love your humor! Hearing you on FH, one would think that you were a very somber person. Your dry wit is very entertaining! (Especially with the headline from The Sun!) Not being from the U.K., I really knew nothing about the Dome, so this was new to me. Interesting story, great presentation! Can't wait for the next one!
The Millenium Dome reminds me of the car that Homer Simpson designed.
Maybe it would've worked if they added speed holes
I lived and worked in London at the time, but never went.
The biggest problem was not knowing what was supposed to be on display inside. My mother and a a friend, both primary school teachers, took their classes (separately, for free) and sort of enjoyed it, but it was certainly not a "miss this and you'll regret it the rest of your life" thing. I wasn't going to pay the exorbitant entrance fee for an unknown when most people felt it should have been completely free for everyone.
If I had been designing the inside displays I'd have gone with a potted human history and the measurement of time, in keeping with the whole 'clock' theme of the dome - but maybe that would have been too educational and not commercial enough.
All the London Millennium projects had some problems. The footbridge near St Paul's had to be closed almost immediately to add vibration dampers. The London Eye got stuck while being raised into position and wasn't working for most of the first year. The big firework display on the actual night was a LOT less impressive than all the hype had led us to expect, especially compared to Paris and the Eiffel Tower display.
To top it all off we were all panicked about the Y2K bug that might crash our computers, and leave us all stranded with no tubes running to get us home (to say the least). Actually the programmers behind the scenes had done all they needed to to prevent the possible crash, and there were very few instances (that I heard about) of any computer issued.
£758 Million seems like a bargain compared to the £36 Billion for Track 'N Trace. Or even the £200 Million Mone got.
Oh, I didn't know you'd started another series! This is really cool--a nice little bit of levity (maybe schadenfreude?) to contrast Fascinating Horror. I love the artwork featured, and the anecdotes from your childhood!
They could have left the naked man and just give an artist a packet of crayons to put some clothes on him, nope let's reprint it.
I loved it as a kid, even though I only went once on a school trip and I can only remember the giant bodies and the water/oil blobby timer thing I bought as a souvenir.
Got this in my recommended and was like "Hang on, this lad sounds exactly like the fascinating horror voice!" Lmao. Glad I've found another one of your channels to watch ❤️
I visited the dome ! It was unbelievable ! UNBELIEVABLY AWFUL 😖 And ! It was not completed under budget, the "budget" was increased 7 times from conception to completion.
What a memory jolt! I forgot about this. Surprising, because I was living in another country and only saw it in design magazines and news articles, or a couple of TV clips. Thanks, Kristian.
as someone who was 8/9 when i visited, i remember being pretty chuffed. i think theres still a video of me "hosting" a sky news report about the dome somewhere
I was unlucky enough to get free tickets to it, from one of the sponsors. Not many people remember this, but there was a ride in there. You sat inside a small auditorium and the seat rotated around various scenes in the middle depicting the evolution of the world, it was OK. Certainly better than the artificial beach, talking about litter and how a discarded hotdog could last over a 100 years (I only remember it as it was so badly done).. One neat bit in the talk zone, was a 3D body scanner, where you were scanned then set in a digital video of yourself rinding an ET BMX through the sky, you could then download that at home.
This is real life comedy gold. Great research and writing
Top quality Teabag Tony impression, nearly spat my coffee all over the dog😂
I worked on the dome and was paid well for it. We would all shake our heads with bewilderment at the crap that was going up. Total garbage!
Love the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth being shown at the start there. Another project with some failure-
The project was originally called the Millennium Tower but was so far behind schedule they didn't start to build it until after 2000 and it didn't open til 2005.
The external lift never worked, and they eventually had to abandon trying to get it fixed. It just sits on the outside uselessly.
Because the external lift didn't work and they were trying initially to fix it, it wasn't certified safe for disabled access for many months until they eventually got an evac chair.
if they’d put it on Portsdown instead of at sea level , the visitors could see nearly twice as far & we’d see its lighted tip from Hengistbury Head & Devils Dyke 😁👍
I think there was something similar in Glasgow, it never worked either.