It’s a long journey from children’s cartoon classic Danger Mouse, but animator Adrian Bell is reaching for the stars with his latest venture.

Manx-born Adrian, once lead animator at the Cosgrove Hall animation studios in Manchester, is the creative director behind a high-tech new attraction due to open soon in the elegant surroundings of the Nunnery estate.

The Dome is a 360-degree part-planetarium, part immersive full-dome cinema and part-showcase for 3D artworks that has been installed in the courtyard of the Nunnery’s former stables. It’s billed as an interactive media arena of the future, that can be used for functions and events, an educational classroom and even a therapeutic setting for yoga and relaxation.

It’s been launched, deliberately, with minimal publicity. ’It’s a secret cinema,’ said Adrian. ’There are 85,000 people living here and it doesn’t take long for the word to get round. People will be intrigued - they will want to come and see this.’

This is real cutting-edge technology - and Adrian is confident that the island can lead the way in this new media. ’It’s been a fantastic journey for me, exploring different technologies and cameras,’ he said.

The idea for the project, which has been 14 months in the making, came about while Adrian was diving in the Bahamas with a GoPro, surrounding by 40 sharks.

He came across a 360-degree camera and decided to do a bit more research.

Adrian and a pal erected the roof between the stables and Nunnery chapel in October and put the stage up themselves over three days.

The Dome itself arrived in early November and was installed in one night, the company behind it having sent someone over from Thailand to help out. It measures 7m in diameter and seats 25 to 30 people. There are four projectors using a 4K resolution system.

You settle down in the relaxing seats shipped in from Russia and are soon immersed in the all-encompassing audio-visual experience.

Viewings are restricted to about an hour - too much longer than that and you could get sensory overload.

Adrian considered various sites before realising that the Nunnery was perfect for the venture.

’They were on board straight away,’ he said. ’It ticks all the boxes for the Isle of Man. It’s entertainment, it’s technology and education is a prime part of this. It’s not just a planetarium. There are 13 USPs including immersive cinema, tourism destination and venue for corporate promotions, product launches and VR gaming events.’

There is still some work to do such as a covered walkway into The Dome.

With his artistic background, Adrian intends to create his own content and distribute that to other domes around the world. ’They are all screaming out for content as it is such a new medium.’

He used a variety of cameras, some about the size of a small tennis ball, and has shot footage of a range of island subjects such as the TT, the heritage railways and animals at the Wildlife Park. The tourism potential is obvious - not just a new a new indoor leisure attraction but as a new 360-degree way of promoting the island. Once The Dome is open to the public, it will be available only to group bookings. Prices will vary depending on the size of the party, the length of the playlist - which can be tailored to suit the group - and whether other facilities will be used.

Adrian studied fine art at Manchester University in the 1980s and straight afterwards got a job as an animator at the Cosgrove Hall animation studios in Chorlton, where he became lead animator for Danger Mouse - still a cult classic - and Count Duckula.

’I had not done animation before. I learned all about film making - story boards, character design and scripting.’

Adrian returned to the island in 1991 and set up his own design agency. He took three years out to be a swimming teacher in Peel. ’But people still call me DM,’ he said. ’I know Danger Mouse is a good credit to have on your CV.’