Dalek playing Doctor Who theme tune burst into lady's funeral

A Dalek burst into the funeral of a science fiction-loving lady, playing the Doctor Who theme tune, flashing lights and blowing smoke before leading mourners out of Eltham crematorium in south east London. When Shoshanna Manch died from ovarian cancer on February 4 this year, she had already selected the readings and music for her funeral. But sister Kim Bacon thought drafting in a special intergalactic funeral guest would be a fitting tribute to the 61-year-old from Forest Hill who loved attending sci-fi conventions while dressed up as characters and aliens from shows like Star Trek and Doctor Who.



Ms Bacon, 49, explained: "We all thought, you know what, she'd love it if she had a Dalek at her funeral. She was a bit zany, a bit of a fruitcake. We were going to have it following the hearse. But what we decided to do was surprise people by having it come in halfway through the service." Ms Bacon looked for the creatures online and found a man called Derek the Dalek who agreed to come and perform. She explained: "It was sitting there, waiting to burst through the doors. I said 'We now have a tribute from someone that's come a long way'. Then I did the thumbs up and the doors opened and in came the Dalek.



"The Dalek was playing the theme tune as it was coming in and it had its lights flashing. It came up the aisle playing the Doctor Who music, let out some smoke from its exterminator thing and came to the front. It went right up as far as it could to the front of the coffin and said to it 'Hail Shoshanna Manch, queen of the Daleks', blew some smoke and lowered its eye down in respect. As it turned itself around it bumped into the pew in the front and was saying 'Dalek reversing'. Everybody was just falling about laughing and taking pictures. You don't normally expect people to take their cameras out in a funeral."



After two more tributes, the Dalek returned and led everybody out to where the flowers were before staying there, speaking to the pall bearers, posing for photos and saying cheese. Ms Bacon said: "It was a first for everybody involved. She'd have loved it. She was such a Doctor Who fan, but she'd never have asked for it herself." Ms Manch, survived by 30-year-old son, had explicitly asked for people to have fun at her funeral, requesting guests sing along to Prince Buster's Enjoy Yourself. Her sister said: "She was a fun-loving person and it hit us hard when she was ill. It was our tribute to her really. It kind of shows what sort of personality she had."