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BBC sued over genesis of Doctor Who baddy Davros
Steven Clark says he invented Daleks’ overlord for a comic competition when he was just 13
The BBC faces a court case over Doctor Who after a fan of the long-running sci-fi series claimed the corporation stole his idea for the show's most famous villain: Davros, the leader of the Daleks.
Steven Clark was just 13 when he entered a competition run by the comic book TV Action to invent a super-villain, according to the Mail on Sunday. His idea, fleshed out in a sketch and essay, was entitled: 'The Genesis of the Daleks: The Creation of Davros'.
The drawing shows a half-man-half-Dalek with a microphone and third eye attached to his head. His hands are poised above a console which forms part of his Dalek-shaped lower body.
The competition, which was run in 1972, was judged by a panel that included the man who played the Doctor at the time, Jon Pertwee, script editor Terrance Dicks and producer Barry Letts.
Clark, now 51, says he never heard anything from the magazine about his entry. But he was shocked when, three years later, an episode of Doctor Who was broadcast called The Genesis of the Daleks. Ever since then, the man credited with originating Davros has been the legendary sci-fi screenwriter Terry Nation, who also created the nihilistic Blake's 7. Nation died in 1997.
Clark found he was unable to pursue a copyright claim back then because he says he had lost the original sketches. When he found them again in the 1990s, he wrongly thought too much time had passed for him to bring a court action.
Clark has now brought a copyright claim with the High Court and wants damages or profits equivalent to the money made by the BBC from Davros since 1975.
The sums at stake could be significant. Doctor Who is one of the BBC's most valuable commercial properties - even more so since its successful relaunch in 2005 when Christopher Eccleston played the Doctor. Davros returned in two well-received consecutive episodes in 2008, Stolen Earth and Journey's End.
Clark said: "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 recognised."
BBC Worldwide acknowledged it had received a claim from Clark "relating to matters from the Seventies". ·
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Who gives a damn?
I may be mistaken but I'm sure that I remember a character somewhat like the 'Davros' creature sometimes cropping up in the 'Dan Dare' comic strip in "The Eagle", somewhere around 1954ish.
"The money aspect of it is not my primary motivation." Yeah, right. So you'll be giving 95% of any award to charity, will you?
Not that it'll make much impact. 95% of nothing is nothing. Worth a try though, I guess.
If this is news then so is Mcfly's stealing of the lyrics of 'Girl of Stars' with their own version of 'Star Girl' from me in mid-2004, as I told The Sun on 13/10/2006. If the BBC have indeed failed to provide appropriate credit where due, they're not the first nor would this be the most recent of examples in my memory.