nerd radio

Get ready for the new daily show

EVENT NEWS: Mat Irvine & K-9 return to Northern Ireland

July 11th, 2013 by Marc Comments



Mat Irvine was in Northern Ireland earlier this year and we at FTN had a blast interviewing him (below) and listening to him talk, but if you missed him don’t despair… he’s coming back and he’s taking a special friend with him.

‘Libraries NI is delighted to welcome K-9 and his creator, Mat Irvine, to six locations around Northern Ireland, making it this famous canine’s first visit to this island.

Mat will present a talk on K-9 on Monday 29 July in Portballintrae Village Hall (afternoon), Larne Library (evening), on Tuesday 30 July in Bangor Carnegie Library (afternoon) and Finaghy Library (evening) and on Wednesday 31 July in Lurgan Library (afternoon).

During a sixth event in Omagh Library (on Wednesday 31 July from 7pm – 8.30pm), Mat will present K9 and me: My Life in Special Effects covering his work with K-9 from the Tom Baker era to the more recent series with David Tennant and the Sarah Jane Chronicles, which will appeal particularly to sci-fi and special effect enthusiasts.

K-9 is the fictional robotic canine in the long-running British science fiction television series, Doctor Who, first appearing in 1977 and most recently in one of the series television spin-offs, K-9 (2009–2010).

Mat Irvine is a special effects designer and has worked extensively on Dr Who, operating K9 on the most recent Doctor Who series, which celebrates its 50th anniversary later this year. Other shows he has worked on include Blake’s 7, The Sky at Night and he is the co-creator of Robot Wars.

Members of the audience will be able to meet K-9, have their photo taken with this famous dog, meet Mat and buy a signed copy of one of Mat’s books!

Valerie Christie, Children’s Services Manager with Libraries NI explained: “We first brought Mat Irvine to Lisburn City Library back in January so it is with great pleasure that he is coming across to Northern Ireland again for this series of six talks and to make it even better K-9 will be accompanying him on the tour this time which is the first time that the ‘dog’ has been on the island of Ireland.”

These events will appeal to people of all ages (events are restricted to children age 5+ and age 12+ in Omagh) and to a wide range of interests, from those interested in reading science fiction books to others whose interest is in special effects.

The afternoon events will be held from 2.30pm – 3.30pm, while the evening events will be from 7.00pm – 8.30pm. People are advised to book a place early to avoid  disappointment. Admission is free but strictly by ticket only and places are limited.

To book a place, contact any of these libraries. For library contact information, go to the Libraries NI website www.librariesni.org.uk

Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….