MAD SCIENTIST - Dr Who comes to life

By VIRGINIA WINDER

TARANAKI inventor Michael Fenton grew up on a square-meal diet of science-fiction television.

He feasted on the likes of Star Trek, Lost in Space, Dr Who and Land of the Giants.

“When I became a scientist I never did any of that stuff; nobody makes you invisible by accident,” Fenton says.

He’s done his best to create a few illusions for his daughters though.

Over the years, the Dr Who fan has co-created a full-sized Dalek robot (right), which the girls can climb into and make talk.

He’s also built a Tardis, which is a time machine in the shape of a police phone box. Daughter Jamie (14) says it makes the appearing and disappearing sounds it does on the British TV show.

For Christmas presents he creates computer games for his girls, including one featuring the cartoon character, SpongeBob SquarePants.

So far, his daughters have not been transported to alternate universes, been turned into flies or made invisible. And he’s never had to tell wife Christine: “Honey I shrunk the kids.”