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Doctor Who: The Competition for the World’s Largest Personal Dalek Collection

By Leah Tedesco

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We recently brought you news of both the world’s largest gathering of Daleks and the world’s largest personal Doctor Who memorabilia collection. Now, we bring you news of the world’s largest personal Dalek collection. But there is another layer to this story…

This article was originally intended to be about a simple human interest story regarding a man and his Doctor Who memorabilia collection. And while it still is, there is a deeper interest to this story than one would think.

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Let us begin with the basics: Lifelong Doctor Who fan and former British light infantry soldier Robin Joll was recently featured in a video interview with Rob Olver of Forces TV. His Doctor Who memorabilia collection, among other things, consists of custom made items, including both a life-sized TARDIS and Daleks built by Joll, himself. As of the interview, he owns nearly eight hundred Daleks, which is the biggest collection in Germany, where he currently lives.

One of his work colleagues suggested that Joll may have the world’s largest Dalek collection. Upon their investigation on the website for the Guinness Book of World Records, they found that in 2011, Rob Hull of the United Kingdom held the record with 571 models. Despite Joll’s efforts to best that, as of a 2015 count by Guinness, Hull now has 1,801 models. According to Forces TV that count is up to “at least 2,000.”

The video goes on to discuss how Joll’s memorabilia collection “is in demand” at Doctor Who conventions in Germany. This is where the interview takes an interesting turn. When I heard the phrase “many secret British military Whovians” I thought, “Secret? Why would they be a secret?” Joll explains:

"They won’t admit it. Well, you know what the army’s like. People were taking the mickey out of them. Not everybody is gonna come out of the closet. But, I’ve met quite a few at the conventions, and suddenly, “Oh, hello, Robin!” People come up to me, “I didn’t know you were a…” “Yeah, well don’t tell anybody.”"

This blew my mind. I am not in the military, but from my dealings with people in the United States who are, geekiness does not seem to be something that is generally kept hidden… at least with the younger generations. I am not sure if things used to be different in my country. Joll appears to be middle-aged, so it could be generational rather than a difference in national culture. Are things different for younger members of the military in the United Kingdom now, or has the attitude remained the same?

(Article continues below the next post box.)

Next: Doctor Who: The 50th Anniversary Collection LP Set

Do you know someone who has felt the need to be in the closet (or in the TARDIS) about being a Whovian? Let us know in the comments.

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