How many sci-fi characters can you spot?

Imagine a cinema where your fellow viewers are characters from all your favourite sci-fi films. The Men in Black are there, keeping it cool near the back. RoboCop is sharing an armrest with the rabbit from Donnie Darko (2001). There’s Neo and Morpheus from The Matrix (1999), Maria the robot from Metropolis (1927), the Terminator, and 12 different Doctor Whos. And it’s the only cinema you’ll ever visit where Marty McFly and E.T. can be found side-by-side in front row seats.

Following her stunning design for our dance season, we asked illustrator Helen Hancocks to let her imagination run riot for our blockbuster season Sci-Fi: Days of Fear and Wonder. In this action-packed and rather wonderful result, film history’s past and present are collapsed into one another, allowing sci-fi’s vintage heroes, aliens and robots to rub shoulders with characters from the latest blockbusters.

How many can you spot?

In the projection room: HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey

On the back wall: triffids from The Day of the Triffids

In the seats (from back row to front row):

1. teleporter / empty / Prince Vultan (Brian Blessed) in Flash Gordon / Hogarth from The Iron Giant / The War of the Worlds martian / Doctor Who (Peter Davison) / Dune / The Blob (with 2001: A Space Odyssey steward inside)
2. The Day the Earth Stood Still / Doctor Who (William Hartnell) / The Fly / empty / Predator / the Terminator / The Running Man / Total Recall / Men in Black
3. A.I. / The Handmaid’s Tale (two seats) / random green alien / Galaxy Quest (Alan Rickman) / Flash Gordon and girlfriend / Avatar / Doctor Who (Patrick Troughton) / 2001: A Space Odyssey ape
4. Arthur Dent (standing) from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy / The Man Who Fell to Earth (David Bowie) / Moon (Sam Rockwell) / empty / Leeloo, Korben Dallas, Ruby Rhod from The Fifth Element / Rick Deckard from Blade Runner / Sunshine / The Man Who Fell to Earth alien in suit / Mulder and Scully from The X Files
5. A Clockwork Orange / The Invisible Man / Doctor Who (Colin Baker) / Doctor Who (Sylvester McCoy) / Red Dwarf / empty / Mad Max / The Fifth Element (Zorg) / Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet / Barbarella / empty
6. Contact (Jodie Foster) / Johnny 5 (Short Circuit) / Doctor Who (Christopher Eccleston) / RoboCop / Donnie Darko rabbit / Blade Runner (Roy Batty and Pris) / Huey the robot from Silent Running / Doctor Who (Jon Pertwee) / Doctor Who (Tom Baker) / random alien / Neo and Morpheus (standing) from The Matrix
7. Tron, Krrish, Katniss and Effie Trinket from The Hunger Games / Maria the robot from Metropolis / Gravity (Sandra Bullock) / empty / Doctor Who (Matt Smith) / Logan’s Run (Jenny Agutter and Michael York) / Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey) / Doctor Who (Paul McGann) / Mars Attack alien / Ripley holding Jonesy (standing) from Alien
8. Doctor Who (Peter Capaldi) / Prometheus (Michael Fassbender) / Akira / Planet of the Apes (two seats) / Paul / Under the Skin (Scarlett Johansson) / Hammond, Grant, Sattler and Malcolm from Jurassic Park / Village of the Damned children (two girls and two boys)
9. 2001: A Space Odyssey steward handing out space food / random robot (standing) / Doctor Who (David Tennant) / astronaut / Emmett ‘Doc’ Brown (standing) from Back to the Future / 2001: A Space Odyssey space men (two seats) / empty / Marty McFly from Back to the Future / E.T, Elliott and Gertie from E.T. the ExtraTerrestrial / Inception (Leonardo DiCaprio) / Sleeper (Woody Allen) / John Hurt feeling queasy and holding stomach from Alien / Halle Berry as Storm from X-Men / man dressed as Godzilla / Laika / Audrey II plant from Little Shop of Horrors