Forbidden Planet London

Forbidden Planet's New Oxford Street flagship in London is the largest science fiction, fantasy, horror, and cult entertainment store in the UK and one of the most significant of its type in the world. The company's history tracks closely with the development of genre fandom as a commercial and cultural force — it opened in 1978, when science fiction had been transformed by Star Wars into a mainstream phenomenon, and has adapted through the subsequent decades as the geek cultural mainstream has expanded to encompass superhero comics, anime, gaming, tabletop RPGs, and the entire infrastructure of contemporary pop culture merchandise.

What distinguishes Forbidden Planet from broader entertainment retail is the curation: the inventory runs deep in areas that mainstream stores don't stock at all. The graphic novel section covers major publisher output but also maintains a robust selection of independent and international comics — translated European bandes dessinées, Japanese manga in English translation, and small-press works that require specific knowledge to find. The merchandise section carries licensed products from properties spanning seven decades of genre entertainment, and the depth of stock within any given franchise — multiple figure scales, variant editions, region-specific items — reflects buyers who understand the market they're serving.

The store occupies a large basement-level space with a layout that rewards systematic browsing rather than targeted searching. New releases occupy a dedicated section near the entrance, signing events (which the store hosts regularly for authors, artists, and actors) are held in the open space near the front, and the back areas have the densest inventory for specialist categories. The comics subscription service (pull list) is well-organized and can be set up in-store for ongoing regular purchases, which is worth knowing for visitors who spend extended time in London. Staff knowledge is generally solid, and the signing event schedule is published on the Forbidden Planet website — attending a signing of a creator you follow is one of the more satisfying things the store makes possible.

New Oxford Street puts Forbidden Planet at the convergence of several useful London destinations. The British Museum is a five-minute walk east. Covent Garden and its comic shops, street performers, and restaurants are ten minutes south. The Bloomsbury district's independent bookshops are immediately north. Soho, with its concentrated dining and independent cinema options, is ten minutes west. The nearest tube stations are Tottenham Court Road (Central and Northern lines) and Holborn (Central and Piccadilly lines), both within a short walk.

For visitors building a geek London itinerary, Forbidden Planet anchors the central London section naturally. It pairs with the British Museum in the morning (free, nearby, extraordinarily substantive) and with Covent Garden in the afternoon (Neal's Yard comics shops, street food, the transport museum nearby). The Warner Bros. Studio Tour in Watford makes more sense as a separate dedicated excursion day than a same-day combination with central London walking, but the Platform 9¾ installation at King's Cross is efficiently combined with a Forbidden Planet visit as a one-day central London circuit.