Rebecca's World by Terry Nation

Terry Nation was born in the Welsh town of Llandaff, near Cardiff, in the year 1930. He enjoyed reading and making up stories as a child, and after graduating from high school, he became interested in theater, writing and performing in plays for his local theatrical society. He left home in the early 1950s and relocated to London, where he attempted to begin a stand-up comedy career. But, he quickly discovered that he lacked acting abilities, so when he learned that a local agency was seeking for comedic scriptwriters, he decided to submit his work to them. Associated London Scripts appreciated his work and hired him to write All My Eye And Kitty Blewitt, a 13-week comic radio show.

This sparked his writing career, and he went on to write over 200 scripts for comedians including Terry Scott, Eric Sykes, Harry Worth, and Frankie Howerd during the 1950s. In 1963, he made his television debut by writing numerous episodes for Tony Hancock's ITV series Hancock. The Daleks were created the same year as he was asked to write the second serial for the newly-launched BBC science fiction series Doctor Who. Nation drew inspiration for his renowned mechanical monsters in part from a television show.

'All you have to do to make it non-human is take the legs off,' he realized, realizing that the monsters had to look truly alien. That's the only way to avoid looking like a costumed person.' After seeing the Georgian State Dancers perform, he realized how he might accomplish this. 'The females execute this fantastic routine,' he explained. They wore floor-brushing skirts and walked in very little steps, as if they were gliding across the floor.

That's the kind of movement I wanted for the Daleks.' He once claimed that the word 'Dalek' came from the letters DAL-LEK on the spine of an encyclopedia, but subsequently admitted that this was only a ruse to appease the press. When asked why the Daleks have such a huge following, Nation simply replied, Kids want to be scared. He wrote several more Dalek adventures for Doctor Who, including 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth' (1964), 'The Chase' (1965), 'The Daleks' Master Plan' (with Dennis Spooner, 1965-1966), and 'Creation of the Daleks' (1975), as well as two non-Dalek episodes, 'The Keys of Marinus' (1964) and 'The Android Invasion' (1979). Terry Nation's TV credits include The Saint, Department S, The Persuaders, and The Avengers, in addition to Doctor Who.

He also wrote two other science fiction cult classics. The novel Survivors was first published in 1970. It was remade five years later and shown for three seasons between 1975 and 1977, with a BBC remake airing in 2008. Blake's 7, dubbed Robin Hood in Space by Nation, aired for four seasons from 1978 to 1981.

It was a great hit all around the world, and it still has a large fan base today. Terry Nation died in 1997 in Los Angeles. Nicholas Briggs has been a regular contributor to Doctor Who since 1999, when he started working on the Big Finish Doctor Who audio dramas, for which he has written and directed numerous episodes and is now Executive Producer. Nick is also an actor who has worked on set with all four of the new Doctors as the voice of the Daleks (as well as the Cybermen and other aliens) since Doctor Who's return to television in 2005.

Nick, who spent the majority of his life in London, now lives in Dorset with his wife and kid, where he expects to find serenity... But London has been dragging him back so far. Louise Jameson is best known to Doctor Who fans as Leela, Warrior of the Sevateem, and companion to the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker). She is an award-winning actor and filmmaker. The Omega Factor, Tenko, Bergerac, EastEnders, and Doc Martin are among her numerous other TV appearances.

She has acted on stage with both the National and Royal Shakespeare Companies, and her credits include Absurd Person Singular and A Murder is Announced. From 1980 to 1982, Matthew Waterhouse played Adric, a companion to Tom Baker and Peter Davison's Doctors. He has worked widely as a stage actor since then. His works include a memoir, Blue Box Boy, three novels, and a collection of short stories.

He's recently participated in episodes of the Dark Shadows audio series, as well as a number of Doctor Who audio productions, including an award-winning one-man play, Doctor Who: A Complete Life, and a forthcoming quartet of new adventures starring Tom Baker.