The County Durham grandad creating Daleks in his living room

For many people, constructing the metal designs by hand might be a real task, but for 68-year-old Brian Hamilton from Spennymoor, it’s become his new hobby.

Starting on the creations in 2014, the self-confessed ‘tinkerer’ was inspired after he saw two daleks at a community club. Seeing how intrigued his grandchildren were by them, it got him thinking about how he could make one – and the obsession started from there.

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Seven years later, Mr Hamilton now has seven daleks, including his most recent design, which is a ‘to scale dalek’. However, over the years, he’s made a range of the robots in several sizes, including a remote control one that he drove around his street.

Despite finding his hobby later in life, the 68-year-old admits that he’s always had an interest in creating things, and has designed everything from Halloween decorations, the nativity scene and odd items for his friends and family, to a rocking horse because he didn’t want to shell out hundreds of pounds for one for his grandchildren.

Now that he’s created daleks for seven years, Mr Hamilton has looked back on his time making them – and has highlighted that his most recent metal design could be his last.

Take a look at a few of Brian's creations:

This is down to the fact that he’s just purchased a classic tractor that he wishes to fix up, and he also wants to dedicate more time to his family and restoring motorbikes.

He also admits that his obsession with daleks means that his wife isn’t too happy with the state of the living room – but after becoming known as ‘Dalek man’ in certain circles in Spennymoor, which saw him drive his dalek down the street during 2020’s VE Day street party, he doesn’t regret it one bit.

Mr Hamilton said: “I’ve always had an interest in making things. While I’ve had no formal training, I’ve tinkered around with old motorbikes and bit of plywood for years.

Mr Hamilton was inspired to make the sci-fi creations because of his grandchildren. Picture: BRIAN HAMILTON.

“Seeing the daleks during a trip with my grandchildren was the turning point, really. I wanted to keep them entertained and seeing the daleks seemed to keep them interested.

“I don’t fully know what my friends and family think of it to be honest. I think they might believe I’m mad, but whether they’ll tell me later down the line, I don’t know.

“I started off with buying the moulds online and the rest, as they say, is history. I’ve never looked back.”

A few more of Brian's creations:

Despite citing that the hobby is an expensive and time-consuming process, which sees the Spennymoor resident spend between six months and a year making each dalek, he gets recognised when he goes to the shops, which amuses him.

Mr Hamilton added: “My wife gets stopped by people in ASDA, who say ‘are you the wife of dalek man?’ it’s completely mad. People on our estate love to see the progress of the daleks, and they’ve tried to get me involved in the town gala each year which I might make a point of doing soon.

“I’ve never wanted to be in the limelight over it – I actually would rather just get on with making items and let others do the talking part. Deep down, I’m a shy person but I’m glad that people are intrigued in what I do.”

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