BBC Online - Friday, February 5, 1999 Published at 15:36 GMT

Entertainment

Daleks get stamp of approval

Exterminating into the next millennium

The Daleks have exterminated all known opposition to gain the right to appear
on Britain's millennium stamps.

Doctor Who's deadly adversaries had been battling it out with soap character
Ena Sharples, formerly from ITV show Coronation Street, for the fourth and
final position on a series of stamps on great entertainers.

Now the Royal Mail has decided to opt for the Daleks rather than Ena, who was
played by Violet Carson for 20 years from 1960.

"To represent TV as a national institution there was a wealth of wonderful
material to choose from and the decision was an extremely tough one," said
Royal Mail design director Barry Robinson.

The other three stamps in the series are expected to feature England footballer
Bobby Moore holding the World Cup aloft, Charlie Chaplin and Queen rock
legend Freddie Mercury.

The Royal Mail is issuing a set of four stamps each month during 1999, to mark
British achievements during the past 1,000 years.
Last month BBC News Online readers backed the idea of the Daleks appearing
on Britain's stamps, with other readers suggesting Eric Morecambe and John
Lennon.