Raymond Cusick RIP

Ray Cusick, the man who created the iconic design of the Daleks, has died aged 84 after a short illness. Without him, it's doubtful Doctor Who would have lasted beyond the first thirteen weeks, and he barely got a fraction of the credit he deserved. RIP, Ray..

Yes, the Daleks are (ironically) responsible for the longevity of Who, and Mr Cusick was responsible for the appearance of the Daleks ("hideous machine-creatures moving on a flat base" could have been interpreted as almost anything).

Whereas now, that description can really be interpreted only one way: "that sounds like a Dalek".

Very few people get to create an icon.

tony ingram wrote:Whereas now, that description can really be interpreted only one way: "that sounds like a Dalek".

Very few people get to create an icon.

Yes, Daleks are so much part of popular culture in the UK it's scary. The latest one I saw was a private eye cartoon about John Nathan-Turner, and Dalek saying "He asked me to go upstairs!"

(Which I took to refer to "Remembrance"... )

Remember Radio 1 DJ Steve Wright? Used to pepper his afternoon show with little snippets of joke characters every day, most of them recurring (the most famous was probably Mr. Angry). For a while in the 90s, one recurring skit was the day to day lives of two depressed, unemployed Daleks. The Master (who they described as "that bloke who looked like Jeremy Beadle's skinnier brother) was revealed to have gone to work as a station announcer for British Rail.

Liz R wrote:Yes, Daleks are so much part of popular culture in the UK it's scary.

Like the Mini, which has also been spoilt by a recent redesign.