Текст книги "Doctor Who: Who-ology (Dr Who)"

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The Doctor throws River a surprise birthday party during the 1814 London Frost Fair. Stevie Wonder provides the tunes (1814 – A Good Man Goes to War)

On the day Melody is taken from Demon’s Run by Madame Kovarian, adult River arrives to say hi to her shocked mum and dad – Amy and Rory (52nd century – A Good Man Goes to War)

A TARDIS-blue envelope arrives, summoning River to Lake Silencio where she witnesses herself killing the Doctor (22 April 2011 – The Impossible Astronaut)

Assists the Doctor in defeating the Silents’ invasion of Earth (1969 – The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon)

Back to prison at Stormcage. Big snog with the Doctor! (52nd century – Day of the Moon)

Receives phone call from Winston Churchill at Stormcage, warning her that the TARDIS will explode (52nd century – The Pandorica Opens)

Steals a Van Gogh painting from Starship UK (33rd century – The Pandorica Opens)

Leaves a message for the Doctor on Planet One, then travels to Stonehenge on Earth and poses as Cleopatra to wait for the Doctor (AD 102 – The Pandorica Opens)

Opens the Pandorica (AD 102 – The Pandorica Opens)

Gets trapped in a time loop inside the TARDIS as it begins to explode (2010 – The Pandorica Opens)

With the universe dying around them, is rescued from the exploding TARDIS by the Doctor (1996 – The Big Bang)

Kills a stone Dalek and helps the Doctor sacrifice himself to restart the universe (1996 – The Big Bang)

Witnesses the wedding reception of her soon-to-be parents in Leadworth (2010 – The Big Bang)

Back to Stormcage (51st century)

Recruited by the Church to investigate the starship Byzantium and its deadly cargo (51st century – Time of the Angels / Flesh and Stone)

Summons the Doctor to help defeat the Weeping Angel in the hold of the Byzantium on the planet Alfava Metraxis (51st century – Time of the Angels / Flesh and Stone)

Pardoned and becomes a professor of archaeology (51st century)

Zips back to 1938 to investigate a suspected Weeping Angel invasion of New York. Sets up the Melody Malone Detective Agency and gets trapped due to temporal disturbances caused by the Angels (1938 – The Angels Take Manhattan)

Escapes the 1930s with her husband, but loses her parents to the touch of an Angel (1938 – The Angels Take Manhattan)

Writes a pulp detective novel based on the events in 1938 which will eventually lead the Doctor to travel back in time (The Angels Take Manhattan)

The Doctor takes River to the Singing Towers of Darillium. Crying, her hubby gives her a modified version of his sonic screwdriver. It is the last time she sees him in his eleventh body (51st century)

Hired to lead an expedition to The Library, which has been invaded by the Vashta Nerada (51st century – Silence in the Library)

At The Library, River meets the Tenth Doctor. She’s shocked to see how young he is. For him, it is their first chronological meeting. For her, it’s the last (51st century – Silence in the Library)

River Song dies. But… (51st century – Forest of the Dead)

COMPANION ROLL CALL: THE 2010s

AMELIA (AMY) POND

played by KAREN GILLAN

First regular Doctor Who appearance: The Eleventh Hour (2010)

Final regular Doctor Who appearance: The Angels Take Manhattan (2012)

Karen Gillan developed a love of acting at an early age, and trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. Following graduation, Karen worked successfully as a model, but acting remained her first love and TV roles soon came her way, including The Kevin Bishop Show and a small role in the 2008 Doctor Who episode The Fires of Pompeii. Two years later she beat fierce competition to win the role of companion Amy Pond opposite Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor. Karen left Doctor Who in 2012, moving on to an already lengthy list of movie and television roles, including TV drama We’ll Take Manhattan, the comedy series A Touch of Cloth and the film Not Another Happy Ending (2013).

Amelia Pond was the girl who waited… waited for the raggedy man who had appeared in her garden when she was just a child. Amy’s travels with the Doctor were everything she’d hoped for and more, and when her fiancé Rory joined the TARDIS crew, her life was complete. She may have been a trap set by the Doctor’s enemies to prevent the universe being destroyed, but that didn’t matter. Amy was never going to give up her adventures with the Doctor – something terrible would have to tear them apart. Something terrible, like a Weeping Angel…

And another thing: Karen Gillan’s mum, a massive Doctor Who fan, tried to persuade her to change her mind and stay on the TARDIS.

RORY WILLIAMS

played by ARTHUR DARVILL

First regular Doctor Who appearance: The Eleventh Hour (2010)

Final regular Doctor Who appearance: The Angels Take Manhattan (2012)

Thomas Arthur Darvill’s love of performing stemmed from accompanying his mother on tours around the country with the Cannon Hill Puppet Theatre. He landed a job as an in-vision continuity announcer for ITV children’s television in 2000, before moving on to stage roles and then TV, including Little Dorrit in 2008. Following his two-and-a-half year stint as Rory in Doctor Who, Arthur appeared opposite Billie Piper’s husband Laurence Fox on the London stage in Our Boys.

Nurse Rory Williams was always in love with Amy Pond. It took a while for the penny to drop for Amy, but she eventually cottoned on, and fell in love with him. After a rocky start involving the near-end of the universe, Rory was delighted when he finally married Amy, and they remained friends and companions of the Doctor as husband and wife. Rory’s time with the Doctor was only brought to an end when a Weeping Angel blasted him back in time, but he would always be with Amy Pond, the girl he waited for.

And another thing: Arthur Darvill has continued his Doctor Who connections appearing in ITV’s Broadchurch (2013), written by Who writer Chris Chibnall and starring David Tennant.

THEY KEEP KILLING RORY

It’s very unusual that a companion of the Doctor is killed in action. But Rory Williams seems to make a habit of it – except, he kept coming back to life.

Amy’s Choice – killed in a cloud of green gas by Mrs Poggit (an alien Eknodine), though this was in a dream world.

Cold Blood – blasted by a Silurian’s energy weapon, then absorbed by the crack in time and erased from existence. Rory later came back to life as an Auton duplicate of a Roman Centurion in AD 102. Which also died.

Day of the Moon – shot down by US agents and taken away in a body bag. But it turned out to be a ruse and he was all right really.

The Doctor’s Wife – aged to death in the corridors of the TARDIS, a trick played by the evil entity House several times.

The Angels Take Manhattan – leapt to certain death from an apartment block rooftop, erasing the time line and arriving back in 2012.

The Angels Take Manhattan – blasted back in time by a Weeping Angel, eventually dying for real at the age of 82 in the 1980s. The discovery of his gravestone caused him to be caught by the Angel in the first place. Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey.

THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR’S RULES FOR COMPANIONS

Rule 1: ‘The Doctor lies.’

Rule 7: ‘Never run when you are scared.’

Rule 27. ‘Never knowingly be serious.’

Rule 408. ‘Time is not the boss of you.’

OCCASIONAL COMPANIONS

Every now and then the Doctor meets that special someone on his wanderings. They may not leave with him, but they make as much impact as his regular companions.

SARA KINGDOM played by JEAN MARSH

Sara was a Space Special Security agent sent by Mavic Chen, the treacherous Guardian of the Solar System, to assassinate the Doctor and his friends. After killing her own brother, agent Bret Vyon, Sara realised the error of her ways and helped the Doctor defeat Chen and his allies the Daleks. She was killed by the Daleks’ Time Destructor.

ASTRID PETH played by KYLIE MINOGUE

Astrid was a waitress aboard the doomed Titanic star cruiser. When asteroids scuppered the ship, she helped the Doctor get survivors to safety and sacrificed herself to stop the villainous Max Capricorn.

JACKSON LAKE played by DAVID MORRISSEY

When 19th-century mathematics tutor Jackson took his family to Victorian London, a chance encounter with the Cybermen changed his life for ever. When his wife was killed, Jackson attempted to rescue his son by discharging an infostamp containing data about the Doctor. Instead, the information, stolen from the Daleks, flooded his mind. Unable to accept the loss of his family, Jackson retreated into a fugue state, believing that he was a newly regenerated incarnation of the Time Lord. Adopting his very own companion, Rosita, Jackson encountered the real Doctor and eventually faced the truth about himself, and was reunited with his son.

LADY CHRISTINA DE SOUZA played by MICHELLE RYAN

A professional thief who stole for the thrill of the chase, Christina stole the Cup of Athelstan from the International Gallery in London. Running from the police, she jumped onto the number 200 bus but found herself transported to a distant planet as the vehicle plunged through a wormhole. Luckily for Christina – and the other passengers – the Doctor was also on board.

CAPTAIN ADELAIDE BROOKE played by LINDSAY DUNCAN

A survivor of the 2009 Dalek invasion of Earth, Adelaide Brooke dreamt of exploring space. Following stints at Cambridge and Rice Universities, she joined NASA and became the first woman to land on Mars. 17 years later, in 2058, she established the first human colony, Bowie Base One, on the red planet. According to established history the colony was lost the following year. When the Tenth Doctor landed on the very day Bowie Base One was due to be destroyed – a fixed point in time – the Doctor decided to play god and returned Adelaide to Earth. Appalled by the Doctor’s flawed arrogance, Adelaide took her own life, thus protecting future history. Stunned, the Doctor realised that he’d finally gone too far.

WILFRED MOTT played by BERNARD CRIBBINS

The Doctor first met Donna Noble’s grandfather during a transmat outing from the Titanic. The newspaper seller, who had served in the army as a young man but was proud never to have taken a life, missed Donna’s first wedding due to a bout of Spanish flu. He met the Time Lord again after his granddaughter visited home during her travels in the TARDIS. In December 2010, Wilf started having nightmares about the Master and, believing the Doctor could help, formed the ‘Silver Cloak’, a crack team of OAPs, to find the Time Lord. Together, the two old soldiers stopped the return of Gallifrey, although Wilf become trapped in a radiation booth. The Doctor saved him, absorbing a fatal dose of radiation that triggered his tenth regeneration.

CLARA OSWALD played by JENNA-LOUISE COLEMAN

Born 23 November 1866, Clara Oswald encountered the Eleventh Doctor while living a curious double life: she worked as a barmaid at the Rose and Crown, but she was also ‘Miss Montague’, a governess for the Latimer children. Intrigued by the Doctor, whose TARDIS was parked on a solidified cloud high above the streets of London, she all but forced her way into his hermit-like existence. On the brink of accepting a TARDIS key and joining the Doctor, Clara was grabbed by an animated ice sculpture of the Latimer’s previous governess and fell to her death. But before she breathed her last, Clara told the Doctor to ‘Run, you clever boy… and remember’, the very same words said to him by the doomed Oswin Oswald on the Dalek Asylum. Fascinated, the Doctor headed back into time and space to unravel the mystery of Clara Oswin Oswald…

FAMILY TIES

‘I was going to do shepherd’s pie. All of us, a proper sit down…’

Jackie Tyler, World War Three

They say you can pick your friends but you can’t pick your family – and some of the Doctor’s companions would travel to the other end of time to avoid a family reunion. From Jackie Tyler to Lavinia Smith, we have seen some formidable on-screen relatives since 1963 – starting with the Doctor himself. Here’s a list of them – formidable or not.

EXTENDED (UNSEEN) FAMILIES

Some of the companions’ family members have popped up on screen, and there have also been many mentions of relatives that have never appeared.

Vicki – Her mother died in 2493 on Earth, while her father was murdered by Bennett on the planet Dido. (The Rescue)

Dodo – She had a great aunt who she claimed wouldn’t miss her. (The Massacre)

Victoria – Her father claimed she looked just like her late mother at the same age. (The Evil of the Daleks)

The Brigadier – he finally married Doris, but it’s implied the Brig was previously married, to the mother of his daughter, Kate. (The Power of Three)

Jo Grant – Jo’s uncle pulled some strings to get her the job at UNIT. (Terror of the Autons)

Tegan – Her father owned a farm in Australia – which was hardly the Outback, according to Auntie Vanessa. (Logopolis)

Peri – She and her stepfather were on holiday with her mother, who had taken up with a Mrs van Gysegham. (Planet of Fire)

Mickey – Mickey’s mum couldn’t cope after he was born and after his dad ‘wandered off’ he was brought up by his gran. (Rise of the Cybermen) His mum obviously remained a part of his life, as Rose worried about how she would tell her that Mickey had died during the Auton invasion. (Rose)

Captain Jack – Jack’s brother, Gray, appears in an episode of spin-off series Torchwood, though he’s never mentioned in Doctor Who.

Lady Christina de Souza – Christina’s aristocratic father lost the family fortune after investing his money in the Icelandic banks. (Planet of the Dead)

Captain Adelaide Brooke – During the Dalek invasion of Earth in 2009, Adelaide Brooke’s father went to search for her missing mother. She never saw her parents again. (The Waters of Mars)

Amy and Rory – In an unmade, but scripted scene, Rory’s father Brian discovers that Amy and Rory adopted a son, Anthony, in 1946. Arthur Darvill recorded a voiceover for this scene which was featured on the BBC Doctor Who website (www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho).

REASONS FOR LEAVING THE DOCTOR

FOUR

A CARNIVAL OF MONSTERS

‘There are some corners of the universe which have bred the most terrible things. Things which act against everything we believe in. They must be fought.’

The Doctor, The Moonbase

Yes, we all love the Doctor, but we love the monsters as well. Welcome to the Who-ology catalogue of Cybermen, Daleks and other foul creatures.

MONSTROUS FIRST LINES

First impressions last. If you want to cut it at the top flight of Doctor Who monsters, that all-important dramatic first line is an absolute must.

THE DALEKS

‘You will move ahead of us and follow my directions. This way. Immediately.’ The Daleks

THE CYBERMEN

‘They will not return. It is unimportant now.’ The Tenth Planet

THE ICE WARRIORS

‘Varga.’ The Ice Warriors

THE SILURIANS

‘Why have you come?’ Doctor Who and the Silurians

THE SEA DEVILS

‘This is our planet. My people ruled the Earth when man was only an ape.’ The Sea Devils

THE SONTARANS

‘Peace. Fear not. I shall not harm you.’ The Time Warrior

THE OOD

‘We must feed.’ The Impossible Planet

THE JUDOON

‘Bo so fo do no cro blo co so ro.’ Smith and Jones

THE SILENCE

‘Joy. Her name was Joy. Your name is Amelia. You will tell the Doctor.’ The Impossible Astronaut

ABSENCE OF THE MONSTERS

Right from the start, BBC executives decreed that there should be ‘no bug-eyed monsters’ in Doctor Who. The success of the Daleks just a few short weeks into the programme proved they had been wrong. While it’s almost impossible to imagine Doctor Who without monsters, a large number of stories feature no creatures at all, bug-eyed or otherwise.

RETURNING MONSTERS

‘You can always judge a man by the quality of his enemies.’

The Doctor, Remembrance of the Daleks

You can’t keep a good monster down. No matter how many times the Doctor defeats them, some aliens just keep coming back for more.

THE SILURIANS

‘They’re not aliens. They’re Earth-liens. Once known as the Silurian race, or, some would argue, Eocenes, or Homo reptilia. Not monsters, not evil. Well, only as evil as you are. The previous owners of the planet, that’s all.’

The Doctor, The Hungry Earth

Millions of years ago, a race of bipedal intelligent reptiles ruled planet Earth. Possessing technology far beyond that of modern man, the Silurians were capable of space flight and developed sophisticated energy weapons. When a rogue planet was discovered entering the solar system, Silurian scientists predicted that the Earth would be ravaged by its passing. While some Silurians ventured into space in huge arks, the majority of Homo reptilia entered cryogenic sleep to escape the cataclysm. The planet, meanwhile, was drawn into Earth’s orbit, becoming the Moon. The Silurians slept on and, in their absence, the apes they had considered vermin evolved into the human race.

The Doctor first encountered the Silurians when a hibernation nest reactivated beneath Wenley Moor in Derbyshire. Disgusted that the very apes that had ravished the crops in prehistoric times had infested their planet, the Silurians unleashed a biological plague designed to wipe humanity from the Earth.

Other Silurian bases were discovered beneath the London of 1888 and the Welsh village of Cwmtaff 132 years later, the latter sent back into cryo-sleep for another thousand years in the hope that humans will be ready to share Earth when the Silurians are finally revived. Peace between the two species will always be difficult, however. A faction of Silurians led by Icthar attempted to provoke a nuclear war between the humans of 2084 to regain control of Earth. It is currently unknown how many dormant Silurian cities lie beneath the surface.

DINOSAURS IN DOCTOR WHO

OTHER PREHISTORIC CREATURES

Pterodactyls, one of which attacks the Doctor and Sarah in Invasion of the Dinosaurs, are considered vermin in the Hyde Park of The Wedding of River Song and are on board the Silurian Ark in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship. Pterodactyls are not dinosaurs.

DESIGNING DINOS

BERTRAM THE FRIENDLY MONSTER

The rubber tyrannosaur-like costume seen in Doctor Who and the Silurians was made by visual effects assistant Anna Braybrooke. It was operated by visual effects assistant Bertram A Collacott and listed as ‘Bertram, the Friendly Monster’ on the script cast lists, played by ‘himself’. Oxygen had to be pumped into the suit during performances.

PREHISTORIC PUPPETS

The dinosaurs featured in Invasion of the Dinosaurs caused the production team a great deal of trouble. Original plans had been to bring the creatures to life by means of stop-frame animation, similar to that used in films of Ray Harryhausen. When budget restrictions ruled this out, it was decided to go for rod and cable-controlled puppets. Five full-body models were made plus a large T-Rex head for close ups and a pterodactyl hand puppet, and these were contracted out to a model-making company. The producer was less than happy with the result, but time restraints meant that there was no option but to go with the stiff and inarticulate creatures.

DIGITAL DINOS

When prehistoric monsters returned to Who with Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, all eyes were on The Mill, the digital wizards who had handled Doctor Who’s digital effects since 2005. The team sat down with writer Chris Chibnall and discussed which dinosaurs to use, even toying with the notion of creating a brand new species never seen before. This idea was eventually dropped. They also gave Chibnall three rules to make the job of integrating the dinosaurs with the real-life sets and actors a little easier – when writing he had to remember the three ‘f’s: no fur, no flocking and no feathers! Physical versions of Tricey the Triceratops and a pterodactyl were also built by Millennium FX. The pterodactyl only took two weeks to construct, but Tricey was more tricky, racking up six weeks in the workshop.

MONSTER MAKER – THE BLUFFER’S GUIDE TO…

TERRY NATION

Full name: Terry Joseph Nation

Born: 8 August 1930, Cardiff, Wales

Died: 9 March 1997, Los Angeles, California, USA

Famous for: Creating the Daleks.

Came to London in 1955 looking to make it as a stand-up comedian. Failed miserably. A talent scout told him: ‘Son, the jokes are funny – it’s you that’s not!’

Got his big break writing an episode of The Goon Show for comedian Spike Milligan. The show was never recorded but Milligan’s scriptwriting agency signed him immediately. Went on to write for Frankie Howerd, Eric Sykes, Peter Sellers and Tony Hancock.

Was invited to write his first Doctor Who adventure – The Daleks – following success with stories written for ABC’s Out of This World anthology series in 1962.

Would write a further eight Dalek stories, plus The Keys of Marinus and The Android Invasion, as well as collaborating on the two Dalek feature films of the 1960s, the Curse of the Daleks stage play, and various books and annuals.

Other notable works: Wrote 13 episodes of The Saint between 1964 and 1968. Contributed six episodes to The Avengers. Script edited The Avengers and The Baron. Acted as Story Consultant on The Persuaders. Created Blake’s 7 and Survivors. Produced and wrote for US adventure series MacGyver.

THE LIVES AND DEATHS OF DAVROS

BIRTH AND NEAR-DEATH

Born at the end of the thousand-year war between the Thals and the Kaleds, Davros is a brilliant scientist who quickly rises through the ranks of the Kaled Elite Scientific Corps. Crippled and blinded in a terrible laboratory accident, the now disfigured scientist desperately clings to life. Even as his internal organs fail, Davros fashions himself a mobile life-support system complete with a super-optic bionic eye, a fatigue eliminator removing the need for sleep and a mechanical heart and lungs. His injuries are so severe that Davros would die within thirty seconds if his new implants failed.

THE BIRTH OF THE DALEKS

Davros eventually becomes the head of the Scientific Elite and proceeds to experiment on Kaled DNA. Fifty years after his accident, he realises that neutronic radiation has begun to mutate the Kaleds themselves. Accelerating the process, he creates a conscience-free creature, which he places in the very first Dalek casing. When the Kaled leaders threaten an investigation into Davros’s work, the scientist helps the Thals launch a full-scale nuclear attack on the Kaled dome, committing genocide against his own people.

EXTERMINATION

Davros hadn’t bargained on his progeny’s ruthlessness. Convinced of their own superiority, the Daleks exterminate their creator. But Davros isn’t killed so easily. His secondary life-support system kicks in, placing him in a state of suspended animation.

RESURRECTION

Thousands of years later, the Daleks return to Skaro in search of their creator. Now almost completely robotic, they are locked in stalemate with the android Movellans. Believing that Davros can give them the edge, they revive the scientist, only to be foiled once again by the Doctor. Davros is cryogenically frozen and taken back to Earth to stand trial for his crimes against the entire universe.

IMPRISONMENT AND RELEASE

Ninety years later, the Daleks once again liberate Davros, this time from his cryogenic cell in an Earth prison station. At the mercy of a Movellan virus, the depleted children of Skaro task Davros with creating a cure and the scientist wastes no time in using the opportunity to regain control of his creations. Ultimately unsuccessful, Davros escapes even as he begins to show the first symptoms of his newly created Movellan virus strain.

DALEKS OF THE DEAD

Curing himself of the Movellan plague, Davros manages to install himself at the Tranquil Repose cryogenic funeral home on Necros as the self-appointed ‘Great Healer’. Unbeknown to the grieving families, Davros begins mutating the remains of the near-dead humans into Daleks, creating a high-protein foodstuff from the leftovers. Even though he has all but wiped out famine, the employees of Tranquil Repose shop him to the Daleks who take him back to Skaro for trial.

EMPEROR DAVROS

Somehow Davros manages to perform a coup on Skaro, becoming Emperor of a new breed of Imperial Daleks. His continued genetic tinkering causes a civil war and when he attempts to replicate Gallifrey’s time-travel experiments Davros is tricked into destroying Skaro’s sun by the Seventh Doctor. Abandoning his Imperial flagship, Davros flees in an escape pod.

THE JAWS OF DEATH

In the first year of the Time War, Davros leads the Daleks into battle at the Gates of Elysium but is thought dead when his command ship flies into the jaws of the Nightmare Child. He is rescued by Dalek Caan and creates a new race of Daleks from his own flesh. Now completely insane, and once again imprisoned by his creations, he plans to destroy the universe by use of a reality bomb. He is killed when the Crucible is destroyed.

Or is he?

BRINGING DAVROS TO LIFE

The creator of the Daleks has been played by four actors:

Michael Wisher Genesis of the Daleks

After a suggestion that Davros be based on Dan Dare’s green-skinned arch-enemy the Mekon, Wisher’s mask was created before the actor had been cast. Wisher’s own teeth were blackened to suggest decay and his voice passed through a ring modulator to give it a Dalek edge. The actor reportedly based Davros’s intonation on that of the philosopher Bertrand Russell.

David Gooderson Destiny of the Daleks

Wisher was unavailable, so David Gooderson was cast as Davros but the budget wouldn’t run to a new mask. The badly damaged original had been on display at Doctor Who exhibitions in Longleat and Blackpool, and it was in such a state of disrepair that a cleaner even threw it away one night after shooting, believing it was rubbish.

Terry Molloy Resurrection of the Daleks

When Terry Molloy was cast as Davros in 1984, budget was allocated to the creation of a completely new mask. While it was undoubtedly more flexible than the original, Davros’s new haggard visage was soon dubbed ‘Ena Sharples’ by the crew after the popular character from Coronation Street in the 1960s and 1970s. Molloy would return for two further stories, Revelation of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks.

Julian BleachThe Stolen Earth / Journey’s End

When Julian Bleach recreated Davros for the 21st century, prosthetic artist Neil Gorton looked to the 1975 original for inspiration. While Wisher had only one mask, the modern crew created a new prosthetic for every day of shooting. Other changes included strengthening the wire around Davros’s head, making it look like a medical brace holding his skull together.

MONSTER MAKER – THE BLUFFER’S GUIDE TO…

RAYMOND CUSICK

Full name: Raymond P. Cusick

Born: 1928, London

Died: 21 February 2013, Horsham

Famous for: Designing the Daleks

Came to Doctor Who producer Verity Lambert’s attention while working on situation comedies such as Scott On and Sykes. Was hired as one of two designers on Doctor Who. Barry Newberry would design the historical stories, while Cusick concentrated on the science-fiction romps.

Inspiration struck when Terry Nation told Cusick about the Georgian State Dancers who glided around the stage wearing long skirts so you couldn’t see their feet.

The cost for making the Daleks had to be kept below £250 each, which meant Cusick had to revise some of his original ideas, such as having them mounted on a tricycle or having the Dalek bumps in the skirts flash when the Daleks became excited or angry.

The Daleks’ iconic shape came from Cusick’s realisation that the Dalek would have to have an operator concealed inside. He drew a chair and sketched the shape of the Dalek around it. The meshed grill beneath the revolving ‘head’ was added so they could see out.

Cusick stayed with Doctor Who for a further two-and-a-half years. In this time he worked on The Edge of Destruction, The Keys of Marinus, The Sensorites, Planet of Giants, The Rescue, The Romans, The Chase, Mission to the Unknown and The Daleks’ Master Plan.

He was awarded the coveted Blue Peter Gold Badge for designing the Daleks.

Other notable works: Designer on series such as The Duchess of Duke Street, When the Boat Comes in and To Serve Them All My Days.

A DALEK A-Z

In 1964, Terry Nation famously told a Daily Mirror reporter that he got the Dalek’s name from the spine of an encyclopaedia volume labelled DAL-LEK. Naughty Terry later admitted this was complete balderdash (although volumes of the London telephone directory of the period could be arranged to read ‘DALEK’). In honour of his blatant fib, we present an A-Z to the Dalek Empire.

A is for the Abomination – The word the Daleks use for anything that gives them the heebie-jeebies. The Dalek Emperor branded Rose Tyler as the Abomination after she absorbed the Time Vortex (The Parting of the Ways), while Dalek Caan picked up the nickname when he started predicting the future (The Stolen Earth).

B is for Biological Warfare – The Daleks made use of biological warfare throughout their history. When invading Earth in the 22nd century, they dropped germ bombs on the planet wiping out whole continents of humans including Africa, Asia and South America (The Dalek Invasion of Earth).

C is for Crucible – The spherical flagship of the new Dalek Imperial armada. Powered by a Z-Neutrino core, capable of even destroying a TARDIS, the Crucible also contained the Vault, where the Supreme Dalek kept Davros on a tight leash (The Stolen Earth / Journey’s End).

D is for Distress Call – Most Daleks were fitted with an automatic distress call that would be activated as soon as its top was removed, even if the Dalek was already deactivated (Planet of the Daleks).

E is for Eyepiece – The most vulnerable point of the Dalek. Take this out and not only would it be blinded but it would often fly into a complete panic (for example in Revelation of the Daleks). Unfortunately, as Wilfred Mott discovered, by the time of the Dalek invasion of 2009, the Daleks had perfected ways of automatically clearing visual obstructions (The Stolen Earth).

F is for Force Fields – During the Last Great Time War, Daleks developed personal force fields that could melt bullets in mid-air (Dalek).