Restaurant owner buys Dr Who Dalek at auction - 'to put by piano'

Hannah Springham, who runs the Dial House in Reepham as well as the Farmyard restaurant in Norwich with husband Andrew, out-bid other hopefuls for the Dr Who relic.

She said she will be positioning the Dalek in the Dial House entrance hall. The Dalek will be for sale like other items in the venue, which also has eight guest bedrooms, and hopefully be a talking point.

"The Dalek will be for sale but I hope he stays forever, he will be a fab addition. We like to live up to being a quirky hotel and imagine coming for a break away in Norfolk and being greeted by a Dalek.

"I'm going to put him opposite the piano so it would be great if someone could play the theme tune to Dr Who."

The new home of a Dr Who Dalek - the Dial House in Reepham. (Image: Archant)

The Dial House aims to reopen in the middle of May. "It will be so nice to reopen, we don't do this job to do it online, but to be with people," she added.

Kevin Lines, director, Keys auctions, and the Dalek. (Image: Archant)

The licensed model of the Dalek from 'Remembrance of the Daleks,' made in 1988, in a series of the 25th season of Dr Who, was the star lot in Keys' online sale.

Many other lots in the movie and music memorabilia online sale also exceeded their guide prices.

These included a poster of the movie A Clockwork Orange which sold for £150, well above its £25-£30 guide.

A collection of programmes including one for Michael Jackson's 1988 world tour including a ticket also fetched well over its expected price of £20-£30 when it sold for £120.

The Dalek (Image: Archant)

The Dalek came from a series in which the seventh Time Lord, played by Sylvester McCoy and his companion Ace, played by Sophie Aldred, travel back to 1963 to retrieve the Hand of Omega, a powerful device created by the Doctor's race.

It's widely considered by fans to be one of the greatest Dr Who stories of all time.

Earlier in the week a full-sized Dr Who Tardis came up for sale separately on Facebook.