You can take your little Mancs down to meet the star of one of their favourite TV shows at the Science and Industry Museum this weekend.
In case you hadn’t heard, Manchester‘s iconic Science and Industry Museum is currently hosting world-first exhibition Operation Ouch! Food, Poo and You – which is based off the popular children’s BBC show of the same name.
The family-friendly exhibition gives visitors the chance understand more about the inner workings of their own bodies, and the important role science plays in supporting our digestive health.
It’s all about diving under the skin to “explore the science inside us all”.
Thousands of families from across Greater Manchester and beyond have already visited the city centre museum make the most of the new exhibition, and get stuck into the wide range of immersive and interactive activities it has on offer.
But for those who haven’t been able to pay a visit yet, this weekend couldn’t be a more ideal opportunity to do so, as Dr Xand Van Tulleken – who is one of the presenters of the BBC showOperation Ouch! – will be at the museum on Sunday 11 February to meet visitors as part of his myth-busting mission to answer some of the public’s deepest questions about digestion.
After already lending his own digestive system to be turned into one of the exhibition’s most-popular interactive activities, Dr Xand is back to meet and greet all the voyagers “travelling like a poo” through his intestines.
Operation Ouch! Food, Poo and You is currently open at the Science and Industry Museum / Credit: The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Happening at 1pm-1:20pm, and then again at 4:30pm-4:50pm, all visitors will have the opportunity to see Dr Xand in action as he takes to the stage in the Revolution Manchester Gallery to answer poo-probing questions in front of a live audience, before getting the chance to grab a selfie with the main man from inside the exhibition too.
“This exhibition is our most epic experiment yet,” Dr Xand said ahead of his visit to Manchester this weekend.
“I can’t wait to be back exploring my own insides.
“Our bodies are amazing, and one of the first questions kids often ask is the biology of how we put food in and something else comes out.
“If we can understand that process, we’ve learned something that’s fundamentally important to life, so as well as being brilliantly entertaining and of course absolutely disgusting, this exhibition is full of really amazing and essential science.”
Little Mancs can meet Dr Xand Van Tulleken at the museum this weekend / Credit: The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Tickets to visit the museum and exhibition on Sunday 11 February are now available to book.
Free standard museum entry tickets will give you access to the Q&As with Dr Xand, but an exhibition ticket must be purchased for specific times for the photo opportunity, and these are limited, so booking as soon as possible is encouraged to avoid disappointment.
Featured Image – The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
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Hit theatre production set at a house party to visit Manchester on UK tour
Daisy Jackson
Alright then, 24 hour party people, we’ve found a theatre production you might like the sound of – it’s called The House Party, and it’s set in (you guessed it) a house party.
This smash hit production by pioneering theatre company Headlong is set to land at HOME in March as part of the arts venue’s 2025 theatre season.
It tells the tale of a wild 18th birthday party, where Christine is trying to pick up the pieces of her best friend, a newly-dumped Julie (who happens to be the birthday girl).
Themes of class, power and privilege are all explored with a raw intensity as the cast on stage plough through shots and dive head-first into a night that will change everything they know.
The House Party, which has received glowing reviews from previous showings, is filled with ‘privilege, desire and destruction’.
When it stops off in Manchester, its cast will include Bridgerton’s Sesley Hope as Christine, Synnøve Karlsen (Miss Austen, Last Night in Soho) as Julie, and Tom Lewis (Gentleman Jack, Patience) as Jon.
The ensemble of Frantic Assembly performers includes Ines Aresti, Oliver Baines, Cal Connor, Micah Corbin-Powell, Rachael Leonce, Jaheem Pinder and Jamie Randall.
The House Party is written by Laura Lomas and is a reimagining of August Strindberg’s Miss Julie for today’s generation.
It’s directed by Headlong’s artistic director Holly Race Roughan, who directed the Royal Shakespeare Company’s world premiere of David Edgar’s major new political play The New Real.
The House Party. Credit: Ikin YumThe production will be at HOME. Credit: Supplied
Movement direction will come from Frantic Assembly’s Scott Graham.
Prior to the UK tour of The House Party, Headlong celebrated its 50 year anniversary, including the hit production of A Raisin in the Sun which played nationwide.
The House Party will be at HOME in Manchester between 25 and 29 March, 2025 – you can get your tickets HERE.
Greater Manchester’s annual Repair Week is back to make you fall back in love with your stuff
Daisy Jackson
If you’re not a handy person, when something breaks, the temptation is often to abandon or bin it straight away.
But that’s just not how we’re gonna do it here in Greater Manchester any more, with the return of the annual Repair Week to help you learn valuable repair skills and save money at the same time.
Whether it’s tinkering with your bicycle, fixing up your small tech items, or having your furniture re-varnished and upcycled, there are so many places and people who are on a mission to help you fall back in love with your belongings.
There are even workshops to help you put flat-pack furniture together.
Taking place between 3 and 9 March, Repair Week will be the chance to learn skills, fix your stuff, gain repair confidence and find local fixers.
Events throughout the week (and beyond) will be hosted by community groups, businesses and plenty more.
You can sharpen knives, fix zips, and un-wobble chairs with a little hand from local repair heroes.
JillyGDesign Jewellery in Heaton Moor will fix up your sentimental and special jewellery items, while Rag Revival will help you turn unusable textiles into new creations with basic sewing skills.
There are repair cafes popping up all over Greater Manchester where you can take your belongings.
Greater Manchester’s annual Repair Week is back to make you fall back in love with your stuff. Credit: Supplied
Repair Week will highlight schemes like the Manchester Library of Things, where you can borrow the tools and equipment you need for those repair jobs at home.
During the week you’ll also be able to take a behind-the-scenes tour of the incredible Renew Hub, the UK’s biggest reuse hub, where donated items are brought back to life.
Similarly, you’ll be able to get inside the textile recycling centre run by homelessness charity Emmaus Bolton, where you can choose your own fabric from the scrap store and turn it into a very handy draught excluder to keep costs down and your heat in.
Recycle for Greater Manchester’s Repair Week will take place between 3 and 9 March, with workshops, events and resources to help you revive your belongings.
Emily Sergeant -
5th February 2024 
