The BBC has reported that Ray Cusick, designer of Doctor Who foes the Daleks, has died of heart failure. He was 84 years old.
Cusick created the initial designs for the Daleks, which appeared in the first season of Doctor Who back in 1963. In an episode of Doctor Who Confidential in 2008, he confessed that the design had been initially practical — the wide base allowed for a human controller to sit comfortably.
I thought, "Well, the operator's got to sit down", [so I] drew a seat, ergonomic height, 18 inches, got the operator down and then drew round him. That's how the basic shape appeared.
Cusick, from Horsham, West Sussex, is survived by his two daughters and seven grandchildren.
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