Star Wars memorabilia going on show in London

Star Wars fans can get a rare glimpse at original costumes from the franchise, including one of Darth Vader's suits, in an exhibition open to the public in London later this year.

At least 200 original props from all seven films will feature in the interactive show at the O2 in Greenwich.

The props have been loaned by the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, established by the saga's creator George Lucas.

The exhibition opens on 18 November.

The show, called Star Wars Identities, is interactive and allows visitors to explore the franchise universe, understand how the characters were made and also create a character of their own.

The exhibition first began in Canada and has toured European cities including Cologne and Munich.

Other pieces of memorabilia which will be on show include the famous bikini worn by Princess Leia -played by actress Carrie Fisher - in the third film Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

The robot R2-D2 costume, operated by the late small English actor Kenny Baker, will also be exhibited.

President of X3 Productions - creators of the show - Jacques-Andres Dupont said: "This exhibition offers a fresh perspective on the beloved characters of Star Wars.

"We get a deeper understanding of their identities, and, at the same time, we get a deeper understanding of our own."

The show also includes concept art produced before the filming of the first three Star Wars films, which gives an insight into how characters such as Chewbacca were developed before film production commenced.

The rights to the franchise were bought by Disney from Lucasfilm in 2012 for $4.05bn (£3.12bn), and was successfully rebooted in December with the seventh film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a large portion of which was shot at Pinewood Studios.

A spin-off film called Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, is due to be released in December this year.