Spaceship restaurant hits the big time

The Megatron will be familiar to many. The futuristic venue sat just off the A1 at Alconbury before being forced to close for good in the early 2000s. It has since built a cult following around the world due to its unique design and the story behind it.

The restaurant was the brainchild of local businessman Danny Blundell, who had planned to make it the first of a chain. On its opening night in 1990, motorists called the police thinking they had seen a real UFO!

It was no less impressive inside. Customers could order their meals on touchscreen computers, which were a huge innovation for the time. There were also regular laser light shows, and staff were dressed up as aliens and robots.

There are many strange stories associated with the venue. According to some reports, it was haunted by a poltergeist. Workers said they heard knocking on the walls and footsteps following them. Objects flew through the air. A medium from Huntingdon Spiritualist Church was brought in to cleanse the place of malevolent spirits.

The Megatron went out of business in 1992, but it re-opened as a McDonald's the following year, albeit with many of the original features stripped out. The McDonald's eventually closed the following decade and the spaceship sat derelict for several years. Despite attempts to have the building listed, it was sadly demolished in 2008.

When Catherynne M. Valente happened upon the Megatron, she knew it would be perfect for her new novel, Space Oddity. The book follows hot on the heels of 2018's Space Opera, which featured an interplanetary Eurovision Song Contest. In Space Oddity, the characters use the Megatron to travel through time and space.

Valente described happening upon the Megatron for the first time: “There’s nothing more perfect than this. I was so excited when I found it. I didn’t know something as wonderful as an actual science fiction spaceship restaurant was waiting for me.”

She is especially thankful to the Megatron’s creator, Danny Blundell: “Building something because you have this idea inside you that you just can’t shake, I will always respect that. It is what I do with words.”

Valente also revealed that the Space Opera series is set to become an animated TV show, citing Star Trek’s Lower Decks as an influence. If the show is successful, we can expect the Megatron to make an on-screen appearance in future seasons.

Local enthusiasts are doing all they can to keep the memory of the Megatron alive, collecting old photographs, speaking to people who worked there, and piecing together its unlikely history. You can find out more by searching for ‘Megatron Memories’ on Facebook, X, and Bluesky.

Those who were able to visit the spaceship restaurant at the time know just how secial it was, but soon the whole world will know.

Space Oddity is released in the UK on 9th January 2025.