When I heard there was going to be an exhibition of my beloved Star Wars I just knew I would have to go and see it. After all I have been a fan since I was a kid. I remember watching my first Star Wars film with my dad when I was about six years old. I think it was Return of The Jedi, and I recall thinking it was the greatest thing ever. I used to make my dad watch it with me all the time after that, as well as other films from the original trilogy that he introduced me to. And the day my dad took me to see The Attack of The Clones back in 2002 I felt like the happiest and luckiest kid on Earth.

Before I got to Star Wars Identities I didn’t really know what to expect. Although I was excited because it was Star Wars-related, I didn’t really know if I was going to enjoy it. Going to exhibitions isn’t really my idea of fun: I don’t like walking around for hours and having to read about everything; I find it boring.

On arrival, we were handed a headset and a bracelet – not the standard way to show you’ve paid. Turns out this exhibition was nothing like a bog-standard exhibition – not at all as I feared. Star Wars Identities is full of interactive entertainment, educative and entertaining videos, and props from the movies, as well as storyboards and ideas boards from the early stages of development.

"Star Wars Identities" by DaffyDuke is licensed under CC BY-SA
Star Wars Identities” by DaffyDuke is licensed under CC BY-SA

As part of the show, I was able to create my own character, customising its personality and background. I probably changed my character about four times just to see what I could do with it. I ended up with a pink Jedi Ewok from Endor.

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From going to the show I learned a lot about Star Wars that I didn’t know before. It was very interesting to see early sketches of the story boards for the films, what the characters originally looked like and how they got to look the way they ended up. Some acquired different names on the way. For example, Yoda was supposed to be called Minch and (Luke) Skywalker was originally conceived as a female princess.

I particularly enjoyed seeing the evolution of the Jabba The Hutt. The character went through numerous changes; there was even a version of him looking almost human, I’m glad that they didn’t settle for that one, since I can hardly imagine Return of the Jedi without him looking like a gigantic slug.

We have another year to wait for the release of the eighth Star Wars film, set for 15 December 2017. So I feel like every Star Wars fan should go to this show to get their annual fix.

Star Wars Identities is on at the O2 Arena until 3 September 2017. Tickets start from £12.