An answer to the Dalek mystery

IN A recent survey conducted by the National Trust, one in ten children in Britain was unable to identify a Dalek. Indeed, some were unable to tell a Dalek from K9 or a Cyberman. The trust was exercised by the fact that barely half the nation's youth could recognise an oak leaf, or that a third were ignorant of what a Red Admiral butterfly looked like.

But surely this failure of 10 per cent of children to recognise a Dalek after 45 years of Doctor Who on television – not to mention Russell T Davies hogging the literary columns – is much more significant.

For a start, it shows there are household...