Big Finish Audio has come to the rescue once again, giving Doctor Who fandom the Dalek that we have always deserved–one paneled in stained glass with a trident instead of a plunger.
What, you mean you hadn’t wished for this already?
Big Finish director Jamie Anderson knew as soon as he got his hands on the script for Order of the Daleks audio play that they need a rendering of the stained glass and lead pepper pot described in the tale. He enlisted designer Chris Thompson to create the thing, and then invited him to give some info on the project:
My main thought process was to create a “Gothic” Dalek and replace all the flat surfaces with glass designs. My initial sketches had palisades, crowns, spikes and other gothic elements, but we decided to dial a lot of these back for story reasons. In the episode itself these Dalek casings are made by very primitive monks so the focus needed to be on the stained glass and not the metal elements.
The cloister style neck slats and the claw holding the eye did remain to add a bit of character.
The glass was the tricky part and I felt that getting a good design here was important, as it in itself could mean something. The slats on the skirt represent the seasons of the planet, the eye on the chest represents the mutant inside, the dome is entirely decorative. We decided to omit the ear lights as a way of making the design even more primitive.
Apparently, they now lovingly refer to it as “Dalek Stainley.” Check out the whole story on Jamie Anderson’s website.
