Delve into the science of Daleks »Allie Ford is a grown-up now and is that most fearless and rational of things, an astrophysicist (she's at Monash University) but reminisces that ''I'll admit that, as a child, I used to hide behind the couch when the Daleks [the rasp-voiced fascist mutants of the BBC TV Doctor Who series'] came on the screen.'' It's a good thing that she's overcome that quite understandable fear (your columnist is old enough to remember, as a hitherto apple-cheeked boy, being left ashen-faced by the first-ever ever appearance of the Daleks in Doctor Who in 1963) because these days she takes part in Science of Doctor Who presentations. They require her not to tremble when she speaks to audiences. She and some colleagues are presenting Science of Doctor Who entertainments during this week's sessions in Canberra of National Science Week....
