Daleks from the long-running British sci-fi series Doctor Who were originally designed based on the shape of a common pepper shaker that writer Terry Nation saw on a dining table.

A closer look

Daleks from the long-running British sci-fi series Doctor Who were originally designed based on the shape of a common pepper shaker that writer Terry Nation saw on a dining table. The most feared, ruthless alien exterminators in television history, responsible for the destruction of entire galaxies, owe their terrifying, bumpy, conical aesthetic to a standard piece of kitchen tableware. The BBC special effects department had virtually no budget in the nineteen sixties, so they just glued a toilet plunger and a whisk onto a motorized trash can to create the ultimate nemesis for a Time Lord. Over half a century later, dedicated fans still pretend to be genuinely frightened by a rolling condiment dispenser that could easily be defeated by a moderately steep flight of stairs