ANY parent knows it can be a struggle to drag children away from the TV.

But Darren Cox managed to drag his boys Connor, seven, and Kieran, 10, all the way to Oxford’s Museum of the History of Science – to watch a Victorian TV.

The two boys were fascinated by the museum’s collection of Victorian optical toys, including this praxinoscope.

Mr Cox, 44, who works at Heathrow Airport said: “We like to do something different every weekend. The boys were interested, particularly because you had different strips you could put into the machines. It was a good day.”

The 19th century instrument works by spinning round strips of pictures, which, when viewed through a narrow gap, appear to be animated like a modern day cartoon.

The family, from Blackbird Leys, also looked at the museum’s other exhibition on the history of crystals. Mr Cox added: “It was something we could find out about together as a family.

“It was the first time we have been to that museum, but I saw it on the internet and just thought it was something we hadn’t done.”