Script-writer Terry Nation stared at a blank sheet of paper and racked his brains, writes Charles Catchpole.
He needed a villain for a new children's series he was writing for BBC TV -- something impersonal, and irredeemable evil. Suddenly inspiration dawned. A metallic robot, shaped like a pepper pot, gliding silently and menacing lead on invisible wheels.
Nation passed his idea to BBC designer Ray Cusick, who made a few sketches and the Daleks were born.
That was 16 years ago. Today Nation, who owns the rights to the Dalek name and splits royalties with the BBC, is a rich man. He lives in a 15-room Elizabethan house in Kent which he bought for cash.
And tonight, as the Daleks emerge from the North London depot where they have been gathering dust for four years, Terry Nation's six-year-old son Joel will get his first sight of daddy's evil inventions.
But who remembers Ray Cusick, who actually designed the creatures? For him there has been no windfall. He still works as a staff manager at the TV Centre.
"I didn't get much out of it," he says. "I'm an employee of the BBC and whenever I do is their copyright, although I did get an ex-gratia payment."
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