Dr Who is joining the fight against polio thanks to a partnership between The Royal National Institute for Blind People and Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland.
RNIB, a recent addition to the Rotary library of approved charities, will be offering its Dr Who fans the chance to buy or hire a talking book of the Lost Dr Who episode The Ultimate Evil, written by past Rotary District Governor Wally K Daly.
The 144 page novel will only be made available through RNIB’s talking books service and has been produced using their latest technology.
Wally, as well as recording the novel for the charity, will be contributing any royalty payments that are due to him from the sale or hire of the recording, to Rotary’s End Polio Now Campaign, until such a time that it is confirmed polio has finally been eradicated worldwide.
The famous Lost Doctor Who’s are three episodes, out of the 753 made and broadcast, that were commissioned, written, paid for, and about to go into production for BBC television in 1985, when the then controller of BBC Television decided he had enough of the Doctor, and announced he was ending the series forthwith.
Fans of the series and of the then current Doctor Who Colin Baker were incensed. They mounted a vociferous campaign to get the decision rescinded and reversed. They failed. Dr Who was to be no more.
In 1989 the publishers W H Allen decided to approach the writers and to see if they would be happy to adapt their individual TV episodes as books.
All agreed, the books were written, published, and are now collectors’ items. The other two books will be made available soon on commercial audio cassette to the general public.
To find out how you can sponsor an RNIB talking book, contact Rebecca Williams on rebecca.williams@rnib.org.uk
To find out how you can help end polio worldwide click here.
02/07/09
