10 Unbelievable Doctor Who Facts That Are Somehow True
1. The FBI Investigated The Daleks
The Daleks may be one of the greatest threats to all of creation, but in reality they're just monsters on the telly. Right?
Well, Dallas-based writer Paul Riddell claims that a workplace joke about the Doctor's arch-enemies once led to him being investigated by the FBI!
In 1987, Riddell was working for Texas Instruments, a semiconductor company with a contract to design a high-speed anti-radiation missile that could destroy enemy air defences. Due to its important role in national security, the specifics of the system were a closely-guarded secret. One day, Riddell's boss jokingly asked if he'd sold any of these secrets to the Russians, to which Riddell replied, "No, but I sold a few to the Daleks."
With Doctor Who being a curiosity confined to public access television in late 1980s Dallas, Riddell's boss suspected Riddell could actually be an enemy agent, and sounded the alarm. Riddell was then subjected to questioning by various lawyers and agents, before it was discovered that the Daleks weren't actually real, and the whole thing was dropped.
So how did Riddell respond to all this? He said, "I told them I would never sell us out to the Daleks anyway. The Cybermen or the Sontarans, sure! They pay more."
What a legend.