1980: The SCI-FI Models of MAT IRVINE | Small World | Making of... | BBC Archive

Eric Thompson looks at the work of BBC special effects designer Mat Irvine, whose visual effects can be found in BBC shows ranging from the science-fiction of Doctor Who, Moonbase 3 and Blake's 7, to the science-fact of Tomorrow's World and The Sky at Night, all the way through to the thoroughly unscientific Rentaghost, and many more besides.
Mat's enthusiasm for all things space-related, and his keen eye for detail, makes him the perfect person to design and model futuristic vehicles and spacecraft. Here, he demonstrates some of the techniques he uses to turn science fiction into TV reality.
This clip is from Small World, originally broadcast 28 August, 1980.
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[@shingitai5882]

I use to love watching Matt Irving when he use to appear on Swap Shop, he was a man you could tell loved his job. I always remember him trying to explain to us kids how the tele-porter worked on Blake’s Seven and that hairdryer spacecraft he showed was actually used in Blake’s Seven.

[@MrSimonmcc]

Used to

[@K.F-R]

Right there with you.

[@gmf121266]

I met Matt at a Sci Fi convention in Leicester space centre about 10 years ago. He was really interesting and nice to talk to. Got to see some of the Blakes 7 models and he even had the double hairdryer! Im convinced Matt could make just about anything from just about anything.

[@petergivenbless900]

After seeing his name on so many TV shows I grew up with, it's great to see and hear this visual effects legend explain his passion and expertise. My favourite spaceship from his work must be The Liberator from 'Blake's 7'! Sad that the prediction about the longevity of the Space Shuttle program was so short lived.

[@ginger_grizzly]

It must have been a nightmare for his missus... “Mat, what’s happened to the hoover? Where is it?” “It is currently fighting the Terran Federation on BBC1 on saturday nights”.

[@Thunderpuddle]

This is why I love being a nerd and British. A little industry set up in a house that shared its carpet taste with my nan. Brilliant

[@sammemrys8195]

Imagine being paid to play with such creative toys into adulthood.😊 I felt my own imagination waking up whilst watching. Wonderful work Mr Irvine!

[@Ology3121]

I remember as a 13 year old in 1980 building a war of the worlds model for school. Dissecting the motors out of my scalextric Christmas gift didn't go down well with my Mum but I built the best model in class. I'm sure I watched this at the time.

[@TheStevenWhiting]

At least it sounds like yours was good. In the 80s I "modded" the RC car I got for Christmas to be like an A-Team build. Wire mesh on windscreen (just drilled a hole in it) a pen I adapted to fire its cartridge on top (just loaded using its own spring and the shirt holder bit that had come loose so you pulled it out and its insided flew across the room) and then for some reason, I cut the wires to the motor and the controller so it never ran again (was cut for a reason but can't remember why). So could only push it around. It was awful :) my excuse was it was one of the crappy cable connected RC cars that I always found pointless.

[@darania1]

Did you build Jeff Wayne's tripod war machine or handling machine..?

[@Ology3121]

@@darania1 it was the Tripod. 👍

[@darania1]

@OloGy Thanks for confirming. I bet it looked awesome too. Shame you can't post a photo of it on YT...

[@ajdpadbury]

Love this. The models had soul, so much better than CGI!

[@MASTERATCOD4]

Barnard's Star is getting closer now under 6ly. This mission would be an epic undertaking. The model work on the project looks great

[@simonjones7727]

But if it we were relying on British technology then everyone knows that success would be completely guaranteed, especially with automated wardens for the Daedalus Probe that look barely more convincing than the Smash Robots.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@simonjones7727 with ultra-reliable space-hardened Lucas electronics! ;)

[@finnmanproductions9240]

2:48 making use of a Star Wars x wing fighter kit LOL. I had one of those in 1978.

[@alexfletcher5192]

A bit of a legend. I still have his Dr Who Special Effects book - with its various anecdotes committed to mind.

[@repboy1]

I loved this guy as a kid . What a cool job he had

[@richardmattocks]

This is great. I watched it when it was on originally and have it somewhere on betamax, so it’s great to see it again😎

[@griersson]

I think this was last on in about 1989 - I lost the tape!

[@modelermark172]

I've been modeling for over fifty years, now. I once had a book about basic space modeling that featured Mat Irvine's interpretation of the shuttle-derived Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle shown at 3:57. If memory serves, it was built from the Airfix Saturn V and two Airfix Space Shuttle kits. Sadly, recreating this would be cost-prohibitive today. Another project featured in that book was modifying the 1/650th scale USS Enterprise into a Transport Tug configuration, but I don't remember if Mat Irvine built that one, too. Thanks for sharing this!

[@robsanderson]

Great seeing those models from the Spaceships of the Mind documentary again. Remember watching it as a sci-fi mad kid & loving it. Such a pity the series itself is lost.

[@lewis7515]

Lol - just registered that it's Eric Thompson introducing and voicing this? Mr. "Magic Roundabout" - and Emma Thompson's dad!

[@Seminal_Ideas]

I found his style rather condescending. The flippant, nonchalant narration was at odds with the enthusiastic professionalism of the model maker.

[@TDax]

I was lucky to meet Matt a couple times while appearing on technogames.....he was in charge of a couple of the events I took part in(rocket cars and egg loft) awesome guy, and even more awesome when I found out his connection with dr who's k9....I hope one day for my K9 to meet the original one Matt still has.

[@davidhuggins16]

The track heard at 4:57 is Haunted Planet by Eric Peters, from his album Music for Synthesizers (released by Studio G in 1978).

[@stevekitt52]

I'll have to seek that out.I'll add the music from 3:01 is Space for Man and the Case of the Ancient Astronauts by Peter Howell and the BBC Radiophonic workshop.

[@piccalillipit9211]

*THAT WAS BRILLIANT* made my day

[@terryglover3215]

Eric Thompson - the iconic voice for our generation.

[@InfiniteOscillations]

Legendary.

[@Nigel-xp4rf]

All those models are amazing and probably very precious to Mat, must be a pain to clean the room, but my worry would be twofold, one clumsy visitors and two having all these wonderful things so close to that radiator.

[@tbz1551]

The thumbnail looks like Noel Fielding when he did a Qi Christmas episode. 😂😂

[@Khultan]

Thank you ❤😮

[@Jimmy_Moon]

This aired in 1980. So how far has voyager 1 & 2 traveled since then and where abouts was the voyager crafts when this aired?

[@fredo1070]

Absolute gold dust, the days before CGI.

[@mrwoodandmrtin]

Is the announcer shown at the stare Emma Thompson's father? Sounds very much like the voiceover on the Clangers. or the Magic Roundabout or the Magic Ball. Very familiar. Doing R/C space tanks myself of late. Thanks to Mat.

[@flashchrome]

Hubble. A model of the Hubble telescope. Wasn't expecting that.

[@eckyx9019]

Those were the days.

[@atmakali9599]

3:03 😂you’d never believe it

[@davidindge]

What a hunk - the George Best of model making!

[@eonetim]

The man is a legit television legend 💙

[@simonjones7727]

Why is it being presented by the Beryl Reid character from "The Killing of Sister George"?

[@colmangreen6029]

Big Bang Theory's Howard Wolowitz in his bedroom

[@garryleeks4848]

Bungalow on the moon I want one

[@toddzircher6168]

Heh. I didn't know about the high speed film trick to change the 'scale' of the model (making things like the soil fall slower.)

[@andya696]

Noel Fielding? Is that you?

[@limeyosu2000]

Thought the same thing 😜

[@fredo1070]

LOL

[@yohai71]

The Man is a spitting image of Carl Palmer, of Emerson Lake & Plamer. When he was young, of course...

[@atmakali9599]

I wonder if he ever used his curling tongs as a part on a space ship 🚀

[@mrroobarb]

Is that Noel Fieldings' Dad?

[@electroencephalograph]

Haha, I was thinking the same. Even down to the accent!

[@ginger_grizzly]

Mat made Noel in his image out of an old shop mannequin, a pot of glitter and an Airfix Centurion tank...

[@phoule76]

cute li'l croft

[@julianaylor4351]

It's a great error that NASA, so catastrophically messed up the Shuttle program, causing those terrible deaths of astronauts, through sheer lack of maintenance.

[@eckyx9019]

You can never have 100% safety. Accidents always happen no matter how malicious the scrutiny.

[@julianaylor4351]

@@eckyx9019 True, but the Columbia disaster happened because tiles, falling off the craft were ignored and no double checks were done. With Challenger it was a failure in the rocket components, because of corner cutting and launching in unsuitable weather. Both are the result of gross failings and were avoidable.

[@eckyx9019]

@@julianaylor4351 Tiles falling of the craft......that's a total exaggeration. Have you an axe to grind.

[@julianaylor4351]

@@eckyx9019 You obviously have no idea about what happened. Go watch some videos, on these two disasters. You can actually see tiles coming off Columbia as it was launched. 🧐🙄

[@lewis7515]

'The British Interplanetary Society', sounds like it might be plagued by excessive regulation and rigid conformity...

[@Ology3121]

..or it maybe like the British Legion with cheap booze and dodgey singers on a Saturday night. You need to let go of your dislike of the EU. It's effecting your psyche...😂

[@lewis7515]

@@Ology3121 I don't know about that - and I'm European.

[@CloneDaddy]

@@lewis7515 So are we British, although some of my countrymen seem to think Brexit means we've physically relocated to somewhere in the Atlantic.

[@atmakali9599]

He talks about NASA as if they’re real. How quaint. 😊

[@spider-ham7140]

Nowadays this kind of work is done digitally

[@fidelcatsro6948]

yes sad indeed

[@ctcurry1777]

Sadly a dying art with CGI.

[@brianartillery]

But physical effects don't age anywhere near as quickly as CGI. Watch the movie 'Moon'; it's all physical effects and model work. CGI progresses so quickly now, stuff from only five years ago can seem prehistoric. Models and physical props, could be made at any time, and don't really age.

[@mdade44]

See this is why we didn’t go to the moon

[@AtheistOrphan]

Not enough bungalows.

[@Charlie_Duz]

Mat Irvine with hair by Cesere Borgia. Love it!