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The Man Who Invented the Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation
Terry Nation was one of the most successful, prolific, and celebrated writers for popular television that Britain ever produced. His late 1970s science fiction series Survivors and Blake's 7 have been durable, cult and critical hits, both being remade 30 years later. His most famous creations, the Daleks , ensured, and at times eclipsed, the success of Doctor Who . Indeed, almost half a century after their first appearance in 1963, new additions to Dalek mythology continue to be made, while the word itself has entered the Oxford English Dictionary, passing into the language as the name of the most famous race of aliens in fiction. While his science fiction work remains at the core of his appeal, Nation also had a role to play in the early days of radio and television comedy—as part of the legendary Associated London Scripts, he wrote for Spike Milligan, Tony Hancock, and Frankie Howerd—and in the internationally successful adventure series of the 1960 The Avengers , The Saint , The Persuaders! , and others. This account of his life and contributions will shed light on a fascinating melting pot of ambitious young writers, producers, and performers without whom British culture today would look very different.
356 pages, Hardcover
First published June 6, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
March 9, 2023
Interesting book looking at the career of terry nation creator of the Daleks and other tv shows
November 19, 2017
Fascinating biography of the one of highest profile scriptwriters during the 60's and 70's - "the golden age of television" in Britain. The author makes a good case for Terry Nation having more influence on the art of television drama than some much more lauded names. At the same time it remains fairly clear-sighted as to his shortcomings such as reusing certain plots and devices over many programmes, and his laziness that perhaps stopped him becoming even more successful.
It's also an entertaining social history of British television, as viewed through the story of the Associated London Scripts agency, founded by Spike Milligan, Eric Sykes, Galton and Simpson, and Beryl Vertue.
Very much concentrated on his professional life, you will not find out much about his family or his activities away from work, but for me that was fine.
It's also an entertaining social history of British television, as viewed through the story of the Associated London Scripts agency, founded by Spike Milligan, Eric Sykes, Galton and Simpson, and Beryl Vertue.
Very much concentrated on his professional life, you will not find out much about his family or his activities away from work, but for me that was fine.
November 15, 2012
It’s no understatement to say that I love British TV, film and radio from the late-Fifties to the late-Seventies and I love reading about the people behind it even more. Everything seemed to be created almost as an afterthought, through a haze of smoke and booze, by talented men and women completely unaware that, decades later, what they produced would be viewed by many as a Golden Age.
Coming in at 300 pages (not including references, acknowledgements etc) Alwyn W. Turner’s The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation is a detailed look at Nation’s career, from his early days attempting (and failing at) stand-up comedy in Wales, through to his move to London where he attracted the attention of Spike Milligan and became part of the legendary Associated London Scripts agency. He wrote for Milligan, Peter Sellers, Frankie Howerd and, of course, the increasingly troubled Tony Hancock. He wrote many television plays and became a key figure in television throughout the Sixties and Seventies, writing for the adventure series of the day, such as The Saint, Department S, The Baron, The Persuaders and The Avengers as well as creating the most famous monsters on TV; the Daleks.
Legendary for re-using scripts and being a bit lazy (he didn’t like to do second drafts because he was bad at typing, and found it hard work. If he thought a conversation was going on too long, he’d set a bomb ticking in the background. If he wanted to heighten the tension of a chase scene someone would fall and sprain their ankle), he was also lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, as programme-making wasn’t the bureaucratic, created-by-committee process of today, and Nation benefited particularly from the free-spending style of the undisputed king of independent television, Lew Grade, and was able to turn the pulp fiction classics that dominated his childhood into a highly successful living. It’s telling that, after moving to America in 1980, and a very different way of programme commissioning, the latter half of his career is less glowing – a period when he was scraping work on sub-standard shows, living off his past successes and ideas and creating nothing new of his own.
It’s also interesting to see how much he edited his own memories of events. He comes across as someone who, by accident or design, trod on a few people along the way (the oft-told tale of ‘forgetting’ the significant contribution made to the Daleks by BBC designer Raymond Cusick being one example), yet in interviews and off-the-record conversations seemed curiously unable to remember/admit to almost anything negative. This may be in large part down to the significant influence of his agent, Roger Hancock, brother of Tony and a relentlessly efficient negotiator (or Rottweiler, as one TV executive put it).
Amongst all the history there are plenty of new stories I was previously unaware of. For example, that David Whitaker, (Doctor Who‘s first story-editor, who had a much larger input into the creation of the Daleks than most people realise) became ‘Terry Nation’, in that the famous Dalek cartoon strips, The Curse of the Daleks stage play and many other Dalek related things that were openly credited to Nation, were actually written by Whitaker. I was also unaware that their relationship became so fraught that Nation actually attacked Whitaker with punches at one point (not long after this, their ‘partnership’ understandably ended). I also never knew that David Attenborough, the first controller of BBC2, turned down Nation’s Dalek spin-off series and that the unexpected arrival of Dalekmania and the subsequent public demand for merchandise was the principal reason for the creation of BBC Enterprises (what we now know today as BBC Worldwide).
Possibly the funniest (in hindsight) piece of information I learned was that the US media company, Time Life, approached the BBC with an offer to put money into Blake’s 7 in return for world rights, only for that offer to be rejected by then-Director of Programmes Alasdair Milne (later to become Director-General) in the month that Star Wars was released, on the grounds that “I do not accept that there is going to be a great surge of interest in science fiction series in America.”
Including detailed looks at his most significant creations (the Daleks, Blake’s Seven and Survivors) this is a fascinating and enjoyable insight into a prolific, and occasionally controversial, figure from the Sixties and Seventies and is well worth picking up, not just if you are a fan of Doctor Who but also for anyone with an interest in that highly creative period of British television and radio.
Coming in at 300 pages (not including references, acknowledgements etc) Alwyn W. Turner’s The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation is a detailed look at Nation’s career, from his early days attempting (and failing at) stand-up comedy in Wales, through to his move to London where he attracted the attention of Spike Milligan and became part of the legendary Associated London Scripts agency. He wrote for Milligan, Peter Sellers, Frankie Howerd and, of course, the increasingly troubled Tony Hancock. He wrote many television plays and became a key figure in television throughout the Sixties and Seventies, writing for the adventure series of the day, such as The Saint, Department S, The Baron, The Persuaders and The Avengers as well as creating the most famous monsters on TV; the Daleks.
Legendary for re-using scripts and being a bit lazy (he didn’t like to do second drafts because he was bad at typing, and found it hard work. If he thought a conversation was going on too long, he’d set a bomb ticking in the background. If he wanted to heighten the tension of a chase scene someone would fall and sprain their ankle), he was also lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, as programme-making wasn’t the bureaucratic, created-by-committee process of today, and Nation benefited particularly from the free-spending style of the undisputed king of independent television, Lew Grade, and was able to turn the pulp fiction classics that dominated his childhood into a highly successful living. It’s telling that, after moving to America in 1980, and a very different way of programme commissioning, the latter half of his career is less glowing – a period when he was scraping work on sub-standard shows, living off his past successes and ideas and creating nothing new of his own.
It’s also interesting to see how much he edited his own memories of events. He comes across as someone who, by accident or design, trod on a few people along the way (the oft-told tale of ‘forgetting’ the significant contribution made to the Daleks by BBC designer Raymond Cusick being one example), yet in interviews and off-the-record conversations seemed curiously unable to remember/admit to almost anything negative. This may be in large part down to the significant influence of his agent, Roger Hancock, brother of Tony and a relentlessly efficient negotiator (or Rottweiler, as one TV executive put it).
Amongst all the history there are plenty of new stories I was previously unaware of. For example, that David Whitaker, (Doctor Who‘s first story-editor, who had a much larger input into the creation of the Daleks than most people realise) became ‘Terry Nation’, in that the famous Dalek cartoon strips, The Curse of the Daleks stage play and many other Dalek related things that were openly credited to Nation, were actually written by Whitaker. I was also unaware that their relationship became so fraught that Nation actually attacked Whitaker with punches at one point (not long after this, their ‘partnership’ understandably ended). I also never knew that David Attenborough, the first controller of BBC2, turned down Nation’s Dalek spin-off series and that the unexpected arrival of Dalekmania and the subsequent public demand for merchandise was the principal reason for the creation of BBC Enterprises (what we now know today as BBC Worldwide).
Possibly the funniest (in hindsight) piece of information I learned was that the US media company, Time Life, approached the BBC with an offer to put money into Blake’s 7 in return for world rights, only for that offer to be rejected by then-Director of Programmes Alasdair Milne (later to become Director-General) in the month that Star Wars was released, on the grounds that “I do not accept that there is going to be a great surge of interest in science fiction series in America.”
Including detailed looks at his most significant creations (the Daleks, Blake’s Seven and Survivors) this is a fascinating and enjoyable insight into a prolific, and occasionally controversial, figure from the Sixties and Seventies and is well worth picking up, not just if you are a fan of Doctor Who but also for anyone with an interest in that highly creative period of British television and radio.
April 23, 2015
Strictly speaking this isn’t a biography of Terry Nation and in truth it isn’t marketed as such. It’s ‘The man who invented the Daleks’. If you are looking for information on Terry Nation as a person then this really isn’t the book for you and there isn’t one anyway. Any references to the personal life of the man are few and far between and are largely culled from interviews he gave for Horizon magazine which was the fan mag for Blakes 7. There is no claim anywhere in the book that this is a revelatory biography about him. It is very much a book of his professional writing life and the contribution he made to popular TV culture from the 1960s to the 1990s. His contributions are put in a wider context of the development of comedy and science fiction on TV.
In reality, from reading between the lines it would seem that Terry Nation is not really biography material. By all accounts of those who worked with him he was an affable family man who worked hard. He stayed married to the one woman all his life, wasn’t an alcoholic or drug user (although he was a chronic smoker which eventually killed him). He wasn’t a womaniser, gambler or obnoxious to all around him like Hancock or Waugh. So far so bad for a biographer. The further reading section on page 331 isn’t very extensive reflecting how much he kept a low profile although he was very protective of his Daleks and their image. Most of that protective work was carried out in conversations and correspondence with officials at the BBC and not in the public domain. His one overriding professional goal was to be the series writer of a popular TV show and he was thwarted on many occasions largely due to the collective nature of TV productions which have so many layers of management and creative departments that one man‘s will – and in particular the writer’s script – is only one part of a much wider experience. He largely achieved this with Blake’s 7 but failed with The Outsiders. He only kept control over the Daleks by a fluke in his contract with the BBC at the time. No other writer was in that position and made money independently of writing for a series.
The book is well written and very well researched and throws a lot of light on the background of the role of the script writers who – prior to Nation – were largely just names on the credits list. He was able to bring the writers out from the shadows.
Reading the book will not give you a deeper insight into Terry Nation as a man but it will give you a wider understanding of Terry Nation as professional writer in the context of the development of the TV series from the 1950s onwards.
In reality, from reading between the lines it would seem that Terry Nation is not really biography material. By all accounts of those who worked with him he was an affable family man who worked hard. He stayed married to the one woman all his life, wasn’t an alcoholic or drug user (although he was a chronic smoker which eventually killed him). He wasn’t a womaniser, gambler or obnoxious to all around him like Hancock or Waugh. So far so bad for a biographer. The further reading section on page 331 isn’t very extensive reflecting how much he kept a low profile although he was very protective of his Daleks and their image. Most of that protective work was carried out in conversations and correspondence with officials at the BBC and not in the public domain. His one overriding professional goal was to be the series writer of a popular TV show and he was thwarted on many occasions largely due to the collective nature of TV productions which have so many layers of management and creative departments that one man‘s will – and in particular the writer’s script – is only one part of a much wider experience. He largely achieved this with Blake’s 7 but failed with The Outsiders. He only kept control over the Daleks by a fluke in his contract with the BBC at the time. No other writer was in that position and made money independently of writing for a series.
The book is well written and very well researched and throws a lot of light on the background of the role of the script writers who – prior to Nation – were largely just names on the credits list. He was able to bring the writers out from the shadows.
Reading the book will not give you a deeper insight into Terry Nation as a man but it will give you a wider understanding of Terry Nation as professional writer in the context of the development of the TV series from the 1950s onwards.
December 23, 2023
While Turner has more of a critical writing voice than a journalistic one, this is nevertheless a welcome volume providing insights into Terry Nation, the creator of the Daleks. Turner has scoured through a great deal of articles and essays in an attempt to discern Nation's talent and impact. And he is refreshingly honest about Nation's limitations: (1) he wrote too fast and often didn't rewrite beyond the first draft (although Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks were smart enough to push him, resulting in "Genesis of the Daleks"), (2) he was a shy man who was a poor manager/executive and completely incapable of being a script editor (his inability to mind the story is what caused the first season of SURVIVORS to be so spotty), and (3) he frequently resorted to cliche (jungles, air ducts, Nazi allegory), particularly mining from Isaac Asimov's THE CAVES OF STEEL for his ideas. But conversely, it was these very limitations that actually saved DOCTOR WHO in its first year. Because Nation wrote fast, his script (originally scheduled as the fifth story) was filmed earlier. And he would never have written the script so fast if he hadn't been in need of money and had no other jobs. Nation emerges in this book as a capitalist writer in the business for the big bucks, although I did empathize with his failure to get anything made when he moved to Hollywood after BLAKES 7. There's also some interesting stuff in this book about the British radio comedy scene (Spike Milligan and THE GOON SHOW) in the 1950s.
November 5, 2020
Terry Nation was an intriguing writer whose orbit brought him into contact with many cultural touchstones such as Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, 'Doctor Who' and 'Macgyver'. Most famous for creating the Daleks, his diverse writing for television needs to be recognised.
Turner covers Nation's life and career in a lively style which is very readable.
Turner covers Nation's life and career in a lively style which is very readable.
January 4, 2022
I learnt more about the Golden Age of TV than about Terry Nation...
October 23, 2015
It’s no understatement to say that I love British TV, film and radio from the late-Fifties to the late-Seventies and I love reading about the people behind it even more. Everything seemed to be created almost as an afterthought, through a haze of smoke and booze, by talented men and women completely unaware that, decades later, what they produced would be viewed by many as a Golden Age.
Coming in at 300 pages (not including references, acknowledgements etc) Alwyn W. Turner’s The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation is a detailed look at Nation’s career, from his early days attempting (and failing at) stand-up comedy in Wales, through to his move to London where he attracted the attention of Spike Milligan and became part of the legendary Associated London Scripts agency. He wrote for Milligan, Peter Sellers, Frankie Howerd and, of course, the increasingly troubled Tony Hancock. He wrote many television plays and became a key figure in television throughout the Sixties and Seventies, writing for the adventure series of the day, such as The Saint, Department S, The Baron, The Persuaders and The Avengers as well as creating the most famous monsters on TV; the Daleks.
Legendary for re-using scripts and being a bit lazy (he didn’t like to do second drafts because he was bad at typing, and found it hard work. If he thought a conversation was going on too long, he’d set a bomb ticking in the background. If he wanted to heighten the tension of a chase scene someone would fall and sprain their ankle), he was also lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, as programme-making wasn’t the bureaucratic, created-by-committee process of today, and Nation benefited particularly from the free-spending style of the undisputed king of independent television, Lew Grade, and was able to turn the pulp fiction classics that dominated his childhood into a highly successful living. It’s telling that, after moving to America in 1980, and a very different way of programme commissioning, the latter half of his career is less glowing – a period when he was scraping work on sub-standard shows, living off his past successes and ideas and creating nothing new of his own.
It’s also interesting to see how much he edited his own memories of events. He comes across as someone who, by accident or design, trod on a few people along the way (the oft-told tale of ‘forgetting’ the significant contribution made to the Daleks by BBC designer Raymond Cusick being one example), yet in interviews and off-the-record conversations seemed curiously unable to remember/admit to almost anything negative. This may be in large part down to the significant influence of his agent, Roger Hancock, brother of Tony and a relentlessly efficient negotiator (or Rottweiler, as one TV executive put it).
Amongst all the history there are plenty of new stories I was previously unaware of. For example, that David Whitaker, (Doctor Who‘s first story-editor, who had a much larger input into the creation of the Daleks than most people realise) became ‘Terry Nation’, in that the famous Dalek cartoon strips, The Curse of the Daleks stage play and many other Dalek related things that were openly credited to Nation, were actually written by Whitaker. I was also unaware that their relationship became so fraught that Nation actually attacked Whitaker with punches at one point (not long after this, their ‘partnership’ understandably ended). I also never knew that David Attenborough, the first controller of BBC2, turned down Nation’s Dalek spin-off series and that the unexpected arrival of Dalekmania and the subsequent public demand for merchandise was the principal reason for the creation of BBC Enterprises (what we now know today as BBC Worldwide).
Possibly the funniest (in hindsight) piece of information I learned was that the US media company, Time Life, approached the BBC with an offer to put money into Blake’s 7 in return for world rights, only for that offer to be rejected by then-Director of Programmes Alasdair Milne (later to become Director-General) in the month that Star Wars was released, on the grounds that “I do not accept that there is going to be a great surge of interest in science fiction series in America.”
Including detailed looks at his most significant creations (the Daleks, Blake’s Seven and Survivors) this is a fascinating and enjoyable insight into a prolific, and occasionally controversial, figure from the Sixties and Seventies and is well worth picking up, not just if you are a fan of Doctor Who but also for anyone with an interest in that highly creative period of British television and radio.
Coming in at 300 pages (not including references, acknowledgements etc) Alwyn W. Turner’s The Man Who Invented The Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation is a detailed look at Nation’s career, from his early days attempting (and failing at) stand-up comedy in Wales, through to his move to London where he attracted the attention of Spike Milligan and became part of the legendary Associated London Scripts agency. He wrote for Milligan, Peter Sellers, Frankie Howerd and, of course, the increasingly troubled Tony Hancock. He wrote many television plays and became a key figure in television throughout the Sixties and Seventies, writing for the adventure series of the day, such as The Saint, Department S, The Baron, The Persuaders and The Avengers as well as creating the most famous monsters on TV; the Daleks.
Legendary for re-using scripts and being a bit lazy (he didn’t like to do second drafts because he was bad at typing, and found it hard work. If he thought a conversation was going on too long, he’d set a bomb ticking in the background. If he wanted to heighten the tension of a chase scene someone would fall and sprain their ankle), he was also lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, as programme-making wasn’t the bureaucratic, created-by-committee process of today, and Nation benefited particularly from the free-spending style of the undisputed king of independent television, Lew Grade, and was able to turn the pulp fiction classics that dominated his childhood into a highly successful living. It’s telling that, after moving to America in 1980, and a very different way of programme commissioning, the latter half of his career is less glowing – a period when he was scraping work on sub-standard shows, living off his past successes and ideas and creating nothing new of his own.
It’s also interesting to see how much he edited his own memories of events. He comes across as someone who, by accident or design, trod on a few people along the way (the oft-told tale of ‘forgetting’ the significant contribution made to the Daleks by BBC designer Raymond Cusick being one example), yet in interviews and off-the-record conversations seemed curiously unable to remember/admit to almost anything negative. This may be in large part down to the significant influence of his agent, Roger Hancock, brother of Tony and a relentlessly efficient negotiator (or Rottweiler, as one TV executive put it).
Amongst all the history there are plenty of new stories I was previously unaware of. For example, that David Whitaker, (Doctor Who‘s first story-editor, who had a much larger input into the creation of the Daleks than most people realise) became ‘Terry Nation’, in that the famous Dalek cartoon strips, The Curse of the Daleks stage play and many other Dalek related things that were openly credited to Nation, were actually written by Whitaker. I was also unaware that their relationship became so fraught that Nation actually attacked Whitaker with punches at one point (not long after this, their ‘partnership’ understandably ended). I also never knew that David Attenborough, the first controller of BBC2, turned down Nation’s Dalek spin-off series and that the unexpected arrival of Dalekmania and the subsequent public demand for merchandise was the principal reason for the creation of BBC Enterprises (what we now know today as BBC Worldwide).
Possibly the funniest (in hindsight) piece of information I learned was that the US media company, Time Life, approached the BBC with an offer to put money into Blake’s 7 in return for world rights, only for that offer to be rejected by then-Director of Programmes Alasdair Milne (later to become Director-General) in the month that Star Wars was released, on the grounds that “I do not accept that there is going to be a great surge of interest in science fiction series in America.”
Including detailed looks at his most significant creations (the Daleks, Blake’s Seven and Survivors) this is a fascinating and enjoyable insight into a prolific, and occasionally controversial, figure from the Sixties and Seventies and is well worth picking up, not just if you are a fan of Doctor Who but also for anyone with an interest in that highly creative period of British television and radio.
February 9, 2013
When I first received this book, I thought it was about the creation of the Daleks and a history of the man behind their conception, but it's so much more than that. The man who invented the Daleks is actually a history of British television with a particular focus on Terry Nation and the Daleks. There's lots about other works by Nation such as Blake, The Avengers and Survivors as well as some stuff about other prolific writers during those years. This book focuses on the 20th century development of British television, particularly the BBC, but there are also some references to how American television was developing at the same time. I even learnt quite a lot about the history of Britain in general, I.e. the state of Britain after the war and how politics affected the media etc. A lot of this book is made up of quotes from writers about other writers and it's also really interesting to see how they influenced each others work and, for lack of a better word, the bitch-fights they had.
Obviously Im far too young to have seen any of the shows that are talked about when they were on television, but I've heard about the more popular ones or seen my Dad watching the reruns. This wasn't a problem for me as it was fascinating to read about the sort of TV shows that made the 1960s Britain's 'Golden Age' of television. If you, like me, don't have much more than a basic knowledge of the development of British television then these parts will take a little longer to read and absorb otherwise you'll just get yourself into a muddle.
I absolutely flew through the parts about the creation of the Daleks and their popularity and I learnt so much about their significance for British television, which I hadn't realised before. There are lots of cool facts that Doctor Who fans will lap up, for example, Dalek means 'remote' or 'alien' in Croatian - a complete coincidence! I was astounded to find out that the Dalek's popularity even rivalled that of the Beatles at one point and there was Dalekmania in Britain after their first appearance on TV.
For me, the best part about this book was the part about the first appearance of the Daleks on television. There are quite a few funny anecdotes and for the modern Doctor Who fans it's astounding to see just how popular the Daleks were. I think this book would appeal to older audiences who lived through this time, as well as younger British television fans who'll be fascinated by TV history. If I'm perfectly honest, I wouldn't have thought a non-fic book about TV history to be that entertaining a read, interesting for sure, but not gripping like this page turner of a book turned out to be.
Any Doctor Who fans out there? Would love to find people to fan girl with! ;P
Many thanks to Aurum for providing a review copy!
Http://whats--hot.com
Obviously Im far too young to have seen any of the shows that are talked about when they were on television, but I've heard about the more popular ones or seen my Dad watching the reruns. This wasn't a problem for me as it was fascinating to read about the sort of TV shows that made the 1960s Britain's 'Golden Age' of television. If you, like me, don't have much more than a basic knowledge of the development of British television then these parts will take a little longer to read and absorb otherwise you'll just get yourself into a muddle.
I absolutely flew through the parts about the creation of the Daleks and their popularity and I learnt so much about their significance for British television, which I hadn't realised before. There are lots of cool facts that Doctor Who fans will lap up, for example, Dalek means 'remote' or 'alien' in Croatian - a complete coincidence! I was astounded to find out that the Dalek's popularity even rivalled that of the Beatles at one point and there was Dalekmania in Britain after their first appearance on TV.
For me, the best part about this book was the part about the first appearance of the Daleks on television. There are quite a few funny anecdotes and for the modern Doctor Who fans it's astounding to see just how popular the Daleks were. I think this book would appeal to older audiences who lived through this time, as well as younger British television fans who'll be fascinated by TV history. If I'm perfectly honest, I wouldn't have thought a non-fic book about TV history to be that entertaining a read, interesting for sure, but not gripping like this page turner of a book turned out to be.
Any Doctor Who fans out there? Would love to find people to fan girl with! ;P
Many thanks to Aurum for providing a review copy!
Http://whats--hot.com
October 14, 2013
Alwyn Turner's usual output is books covering cultural history so a biography would appear to be a new departure. However, this book was really in essence another volume of cultural history as it is mostly about Nation's career as a writer for television. The personal life of the subject is given short shrift, for example at one point there is a reference to Nation having married Kathleen Grant without there being any explanation of how they met. Following this Kathleen disappears into the space/time vortex for the next 250 pages only briefly emerging in a disgruntled state whilst Terry writes 'Survivors'.
Given the title you would also expect a fair amount of information on how the Daleks were created but there isn't all that much detail. It would have been nice to see how much discussion took place between Nation and BBC designer Raymond Cusick but the basic narrative provided is Nation described them and Cusick based the design on his description, familiar stuff to fans of the show. Whether the Daleks voices were indicated in Nation's script or were decided upon during pre-production isn't discussed at all. Similarly it would have been interesting to find out Nation's feelings on changes made to the Daleks' design over the years which isn't covered.
The strengths of the book are the exemplary research undertaken by the author which means that he is able to set all of Nation's career within the wider context of the cultural history of the era. Turner is particularly effective at identifying the primary sources from which many of Nation's ideas were derived, although he is prone to exaggerating the influence of Asimov's 'The Caves of Steel' and underrating the influence of Philip K Dick, especially in the case of 'The Android Invasion'.
Ultimately Terry Nation appears to have had many similarities to George Lucas. Both were aware of the financial possibilities of merchandising based on their creations, both were described as being shy by others. They were equally influenced by classic action adventure narratives though Nation was more influenced by literary models and Lucas by the early serials of cinema. In each case their greatest critical successes were partly the result of the work of others (Genesis of the Daleks is considered by many to be as much the work of script editor Robert Holmes as Nation, the most critically acclaimed Star Wars movie, The Empire Strikes Back was directed by Irvin Kershner.)
In summary as a biography it was a little lacking as you didn't gain too much insight into Nation as a person. As a work of cultural history it was well done so you can add a star to the rating if approaching the book on those terms.
Given the title you would also expect a fair amount of information on how the Daleks were created but there isn't all that much detail. It would have been nice to see how much discussion took place between Nation and BBC designer Raymond Cusick but the basic narrative provided is Nation described them and Cusick based the design on his description, familiar stuff to fans of the show. Whether the Daleks voices were indicated in Nation's script or were decided upon during pre-production isn't discussed at all. Similarly it would have been interesting to find out Nation's feelings on changes made to the Daleks' design over the years which isn't covered.
The strengths of the book are the exemplary research undertaken by the author which means that he is able to set all of Nation's career within the wider context of the cultural history of the era. Turner is particularly effective at identifying the primary sources from which many of Nation's ideas were derived, although he is prone to exaggerating the influence of Asimov's 'The Caves of Steel' and underrating the influence of Philip K Dick, especially in the case of 'The Android Invasion'.
Ultimately Terry Nation appears to have had many similarities to George Lucas. Both were aware of the financial possibilities of merchandising based on their creations, both were described as being shy by others. They were equally influenced by classic action adventure narratives though Nation was more influenced by literary models and Lucas by the early serials of cinema. In each case their greatest critical successes were partly the result of the work of others (Genesis of the Daleks is considered by many to be as much the work of script editor Robert Holmes as Nation, the most critically acclaimed Star Wars movie, The Empire Strikes Back was directed by Irvin Kershner.)
In summary as a biography it was a little lacking as you didn't gain too much insight into Nation as a person. As a work of cultural history it was well done so you can add a star to the rating if approaching the book on those terms.
February 1, 2012
This book is a fascinating insight into not only the prolific career of Terry Nation, but also of television itself in the sixties and seventies when Terry was involved on various projects virtually non-stop for years. Obviously Doctor Who and the Daleks takes up quite a portion of the book but it wasn’t this that I found particularly interesting as a lot of what was mentioned in this book I had already read in some of the Doctor Who reference books on that period of the shows history but there were still some things that I had never heard of such as the bit about Tony Hancock claiming credit (in his own mind) to the creation of the Daleks and also the amount of money that he made over the years on the back of creating the Daleks through merchandising and licensing (he once got £75 when they appeared on an episode of Jim’ll Fix It) alone and you can understand quite why Raymond Cusick is so pissed with the paltry sum he got for his part in the creation of Skaro’s favourite sons.
More interesting for me was the stories of his early days writing jokes for various 1950s comedians and trying to pitch his own comedy shows (without much luck it has to be said) and his later work with ITC taking in lots of popular shows of that era (The Avengers, The Saint, The Baron, The Persuaders) and then of his later work as creator on two well known 1970s shows. All of this stuff is fascinating to me so this book was a very enjoyable read indeed.
After reading this book I have revised my opinion of Terry Nation as being a bit of a lazy writer when he was nothing of the sort and was responsible for literally hundreds of hours of material throughout his writing career. It opened my eyes a bit more to the life of a television writer in the golden days of television when it was quite easy to make a career as a writer, which I don’t think is the case at all nowadays. It does tend to keep going back to the Daleks, which to me is the least interesting thing about the book, but also the thing that Nation is most remembered for, and not his countless hours of quality (and some not so good) television.
More interesting for me was the stories of his early days writing jokes for various 1950s comedians and trying to pitch his own comedy shows (without much luck it has to be said) and his later work with ITC taking in lots of popular shows of that era (The Avengers, The Saint, The Baron, The Persuaders) and then of his later work as creator on two well known 1970s shows. All of this stuff is fascinating to me so this book was a very enjoyable read indeed.
After reading this book I have revised my opinion of Terry Nation as being a bit of a lazy writer when he was nothing of the sort and was responsible for literally hundreds of hours of material throughout his writing career. It opened my eyes a bit more to the life of a television writer in the golden days of television when it was quite easy to make a career as a writer, which I don’t think is the case at all nowadays. It does tend to keep going back to the Daleks, which to me is the least interesting thing about the book, but also the thing that Nation is most remembered for, and not his countless hours of quality (and some not so good) television.
July 7, 2013
This review is 2 parts - the first about the book style and organization and the second is about the subject matter
In regards to the actual layout and organization of this book, I give it four out of five stars - being a biography, there was very little in the area of youth of Terry Nation, but it did focus on his time as a writer and what led him to becoming a writer - there were a few times when I felt that the information was repetitive but then other times it went into great detail, which I liked - examples were given, though, these were the victim of repeats as well - as a book and a biography, I would say that this is worth the four stars based solely on the format and layout and information provided ...
as for the second half of this reveiw - if this were based on the subject of the book, I would give this one star - Terry Nation is given the credit for creating the Daleks, when in fact there were several people involved, but he did have the basic concept and the name and he made a ton of money on his creation, though he had little actual dealings with Doctor Who, he did not even like the program (from my interpretations) and his time could not be spared to write scripts for his Dalek's, so other writers wrote the stories, and Terry Nation complained - honestly, from everything provided about Terry Nation, he was not a very creative man, stealing story ideas from his friends, coworkers, and even himself, though he is still known as the man that created the Daleks -
I am a huge Whovian, and I am disappointed in finding out that the man that created one of the biggest villains in history did so with half care because he wanted to work on other projects, and he never gave the due time to his own creation - the people in the bio talk about how creative Terry Nation was, yet example after example shows that he truly was not and that the Daleks was more of luck over talent -
This Bio is well written, but I left the book not only not liking Terry Nation as a person, but feeling angry that he got so rich off of a creation that he never truly cared for.
In regards to the actual layout and organization of this book, I give it four out of five stars - being a biography, there was very little in the area of youth of Terry Nation, but it did focus on his time as a writer and what led him to becoming a writer - there were a few times when I felt that the information was repetitive but then other times it went into great detail, which I liked - examples were given, though, these were the victim of repeats as well - as a book and a biography, I would say that this is worth the four stars based solely on the format and layout and information provided ...
as for the second half of this reveiw - if this were based on the subject of the book, I would give this one star - Terry Nation is given the credit for creating the Daleks, when in fact there were several people involved, but he did have the basic concept and the name and he made a ton of money on his creation, though he had little actual dealings with Doctor Who, he did not even like the program (from my interpretations) and his time could not be spared to write scripts for his Dalek's, so other writers wrote the stories, and Terry Nation complained - honestly, from everything provided about Terry Nation, he was not a very creative man, stealing story ideas from his friends, coworkers, and even himself, though he is still known as the man that created the Daleks -
I am a huge Whovian, and I am disappointed in finding out that the man that created one of the biggest villains in history did so with half care because he wanted to work on other projects, and he never gave the due time to his own creation - the people in the bio talk about how creative Terry Nation was, yet example after example shows that he truly was not and that the Daleks was more of luck over talent -
This Bio is well written, but I left the book not only not liking Terry Nation as a person, but feeling angry that he got so rich off of a creation that he never truly cared for.
July 15, 2015
It's a peculiar experience to read a biography of someone whom you used to know. While Mr. Turner has done an admirable job of examining Terry Nation's career-- I cannot fault him on his attention to detail-- I regret to say that who Terry actually was seems to have eluded him, and as a result the reader cannot form anything other than a vague and bloodless impression.
This is a real loss since Terry was an incredibly charismatic man armed with a wicked wit and a keen penetrating intellect. Terry was the funniest person I have ever known. He was also a troubled soul, but out of compassion and the love I have for him I hesitate to go further than that. Maybe no one wants to know this sort of thing anyway. Few of Terry's demons make even a cameo appearance in this book apart from a glimpse or two of his formidable temper and his ruthless streak; the rest is silence. De mortuis nil nisi bonum dicendum est, I guess.
This is a real loss since Terry was an incredibly charismatic man armed with a wicked wit and a keen penetrating intellect. Terry was the funniest person I have ever known. He was also a troubled soul, but out of compassion and the love I have for him I hesitate to go further than that. Maybe no one wants to know this sort of thing anyway. Few of Terry's demons make even a cameo appearance in this book apart from a glimpse or two of his formidable temper and his ruthless streak; the rest is silence. De mortuis nil nisi bonum dicendum est, I guess.
Read
March 20, 2024A fun, detailed history that would be a 3.5.
On the surface, this is a well-researched book about the guy who invented the Daleks. When you dig into it, you're graced with a thorough examination of the life of a television writer in the '50s - '80s.
Yes, Terry Nation IS the guy who wrote the first Doctor Who story featuring the Daleks. Learning about the BBC and how Doctor Who got made in the early days was very fun. But I ended up much more fascinated by how British TV was made during the 20th century.
To that end, this is almost two books. One gives you all sorts of juicy details about the first incarnation of the Doctor, complete with insights into what the BBC thought about the Daleks at the time. The other pulls back the curtain to learn how the sausage of television got made.
Both are worthy subjects, but both aren't necessarily for the same reader or fan. It was mostly a fun read, even if the third quarter got slow at times.
On the surface, this is a well-researched book about the guy who invented the Daleks. When you dig into it, you're graced with a thorough examination of the life of a television writer in the '50s - '80s.
Yes, Terry Nation IS the guy who wrote the first Doctor Who story featuring the Daleks. Learning about the BBC and how Doctor Who got made in the early days was very fun. But I ended up much more fascinated by how British TV was made during the 20th century.
To that end, this is almost two books. One gives you all sorts of juicy details about the first incarnation of the Doctor, complete with insights into what the BBC thought about the Daleks at the time. The other pulls back the curtain to learn how the sausage of television got made.
Both are worthy subjects, but both aren't necessarily for the same reader or fan. It was mostly a fun read, even if the third quarter got slow at times.
October 17, 2016
An excellent and insightful biography of an arguably underrated writer (even by Doctor Who fans) whose contribution to British television encompassed so much more that creating the Daleks. Agree with those who say we could have learned a little more about the man as well as his career, but from a wartime childhood in Wales reading books in air-raid shelters, to bringing that imagination to popular television, it's possible to build up a very good picture of what made Terry Nation tick. I hadn't realised it was Blake's 7 that pioneered story arcs and end of season cliffhangers, so as someone now using similar techniques in his own books I'd better say a belated: thank you, Terry.
August 26, 2013
I've cross-referenced this for two reasons. The first is obvious -- the creator, and creation of, the Daleks is a monumental part of "Doctor Who's" origin. But this book goes beyond that, to tell the tale of a remarkable writer, a remarkable career, and the tale of the golden age of British television, its development and its legacy. It's extremely readable, full of gentle observations that are all the more incisive for that very same gentle, straightforward tone. For anyone interested in television & pop culture history of the late 20th century, this is the book to read.
January 10, 2017
Daleks. Survivors. Blake's Seven. I grew up with them. All from the fertile imagination of Terry Nation. I had no idea of his comedic start in script writing nor his failed attempt to be a stand up comedian. An interesting look back at his life in the world of television and, to a lesser extent, film. He may not have been the best writer in the world but he made sure he was never poor, thanks to him having the savvy to ensure he got a cut of in the sales of dalek related products which sold in vast quantities.
Ray Smillie
Ray Smillie
August 21, 2016
Really solid book. More of a 4.5 than a full 5, since very little is devoted to Terry Nation's personal life. However, this is as much a bio on British television from the 1960s-80s as it is about Nation himself. He was involved in so many different shows, it's easy to take a broad look at the overall working climate, with a bit of extra British culture thrown in. I'd definitely take a look at Alwyn Turner's other books, should I come across them.
December 8, 2014
42 WORD REVIEW:
Turner exhaustively researches Terry Nation’s life, shows how the Daleks developed both along- and inside British culture of the 60s and 70s, and contextualises the infamous pepperpots within the broader scope of Nation’s work, from which scrutiny their creator emerges somewhat diminished.
Turner exhaustively researches Terry Nation’s life, shows how the Daleks developed both along- and inside British culture of the 60s and 70s, and contextualises the infamous pepperpots within the broader scope of Nation’s work, from which scrutiny their creator emerges somewhat diminished.
September 10, 2012
I've enjoyed this and it has, ever so slightly, changed my opinion of Terry Nation. In a good way. Though from a starting point of thinking his writing is terrible, that isn't saying much!
July 23, 2013
A great little history of British TV of the 50s, 60s and 70s.
February 4, 2017
A rare insight to a TV genius. A good read for Sci Fi fans.
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