Thread by @MegatronMemreez

This is Megatron Memories. We've been researching the Megatron/Spaceship McDonald's since last summer. We have plenty of exclusive material and have tracked down a lot of people who were personally involved. We'd love to share just a little of what we've learnt. 1/26 (Yep, 26.)

@markblundellf1 @cbmacademy @nonstandardmcd @Q_Review @RootsNew @computermuseum @HuntsPostDebbie @pdonnett

Megatron was the brainchild of local businessman Danny Blundell. He had ambitious plans for a whole chain of restaurants. He visited film sets at Pinewood and consulted with various architects and special effects companies. He even wanted a hologram to greet customers. 3/26

Ambition clearly runs in the family - Danny's son @markblundellf1 became a successful racing driver, and niece @cbmacademy is an Oscar and BAFTA Award-winning make-up designer. 4/26

The unique final design was created by architect Graham Campbell, who still works on a semi-retired basis out of Godmanchester today. Here's an early sketch Graham sent to us, c.1987, when the project was called Aliens. It's remarkably similar to the finished product. 5/26

The architectural model was made by Richard Pendell, who has a long career as a modelmaker. He's worked with Gerry Anderson, made Direct Line's red telephone, remodelled the Sultan of Brunei's car, and even worked on some classified projects(!). He now makes custom guitars. 6/26

Here's the Megatron under construction. Pictures courtesy of Graham Campbell. So sad to think that the building would only last about 18 years. 7/26

Megatron had its grand opening on 26th March 1990. The accompanying lightshow led to the police getting reports of UFOs! Local schoolchildren were invited to attend and kid's TV presenter @andycrane64 was in attendance. Some of the staff recall pinching his bum! 8/26

Also present for the opening was @RogerBunnage, playing the role of Arbie the Robot. Arbie was a familiar sight on TV in the 80s and 90s. Here he is on Top of the Pops with the Pointer Sisters in 1984. 9/26

Robot duties were soon taken over by the unforgettable @ClappertonRobin aka Cyber-Tech Unit R0661E. He's performed as various robot characters since the 1980s. He's diversified his businesses since then, but can still be seen performing as Primo the Robot at special events. 10/26

One of the most memorable features of the Megatron was the pioneering touchscreen ordering system, provided by Acorn Computers. We're lucky enough to have found this video of a computer in action, c.1991, thanks to Debbie Henderson. 11/26

Here's an article from the Acorn Computers newsletter of Christmas 1990, talking about their work at the Megatron. We'd love to get hold of Adriana Fionda to find out more. 12/26

Megatron was like the TARDIS, much bigger on the inside. In the first picture you can get a glimpse of the regular laser shows to which customers were treated. In the last picture you can see the Commander keeping watch. 13/26

The Megatron had a video game arcade and large CRT wall. We've managed to identify some of the media from Debbie Henderson's video (pics 1 and 3) and photos from Kenneth Bamford (pic 2): Aliens (1990, Konami), The NewZealand Story (1988, Taito), and Inner Space (1987). 14/26

We also managed to identify an Amutec Robot Kiddie Ride. Note the kiosk in the background and the Megatron logo. This is where customers could buy Megatron-branded merchandise. 15/26

@MattMeynell and brother Robin have kindly shared an offical Megatron t-shirt featuring cyborg Princess Azzara. Someone who worked at the petrol station nextdoor remembers one of the workers changing into the Princess Azzara costume in their toilets. That's show business! 16/26

In addition to UFOs - and reports of a werewolf at neighbouring RAF Alconbury in the 1970s (@digresspod, thedigressionpodcast.com/ep-56-the-hard…) - the Megatron building itself was said to be haunted... 17/26

Workers heard knocking and mysterious footsteps at night. Cups and saucers were said to fly around of their own accord. Local man Terry Pinner remembered that a mortuary stood nearby during WW2. An exorcist was eventually brought in and the phenomena stopped after that. 18/26

Eventually, due to large overheads, the Megatron was sadly forced to close. It soon began its second life as a McDonald's in 1993. Judging from these contemporary local news articles, it stirred up some controversy. 19/26

Anyone who looks into the Megatron/Spaceship McDonald's will soon come across this fantastic video from Greg Roberts. It was filmed on 20th November, just twelve days after the reopening. 20/26

Here are some shots of the much more sedate Spaceship McDonald's interior. Gone are the staff dressed as robots and aliens, the touchscreen computers, lasershows, etc. 21/26

Here's a limited edition Spaceship McDonald's BT phonecard, from 1993 or shortly thereafter. The packaging includes some valuable background information. We managed to track down Deborah, but we'd still like to find former manager Mike Clark. 22/26

Sadly, not even McDonald's lasts forever. The venue closed for good in 2000 and lay derelict for years. An attempt was made to put a preservation order on the building, but it was too late. It was demolished in 2008. Pictures from Geoff Soden and Stuart Mills. @admiralhome. 23/26

The site is now used by a self-storage company. The foundations and some of the road markings still remain. RAF Alconbury has now been developed into Alconbury Weald and the new Cambridgeshire County Council HQ. Perhaps that would have been enough to save the Megatron. 24/26

Here's a time lapse of the Megatron site using images from GoogleEarth. There was obviously no satellite photography in 1945. That shot is from a German plane during the war. 25/26

And to think, that's just the tip of the iceberg. We've started filming a documentary about the Megatron and all of the people involved in its history. We think that this unique piece of cultural history needs to be shared with the world. Watch this space (pun intended). 26/26

@MaxKriegerVG @peterboroughtel @cambstimes @huntspost @PboroPresents @PboroughMatters