A Month of... Board Games! Day 30: Play this boardgame, or we'll shoot Sarah Jane Smith

I told you we'd have a lot of Doctor Who games in store, and this kinda proves it: yet one more, this time (again) focused on not the Doctor but his nemesis, the BBC Daleks. It's back from an era where the Daleks were promoted separately from Doctor Who because they were were the co-intellectual property (with the Beeb) of creator Terry Nation (and designed by Raymond Cusick). There was, for quite some time, a completely separate licensing line for the Daleks apart from the good Doctor, which is how we eventually wound up with Abslom Daak, Dalek Killer. (The Delightful Mister D. has only recently been brought into DW canon by appearing within a computer screen in "Time Heist," an episode featuring the Twelfth Doctor and Clara. And he's resurfaced last year in Titan's authorized comics!)

Those separate licensing reasons is why Christmas 1976 was twice as nice for British kids, as they could get not merely the authorized Doctor Who Annual 1977 but also the seperately-published and equally-authorized Terry Nation's Dalek Annual 1977!


I've gotta admit, if I had saved up my p's and q's by asking for pennies for the Guy and i could only buy one 1977 annual because I had in hoof was twelve shillings ha'penny and tupfarthings, I think I'd opt for Daleks value rather than Doctor, at least based on the cover. The DocAnn is just another painted image of Tom Baker vaguely looking displeased at something off screen: I imagine he may be shouting "Noooooo!" at a rubber-suited alien. No real action there.

There's much more value for money based on the cover of Daleks Annual '77, which appears to portray our favorite heroic crime-fighting pepperpot roborgs knocking down twin Super Dave Osbornes and then spraying them with oil and vinegar. Either that or they're falling over a tiny, tiny waterfall. Don't go chasing those, guys! I'd pick Daleks because the 1977 Doctor Who Annual is infamously known in fandom as target="_blank">"the annoying one that doesn't fit with the others on the bookshelf because it's slightly taller and wider".

Also, this cool Daleks board game with one bajillion special rules and a Penalty-Advantage Scale. "Any number of players can join in." Wow, it is really suited for "8 to 80"!

"Escape from Skaro!: A Race to Freedom" in Terry Nation's Dalek Annual 1977 (BBC/World Distributors (Manchester) Ltd., 1976); creator unknown
(Click picture to New Paradigm-size)
In conclusion, don't forget in any upcoming election to vote Dalek! They never misrepresent themselves as something they're not in the least!