The Exewing are very pleased that Mat Irvine has agreed to attend our event in July 2011.
A selection of his props and models will be on display and Mat will be on hand to answer any questions you may have.
Mat Irvine was a Visual Effects Designer and Technical Consultant who worked on television, primarily for the BBC.
As a Visual Effects Designer, Mat has worked on many stalwart shows such as Blake’s 7, The Tripods, Edge of Darkness, Rentaghost, Terry and June, To the Manor Born and many more besides.
As a Technical Consultant, Mat has worked on shows such as The Sky at Night, Tomorrow’s World, QED and as one of the team of 3 that created Robot Wars, a programme on which he later became a judge.
Perhaps best known for his work on Doctor Who, for which he was a Visual Effects Designer, from the 1970s to the 1980s.
One aspect in particular was, and is, his association with Doctor Who’s robot dog, K-9.
The first K-9 prop was built by Mat. Having not been told that it would be required beyond that story, he also designed and built another prop, one that was capable of traversing beyond the studio floor and able to cope with the rougher ground of location work.
K-9 has returned many times, not only on Dr Who, most recently was on The Sarah Jane Adventures, wherever the silver dog goes you can be sure Mat is not far behind!
Several books have been written by Mat, two of them are specifically on the subject of visual effects, the most recent, BBC Vfx: The Story of the BBC Visual Effects Department co written with Mike Tucker, has just been released. A very highly recommended book.
http://www.smallspace.demon.co.uk/BBCVFX/BBCVFX.html
More details about Mat, his career and what he is currently up to can be found at his website.
http://www.smallspace.demon.co.uk/