The Doctor has faced off against a variety of enemies over the years though none are more iconic than the Daleks and their creator Davros.
Introduced into the series’ mythology in 1975’s classic “Genesis of the Daleks,” Davros is easily one of the most recognizable adversaries for everyone’s favorite Time Lord. Davros was created by Daleks creator Terry Nation over frustration with how long scenes of dialogue played out between Daleks on-screen.
And while the character may be from the pen of Nation, one fan is arguing that he came up with the design for Davros before the creative team did.
Steven Clark, 51, has filed a suit against the BBC claiming he came up with the original design for Davros. The suit alleges that Clark created a half-man, half-Dalek sketch for a contest run by the now-defunct comic book TV Action. Clark says he sketched out a design for Davros and wrote an essay detailing the background of the Daleks’ creator. He also claims to have come up with the name Davros.
Clark says that the design and essay were shown to members of the production team at a convention. According to his suit, star Jon Pertwee, then producer Barry Letts and then script editor Terrance Dicks all took part in judging the contest. This was in 1972, when Clark was 13.
Davros was introduced to the series three years later in 1975, during the tenure of Tom Baker, producer Phillip Hinchcliffe and script editor Robert Holmes. But the origins of “Genesis” and its commissioning came during the later stages of Letts and Dicks’ time behind the scenes.
So why has it taken Clark so long to file the suit?
For a long time, Clark didn’t think he had the initial sketch and essay. He found them both in the 1990’s again. However, he though the time to file a suit has passed.
Apparently it hasn’t. Clark has filed suit and he says it’s not about the money.
“The money aspect of it is not my primary motivation. I am proud of the character I created, and I just want my work to be recognized. It would be nice to be finally linked to the character after all this time,” he says.
Hmmm, I came up with the original idea for sun spots but I haven’t seen the Creator throw any high-fives in my direction over these past eons. Now If I could just come up with my original blueprints for the Dacro solar system, then I might get the recognition I am overly due.
This is why contest entries generally become the property of the entity running the contest. And while I’m glad that this guy thinks his idea was the sole source of inspiration for the character he lost any claim to it the moment he sent it to the BBC for a contest.
I suspect that this will be thrown out of court.
“Apparently it hasn’t. Clark has filed suit and he says it’s not about the money.”
What a load of fetted dingos kidney’s.
What C David Dent said, except the BBC didn’t own the comic book running the contest, and we don’t know what the contest rules were (e.g. entries becoming the publisher’s property). I assume he’s a reasonably intelligent person who wouldn’t have sued if that were the case.