We promised our son that he would get to be a Dalek for Halloween, and here is the final result! His verdict: an awesome costume to rival last year’s Ghostbusters uniform (which was a big success all around).
When his heart first became set on this notion, I tried to caution him about a Dalek’s traditional… limitations. He insisted he’d be fine, so we forged ahead, collecting cardboard and styrofoam balls and spray paint. But sure enough, when the day came to put the costume through its paces (Friday’s Halloween parade at school), he discovered what most of us have known for a long time– Daleks really can’t go up and down stairs. Yes, it’s a shame we weren’t able to build one of those newfangled Daleks with the hover option!
There were only a handful of people at his school who had ever watched Doctor Who, and were able to identify what he was dressed up as. At least one person asked if he was supposed to be a cheese grater. But those who knew were suitably impressed. During our trick-or-treating trip around the neighborhood he garnered a lot of puzzled looks from people who obviously don’t appreciate good TV series, but there were enough people who did murmur “Doctor Who!” or “Dalek!” as we passed to make us all feel good about our efforts. One lady who was handing out candy did a double take and almost screamed in delight, announced she was a huge Doctor Who fan, and then genuflected (seriously!) at us for bringing the delightful nerdy goodness to her Halloween evening.
I had to assist him at all the houses that had stairs leading up to the front door (“Trick or treat! I’m holding this bag here for my son the Dalek, down there, who can’t negotiate your stairs. Happy Halloween!”). There are lots of these in our neighborhood. He had to move at a much slower pace than his typical racing-to-the-next-house marathon, and a few bits fell off along the way, but he still came home with an enormous bag of loot. I’d say it was a successful night.
wow….great costume..can’t believe he wouldn’t be recognised immediately!
WOW! Wicked amazing costume!
Let your son know that we are cyber-genuflecting to him from down here in Boston. Last year we were trick or treated by a group of teenagers dressed as the doctor, martha jones and a stone angel – my wife’s “sqweee!” was probably heard for miles.
That’s awesome! I don’t even know which is more awesome: the fact that he wanted to be a Dalek or the fact that you made a Dalek costume for him. Kudos all the way around.
From the little 10th Doctor in my life, (and his 11 Dad) brilliant job. We had similar experiences, although the Doctor was able to successfully run in school corridors, (they do all look the same) and leap from every doorstep. And yeah, not many people knew, but those who did were overjoyed. Another friend had a young Dalek wandering Hamilton with similar results. So as always, those who know Who are passionate, the rest of the population need to get with it.
Tell your little Kaled I’d be honored to go toe to toe with him.
I approve.
Davros
Awesome costume! And I assure you that in Seattle, the costume would’ve been widely recognized!
As background, we used to have a whole street of these odd-looking streetlight sculptures that became known to many people as the Daleks. When the area was redeveloped and the space turned into a building, the lamps came down. There was general outcry from the geeky community (“No! You can’t get rid of the Daleks!”) and, to our pleasure, when the building was done, some of the Daleks reappeared in the new complex’s courtyard as the vents for the underground parking garage.
(Google “Uwajimaya Daleks” to see images, as they’re directly across the street from Uwajimaya here in Seattle.)
Love this! We are having a Dr Who party in a few weeks…can I ask how you made the hat? I can tell you used water bottles on the sides, but what is the eye stalk? And what kind of hat did you start with? THANKS!!
A Dr Who party sounds like a great time! The hat was simply a cheap metal mixing bowl we spray-painted with the same paint we used for the body. We glued/taped a cheap costume hat on the inside of the bowl to make it actually wearable. The stalk part of the eyestalk was just a cardboard tube we had lying around, possibly another plastic bottle part in there as well, and the front bit was a piece of some sort of toy. My son says it was a Lego Bionicle piece. Really, it was whatever we could find around the house. And then we taped it all together as best we could. The blue you’re seeing is just some thin plastic I cut to fit– it may have been from a plastic shopping bag. Oh, and we stuck glow sticks in those plastic water bottles on the sides, which looked nice at night.
Good luck, and have a great time at the party!
You have just saved my life – I have to make a Dalek costume for school, which will also be used for halloween. You have given me heaps of ideas. In particular I LOVE the paint roller! Great work.
I’m glad to know we could help. Best of luck on your own Dalek!
Hi this looks fab
I’ve just suggested my partner go as a dalek to a festival we’re going to-I’m curious as to how you have attached the costume to body?
I can see they’re like braces over the shoulders, but how did you attach this to the costume please?
Thanks x