I find this hard to believe. The judges of the contest were Jon Pertwee, Terrance Dicks and Barry Letts, but none of them were involved with "Genesis of the Daleks" (which starred Tom Baker, was written by Terry Nation, script edited by Robert Holmes and produced by Philip Hinchcliffe). So basically this guy is claiming that Pertwee / Dicks / Letts were so impressed with his drawing, they kept it and passed it on to the next group of showrunners? Of course, they weren't impressed enough to award him the prize, but perhaps that was all part of their secret plan? It just doesn't make sense to me.
Same here. Also, how can he prove that drawing is from three years before Davros appeared on TV? Personally I'd say it's far more likely that he drew it aged 16.
I'm not saying I believe him or that his case is rock solid, but he does claim that he contacted solicitors when he was 16 (the first time Davros was revealed on Who) but nothing came of it because he'd lost the drawings and essay.
I thought the same thing not too far into the article, then I realized that he said he's been repeatedly trying to contact BBC/DW/etc... over the years regarding the issue, despite having lost his copies. If he can prove the paper trail of letters he sent contesting the ownership of Davros, perhaps he might have ground to work with. As for the drawing itself, I'm not sure how he can prove that the drawing was made when he was thirteen (as opposed to sixteen), unless they go through some elaborate way to test the paper. (Which seems like a whole lot of trouble. But then again, when money [and notoriety] is involved, there are people who will do just about anything.) But then again, even if he could, it would then probably depend on whether or not the contest specified anywhere that he gave up rights to the character once he submitted it or not.
if the BBC knew about his claims of copyright before, why didn't someone investigate it earlier? if its true, he's gonna make a LOT of money out of this.
if the BBC knew about his claims of copyright before, why didn't someone investigate it earlier?If he sent in his complaint letter after the episode aired, it would be pretty humiliating to have to come out and say they stole everything from a 13-year-old kid. Not to mention, by the time his letter did come in the mail (who knows how long that took), had Davros already become an overnight sensation? (I'm not familiar with the Classic series, so I don't know, but it sounds like the Daleks - and later Davros - have always been really popular, so if he did become quite popular soon after the episode aired, it would've been even worse to come out with such a huge public correction.) And of course, without the copies of his submission to backup his claim, it was much easier to sweep the whole thing under the rug. (Even if he'd had the copies of the submission, I'm sure they could've easily fought it, such as saying he could've made the drawing after the episode aired. But why bother even acknowledging him, if he couldn't even prove the
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Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but I find his claim kind of doubtful. xD The drawing is way too close to the ultimate design of Davros for it to seem likely to me - back in the 70s (and even now I think) character designs would change really drastically between the drawing and building stages (compare the Star Wars concept drawings to the films, for instance). His Davros looks to me like it was sketched from the character in the show, not the other way around. Plus it's been so long, it seems really strange.
Obviously, though, if he's telling the truth then I hope he wins. I just don't think he will.
That's what makes me doubt it, too - it shouldn't look that close to the final version. Take the original Absorbaloff drawing that won a more recent design contest, for instance - they only kept the basic idea of it when they turned it into a usable monster for the show. Very, very few film or television productions end up using props and costumes that look like the first designs drawn up for them.
Yes, exactly. Were his design something more outlandish or awesome-looking or generally further from the onscreen Davros, I might believe him, but as it is... it even has the wavey thing on the back of his head. So apparently they not only liked his idea, they liked his design so much that they recreated it in every detail.
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Same here. Also, how can he prove that drawing is from three years before Davros appeared on TV? Personally I'd say it's far more likely that he drew it aged 16.
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Please. showmethereceipts.gif and all that.
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Obviously, though, if he's telling the truth then I hope he wins. I just don't think he will.
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