John Scott Martin

Who was John Scott Martin?

John Scott Martin was an English actor born in Toxteth, Liverpool, Lancashire. He made many film, stage and television appearances, but one of his most famous, though unseen, roles was as a Dalek operator in the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.

Martin operated Daleks from 1965's The Chase through to 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks making him the longest-running Dalek operator. He worked with eight different actors in the title role of Doctor Who from William Hartnell to Sylvester McCoy, and also Richard Hurndall, who took on the role of the First Doctor in The Five Doctors. Typically, Martin would operate the first Dalek when a group of three entered a scene, due largely to his long tenure on the programme. He also operated other Doctor Who monster costumes including the insectoid Zarbi in The Web Planet, and the robotic Mechanoids in The Chase. In the episode The Dæmons Martin made his first on screen appearance, he appeared as Charlie in three episodes. Martin also had a cameo in the BBC series The Tripods.

Some of his other television appearances include I, Claudius, Z-Cars, Quatermass and the Pit, Softly, Softly and the comedy Mine All Mine, written by Russell T. Davies.