Incredible 360° full dome adaptation of ‘Our Story with David Attenborough’ to premiere at Plymouth’s Market Hall

10th April 2026

On Friday 8 May, a brand-new dome version of ‘Our Story with David Attenborough’ will premiere in Plymouth’s state-of-the-art Market Hall Dome. The launch of this new adaptation of the immersive experience coincides with the master storyteller’s 100th birthday, sharing his message of how important we all are in writing our planet’s next chapter.

The team from Plymouth’s Real Ideas Community Interest Company (CIC) have collaborated with the award-winning production team at Bristol-based Open Planet Studios to rework the breathtaking Attenborough-led storytelling experience that combines cutting-edge animations and stunning projections, real-world footage and full 360° immersion.

The 50-minute-long cinematic piece features Sir David as he draws on his lifetime of exploration to tell this incredible tale of people and planet. Until now, a version of ‘Our Story’ has only been available at the Natural History Museum in London, where the show has been highly popular.

However, from the 8 May, audiences will be able to witness the transformative piece in a powerful new way in Plymouth’s world-class Immersive Dome.

In the spirit of Real Ideas, a VIC (Very Important Community) preview screening on 7 May will see 100 residents from the surrounding Devonport neighbourhood invited to attend the very first showing of ‘Our Story’ outside of London, on the eve of Sir David Attenborough’s birthday.

And to mark the launch, Real Ideas is issuing a call-out to anyone in the Southwest who also turns 100 on the 8 May. With over 16,600 centenarians in the UK, the hope is that someone in the Devon or Cornwall area will be interested in being the official ribbon cutter at the Plymouth VIC experience.

Market Hall’s Immersive Dome is the first-of-its-kind in Europe, fitted with a custom projection system that covers a 210° field of view alongside an epic 19.1 speaker sound system. The dome provides an awe-inspiring new way of witnessing the epic storytelling of Sir David Attenborough and the Open Planet Studios production team. Delivering a captivating and personal sensory experience, viewers will be fully immersed in the sequences as they surround the dome. 

Sir David Attenborough said: “In this new immersive experience, we explore two stories – the 4-billion-year epic of the Earth, and our own, relatively brief chapter, the story of humankind. These two stories are not, at this moment, aligned – but they could be. My hope is that anyone visiting the ‘Our Story’ experience will come to understand how important humanity is in writing the planet’s next chapter. ”

The ‘Our Story’ experience documents the captivating, interwoven tale of ourselves and our planet as never before, starting from Earth’s earliest beginnings. Enthralling visuals of our natural world will bring the Immersive Dome’s walls to life, with audiences encountering the emergence of Homo sapiens; our closest relatives, the gorillas; and discovering our impact on, and subsequent efforts to protect, the great whales of the oceans.

Sir David Attenborough not only explores the impact that we are having on our planet but also takes us to a positive future in which we come to work with the Earth rather than against it. The experience is accompanied by an original score by Tony Award and Olivier Award-nominated composer, Nick Powell.

Lindsey Hall, Chief Executive of Real Ideas, said: “When we first thought about building an Immersive Dome, we dreamt about staging transformative content and experiences that would help viewers see how they might positively change the world around them. With Sir David Attenborough at the helm of ‘Our Story’ , this production, created and re-honed for the dome by Open Planet Studios, achieves everything we dreamt of. ”

Lindsey continues, “We are delighted that the communities of Plymouth and the Southwest will be the first people, outside of London, to experience such a pioneering immersive experience. Plymouth is a city of innovation; home to Europe’s first-of-its-kind 360 dome at Market Hall, the first National Marine Park and the place so many voyages of discovery left from. It is very fitting that such an innovative experience that challenges us all to look after our planet opens here. And in doing so, marking 100 years of this legendary storyteller, hopefully with another Centenarian in our midst, we will be collectively sharing a very special moment indeed. ”

Jonnie Hughes, Co-Founder and Director of Open Planet Studios, said: “We designed this experience to captivate audiences with the epic tale of people and planet as never seen before. Bringing ‘Our Story’ to Plymouth’s Immersive Dome with our southwest collaborators, Real Ideas, is a natural and exciting next step – allowing us to creatively reimagine the experience in a completely new format, for new audiences. The result is a truly spectacular and all-encompassing show, guided by the greatest storyteller for our planet, Sir David Attenborough. I am certain visitors of all ages will come away feeling inspired about the future and their role in shaping the next chapter of our planet’s story. ” 

‘Our Story’ with Sir David Attenborough at the Market Hall Immersive Dome will open to the public on the evening of 8 May. Tickets start from £17 for adults and £10.50 for a child, plus booking fee for off-peak screenings. Tickets will be available to book from the 8th of April via: www.realideas.org

Residents in the streets surrounding the Market Hall in Devonport will receive an official invitation to register for the limited to 100 spots at the special VIC ‘Our Story’ screening on the evening of 7 May through their letterboxes. Attendance will be on a first-come-first-served basis.

Residents within the Southwest who turn 100 on 8 May (or their family members) are encouraged to contact Real Ideas to take up the offer of being the very special guest, alongside their carers and family members, to officially open the VIC ‘Our Story’ screening on 7 May 2026. They, or their families, are encouraged to contact enquiries@realideas.org ASAP to highlight their birthdate and their keenness to be involved.