Dr Who writer Russell T Davies will be served up a Halloween surprise from the University of Essex when he appears on the Richard and Judy show on Friday 31 October.

Members of the University’s Department of Computing and Electronic Systems have made a robotic Dalek pumpkin to impress him.

Dr John Woods, who made the robot, said: ‘This was a bit of fun for Halloween, but the University of Essex was an ideal place to turn to as we have one of the leading and best-equipped robotics research groups in the country.’

He worked with colleagues Jayne Bates, Janet George, and Jeanie Armstrong who crafted the pumpkin into a Dalek design.

Fittingly the Department has its very own Dr Hu. Robotics expert Huosheng Hu, now promoted to Professor Hu, has led projects involving football-playing robotic dogs and the development of the world’s first autonomous robotic fish, first displayed at the London Aquarium.

The programme goes out on Watch, Sky Channel 109, at 8pm on Friday 31 October.

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Notes to editors:
The attached photograph shows the robotic Dalek pumpkin created by the Department. It will be on Richard and Judy’s New Position on Watch, Sky Channel 109, at 8pm on Friday 31 October.

For further information or more photographs of the University team crafting the Dalek design, please contact the University of Essex Communications Office on telephone: 01206 872807 or e-mail: comms@essex.ac.uk