10 Times Doctor Who Daleks Appeared Where You'd Least Expect Them
7. The Daleks at the Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival is where the European arthouse year truly begins. The titles screened in competition will often form a key part of festival programming and awards buzz for the rest of the year. It's the last place that you'd expect to find a troupe of Daleks promoting the big-screen adaptation of a daft sci-fi show.
Except, Cannes is also a huge film market, selling upcoming commercial releases or investment in productions to people with a lot of cash. When the Daleks descended on the French Riviera in 1965, it was to promote the Peter Cushing-helmed feature film Dr. Who and the Daleks. Loaded on to a lorry and heralded by an 80-piece band, the Daleks were paraded up and down the Croisette.
The Daleks also attended the British reception at the festival, and were pictured menacing an unsuspecting John Lennon. Lennon was there to promote the latest Beatles movie Help! This was the second time in as many weeks that the Beatles and the Daleks were in the same place. A short snippet of the band playing Ticket to Ride opened the third Dalek serial The Chase earlier that month.