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Doctor Who's Dalek Designer Dies At 84

Posted by Soulskill on from the rest-in-peace dept.

SchrodingerZ writes "Raymond Cusick, a production designer for the BBC show Doctor Who from 1963 to 1966, has died from illness. 'Terry Nation, who died in 1997, wrote the 1963 story The Daleks, in which the "satanic pepperpots" first appeared, but it was Cusick who came up with the machines' distinctive look, including the bobble-like sensors, eyestalk, sucker and exterminator weapons.' His horrid creation has remained a prime enemy in Doctor Who for over 50 years, and have remained relatively unchanged. His tireless work however was never fully awarded, as his only pay for the project was about £100. Cusick also worked on such shows as Z Cars, Dr Finlay's Casebook and The Forsyte Saga to The Duchess of Duke Street, When the Boat Comes In and Rentaghost. He officially retired in 1987. Claire Heawood, Cusick's daughter, has said that her father was 'suffering from an illness and died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday.'"

6 of 106 comments (clear)

  1. He didn't die by maroberts · · Score: 5, Funny

    He was ex-term-inat-ed.

    --

    Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
    Karma: Chameleon

  2. Re:The distinctive look and attitude.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    They were terrifying to brits that lived on ground floors without stairs. The rest, not so much.

  3. Oh for f... do some bloody research by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 4, Funny

    His horrid creation has remained a prime enemy in Doctor Who for over 50 years

    That's quite a trick, considering the 50th anniversary is in November this year. Timey wimey, wibbly wobbly...

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  4. Re:The distinctive look and attitude.. by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1, Funny
    Or, I don't know, EVERY SINGLE OTHER ALIEN RACE from science fiction? Starting with War of the Worlds, which was already old-fashioned by the time of Dr. Who. "Panzer tanks"? It's the same word repeated twice. What are those, are they like "moo cows"?

    You think about the Nazis a lot, don't you?

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  5. Re:disappointed... by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 3, Funny

    British humour are top class, don't get me wrong.

    British grammar are even better.

    But this is not funny.

    FYI: You are not everyone.

    If any of your favourite shows has a laughter box in it, you are fail too.

    Whereas believing your opinion to be worth more than everyone else's makes you such a win?

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  6. Re:The distinctive look and attitude.. by maxwell+demon · · Score: 3, Funny

    The War of the Worlds didn't take any inspiration from the Nazis, given that H G Wells wrote it in the 1800s.

    That means nothing. After all, H. G. Wells invented the time machine. :-)

    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.