I wish Greenwich Park had a "What's on in the Planetarium today?" thing, an example suggested

It's possible that what I'm asking for is harder to put together than I imagine but I will suggest it nonetheless.

It's a hot day. Pretend I'm in Greenwich Park, maybe with some kids, and we'd like the opportunity to sit down somewhere cool and watch a planetarium show, if one happens to be running within the next hour or so. How do we find out?

I've been in this position on several occasions (minus the kids, it's just me wanting a sit down in the dark!) and generally I've found it a bit of a faff to find out what shows are happening now, today and if tickets are currently available.

My phone signal's never been particularly brilliant in the park so to begin with there's a bit of annoyance with googling for the relevant page. It might exist but searching for Greenwich Planetarium shows takes me to this page "Planetarium Shows" which tells me about the shows, not what time they're on (more clicking required). It's a bit like looking up the listings on a cinema website and being pointed to plot summaries and reviews instead of the "8.30pm start" information that I'm after.

The What's On page also shows me general information about performances, though some of them do have specific information (e.g. 13 August 2022, 1.30pm etc) or 'mornings, Wednesday - Monday in term time'. It would involve quite a bit of clicking / tapping to go into each planetarium show and find out what time it's on, on a particular day. 

While the What's On page has an opportunity to filter by date and event type when I do so, for planetarium shows on Friday 12 August, it tells me that none are available (though other information suggests that several shows are running tomorrow).

I'd probably like to know if tickets are available or if it's sold out (saves a walk to the venue to find out, even more important if you're with kids) but that may be harder to implement.

I've usually just given up and phoned the general Greenwich museums booking line; they're very helpful - 0208 312 6608.

 Person watching a planetarium show.
Image by 政徳 吉田 from Pixabay

What I'd like
A notice on every noticeboard in the park with a QR code (and link, for those wary of QR codes) that points to a "Greenwich Planetarium Shows Today" page. Every day that page is updated for the new day with a list, ordered by time, of the shows happening in the planetarium. I'm very happy for other "also on today" events at the wider museum(s) to be listed, with a sense of whether they're happening at a particular time or just on all day. But put the time-sensitive things at the top of the page.

Presumably the Planetarium has its own daily list of events and I'm sure this could be shared on a page. If this page already exists then please make it easier to find.

Here's my attempt at doing it for tomorrow (which is during the school holidays, not term time).

Greenwich Planetarium Shows - Friday 12 August 2022

By time

• 11.30am - Ted's Space Adventure (for pre-schoolers)
  
• 12.30pm - Starstruck (for age 7+)
• 1.30pm - The Sky Tonight (for age 7+)
• 2.30pm - Meet the Neighbours (for age 7+)
• 3.30pm - Starstruck (for age 7+)
• 4.30pm - The Sky Tonight (for age 7+)

 

By show

• Ted's Space Adventure - 11:30am (for pre-schoolers)
• The Sky Tonight - 1.30pm and 4.30pm (for age 7+)
• Starstruck - 12.30pm and 3.30pm (for age 7+)
• Meet the Neighbours - 2.30pm (for age 7+)

If it's the same every day then it wouldn't need updating daily. The term-time schedule is slightly different and there aren't usually any shows on term time Tuesdays (but there are on holiday Tuesdays).

Heh, after all that I tried clicking on a booking link (to double-check that the event was definitely running on Friday) and discovered that not only can you book all the different planetarium shows but you can see at a glance the different times they're on. So my advice, if they don't implement my suggestion above, is just to pretend to book something and you'll probably be taken to a page with all the options for those aged over 7 at least.

Screenshot of booking options, which displays all shows.