Unit Request: Dalek

[Mithadan]

Neither have I. Plus, they look stupid. A garbage can as a bad guy? Oooh, I'm shaking in my boots.

Of course, we did get Dr. Who on TV in Canada when I was a kid, but I thought it was the lamest show ever. I refused to watch it, it was horrible. Maybe I was too young to appreciate it?

 

[Mr. Do]

Haha, fun responses. Daleks terrified generations I'll have you know! They're not the actual creatures though, they're just the travelling machines used by the beasties inside.

My request still stands anyway, please!

 

[Iron Beagle]

I loved Doctor Who, but I don't get it here in the states. Daleks have got to be one of the best science fiction baddies of all time. Their "campy" appearance is one of the things that made them so great. They were modeled after a pepper shaker, I hear.

I second the motion for Daleks. I think their victory .wav will have to be their trademark line: *Exterminate! Exterminate!*

 

[Plotinus]

Actually, the man who invented Daleks was inspired by dancers. He saw a show in which female dancers waltzed around a stage with long and full skirts, the edges of which just skimmed over the floor. He thought how sinister it would be to have a villain that glided in a similar way with no obvious means of locomotion, and the Dalek was duly invented.

The general consensus is that everyone loves Daleks but absolutely nobody has ever been actually scared of them. The man who invented them somehow hit on something brilliant, but his original idea of scary gliding didn't work at all.

I don't remember his name - he wasn't remotely famous - but he died a few years ago and the event was widely reported because, completely non-famous as he was, he had invented Daleks and that in itself is definitely a claim to immortality.

 

[FinnMcCool]

You're probably right Aaglo, I guess it's just one of those cultural barrier things.

The series made it to America atleast though. The PBS channel showed Doctor Who quite a bit while I was growing up, along with several good British comedies. Like Black Adder, Are You Being Served?, and Red Dwarf.

Aaglo's being polite. There are actually offices of government and ministries dedicated to preventing the spread of Dr Who into certain countries. I think the only reason would be to prevent the spread of knowledge about Daleks. After all, the Doctor himself is OK, but whenever you hear the Daleks' catchphrase, it can send some people into fits

(I love kalvdans! Sur stromming! Bring it on!!)

 

[FinnMcCool]

Ya know, just last week I had this strange, overwhelming premonition that someone Out There was planning to create a Dalek unit. Made me bury my face in my hands and mutter "oh no..."

I think I got precognition from my Lappish grandmother.

 

[Xerol]

But I do remember an episode from perhaps the early 1990s in the Colin Baker years when a Dalek is shown going downstairs by sort of hovering. So evidently they did think of that...

That was from the 7th doctor (Sylvester McCoy) in the last Dalek story of the old series (Rememberance of the Daleks), in the late 80's.

More Dalek information than you'd probably want to know: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalek

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

I don't remember his name - he wasn't remotely famous - but he died a few years ago and the event was widely reported because, completely non-famous as he was, he had invented Daleks and that in itself is definitely a claim to immortality.

He was Terry Nation.

How did the Dalek's get around? You know, for example if their prey ran up/downstairs, how did they follow?

In the new series (not a huge spoiler, Plotinus) they state the word "ELEVATE!" in exactly the same tone that they state "EXTERMINATE!" and, hey presto, they can...er....elevate.

If a Dr. Who mod was done, the Daleks would HAVE to be there. The only thing is though, as a civ, surely they'd only be able to build one type of unit....daleks.

 

[Xerol]

That wouldn't be too hard to do - just give them a starting tech that can't be researched by anyone else that gives them a resource to build various types of Daleks. Actually, they shouldn't have too many options(maybe just a 10-shield 6.6.2(wheeled) and a 60 shield 10.5.1(all terrain as roads)) - they should be able to dominate by numbers, although it would be interesting to see a Dalek cultural victory...

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

although it would be interesting to see a Dalek cultural victory...

...or for that matter a diplomatic victory !

 

[Kinboat]

Having watched very little Dr. Who (but I loved Black Adder and Red Dwarf ) I only had a vague notion of Daleks... I really remember them from a simple little Mac game on my sister's 20 year old computer, called Daleks. Basicly every step you moved the Daleks moved one step closer... But they were really stupid and would run into each other. The object was to avoid them until they all colided and exploded and go onto the next level where there were more of them. Supremely simple and yet very entertaining. I wish that disk still worked, I played that thing to death

 

[Nwoll]

Well, it seems that daleks are very popular in Britain, and i apologize if i offended anyone by my earlier comments. This conversation made me wonder how many "famous" characters of our country (USA) are not known or recognized anywhere else in the world.

 

[Plotinus]

[Nwoll] Plenty, no doubt. That would almost certainly include virtually all of your sports stars, since Americans seem to play sports that almost no-one else does, such as American football, basketball, and baseball. For example, that OJ Simpson business was a bit odd, because it was huge news, and yet nobody in Britain had heard of him (except for being in the Naked Gun films, of course). But the fact that he was enormously famous in America meant that we were expected to be interested in his trial (not that I was). There was a similar thing with that cookery woman who got convicted of fraud - no-one had ever heard of her, so it was reported a bit (invariably describing her as "the American Delia Smith") but *definitely* that wasn't very interesting.

It's worth remembering that there were different kinds of Daleks, weren't there? Red Daleks, gold Daleks etc. Plus Davros, of course, who was a sort of half-Dalek. I think a Dalek civ would be a cut-and-paster's dream.

 

[Wyrmshadow]

Frankly I never understood how a talking vaccum cleaner with a giant inferiority complex could be so dangerous.

 

[Kinboat]

Actually just the other day it came to my attention that my younger sister had no idea who Conan was... No clue what-so-ever. Now she had never seen the movies but I expected at least a little knowledge. So even within one culture the "famous" or supposedly well known cultural figures are lost on some. Also I wasn't to interested in the whole O.J. thing either, and I wasn't a big sports fan so I didn't know who he was until the news plastered it all over the air-waves.

 

[flamescreen]

Darth Vader, Captain Kirk, Dr. Who/Daleks(40 years now, or more?), Conan, Superman, Captain America, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers. I'd prob should add Space 1999's Eagles. Mr Rolo too.(original Mission Imposible).

I'd assume everyone would know at least something about all these, regardless of origin. Who and Daleks are still huge in the Net, even before this revival. How surprising!

 

[Plotinus]

Space 1999 and Mr Rolo have passed me by completely, and I'm pretty hazy about Captain America (I think I just about know who he was meant to be, but only through guest appearances in other Marvel comics!).

I wouldn't have thought Conan the Barbarian to be in the same league as Captain Kirk, the Daleks and co - I mean, I know who he is and have seen the films, but I wouldn't be especially shocked by someone else not knowing. I used to work with someone who hadn't heard of "Ben Hur" ("Apparently 'Lord of the Rings' has won as many Oscars ad 'Titanic' and something called Ben something," she said) - now that's worse. However, she also didn't know whether man had landed on Mars and didn't know what Neanderthals were, so I think she was a special case.

 

[Mr. Do]

Frankly I never understood how a talking vaccum cleaner with a giant inferiority complex could be so dangerous.

That's more or less what someone in last Saturday's episode said, and he was promptly plungered to death

 

[vbraun]

Now this is an intresting unit request.

 

[fe3333au]

I've heard of daleks, and sort of knew what they looked like, but as far as i know, Dr. Who isn't really big in Australia (which is where i live )

I beg to differ sir ... try switching onto ABC its on now ... and we're getting ready for the new series ...

My first avitar was a dalek, then cyberman, then sea devil ... I remember the 1st doctor vaguely ... but the second doctor on wards very well ... the ice warriors were another favourite.

I'd have to say a whole generation of Australians had nightmares from Daleks

BTW - Davros could be the leader

I was going to request a Dalek unit and also a cyberman but got too embarrassed ... thanks Mr. Do