AWSUM TOYS: EVOLUTION OF THE DALEKS

AWSUM TOYS: 

EVOLUTION OF THE DALEKS  

A brief look at the evolution of the Dalek Toys 

from 1964 to present. 

By 1964, Dalek Mania was on the rise. Xmas stockings wouldn't be complete without the inclusion of Dalek merchandise. In the days before mass produced merch, (and a good two decades before the rise of Star Wars and its subsequent global toy industry), Dr Who was already way ahead of the game. However, nobody was at the helm to steer this crazy juggernaut, at least when it came to making accurate Dalek toys…

DALEK$$$$$ ! 

From an toolmaker or engineers perspective, in stuns the mind at how terribly inaccurate Dalek toys originally were. I imagine the chaps at Shawcraft too, were probably needing a stiff drink (or twenty), in the wake of toy manufacturers making a stupendous mint, on the design that Shawcraft had sweat blood and tears over, only not to see a penny of its rewards and to add insult to injury, they didn't even look like Daleks! 

Of course, it wasn't about accuracy, it was about business. Toy manufacturers of the time basically couldn't care less about Daleks actually looking proportionally correct and such shrewd business men (who didn’t know a Dalek from a Ducks elbow) simply saw the Dalek success story, as a window of opportunity, to be exploited by every means possible. 

However the results were less than favourable but for most kids, it didn’t matter. Owning any crappy toy Dalek was better than nothing and moreover, like owning gold itself, a status symbol, in effect, the emperors new clothes. If it was labelled a ‘Dalek’, thats all that mattered and much like today, (where we buy expensive trainers labelled Nike etc) the Dalek image, was an indelible currency for trade.  

Still, why did they look so crappy? Lets have a look. 

FLEETING GLANCES 

The 1960's :

In a time, when there was no internet, no home VHS video recorders, (and no repeats), catching that brief glimpse of the Daleks on Television must have been rather like the ornithological equivalent of bird watching. It basically meant kids had to be at home at a certain time, (negotiate with the parents),  sit in front of the Television, tune in and be ready to watch and pay attention, (if and when) the Daleks might appear, which in those days was quite a rarity. 

In fact, the sequel to the first ever Dalek story, (Dalek invasion of Earth) caused an absolute outrage across Britain, because kids had been waiting months for the Daleks to return, only for one Dalek to appear out of the river Thames, right at the very end of the episode! 

This outrage meant of course, that an entire country of school kids, would have to wait yet another entire week of school drudgery, just to find out what was going to happen on Dr Who next. Such a concept now seems ludicrous but that’s just the way it was. 

In fact, it became such a big deal,  that BBC switchboards were jammed with complaints from angry parents, drawn into the madness of childhood anxieties, that they ended up watching the show too and becoming fans themselves! Suddenly Dr Who had become a family affair and with it the demand for Dalek toys at Christmas was inevitable. 

ANY OLD CONE WILL DO 

But as far as the merchandise was concerned, literally anything cone-shaped was used by the toy companies. A combination of making a fast buck and a general apathy towards accuracy didn't help. Plus it was extremely difficult for small toy firms to get a real grip on the Dalek shape without decent source material. Useful reference photos of Daleks where quite rare, and what was available was confined mainly to the odd cover of the Radio Times and other magazines or the odd article in news papers, which again were difficult to acquire unless one was astute enough to save them from the bin. Even the Dalek annuals, merely presented the Daleks as cones. 

So it was no surprise that the original Dalek toys produced, were terrible and allowed to get away with being as rubbish as they were, for the kids didn’t have much to go on either. If a child’s only reference point was his own memory of a Dalek, (seen fleetingly on Tv for a mere few minutes a week), then such withdrawal symptoms were sure to explode at the first sight of any Dalek related toy available, no matter how inaccurate.  

Thus anything chucked out on the toy market and labelled a ‘Dalek’ was better than nothing at all and (like so many hopelessly dependent addicts) kids went wild for Dalek pencils, cut-o-matics, Rollykins, playsuits, bump and goes, clockworks and anything else with vaguely cone shaped potential, which (all in all) looked nothing like what was actually seen trundling across the television screen, briefly once a week. Never the less, it kept the kids placated from storming the gates. 

It could also be argued that the kids imprinted there imagination upon such terrible renditions, compensating mentally, for the lack of accuracy in their possession. I imagine prisoners of war, had similar feelings over a morsel of mouldy bread. Probably. 

I know I did. 

PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE 

Anyway, no matter. Dalek Mania was gearing up a notch, in the shape of Louise Marx Bump and Go Daleks, all made of brittle plastic, allowing the arms to break off instantly. In fact this would be a lingering bugbear of any subsequent Dalek toy, for decades to come. While other toy manufactures had conquered this problem years ago, it seemed that Dalek toy manufacturers were simply unable  (or couldn’t be arsed) to re-calibrate the elasticity of the plastics used to make the Dalek appendages. 

Then again, why should they? When a broken Dalek meant Mum and Dad would have to go out and buy yet another toy Dalek. So if you are wondering why the seas are full of plastic, well, now you know. Out there somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, is probably an island of discarded broken Dalek toys! If only they had been made of metal, they might rust in peace.

CORGI & DINKY TOYS 

In hindsight, had the BBC approached more reputable companies (such as Corgi or Dinky Toys), we might have had cast aluminium Dalek toys of a reasonable standard by the mid-sixties! 

Talking of which, Corgi, (famous for making accurate metal toy cars), was churning out James Bond Aston Martin DB5’s, with ejector seats and various other gadgets and selling them like hot cakes. 

Around this time, Shawcraft models had already produced a stunning Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang model for the movie of the same name, which Corgi later manufactured as an very faithful toy car, complete with retractable wings. 

Meanwhile, numerous other toys were now available, absolutely authentic reproductions in miniature: mini works of art being sold globally, (such as Dinky Toys fantastic range of Thunderbirds Vehicles), yet somehow, when it came to Dalek toys, the results were less than retarded, to say the least. 

DODGY DEALS 

In retrospect, Dr Who Director Richard Martin said as much in an interview, that the Dalek merchandise was simply awful. One can imagine some sort of sponsorship ‘deal’ was struck with toy manufactures to use them in the Dr Who episodes but the lack of accuracy was likely due to time and money and due care.  Despite these merchandisers were approached by the BBC to make accurate models (Richard Martins circle, at least had tried to persuade them) even offering them the plans etc, these pleas were ignored and it has annoyed the hell out of everyone ever since. 

The 1970's 

Palitoys attempt was as good as it got. The selling point that it could now make a toy Dalek that could talk. However, the appendages were plagued with the age old problem of brittle plastic components, making them easy to break off in the hands of small children, such as myself. 

The Denise Fisher Dalek was perhaps the better of the two, in only that it was miles more in proportion, than that of its Palitoy rival. Up until that time, this was the most accurate Dalek ever made, and interestingly based on Terry Nations Red Top Dalek, that he owned, intended for a Dalek Tv serial that never materialised. 

Nevertheless, Dalek toys still had a long way to go,  in terms of accuracy. 

THE NEXT GENERATION 

The 1980's : 

It was only by the 1980's and 90’s, when diligent fans (such as Julian Vince) turned the tide, by making fantastic Dalek models, (even animating them), soon followed by Stewart Sevans, who actually took measurements from a rare as hell honest to god original Dalek prop.

 

In the advent of the internet, it was not long before such endeavours were spurning a whole new generation of builders, to begin making accurate DIY Daleks and thus forming memberships to various builders guilds, such as Project Dalek. 

DAPOL -SCHMAPOL ! 

The 1990s' 

Yet, despite all this, toy companies such as Dapol were still insisting on making crude Dalek toys,  perhaps the only improvement was the durability of the plastic and improved elasticity of the appendages, making them less prone to snapping off but as far as accuracy was concerned, they still had a long, long way to go...

PRODUCT ENTERPRISE 

The 2000's

Perhaps the biggest breakthrough in Dalek toys was Product Enterprises wonderful range of Talking and Radio Controlled Daleks, which also included micro push and goes and fabulous rollykins etc.

Another breakthrough was their release of movie Dalek variants, of various sizes. All these versions had reasonable detail. Gone were the brittle appendages (that break off in a child’s clumsy hands in five seconds) and more importantly, they were dimensionally correct. Well, almost. 

DALEKS WITH CHARACTER 

The 2010's 

However, it would take another decade before a totally screen accurate Dalek figurine was finally available, courtesy of Character Options and to this date, these are the most accurate Dalek toys ever produced. In fact everything about them is fantastic. They are essentially the result of a culmination of 50 years of Dalek toy evolution, stemming from rubbish plastic cones (with brittle appendages) to the latter day talking varieties.  Plus they come in every range of Dalek design possible, from movie variants, to NSD's and those bloody new paradigms. But the less said about those the better. 

All in all, these models are so respectable looking, that no Dr Who fan, (young or old) should be without a few cluttering up the shelf or mantelpiece, in effect replacing mothers china ornaments of yesteryear. 

BIGGER IS BETTER

But for those who want bigger, (for the ultimate Dalek toy), one can buy a full size totally accurate Dalek reproduction from This Planet Earth for £3,500. But to own such a status symbol, sacrifices may have to be made and divorce settlements may ensue…

WHAT IF? Dr Who without Pepperpots

WHAT IF? 

Dr Who without Pepperpots

A universe without Daleks is scarcely worth thinking about

At the time, there was so much adversity to Dr Who by the BBC management, that without the Daleks, it is (with all probability) that the show would have been scrapped short of completing its first season. 

Verity Lambert (left!) 

Saying that, its youthful strong willed producer (Verity Lambert) might have discovered new ways to save the show, (which could have given it a little more staying power) but it would still only have stemmed the inevitable and seen the show promptly cancelled, perhaps within three seasons at best. 

Bare in mind, its hard to imagine Dr Who being any sort of huge success without the Daleks. People forget that these Nazi Pepperpots were not only the most successful monsters in Dr Who but they were also the first of many moralistic tales about the abuse of power and science, opening the flood gates for a whole plethora of monsters. 

Take the Cybermen for instance, basically a stark warning to humanity about the dangers of wanting to live forever in a body, impervious to heat or cold. Also impervious to love and hate and any other emotion. Look at the Sontarons, a warning, of excessive militarisation and cloning. The Zygons, a warning to… well who cares by that point, it didn’t really matter, so long as the monsters looked cool. 

But the Daleks clinched it first. Take a thousand year war between two races, followed by centuries of nuclear fallout and you have radiated mutant human beings, withered to that of mere octopuses, dependent on their travel machines to throw their weight around. And for a children’s Tv series, (akin to Bill and Ben and Juke Box Jury), this was pretty heavy science for kids, who had just missed the more adult orientated Quatermass serials a few years earlier. 

Essentially every Dr Who monster tale, is a reminder of Mary Shelly’s Modern Prometheus. It is the Frankenstein Syndrome, by which scientists create monsters that destroy their creators and rampage across the local community.  The point is, the Daleks cemented the moralistic format and gave the show options for other monsters to be dreamed up, so long as they had some reflection of humanity’s deepest fears or shortcomings. 

Basically, the Daleks are us, taken to the absolute extreme of far right neo socialism values, which had thrown us into a second world war, in the first place. Of course, it takes two to tango and Nazis wouldn’t be Nazis without a suitable nemesis. Divide and conquer. Exterminate the other. That is essentially the Daleks. 

Without this moralistic format, Dr Who would have strictly spiralled into various historical romps, such as the Romans, Marco Polo and so on. Good stories in their own right but too many historical tales would have made Dr Who too bland for fans of American science fiction and difficult to sell overseas to the USA etc. 

Without the Daleks, the ailing Doctor would have had to contend with things like the Zarbi, basically a bunch of blokes in giant ill conceived Ant costumes and that would have killed the show off for sure. 

So its with heartfelt thanx to Verity Lambert for standing her ground, allowing Terry Nations story the green light, thus permitting Ray Cusick, Bill Roberts and Shawcraft to create the most successful monsters in Television history. Who would have thought, that these angry pepper-pots would become as famous as Santa and a British institution in their own right. 

Its all about teaching the kids 

because one day, they will inherit the Earth, 

perhaps one day the U*N*I*V*E*R*S*E !  

WHAT IF? HANCOCKS DALEKS

 

WHAT IF? 

With a Little Help From My Friends:

HANCOCK'S DALEKS

The True Origins of The Daleks?

In this "WHAT IF" article* we shall look at the rather tenuous relationship of the Daleks creator: writer Terry Nation, with that of writer & comedian Tony Hancock and why Beer Pumps (!) have a unique affinity with all things Dalek...probably. 

DALEK MANIA 

On the 23rd of November 1963, Dr Who came to our screens amidst the chaos of President Kennedy's assassination in Dallas the previous day. 

With a public still reeling in grief over this brutal death, there was little thought to noticing a little sci-fi show on BBC 1, about some old codger and his granddaughter, who kidnap two teachers, whisking them back in time to the stone age, in a rickety old metropolitan police box, to fight off cave men. 

And had the series continued on in that vain of historical interlopes, it is likely that Dr Who wouldn’t have lasted much longer than a few episodes. 

However, that was all to change, with the subsequent introduction of the Daleks in the second story, (The Dead Planet)  which not only captured the imagination of children across Britain, but anchored the family unit for half an hour every Saturday night, creating the highest Tv ratings that BBC 1 had ever seen. 

Over nine million viewers tuned in to watch the Doctor fight the metallic monsters, so it was only inevitable that they would return again and again and thus make Dr Who one of  Tvs longest running shows and the Flagship of the Beeb. 

With their sudden success, “Dalek-Mania” soon swept across England as every toy manufacturer in the land spat out Dalek toys, playsuits, books and comics and so on, culminating in two big budget movies starring Peter Cushing as Dr Who. 

And at the heart of all this, was the Daleks creator, a welsh writer by the name of Terry Nation, who literally become a millionaire overnight. But not it seems, without a little help from his friends.

As we shall see...  

GENESIS OF THE DALEKS

Lets just suppose for one moment,  that The Daleks were not just some divine idea that popped into Nations head and that there was no Eureka! moment at his type writer. 

Lets also just suppose (for another moment) that there was someone else who (probably) put the Dalek idea into Nations head. 

After all, Nation was often vague about where the idea of the Daleks actually came from. 

Ask any a famous writer and you might get the same response. A sort of vague look into the horizon, a rubbing of the chin and then some convoluted story that has no meaning. Nation was just as shrewd.  

“They just came to me!” He would say. 

When interviewed in 1968 by Alan Wicker, his stock answer was :“I needed a villain, and the Daleks just appeared ...somehow!”  

Lets just pause it right there: "Somehow?" 

Thats a big red flag right there. Nation was hiding something. The secret of his success lay in that one word. Somehow. 

Take the money and fly like a thief! was another popular expression he used to bandy about.  But perhaps there was more to this, than Nation was letting on. 

INSPIRED IDEAS 

Ultimately, like all creatives, writers build upon the ideas of others (say HG Wells or John Wyndham) and create something new. 

Being a writer sucks. Nation new this only too well. Particularly when nobody notices you even exist, even worse, when you rely entirely on it to pay the rent. Time and time again it seems, much like in the film and music industry, the only way to get ahead, is to plagiarise other artists work. The key to avoiding a law suit was how subtle you lifted others work. 

Much like the law suit that ensued after US rock Band The Doors lifted the guitar riff from The Kinks song "All Day and All Night", writers are just as notorious for 'borrowing' ideas off each other. Hence we now have copy-write laws to protect victims of such underhandedness, yet this practice still prevails. 

That said, in Nations defence, if every idea was under copy-write, (subject to 25 years in a maximum security prison in space) no creative would ever get out of bed. Ideas build upon other ideas. That is the nature of creativity, it needs to adapt and evolve. 

LUCKY SEVEN

Look at it this way: 

There are only seven basic plots, seven basic musical notes, seven basic colours even. But from that we have the likes of Shakespeare, Mozart and Van Gogh.  

No doubt, there are times in a writers life when his back is against the wall, when the ideas simply don’t put food on the table and the alternative is to pack up and hitch a lift back to Nowheresville and die in obscurity and shame. 

Terry Nation was a driven man, he would rather die than risk absolute failure. With a wife and kids in tow, it might not come as a surprise, that he might have 'borrowed' a few ideas off other writers, in order to maintain the bourgeois lifestyle he was accustomed to. 

And when it came to Sci-fi, anything was possible, even cone-shaped robots. 

And if anything, the Daleks success was a culmination of ideas, solidified by Nation. Lets not forget of course that designer Raymon Cusick and prop builder Bob Roberts (of Shawcraft Models) also had a huge input into realising the Daleks and show producer Verity Lambert fought to get them on the air. 

But there was one other person not mentioned in the history books...

TONY HANCOCK 

Around this time, comedian and writer Tony Hancock was a big name in television. 

But his genius was not created in a vacuum, he still required help. 

Like most successful comedians, he employed various writers to help write comedy sketches, that would keep him in pocket. One of these writers was none other than Terry Nation, who seemed to be in hot demand, even turning down the BBC's offer to work on Dr Who. 

But what has any of this got to do with Daleks? 

PING PONG BALLS. 

It was no secret that Tony Hancock was a nightmare to be around. A constant drunk, it soon overshadowed his genius. 

Even comedian Spike Milligan noted he seemed to outrage everyone and push them away, sooner or later. However, as far as Terry Nation was concerned, beggars couldn’t be choosers and he worked alongside Hancock on various ideas for sketches. 

Usually this would entail the familiar surroundings of the local pub. 

On one such drinking session, (rumour has it), that Hancock suggested they do a comedy sketch that included a robot with the following attributes:

‘an inverted cone, covered with ping-pong balls and with a sink plunger sticking out of its head"

Hancocks Dalek- A drawing of what his Cone-Shaped Robot might have looked like. Probably. 

And so there you have it. 

The basics of the Dalek shape was (probably) all Hancock: A cone shaped body. The plunger (which became the manipulator arm). The ping-pong balls that became the hemispheres. 

Of course the design would need realising. And what about its size? Ping pong balls on a 5 foot high cone might not have been all that effective. Perhaps the cone itself would have been scaled down in size to make the ping pong balls look bigger?

Thus the first Dalek might have (probably) been intended for a comedy sketch that featured puppetry and miniature Daleks. Who knows. 

But this is only part of this probably puzzle solved. What about the actual Dalek name? 

Where did that come from? 

BEER PUMPS   

Writers of sci-fi are always on the lookout for weird and unusual names, particularly when it comes to naming things of alien origin. 

C3PO from Star Wars for example, was actually a grid reference from a ordinance map, that Director George Lucas drew upon.  

Again when interviewed, Nation would rub his chin about where he got the name from. Was it from his collection of encyclopaedias?  Or was it in fact, a Croatia word, meaning a far and distant place? Probably. But then again, probably not. 

Contrary to popular belief, the very name 'Dalek' may very well have come from the same source as his and Hancock's various inebriations. Basically the pub. 

These (probable) origins are far less dramatic of course for press circulation. Far better to say a little white lie to embellish the story. 

But here it is:

DALEX 

In most English pubs you cared to enter,  there were a range of famous beer pumps called "DALEX".

 The Dalex brand was quite clearly labelled upon the base of the beer pump (or on the pump handles) and while eyeing up the buxom bar maid, it is most likely that Hancock (or Nation) must have made a mental note of this, waiting for several pints of the good stuff. 

Why Nation never owned up to this (as the probable origins of the Dalek name) is possibly fearing a law suit by the Dalex company. Insisting instead (in interviews)  that the word came from the book ends of his encyclopaedias. Another reason is that it sounds much more intellectual than:

 "Oh I was sloshed one night with Tony and we noticed it on a beer pump!"

Hence he (probably) changed the spelling from Dalex to Daleks and realised he could make them singular and plural! Its a win win. 

Meanwhile, Nations relationship with Hancock was becoming more and more tenacious. 

BBC OR BUST

By 1963, Hancocks drinking was (probably) becoming impossible for Nation to cope with. On one incident, he stripped off naked on a train and began running around the carriage, with Nation in pursuit, trying to get his clothes back on. 

With his drunken antics soon getting the better of him, Hancock's cone-shaped robot sketch idea, never came to fruition, preferring to drink himself into a stupor. 

To add to this frustration, Hancock saw little value in Nations ideas, often dismissing them in favour of his own, driving a wedge further between them. 

So it was only inevitable that Terry would be fired, (and with a family to feed) Nation had little option but to come crawling back to the BBC.

It was now or never time, BBC or bust. Nation would need to crystallise his writing career once and for all. Subsequently he would write the script for the first Dalek story and most likely drew upon all his experiences to pull it off -to get that pay cheque and fly like a thief. 

It is in all probability that Nation drew inspiration from Hancocks cone shaped robot idea. Maybe as a last resort or maybe as a fuck you to the way Hancock had treated him. 

After all,  with his drunken antics pushing everyone away, it was clear Hancock was never going to realise his Cone-Shaped robot sketch but the idea in itself was worth recycling for Dr Who. Perhaps Nation hoped Hancock (being utterly inebriated most of the time) had forgotten about the whole thing. 

Wether he was aware of it or not, Nation drew further inspiration from HG Wells War of the Worlds, essentially taking the idea of the octopoid martians (within their tripod war machines) and condensing the whole idea down into a pepper-pot. 

Add a little Nazism in there and hey presto! 

Thus the Daleks were born... 

SUGGESTIVE THINKING 

Bare in mind, that up to this point, nothing was ever mentioned about the how Daleks actually looked, at least not in the script. 

Never the less, the idea of radioactive mutants incased in leg-less machines resonated heavily with series producer Verity Lambert and despite fierce opposition from BBC stalwarts, (including head of BBC Drama Sydney Newman) she fought tooth and nail, to get that script the green light. 

Soon Dalek production was underway, with Terry Nation hinting his (lifted) design ideas to Ray Cusack, over various phone calls, during the Daleks development. 

Cusick was already a talented and accomplished designer anyway but drew heavily from Nations suggestions that the Daleks should have no recognisable human features. 

So it is quite probable that Nation hinted at Hancocks Cone shaped robot, (in particular the ping pong balls) and so Cusick came up with various designs, none of which Nation was happy with, probably because they seemed too close to Hancocks original description, that it might cause a kerfuffle. 

One night however, Cusick saw the Georgian Dancers performing on Tv and immediately phoned Nation about basing the Daleks movements on them. 

Nation indicated (probably) that he had seen the same show and stated he was "thinking the exactly the same thing" also but then again, he could have just taken advantage of Cusick's suggestion. 

CLOAK AND DAGGER AFFAIR 

Perhaps Nation used the Georgian Dancers to cover his tracks? If this was the case, then things would escalate into a cloak and dagger affair, with Nation likely using Cusick's Georgian Dancers idea as a clever ruse, so not to arouse suspicion from Tony Hancock, who undoubtedly would have scuppered the whole production with a law suit, had he got wind of his Daleks being constructed without his consent. 

Finally Cusick came up with a drawing that Nation was happy with. It was not too cone shaped and not so obviously lifted from Hancocks description but nevertheless, the sink plunger is finally implemented into the design.

Curiously the ping pong balls were omitted in favour of spikes.  

Feeling he was on the right track, Cusick refined the design, replacing the spikes with the original idea of the ping pong balls, which later became larger and more concise hemispheres, with the notion of having them illuminated,  an idea later dropped due to budgetary constraints. 

Subsequently, Shawcraft Models were quickly employed to make the actual Dalek props and did a fantastic job of interpreting Cusick's interpretation, based on Nations suggestions, (probably) lifted from Hancock (who may well have lifted the idea from somebody else). Probably. 

My money's on the buxom bar maid. 

With Dalek Mania, came variations on the Dalek, supplied by designer Spencer Chapmen (who added tricycles and a larger fender base) which was later re-used in the Dalek movies by Milton Subotsky (who also added larger dome lights and introduced the manipulator claw) . 

All this came about because nobody had ever made a cone-shaped robot before. 

And the rest is history. 

LEGACY

From beer pumps and sink plungers, to heated arguments in the production office, the success of the Daleks and their credit has been of endless debate, with unsung hero’s still yet to surface. 

For these reasons, the entertainment business is at times, a cut throat culture, best avoided and yet irresistible to the aspiring novice, until it is way too late. 

No more so than for the many writers that have succumb to its allure, like moths to the flame. 

With the subsequent rise of Dalek Mania (and millionaires being made overnight from Dalek Toys), Nation himself had already accumulated around four million pounds in Dalek related mechanise, never sharing a single penny with Ray Cusick or Shawcraft, let alone his poor drunken writing buddy Tony Hancock. 

Even script writer David Whitaker, (who was heavily involved in all Dalek related media), would only receive the standard contracted fees, despite contributing more to the Dalek phenomena, than anyone else involved. 

Rumour also had it, that when Tony Hancock finally saw his creations on Tv, he was understandably enraged but ultimately too devastated to act upon it.  

Thus, within four years of "Dalek Mania" exploding across Britain, (and Terry Nation living the high life), Tony Hancock would emigrate to Australia and (still drinking heavily), eventually committed suicide in 1968.  

He left a note that read: "Things just seemed to go too wrong too many times."

Ultimately, if any of this was true, then Tony Hancock should be credited for coming up with the Daleks, or at least contributing to the final Dalek design. 

If anything, the Daleks were  a culmination of ideas, forged into being by the talents of Terry Nation, Ray Cusick, Bill Roberts, Spencer Chapman, David Whitaker, Milton Subotsky, Verity Lambert and of course Tony Hancock. 

Less we not forget their names. 

* This article is of speculation only and should not be taken as absolute fact. It is merely to argue the point that ideas are often 'borrowed' from each other and no single idea is created in a vacuum. 

WHAT IF? How do you define ‘reality’?

WHAT IF? 

 How do you define ‘reality’? Is it just physical?

Posed by Jenna Lyons
Answered by JS Adams

Reality is not just defined by the physical. Most of us define our existence by the physical world but we can only go by what we actually know and can prove. 

We know that we exist thru our senses and that we can interact with our surroundings. 

However, to prove an object (or a person), actually exists on the quantum level is another story. There is also the non-physical and the Metaphysical. 

The further we delve into the realms of Inner Space, the trickier it is to define what exactly is happening within, say a quark for instance. In the non physical realms, there is the astral projection aspect,  transcendental outer body experiences and so on, which are also tricky to prove. 

The most reliable info being the test to see if there is life after death. This consists of putting items on the tops of shelves and high levels, which patients (legally dead and revived) later describe with accuracy. 

The test proves that we at least project from the body and can return to it. Beyond that is the Metaphysical: Schrödinger's cat, Plato’s Cave, Monkeys and Typewriters and humanists etc. 

Then we can branch off to other things such as Neo and Proto-physics and the concepts of time and space and alternate realities. 

None of which can be proved either. So ultimately we each choose our own version of reality and commune with others who share in that reality. 

Whether we believe in God or decide to gas six million Jews, we require validation by tipping the balance of the status quo. 

Therefore reality is not just defined by the physical but by a series of things, pertaining to personal belief. 

AWSUM SERIALS: STAR TREK & NEO- FEMINISM

 

AWSUM SERIALS: 

Star Trek: The Enemy Within 

Spocks Final Line Controversy

in the Age of Neo-Feminism 

In this episode, a transporter malfunction splits our hero Captain into two Captain Kirks, representing Jekyll and Hyde. 

The nice Kirk goes about as his usual (altho dithering) self. His alter ego however has a great time stealing Sarian Brandy off McCoy and trying to rape Yeoman Janice Rand among other things. 

The story is eventually resolved and Kirks halves are put back together again and all is well. Even Spock tries to make light of the situation when he ends the story with the clumsy remark:           "The Imposter had some interesting qualities, wouldn't you say Yeoman?"

Probably not the wisest thing to say to a woman, after she's nearly been raped (and its dated terribly) but lets put that line into context. To begin with, we live in an age where we think we are somehow all knowing and wise. 

Yet we still point nukes at each other and pulling down statues seems to be the latest fashion. Neo Feminism is part of that whole deal. Im all for equality but I cant be in the same room with a Neo Feminist anymore and heres why: 

NEO FEMINISM & THE WOKE GENERATION 

I once had a conversation about TOS (in the naughties) with a work colleague (at a bar in Brighton). I don't think she ever saw an episode and dismissed it as capitalist propergander. 'Just look at the starship they fly about in...' She said folding her arms. 'Its called ENTERPRISE!' She alluded that Trek was irrelevant in todays society and only evoked a mans future with mens philosophies based on greed. 

She was of course an extreme feminist, part of the 'woke generation', so "woke" that she couldn't tell the difference between Star Trek and that Nazi piece of shit 'Triumph of the Will'. If she even bothered to watch  Star Trek, I imagine it wouldn't have changed her opinion and she'd defo had a field day with the Janice Rand assault scene and Spocks dumb-ass comments about it. A line most likely added at the last minute by Gene but more likely renowned "serial killer" Fred Friedburger.   

But to put Spocks dumbass line into perspective, Kirk and Janice had a 'thing' and this episode was part of a set up to establish this growing relationship. When Kirks evil side is put back, she walks on the Bridge to reconcile things with Kirk and the viewer is left with the impression that she still fancies him, (to which Spocks comment is supposed to be a way of teasing her affections and lighten the mood).

Watched in sequence the entire scene makes sense but in the age of extreme Neo-Feminism, it is easy to make more of this scene than there really is. 

SEXUAL ASSAULT 

However, in real life, actress Grace Lee Whitney was actually sexually assaulted by an executive on the show (probably Roddenbury but could easily have been Friedburger, Shatner or even studio Desilu owner Desi Arnaz) but Grace never divulged his identity anyway and Gene is now dead.           

She would later be written out of the series after just eight episodes. Shatner said it was because she was always drunk but it was most likely because of the 'incident'. So you can take this episode or leave it. Personally I think its one of the best stories on the Jekyll and Hyde theme and thus the attempted rape scenes are valid and altho Spocks final comments are supposed to make you laugh, it kinda backfires especially in light of what happened to Grace Lee Whitney. The scenes were probably not shot in order either, so this shot may have seemed like a good idea at the time but is used as a prime target for so called "woke activists", jumping on the Neo Feminist band wagon. 

FREE LOVE & NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST

Bare in mind also, that the series was overshadowed by the relentless technical (and personal) problems behind camera, (Star Trek struggled to get shot at all).  Bare in mind also that sexual assault walked hand in hand with casual sex, and the line would often be blurred by the cocaine and booze and thus was part of the landscape 1960's America and television even more so. That doesn't make rape ok but these were crazy drug fuelled times, when the world was literally on the brink of Nuclear Holocaust.

Ultimately this was the whole point of Star Trek. For nations to put aside their differences and work towards the exploration of space. Unfortunately its cast and crew were falliblle flawed beings, firmly stuck in the turmoil of the 1960's. 

MOVING FORWARD 

Never the less,  the series has prevailed despite controversy on every level and over decade after the original series had aired, the world still hadn't blown itself up and Star Treks future was assured.  By now all was forgiven, as Grace finally returned for Star Trek Phase II, later to become The Motion Picture.

WHAT IF? Daleks - vs Mekons

WHAT IF? 

DALEKS VS MEKONS ! 

The Movie that never was.

In an alternate universe,

the third Dalek movie was actually made.

This is that story...  

1960s Dalek Mania was in full throttle.  Hope was on the horizon that the Mechanoid props might actually return and on the big screen, no less in colour! However, box office receipts for the second Dalek movie proved inconsequential and plans for the third movie were scrapped, sealing the fate of the Mechanoid props forever. But what if this hadn't occurred? 

CHANGING THE COURSE OF HISTORY 

It is somewhat of a small tragedy that the third Dalek movie was never made. In it, Dr Who would have been pitted against not only the Daleks but also one of Terry Nations other monsters: The Mechanoids. Brilliantly realised by Dalek designer Ray Cusick, the Mechanoids were featured in the climax of the third Dalek story The Chase. 

Apparently writer Terry Nation was very pleased with Cusicks design and saw great potential in the Mechanoids as successors to the Daleks. Production crews however couldn’t stand them. BBC attitudes towards science fiction in the 1960’s was luke-warm at best.  

It was bad enough that they had to contend with pepper pots, let alone The Mechanoids. Due to their bulky size also, the three Mechanoid props (painted a light blue) only featured in the final episode of The Chase in a spectacular battle with the Daleks before being ultimately chucked on the scrap heap, much to Terry Nations dismay. So what happened? 

CUMBERSOME PROPS 

The story of their demise went something like this: that the Mechanoid props were far too cumbersome to be used in the small confines of the BBC studios, hence the battle scenes being shot at Elstree. 

However, despite their popularity, BBC staff had quite enough of them jamming up lifts and corridors and were glad to see the back of them, binning all three props on a skip as quickly as possible and used for landfill, (much to Ray Cusick and Shawcrafts dismay I imagine). A rather typical BBC decision, that tended to thwart Dr Who on many occasion.

But wait just a darn minute, is that an alternate Universe I see? Where Milton Subotsky takes up his option to make a third Dalek movie? It was quite possible, that he would have steered it towards a lavish production of the Chase, perhaps even cutting down a lot of the waffle that pads out the story and getting right down to the meat of Daleks vs Mechanoids.

RISE OF THE MECHANOIDS 

After only one episode of fighting the Daleks,  Writer Terry nation had high hopes for further stories featuring the Mechanoids, who seemed a natural successor to the Daleks in every way except storage. 

It is quite possible that he hoped to feature them further in his stand alone Dalek Tv series that might have mirrored his other Tv series the Avengers in its production values. Director Gordon Flemyng  was also set to be director of this new Tv series but alas things were not coming together.  

Never the less,  by 1966, the Mechanoids were already being featured as heavyweight opponents in the Dalek comic strips sanctioned by Nation, so much so, that it looked like the Daleks had met their match.  So there is a strong indication that kids wanted to see more Mechanoid action.

    

By this time, Cherilea  toys were also making Mechanoid merchandise,  things were seemingly building up to a big movie confrontation. Or not as the case maybe. So lets look at the playing field of 1966. 

Ok so you maybe familiar with the two Dalek movies made in 1965 and 1966, made by Amicus, Hammers contemporary of the time and produced by a couple of Americans named Milton Subotsky and Max J Rosenburge. These films were based on the first two Dalek adventures (The Mutants, and the Dalek invasion of Earth) with proposals for the third Dr Who film in the pipeline being based on the Chase. 

Invasion Earth 1966 - Contains Moderate Peril 

However, when the box office receipts waned on the second film, the plug was pulled and the concept of Dalek movies as a series was scrapped. So what went wrong ? 

Was Invasion Earth really that bad ? As far as the critics were concerned, Daleks in movies was going to be anything but Shakespeare and the films were panned for sloppy direction and visible strings on the flying saucers etc. Admittedly the scene with Bernard Cribbins in disguise with the Robomen is a little cringe worthy, but after all, this is a children’s film. For fans of these movies, let us imagine what if Amicus had turned left instead of right. What would that third Dalek movie have turned out like?

It is perhaps a learning curve that many film makers have learned from since, that multiple sequels should always be made back to back: That way subsequent movies can insure that actors and film crews are all involved and contracted to finish the project. A practice utilised by the first two Superman movies and the Back to the Future sequels. Sadly this was not the case for the proposed Daleks Vs Mechanoids movie. Which probably wouldn't have featured either metallic monsters anyway...

AT THE EARTHS CORE 

At any rate, there was some talk that the third movie may simply not have included any Daleks at all, and Dr Who would simply have fought a bunch of dinosaurs etc.  Ultimately this is what eventually happened anyway. Amicus did actually make the 3rd Dr Who movie, except they called it "At the Earths Core" (1976) instead, featuring Peter Cushing as a Dr Who like character but not actually Dr Who. Doug McClure was a natural Ian Chesterton substitute and had a love interest with Carolyn Munro (ironically mirroring the Leela type character to Tom Bakers Doctor in 1977). Oh and the Tardis is replaced by a giant drill called the Mole. But I guess this is all worthy of another essay, I should write another time. Anyway, I digress. 

However, since it was clear that the success of the first movie was due solely to the Daleks and since they had made a Dalek sequel, it follows that another Dalek film made more financial sense to produce. And since the first two movies had been based on the first two Dr Who Dalek tv stories it also followed that, (for the sake of continuity), the third Dalek movie would have been based on the Tv story “The Chase”. 

THE CHASE - A RECAP 

If your hoping to see a tons of Mechanoid action in this story forget it. In this six part storey, we see the first doctor, Ian Chesterton, Barbara and newcomer Dodo land in a desert on the planet Aridious and soon catch wind that the Daleks are none too happy with them foiling the Dalek Invasion of Earth. 

It is not long before a Dalek execution is dispatched to Aridious and so begins the chase across time and space, as our time travellers attempt to evade certain extermination. 

Soon they are hopping across the cosmos, landing on the observation deck of the Empire State Building, the Marie Celeste and even a West World Style Dracula's castle, complete with android Frankenstein monster. However, wherever they land, the Daleks time capsule is not too far behind and so our intrepid travellers must make a stand on the jungle planet of Mechanus... 

Six episodes later,  they finally find themselves prisoners of the large spherical robots that live in a city on stilts. Enter the Mechanoids. Colony robots designed to terraform planets but somehow down the line were forgotten about and evolved into killing machines. Soon these robots would be pitted with the Daleks in the grande finale. All of which lasts less than two minutes ! 

And so, in a nut shell, that is the Tv story. The plot does tend to be all over the place. The Chase at best was considered more an attempt at injecting more comedy into the series but with so much going on, the story tended to suffer for it. 

There are also too many subplots, such as a robot duplicate Doctor (!) sent out by the Daleks to infiltrate the companions and kill the original Doctor,  but this whole idea, only detracts from what (I suspect) kids really wanted to see, and that was Daleks fighting Mechanoids. 

Of which there is actually very little. Considering the amount of effort it took to construct three Mechanoids, design their model city on stilts, not to mention all the Mechanoid city interiors built at Ealing, none of this is used for much more than a few seconds here and there, culminating in a mere four or five minutes of screen time at best.  

Perhaps the story is only really worth watching for this short lived and yet glorious moment of Daleks and Mechanoids in battle.  After all, they were immediately popular with the kids and (at least in Terry Nations mind) heralded as the new Daleks.  However, the battle is far too brief and the Mechanoids much ill used. So lets look at what might have happened... 

DALEKS VS MEKONS : SPECULATIONS

 
So what would that third instalment have looked like? 

Speculations, still abound to this day but assuming that Dalek-Mania was responsible for the first two movies, its most likely the script would have been based on The Chase - rebranded as Daleks vs Mekons to wet the appetite of overseas buyers. 

To save money, it would have been a logical step to recycle as  many of the sets from the first and second film as possible, such as the Tardis, its interiors, the Dalek saucer (and its corridors) and possibly even the Robomen costumes.

Shawcraft would have most likely been roped in to build more Daleks and Mechonoid props and generally the movie would have had the look and feel of the first two movies.

PRODUCTION BEGINS ON 3RD DALEK MOVIE

Anyway, the third Dalek Movie goes ahead. And so, ignoring the two critics that panned the second movie, producer Milton Subotsky takes a risk and goes hell for leather with the third Dalek movie, throwing everything at it, so he can re-coop losses on the second film. 

And so production begins back at Shepparton in the spring of 1967, bringing back nearly all the original production team of the first two films.

GORDON FLEMYNG

Gordon Flemyng takes the reigns once more, bringing much of the humour of the first film, that was lacking from the second movie. With less Daleks to worry about, he sets about making sure that most of the mistakes he made in the second movie are not repeated, such as not filming enough Dalek action or synchronising the Daleks dome lights to their speech. 

BILL McGUFFY 

As London's most celebrated pianist, the nine fingered talents of Bill McGuffies crazy piano ensembles and jazzy music score really made the second movie exciting. Subotsky ropes him in to make the opening theme tune for the third movie and several inserts. However, to save money, the majority of the music from the second movie is also re-used, bar the inserts that cover the chase sequences. 

DAVID WHITAKER

Screen time is a commodity like anything else. Scriptwriter David Whitaker would have taken the incentive on this and reviewed the original script, cutting back the padding that made up the laborious six Tv episodes and cut it right down to a tight 82 minute narrative. 

PRODUCT PLACEMENT

As was the case in the second movie, it is likely Subotsky employs sponsors. Various shots feature recognisable breakfast cereal products, such as Sugar Puffs, prominently placed on bill boards around the observation tower of the Empire State Building Scenes. He might also get toy company Cherilea on board, to use their Dalek & Mechanoid toys. 

LOCATIONS USED. 

The majority of the film is likely shot at Shepperton Studios, where the jungles of Mechanus are constructed using the remains of the of the petrified forest set from the first movie and whatever fake trees and bushes they can lay their hands on. A large area is cleared of trees, in order to film a battle between Daleks and Mechanoids, against a large diorama backdrop of the jungles and city on stilts. 

The interiors of the Mechanoid City take up one enormous floor of the studio, where the Dalek Saucer exterior and the Mine Control Room stood the year before. 

Sections of it are re-used for both the Mechanoid city interiors and the Dalek Emperors throne room and Dalek Time Machine. Surviving sets are also acquired from the Ealing shoot (for the television version) and repainted. 

The Cutty Sark, moored along the River Thames, is hired for the day to double as the Marie Celeste scenes. 

The sandy beaches at Whittering and Moorgate are used to film the scenes on Aridius. A scene involving a Dalek rising from the sand is achieved back at Shepperton by creating an elevator system (inside a fibreglass sand dune) which can raise a Dalek on a platform, covered by sand. 

The shot is then matted into a larger desert shot background to appear more spectacular. 

MATT SHOTS

Several matt shots are included. In particular a panoramic view of the jungles of Mechanus that includes the Mechanoid City towering above the jungle canopies. The Emperors Throne room and a shot of the Dalek City on Skaro are also used. 

MODEL WORK

Even the Dalek Saucer from the second movie is brought out of moth-balls for the grand finale. 

However, the massive five foot long model has suffered a dent in its top, due to careless film crews shunting it about in the storage depots at Shepparton. 

Never the less, its cleaned up and footage of it is carefully shot from low angles to hide the damage. 

Dalek Saucer prop suffering in storage - recycled for the third movie? 

               The awesome Mechanoid city on stilts 

Shawcraft recycle the model of the mechanoid city used in the tv series.  

Or at least an interpretation of it. A large area of the studio is used to make a miniature jungle set in which this model city overlooks. Various Hornby model trees etc help along the illusion. 

Various pyrotechnic sequences would be used to create ground battle between Daleks and Mekons, while Dalek & Mekon spaceships battle in the heavens above. 

Just imagine the model work it would involve !

All this is on a par with the model work used in Thunderbirds and similar to the scenes of the Saucer crashing over the mine workings in the second movie. 

CHERILEA TOYS 

In the jungle below, Mechanoids fight Daleks one on one. 

Concept render of battle scenes using Cherilea toys. 

To achieve these grand model shots, readily off the shelf toys are quickly utilised, to save time. 

Cherilea Dalek Toys

In particular toy Daleks and Mechanoids (made by Cherilea ) are repainted and placed on a model landscape, which is basically the same model recycled from the second movie. 

The Daleks and Mechanoid toys are pulled along with string etc. 

Pyrotechnic explosions are filmed in slow motion. 

This is all intercut with studio shots of the actual props fighting and a bit of clever editing gives the impression of a exciting battle. 

GREEN ROBO-MEN

The Dalek Execution squad is assisted by a squad of Robotised green Fish Men from Aridious, using re-cycled Robomen uniforms and biker helmets from the second movie. 

MECHANOIDS RE-USED

The three Mechanoid props are rescued from the scrap heap and given a new paint job, painted a metallic blue and silver much like the Daleks were in the first movie. 

Their round bases are raised to six inches, in order to look more "cinematic" on the big screen. Several extra Mechanoid crowd fillers are also built.

DALEK TIME MACHINE

The Dalek time machine might have looked like the central spinner from the "War of the Daleks" board game...

 

That spinner thing from the Dalek board game, 
as the Daleks Time machine?

CAST

PETER CUSHING

Peter Cushing returns for a third time. However after suffering ill health in real life, Cushing is no longer the soft approachable Dr Who of the first movie, which had become quite evident by the climax of the second. By now his character is very much in the vain of Van Helsing, of the Hammer Horror Films, and portrays his character as the hardened time traveller, hunted by the Daleks. 

ROBERTA TOVEY

On the insistence again of Cushing,  Roberta Tovey reprises her role as Grand daughter Susan. However, the commitments are taking a strain on her schooling so a private tutor is brought in, while she is on the film set of Daleks Vs Mekons. Much as he had in the first movie, director Gordon Flemyng is obliged to pay her sixpence for every line she gets right in one take. 

JILL CURZON

Jill Curzon reprises her role as Louis, basically filling the role of Barbara in the Tv version. She also insists of having more substance to her character, rather than just a generic replacement for Barbara as she had been in the second movie. 

Thus Script Writer David Whitaker writes several scenes that re-introduce her as Barbaras cousin, Louise standing in for her, as a substitute teacher at Coal Hill school, where she is caught in the affections of fellow teacher Pete Banford - played by Edward Judd.

EDWARD JUDD 

Keeping in line with a starring male lead (or comedy actor), 

Daleks Vs Mekons might well have included new companions (originally filled by Roy Castle and Bernard Cribbins).

Edward Judd would have most likely have played a Ian Chesterton type character and love interest for Louise, probably called Pete Banford, who gives Louise a ride home from work and winds up a reluctant passenger in the Tardis. 

JIM DALE

Other contemporaries such as Jim Dale, might have made a good hapless comedy element, firstly as a tourist who taunts a Dalek on top of the Empire State building and later is re-used and shunted to the back of the story as marooned astronaut Steven Taylor, prisoner of the Mechanoids, who talks to his teddy bear. 

MECHONS, MEKONS AND MECHANOIDS 

The title would probably have been called Daleks Vs Mechons. Because "Mechons" (or Mekons) was what the Mechanoids were originally called in the early drafts of the Tv script. The name would later evolve into Mechanoids because the obvious similarities with the Mekon character from the Dan Dare comic book series.

Never the less, the term "Mekon" is used at least once in the Chase Tv story, probably due to a typo-error that had been duplicated down to the final draft. If the film had gone ahead, Americans would probably have used "Mekons" anyway because it has the same amount of letters as Daleks and would be easier for the kids to read on posters.

So assuming they stuck with the original script, the Mechanoid name would have been shortened to "Mekons", due to a typo. In the rush to get the script churned out, they just stick with it. 

Hence the poster Daleks vs Mekons! 

Subotsky phones up Bill Wiggins the artist responsible for the first two movie posters and says:

Quick make me another poster! I want explosions! I want Daleks fighting Mekons! The works! 

Concept Poster for the 3rd Dalek Movie: 
With deliberate misspelling of the Mechanoids 

for easy American distribution. 

MORE MECHANOID ACTION 

The Mechanoids themselves might most likely have had a more prominent pivotal role in this movie too, as the majority of the Tv version featured them only in the final episode. As a result, the movie version may well have reduced or cut out other aspects of the Tv version to give more Mechanoid screen time, such as binning the robot Dr Who altogether, whilst shortening the plot around Dracula's Castle and the Mary Celeste and cutting down the embarrassing dialogue with the fishy Aridians and just moving the chase along at a much quicker pace. 

           

DALEK EMPEROR CAMEO 

So the movie might start with a brief cameo of the Dalek Emperor himself, with his immense gold spheroid head, enraged that Dr Who has foiled the Dalek Invasion of Earth. We may see him barking out orders for the Doctors extermination, in his grand throne room back on Dalek planet Skaro. 

SALVAGED DALEK PROPS

In the third movie, only four to six Dalek props are ever used. Not because of modesty, but because only four props ever survived the pounding that the Daleks endured in the last sequel. However, because they've been left outside on the Shepparton backlot for the past year, (without protection), the props are severely damaged by weather and so several are procured from Terry Nation, who has four in his possession from a stage play. The weather beaten Daleks are only used for stunts and the final battle with the Mechanoids.  

Of course every things Technicolor, so all the props are gathered and re-painted metallic blue with gold collars, slats and red domes. 

MORE SCREEN TIME ?

In the Tv version, we see less than a minute of fighting  between the Daleks and of the Mechanoids. And we had to sit through five episodes of flaff until the good Doctor and co finally land on the planet Mechanus. 

But in this film, the 'Mekons' might be introduced a hell of lot sooner, maybe as soon as the half way point of the movie.

Which would have meant a good forty minutes of Mechanoid action, where the Dalek execution squad might even summon up the entire Dalek Empire to do battle with the Mechanoids on their own turf. Hence a more satisfying ending than the Tv version.

GRAND FINALE

For the grand final, a spectacular air battle might have occurred above the Mechanoid city, between Dalek saucers and Mechanoid battle cruisers! 

Eventually the ground troops are overrun as the Daleks enter the Mechanoid city for a final confrontation, similar to the Thals battle at the climax of the first movie. 

And like in the series, the full size props fight each other but now its in cinemascope.  

To bulk out the numbers, more Zig-Zag stunt Daleks are required for destruction. A stunt Mechanoid is also needed for various explosions and on screen carnage. 

Meanwhile Dr Who and friends escape, while the Daleks and Mechanoids destroy each other as the city explodes into  a spectacular fire ball. 

But these are all just theory’s. 

In any event, a movie version of The Chase, (with a larger portion dedicated to the Mechanoids) would have most likely secured the franchise for at least a few more sequels. 

Who knows, we might have even seen a movie epic of The Dalek Master Plan but thats another story...