The Man Who Invented the Daleks – Terry Nation
Maybe you are searching for a little three-day weekend reading as opposed to yesterdays suggestions of some classic British comedy marathon viewing? If so, the book for you has just released this week in the UK. So you can make plans now for a little Labor Day weekend reading, a September 1 release in the U.S is planned. The Man Who Invented Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation by Alwyn W. Turner tells the story of Terry Nation, the brilliant scriptwriter who not only wrote a number of Doctor Who episodes, but also created Blake’s 7 and Survivors. That’s not really the story, however.
Terry Nation’s story is that he’s the man the created the Daleks. While Nation is mostly know for his drama scripts, he got his start/big break in 1962 writing for the great Tony Hancock. Interestingly enough, he had just be fired as Hancock’s scriptwriter when the offer came in 1963 to write for a ‘new BBC children’s television serial, Doctor Who. Nation wrote a concept where ‘evil things’ called Daleks.
Another fascinating tidbit unearthed by Turner deals with the naming of Nation’s creation. Nation himself said he had happened to glance at a volume of an encyclopaedia and saw “Dal-to-Lek” on the spine, hence the name, Dalek.
Wherever you are, it will be a great read for either Memorial Day weekend, Labor Day weekend or any other long weekend down the road. You can get now through Amazon.co.uk or on September 1 when released in the US on Amazon.com.
Happy long-weekend reading.
In: Odds & Sods
