[ the oc part ii ]

It's no secret: Doctor Who's immense popularity in the UK is partly because of the (unintentionally loveable) Daleks. Us being Americans, some of you are probably thinking "Dal-who?" (Or, for that matter, "Doctor Who who?") They were introduced in the second serial of the show and generated lots of public interest for it, much of which came from their unusual and fairly amusing appearance: they reside in robotic casings that look, honestly, like salt or pepper shakers. They have no heads, just a single protruding, swivelling eyestalk. Also, their arms (I am not making this up) resemble toilet plungers. And to top it off? The Daleks' design was based on ballerinas! The resulting "skirted" design, while giving them a graceful gliding motion, also makes them pretty immobile. They are sometimes incapacitated simply by placing an article of clothing over them. So naturally, while ostensibly the most supremely evil race in the Doctor Who universe, they're pretty funny. Perhaps the most hilarious part about them is that despite all this, they almost universally terrify small children. Maybe this is because of the music...