Dundee University hosted a hilarious ‘alien autopsy’ on Saturday as part of the nationwide Being Human festival of humanities.
The ‘Eminent’ Professor, Sue Black, performed a dissection of a model alien — based on illustrations of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds — in front of a packed crowd of 350 in the Dalhousie Building, flanked by her assistant, museum curator Matthew Jarron, aka Huxley the Helper.
The model was designed and put together by Mitch Gillies, Craig Barbour, Grace Cunningham, and Monica Dunne, who are students at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD).
The pair took apart the model bit by bit, starting with the huge brain, made from hardened foam, before removing the eyes, lungs, heart and intestines, all made from jelly, water and jam.
The show gained the approval of the delighted crowd as they roared with laughter at the consistently perfect comedic timing of the performers.
The event, part of the university’s celebration of author H.G. Wells’ 150th birthday, was described as a “flagship” night of the UK-wide Being Human 2016 festival, by its director, Sarah Churchwell.
She said: “This is absolutely a flagship event of the festival and it completely exemplifies what we wanted it to be about.
“It mixes a range of different subjects and provides education as well as being fun.
“It really doesn’t have to be serious in order to have value and that’s the drum I keep beating because being creative and playful with subjects is so important.
“With Professor Black being the most eminent pathologist in the country, I just had to come up from London to witness this event.”
The show was narrated by Joanna Stephens with Eddie Small taking up the mantle of H.G. Unwells.
The Being Human festival will see events take place at more than 70 universities up until November 25, with Dundee serving as Scotland’s festival hub.
