DOCTOR Who never seemed to have much trouble defeating the Daleks, despite them being his most dangerous enemy.

But maybe that was because he only ever faced two or three of them at a time.

If the legendary TV time traveller knows what's good for him, he'll give Southampton a miss for the next few weeks - because a terrifying army of 15 Daleks is now assembled in the city.

The metal-plated monsters, who faced Doctor Who in countless episodes of the BBC sci-fi series of the same name, are featured in a major new art exhibition at the city's Millais Gallery.

Devised by Southampton Institute fine arts graduate Roy Brown, the show, called U.N.I.T., features full-size Dalek models - complete with sink plungers - made to original BBC plans by

amateur Dalek-builders from all over the country.

The show is not just for sci-fi fanatics and lovers of kitsch, though. Visitors are reminded of the Daleks' brutal real life

origins - writer Terry Nation originally based them on the Nazis - with extracts from the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the gallery walls.

"Like everybody, I watched Doctor Who throughout my childhood. I'm a science fiction fan, but I'm more interested in the hidden political meanings," explains Mr Brown, 28.

"I think Daleks have become a bit kitsch, but I still believe there's a menace about them. As a baddie, they're pretty good - they're completely unrepentant about what they do."

The exhibition also features a special documentary about the Dalek-builders, who include a policeman and an undertaker.

The builders, who have based their robots on original BBC designs published in a 1973 Radio Times special, go to extraordinary lengths to make their models as close to the TV versions as possible.

Chris Balcombe, a photographer from Southampton, spent three years tracing parts for his Dalek. "The little indicator lights on the head gave me huge problems. They originally came off the back of old Land Rovers which I managed to find in a spares shop."

The exhibition runs at the Millais Gallery until December 14. Admission is free. For more information, call 023 8031 9916.