'I was nearly exterminated!': How Doctor Who – and the Daleks – saved the life of David J Howe

There are worse ways to be greeted than by a phalanx of Daleks. In David J Howe’s house, they stand guard in the hallway — chrome, gun stick raised, eyestalks glaring — less like monsters than old friends waiting patiently for tea. Howe, boyish at 62 and wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a vintage BBC logo, ushers me in with the practised ease of a man long accustomed to visitors coming to marvel at his collection. Upstairs, his wife, the bestselling author Samantha Lee Howe, is at her desk. “She tolerates the Daleks,” he says with a laugh, “but she draws the line at having them in the bedroom.”

Even before Howe took his first steps, the smell of ink and print was in his blood. His father worked in the printing department of the Daily Express, a Fleet Street stalwart until 1984. Nobody could have guessed then that David, the boy from South London, would become one of the foremost chroniclers of Doctor Who. Fewer still could have foreseen that his lifelong devotion to the programme — and to its most notorious villains — would one day save his life.

“I was completely captivated,” he recalls, speaking with the unembarrassed enthusiasm of a fan who never quite put down his toy Dalek. “By the time I was fifteen, I’d built one of my own. My dad would bring home waste plastic from the printing floor, and I’d scavenge anything else I could find. Piece by piece, I put together a full-size Dalek. Looking back, it was probably madness — but it was also the beginning of everything.”

From that labour of love grew a lifetime’s work. Howe became not only a fan but also an authority — the man who kept meticulous records, interviewed actors, and eventually worked alongside them. “Working with Jon Pertwee on his autobiography was extraordinary,” he says. “It wasn’t just about documenting his memories — it was about capturing a piece of television history. I felt I was standing at the threshold between fandom and the people who actually made the show.”

That threshold soon opened wide. Over the decades Howe became a mainstay at conventions, a reliable voice in fan publishing, and a tireless chronicler of Doctor Who’s sprawling mythology. His books became essential reference works; his personal archive one of the largest in Britain. He is, in many ways, a custodian of a national treasure.

But the show’s most famous monsters proved more important than he could ever have guessed. Some years ago, on the way to Cardiff for a Dalek exhibition, Howe suffered a catastrophic heart attack. Fate placed him within reach of Cardiff University Hospital, one of the country’s leading cardiac centres. “If I’d been at home, I wouldn’t be here,” he says simply. “I was rushed straight in. Without that trip, without the Daleks, I wouldn’t have survived.”

Through it all, Samantha has been his constant. “She’s been my rock,” he says. “We’ve shared every step — the fandom, the books, the challenges. Without her, the road back would have been much harder.”

This October, Howe publishes his memoir, Who Me!, a title that blends affectionate self-mockery with genuine pride. It promises anecdotes ranging from late-night conversations with Peter Davison to the thrill of seeing the BBC’s merchandise empire grow from a few plastic toys into a global brand. But above all, it is about belonging: the friendships forged in hotel bars and convention halls, the joy of watching a programme stitch together generations of fans.

“Doctor Who is so much more than television,” Howe says. “It’s part of the fabric of British culture. And for me, it’s been the thread running through my whole life — from a boy with a homemade Dalek to someone lucky enough to help document it all. It’s not just a fan’s tale. It’s proof that what we love most can guide us in ways we never expect.”

And then he grins, with the relish of a man who knows just how absurd and wonderful it all sounds. “I was nearly exterminated. But thanks to the Daleks, I’m still here.”

By Steven Smith

• Who Me! by David J Howe

• Publication date: 9 October 2025

• Formats: Hardback, Digital, Audio

• Publisher: Bedford Square