Dock X

Following in the footsteps of immersive exhibtions dedicated to Tutankhamun, the Titanic and the destruction of Pompeii, here comes a fairly self-explanatory new show that sticks to a tried and true formula of a worthy handful of artefacts augmented by splashy AR, VR and immersive video, plus giant insta-friendly sets. Well, it’s kind of self-explanatory: yes, it’s about Vikings. But it’s about quite specific Vikings, that is to say ‘King Ragnar Lodbrok, the wise Queen Kraka (Aslaug), and their world-conquering sons, Ivar the Boneless, Bjorn Ironside, Hvitserk and Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye, as they assemble the Great Heathen Army and change the course of European history’.  The exact historicity of everyone involved is a little debatable, especially Kraka, who probably didn’t exist in any meaningful sense and certainly didn’t have the ‘mystical powers’ this exhibotion will apparently ascribe to her. But the key thing about Vikings: The Immersive Experience is that it’ll be good, lurid all-aged fun while also affording some genuine insight into the Viking age, something that can be more generally than specifically known about in this country.