‘Busses stop for pictures’: Meet the talented Portsmouth inventor who spreads joy with his custom-built Dalek
Watch inventor Lee Adams talk about the reaction he receives to his music-playing Dalek which he drives around Portsmouth.
Local inventor Lee Adams has created a music-playing Doctor Who-inspired Dalek.
Named Happy.Dalek, it roams around Portsmouth greeting locals and playing music from the 50s to the 90s - putting a smile on people’s faces.
Lee said: “The first time I saw a Dalek was when I was around 10, and ever since then, I always thought to myself, I’ve got to have one of them. When I retired, had a bit more time on my hands and a little bit more money, joined a group called Project Dalek where you get the basic design for the Dalek.
“A lot of their designs I couldn't follow, because my brain doesn't work that way, but I'm good with drawing my own plans, so I made some plans up, and we have what we got here now, which is what's called a custom-built Dalek. It means it's a Dalek, but it doesn't conform to Daleks that you've seen on TV, which made it a lot easier for me, and, in all honesty, made it a lot more enjoyable for people who see it, because they're not seeing the same old Dalek every time.
“I love every minute of it. It can take me half an hour to get 100 yards with people stopping to take photographs and it's fantastic. I can go out at half past five in the evening, set up a long Southsea for just gone six and not get home till half past 11 at night. Enjoy every minute of it.
“I get things like people looking out of windows from blocks of flats, busses stop so that people can take pictures. Out of 95% of the people that I asked, have they seen a Dalek around? The majority of them say they've either seen it, heard about it, or seen it on Facebook or somewhere else. It’s just marvellous, so many people know it. I get messages from so many people saying, ‘where and when?’”