Raymond Cusick

Raymond Cusick
Born	Raymond Patrick Cusick May 1928 Lambeth, London, England
Died	21 February 2013 (aged 84) Horsham, West Sussex
Cause of death	Heart Failure
Nationality	British
Occupation	Staff designer
Employer	BBC
Known for	Designing the Daleks
Children	2 daughters

Raymond Patrick "Ray" Cusick (May 1928 – 21 February 2013) was a designer for the British Broadcasting Corporation. He is best known for designing the Daleks, a race of aliens who move around in tank-like travel machines, for the science fiction television series Doctor Who.

Born in the Lambeth district of London, Cusick became interested in engineering while still at art school, and began attending evening classes. However, his father wanted him to follow a more regular career, so Cusick took a course in mathematics and science at Borough Polytechnic, intending to become a civil engineer. Not finding this to his liking, he enlisted instead in the British Army and found himself stationed in Palestine, but did not enjoy that experience either. On his return to England he completed a teacher training course, but then obtained a nine-month position in repertory theatre at the Prince of Wales Theatre in Cardiff.

In the late 1950s Cusick briefly took a position teaching art but applied and was accepted for a post at the Wimbledon Theatre where he remained for three years. Cusick joined the BBC in 1960 as a staff designer and was responsible for the set design of many Doctor Who stories, creating not just futuristic settings but also historical sets and dioramas. Another BBC in-house designer, future filmmaker Ridley Scott, had been assigned to design the Daleks in 1963, but scheduling conflicts saw the job handed to Cusick. Cusick worked on other BBC television programmes including The Pallisers, The Duchess of Duke Street, On Giant's Shoulders, When the Boat Comes In, Rentaghost and Miss Marple.

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