Ditchingham Doctor Who fan brings joy with life-size Daleks

BBC News

30-05-2025

A Doctor Who superfan who creates homemade Daleks to support charities says he wanted to turn a character that "hates the human race" into a "cause for something good".Mark Casto, 67, from Ditchingham, Norfolk - known as Dalek man - recycles everything from Christmas baubles to dustbin lids to create the life-size villains.Inspired by his daughter Amy, who made a gingerbread version, Mr Casto has built several homemade Daleks since lockdown to support homeless people and disability charities.Mr Casto said: "They've changed a lot during the years and they're still so popular - it just goes to show that, like Spiderman and Batman, they've just got something special about them."
Despite thinking the Daleks were "creepy" when he first saw them on TV as a child in the 1960s, Mr Casto said they had the biggest influence on him."I was obsessed with them and when I got older, I wanted to build them and eventually had the skills and time to do it," he said.
The handmade Daleks take about six to seven months to piece together and measure roughly six feet (1.8 metres) tall and four feet (1.2 metres) wide.They are made using recycled materials including timber and plywood, fibreglass and even knitting needles.
'Like a prop'
Mr Casto made his first Dalek almost five years ago and named it Dalek DL as a reference to its dustbin lid head.Since then, he has built five more, with names including Dalek Rad, Dalek Bert and Dalek Blisteron.Two of his Daleks have mobility scooters within them, so Mr Casto can often be seen whizzing around his local area disguised as his villainous alter-ego.He said: "I often get people walking their dogs past me and stay still like I'm a prop, and I wait until they come a bit closer and if the dog seems okay, one of my favourite lines to say in the Dalek voice is 'what is this creature on the lead?'. "If they say that's their dog, I then say: 'I was not talking to you'."The Daleks have helped generate publicity for charities including Emmaus, which works to end homelessness, and Waveney Enterprises, which provides a space for people with learning disabilities to express themselves through craft and life skills, and is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.Mr Casto said he had no plans to make any further Daleks - instead those he already has will be put to good use at events and organisations across the country.Two of them will be at a children's event at Latitude Festival in Suffolk in July.
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