Watch out, there's a Dalek about!

Just in time for their return to TV screens tonight, the Doctor Who alien that scared millions of viewers of the sci-fi show in the 60s and 70s has emerged from the garage of a former theatre stage manager after 18 months in creation.

Doctor Who fan Richard Morse, 50, of Nursling, says he has been fascinated by the Doctor's deadly enemies - known for their chilling desire to exterminate - since he first saw them on television as a child.

"I remember seeing them on the first series with my favourite Doctor Who, William Hartnell," said Richard.

"I just found them fascinating and thought if I was going to build any television alien, it had to be them. They are such a good design."

Richard, who as a stage manager has built props for shows in the West End and at Southampton's Mayflower theatre, said the idea to build a life-sized Dalek replica had been at the back of his mind since he was a child.

"The idea has been there since we played Daleks as kids and used saucepans on our heads," he said.

"More recently I read some articles on them and saw plans for children to create one in a 1973 issue of the Radio Times.

"The blueprints for this one come from plans I found on the Internet and it is a replica of the very first Dalek, of which only four were made."

Richard said that getting the details of the Dalek right took up most of the 18 months spent on his project.

"You have to get it right if you are going to spend so much time on it," he said.

"Especially as they changed slightly through the different series."

Now that he has completed the replica, made mostly from wood and fibreglass, Richard says he is not sure what to do with it.

Other home-made Daleks are available on Internet auction site e-Bay, where one is currently selling at £900.

"A lot of people sell them but I'm not sure I can part with it after building it myself," said Richard.

"I know my wife doesn't want it in the front room, though."