Had some nice bar chats with him at cons. He criticised my 6th form engineering project, in a very constructive way.
Raymond Cusick is very well the guy responsible for for the lasting popularity and success of the Daleks. After all, their look captivated audiences just as much as their stories did. And the basic Dalek design is sound enough that fifty years later and very little has changed. A true masterpiece and one hell of a legacy to leave behind. RIP.
Oh, got to share this, just came back to me. In the hotel bar at a con, after the bar had closed, I pulled out a hip flask of scotch. Ray Cusick pointed out my mistake: two hips, yet I only had one flask, so we'd run out twice as fast as we would have done if I'd just thought ahead. Terrific chap.
So did this guy get royalties on his designs? If not, it's a shame because that's a big part of what makes Daleks so iconic.
Would be nice for An Adventure in Space and Time if they could include the famous meeting between Ray and (FX expert) Bill Roberts when he grabs the salt shaker to explain how a Dalek should move...
Alas, no. Being a BBC employee at that time, he was paid the standard salary for his efforts. Terry Nation (whom I think was NOT under BBC contract) was shrewd enough to nogeotiate rights separate from the BBC (hence the reason we almost didn't get the Daleks when the series was revived last decade). Sincerely, Bill
Not negotiated. She just crossed out a line in the contract before sending it back, and the BBC accepted it!