Book to meet K-9 in a library near you at the end of July

Back in January, Lisburn Library tapped into Northern Ireland’s inner science fiction geekdom and packed out Lisburn Library for an evening talk by Doctor Who special effects designer Mat Irvine.

Hard core fans of the original series were joined by more modern converts to the time travelling tales to hear about the early unreliable remote control systems and the paint jobs that morphed the canine companion between incarnations. (For the record Mat Irvine worked on other shows too including Blake’s 7 and was co-creator of Robot Wars.)

A very neat way to connect popular culture and the small screen with the printed word. Also a great opportunity for Libraries NI to introduce people to their local library and the their local librarians. There was a long queue for autographs, photos and a chance to see close up a few of parts of K-9 that Mat had brought along – his collar, an ear, and maybe even the tail – and No Alibis sold a lot of books … in the library!

Libraries NI are bringing Mat Irvine back this summer to visit six further locations, and this time he’s bringing the dog with him. For children (and adults) aged 5 and over, he’ll be talking about K-9

• Mon 29 July 14.30-15.30 Portballintrae Village Hall, 81 Beach Road, BT57 8RT (contact Ballycastle, Coleraine, Portrush, or Portstewart libraries for tickets)
• Mon 29 July 19:00-20:30 Larne Library
• Tue 30 July 14.30-15.30 Bangor Carnegie Library
• Tue 30 July 19:00-20:30 Finaghy Library
• Wed 31 July 14.30-15.30 Lurgan Library

In the final session he’ll be widening his talk from just K-9 to cover his work in special effects (including with K-9) in the Tom Baker era right up to the more recent David Tennant series and Sarah Jane Chronicles. This session is aimed at 12 year olds and over.

• Wed 31 July 19:00-20:30 Omagh Library

You don’t need a child to attend, but you will need a ticket (see links above) as the places are limited in the six venues.