Doctor Who for Blind Children

Louis, from Bradford, has been blind since he was 18 months old. Now aged 19, and about to finish his first year at University, Louis has teamed up with Berkshire based national charity Living Paintings to bring the iconic imagery of Doctor Who to life for people living with sight loss.

Louis said: “I’m a big fan of the show Doctor Who, but I have yet to really meet the weird and wonderful characters, aliens, monsters and devices from the show because I can't see them. I asked Living Paintings to help and they said ‘yes’. Together we aim to produce a series of tactile and audio books that will let me see in my own way, images of the different Doctors, Daleks, the TARDIS and so much more."

Times are tough and the charity, which offers a free postal library of Touch to See books currently benefiting 2,000 blind people across the UK, don’t have the funds to implement this project, so inspirational Louis has launched a fundraising campaign to make his dream a reality.

 

Liz Davies, Publishing Manager at Living Paintings said of the project: “To have the possibility of creating the world’s only tactile and audio book series about Doctor Who for blind people is incredibly exciting and so we are delighted that the people at Doctor Who have given us permission to create three Touch to See books.

"The universe of Doctor Who is an immensely visual extravaganza that we will capture and share with blind people. Through evocative tactile pictures coupled with atmospheric and descriptive audio guides, plus music and sound effects - we’ll bring the spectacle of Doctor Who to life, hopefully with a little help from some of the Doctors, their companions and adversaries too!"

Louis is aiming to raise £15,000, and his efforts are supported by the War Master actor, Sir Derek Jacobi: “Louis’ idea is excellent! Having portrayed the Master, in the wonderful TV series Doctor Who, I love the idea of blind and partially sighted children and young people being able to enjoy the visual spectacle of the show just as sighted people do.”

Louis is raising the money via a Crowdfunder campaign: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/louis-campaign 

Living Paintings have a webpage dedicated to Louis’ appeal: www.livingpaintings.org/doctor-who