The Delia Derbyshire Day Archive
Delia Derbyshire Day will be immortalised with the charity’s history being stored alongside Delia Derbyshire’s in John Rylands Research Institute and Library in Manchester, England. You can explore the collection in person – you do not have to be attached to the University to become a reader and access the archive.
About the DD Day Archive
The DD Day archive is a mix of audio, visual, digital and physical items. The posters and flyers we have collected over the years shows a range of themes that have been explored, including our very first DD Day in 2013. Alongside the event posters, you can have a listen to recordings of oral histories, conducted by school children about Doctor Who featuring Dick Mills (Delia’s assistant in the production of Ron Grainer’s original theme tune), Carole Ann Ford (actor, first Doctor’s assistant) and Brian Hodgson (inventor of TARDIS sound effect, the dalek voice effect and close friend of Delia’s).
The archive also holds reviews and feedback. For example, magazine reviews of events and performances, while you can listen to children’s reactions to watching the first episode of Doctor Who. The most recent addition to the recordings includes Caro and DD Day trustees hosting a panel at Bluedot Festival 2023.
A big part of Delia Derbyshire Day and the archive is the educational workshops that we offer to schools to develop heritage, creative, technical and academic skills as well as more holistic well-being and personal development. The archive holds material school children have produced in our workshops, certificates we have given children, workshop planning notes, classroom resources and kids’ feedback/evaluation of our work.
Over the years we have supported a number of emerging and established artists, mainly women and based in the North-West of England. We are excited that many female electronic artists’ and composers’ work is being represented at John Rylands, right next to the material that inspired the pieces.
You can also find donated items such as ‘The Delian Mode’, a 25-minute creative documentary exploring the life and work of Delia Derbyshire, directed by Kara Blake and more admninstrative documents, chartering the process and progress of setting up and running a small creative heritage charity.
“We are delighted to be preserving the papers and digital files of Delia Derbyshire Day at the Rylands. It forms a valuable addition to our modern archive holdings and is a strong and complementary voice to augment Delia Derbyshire’s archive.”
How to access the DD Day Archive
The collection catalogue is available for access via JRRIL archives catalogue system, ELGAR:
https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/manchesteruniversity/archives/d449d532-6f5a-33a9-85a5-dfe5c282d0c6
The archive can be accessed in the Special Collections Reading Room at the John Rylands Library, and details on making an appointment can be found here: https://forms.library.manchester.ac.uk/public/form/