Dalek startles strollers in Civic

I built it in 1979, using the blueprints from an old Doctor Who magazine that gets referred to a lot by Dalek fans.

Half way through collecting the materials and starting to do the fibreglass moulds etc I realised it would make a good project for a sculture unit I was doing at the Art School as part of my degree.

After it was built I was contacted as Tom Baker was in Australia doing a promo thing and I was contracted to wander around a few shopping centres inside the Dalek.

There were almost no other Daleks in Australia at that time - and I was also asked to come and be a part of a parade in a multiculture festival. That was all fine - but one day I was cruising along in the Dalek and this group of little kids saw me and were really surprised and said, "Look out, it's a dalek." Some of the little kids started throwing stones at me. They couldn't hurt me in the dalek, of course, and I had a water pistol rigged up to the dalek weapon and started shooting them with then. Then one said, 'You have to push it over. Push it into the lake!' We were by a lakeside. Luckily there was a small concrete barrier by the lake, because with six little kids suddenly pushing me, I could not get any traction to resist them. I was then saved by one of their dads who had to convince them that I wasn't a real dalek and they shouldn't really push me into the lake.

As a sign of the changing times - in the 90s when I had the dalek out and kids would see it, they were more likely to say, 'Is that R2D2?'

Craig Cormick
2015
http://craigcormick.com/

• http://cuttingsarchive.org/images/9/9c/1979-11-15_Canberra_Times.jpg

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• Publication: The Canberra Times
• Date: 1979-11-15
• Author:
• Page: 15
• Language: English

STUDENT'S ART PROJECT

People who thought they saw a Dalek in Civic over the past day or two may be relieved to know that there really was one.

Not the Dr Who variety but a homemade variation with a man inside.

Mr Craig Cormick, 18, of Griffith, built the two-metre device as a project for the art unit of his professional writing course at the Canberra College of Advanced Education.

The Dalek took 13 weeks to build and is made from $70 worth of glass fibre, Masonite, wire mesh, particle board and sheet metal.

Stones thrown

People who saw the Dalek in Civic displayed a variety of emotions. Some were amused, most were startled and a couple of children decided the best thing to do was to throw stones at it.

The Dalek is on wheels, and is propelled by Mr Cormick who climbs in through a door in the side. Once inside Mr Cormick operates battery-powered flashing lights and walks around startling people.

Now that the Dalek has been submitted for evaluation as an example of sculpture for the art unit, Mr Cormick wonders what to do with it. He hopes to be able to display it in processions and at other festive occasions and is open to suggestions.

Caption: Craig Cormick with his Dalek

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• APA 6th ed.: (1979-11-15). Dalek startles strollers in Civic. The Canberra Times p. 15.
• MLA 7th ed.: "Dalek startles strollers in Civic." The Canberra Times [add city] 1979-11-15, 15. Print.
• Chicago 15th ed.: "Dalek startles strollers in Civic." The Canberra Times, edition, sec., 1979-11-15
• Turabian: "Dalek startles strollers in Civic." The Canberra Times, 1979-11-15, section, 15 edition.
• Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Dalek startles strollers in Civic | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Dalek_startles_strollers_in_Civic | work=The Canberra Times | pages=15 | date=1979-11-15 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=24 March 2025 }}</ref>
• Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Dalek startles strollers in Civic | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Dalek_startles_strollers_in_Civic | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=24 March 2025}}</ref>