Did you know that BBC’s immortal Time Lord Doctor Who had a two picture film series starring Hammer horror legend Peter Cushing (Horror of Dracula, The Curse of Frankenstein) as The Doctor in the mid-1960’s? As a kid I sure as shit didn’t!
Even though the series was can’t miss TV for young me when it aired on PBS in the 1980’s, information on the franchise as a whole was near-impossible to come by where I grew up… so imagine my surprise when Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. showed up late one winter night in ’91 on WWOR out of Secaucus New Jersey. I was absolutely amazed… and confused as fuck… but we are getting ahead of ourselves a bit…
The first movie produced was 1965’s Dr. Who & The Daleks directed by Gordon Flemyng with a screenplay by Milton Subotsky (the longtime Amicus horror producer who also wrote The City of the Dead, and The Skull); which opens with eccentric but lovable British (No Gallifrey here, chum) inventor Dr. (not Doctor) Who (Cushing) ushering his granddaughters Barbara (Jennie Linden) and Susan (Roberta Tovey), along with Barbara’s inept boyfriend Ian (Roy Castle, Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors) into his latest invention, the T.A.R.D.I.S. (an acronym for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space), a police call box that is not only much bigger on the inside than out, but can traverse time and space with ease.
The quartet find themselves in a petrified forest on the burnt-out planet of Skaro after bumbling-ass Ian sends them through the ether. Soon they head to the only landmark in sight, a retro-futuristic city, in search of material to fix the Dr.’s time machine (in and of itself a ruse concocted by The Dr. to satisfy his curiosity about the city).
Said city proves to be inhabited by nihilistic robots (technically cyborgs) called the Daleks who quickly steal a crucial piece of the T.A.R.D.I.S. from The Dr., and imprison our heroes before demanding one of them travel back outside and procure drugs necessary to not only allow the Daleks to leave the city and travel across Skaro to annihilate their enemies the Thals (the owners of the drugs), but can be used to cure the radiation sickness the lot have contracted by fuckin’ around outside.
Susan is chosen to go as the rest are too weak and soon befriends the glam-rock lookin’ aliens (all shiny metallic hair and blue eye-shadow with nearly bone-white skin… it’s like a planet of early ’70s David Bowies, and one older guy) who’s battle Dr. Who and his companions must join if they ever hope to leave the planet alive!
Charming, delightful, full of comic book sci-fi wonder… Dr. Who and the Daleks may be a tad off-center for those expecting a direct adaptation of the iconic character, but what we do get is an incredibly endearing children’s adventure flick that’s just plain fun to watch from beginning to end!
The film’s narrative is based on the Doctor Who television serial The Daleks (which ran from December 1963 to February 1964 and was written by longtime Who scribe Terry Nation), and due to the increased budget (provided by legendary British horror studio Amicus; Asylum, Vault of Horror, From Beyond the Grave) the film version features large, imaginative sets (reminiscent of Giorgio Hermann’s work on 1966’s Barbarella, and constructed at Shepperton Studios… the same studio that would play host to The Omen, Alien, and The Elephant Man to name but a few) to bring both the ruined surface of Skaro as well as the Dalek’s city to vivid, pop-art influenced life).
Along with the impressive, colorful sets we also get ample use of miniatures, forced perspective, and matte paintings to increase the scope of the alien land… as well as sharp re-paints and a slightly modified design for the Daleks that make them look distinct and slick on screen.
Along with the changes made, the program’s distinct electronic theme tune by Ron Grainer and Delia Derbyshire is jettisoned and replaced also completely different from the series, with longtime Gerry Anderson (Thunderbirds, Stingray) composer Barry Gray’s main theme proving to be a lively pop/jazz affair that screams Swingin’ Sixties in every way sonically possible.
It also must be said that the image quality of this release is crisp and clear, loaded with detail, and eye popping color (the petrified forest and it’s heavy use of gel lighting really shines) that makes viewing the Dr.’s exploits breathtaking to experience!
Special features included on this Severin release include audio commentaries featuring film historian/Whovians Barry Forshaw, Stephen Jones & Kim Newman, actresses Jennie Linden & Roberta Tovey (moderated by journalist Jonathan Sothcott) and screenwriter Robert Shearman & actor/writer Mark Gatiss (joined by a returning Newman), interviews with Flemyng (an archival piece you can listen to as an additional commentary track), Subotsky, Doctor Who expert Kara Dennison, and Gareth Owen, author of the Shepperton Story.
Also included is Dalekmania; a 1995 documentary covering the production of the film, a mini-doc covering the legacy of Dr. Who and the Daleks, the film’s trailer, and a still gallery.
Also recently released by Severin on Blu-ray is the 1966 sequel to Dr. Who and the Daleks, the aforementioned Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.
Constable Tom Campbell (Bernard Cribbins, who went on to be featured on the television series mid-2000’s revival in a different role… and provides the bumbling fool moments that Ian took care of on the first go-around) attempts to foil a robbery, but finds himself aboard Dr. Who’s (Cushing) T.A.R.D.I.S. after he enters a police call-box to report the crime.
Soon he’s whisked away to a post-apocalyptic London along with the Dr.’s granddaughter Susan (a returning Tovey) and his niece Louise (Jill Curzon) where the Dalek’s have exerted their control on the land; turning their prisoner’s into mindless automatons and slave labor for their mining operation as they hover above the land in their floating warship.
Thankfully the remaining humans have formed a resistance to stand up to their tin-plated overlords and make plans to destroy the Daleks’ ship in their secret base in a London Underground station… but the Dr. and Tom’s incarceration aboard the Daleks’ craft adds a new component to the plan.
Will the combined might of The Dr., his travel buddies, and the rebel army be enough to ensure mankind’s continued existence, or will the Daleks reign supreme?!
Director Flemyng and screenwriter Subotsky return with a bit of a darker (yet no more less fun) film that transports the action from a distant alien world to dystopian England as they adapt Nation’s 1964 Who serial The Dalek Invasion of Earth.
Less colorful than the completely surreal sets of the previous installment, the environs created here (once again within Shepperton Studios, though there are a number of exterior shots present here) do a fantastic job of realizing the dilapidated structures of the bleak future of London in 2150… but fret not as the Dalek ship and mine sets feature that Mod 1960’s sci-fi design aesthetic that made the previous pic so much fun to behold… and the costumes worn by the Daleks’ brain-washed Robomen are simply camp sci-fi fantastic as fuck!
Also super-fun are the Dalek flying saucer miniature (with it’s sleek 1960’s design, mini-jets of flame, and flashing lights), some rad matte paintings, and a miniature packed finale!
Additionally there are some new Dalek color schemes… it would have been easy just to use the same color combos as the first film, but the filmmakers chose to give us a few more Dalek variations among the returning models which is A-Okay in my beastly book!
That all being said, there is a bit of a dour atmosphere to the proceedings, as the stark, rainy forests, dirty mines, and the harsh rustic conditions the denizens of the surrounding countryside endure (featured in those previously mentioned exterior shots) provide an extra layer of story-appropriate grimness (while at the same time opening up the world of the film in a way the first film’s beautiful set-bound sequences could not).
As before, the picture (newly scanned from the original Techniscope 35mm negative in 4K by StudioCanal… as was the previous release) and color are excellent, with the only graininess being present in some of the shots of the Daleks’ airship.
Severin have also provided a healthy amount of bonus material on this Blu-ray, starting with another audio commentary from Forshaw, Jones, and Newman… as well as a second track with Newman, screenwriter Robert Shearman and actor/writer Mark Gatiss.
Next come interviews with genre film historian/Doctor Who expert Stephen Thrower (an info-packed chat that’s a highly enjoyable listen), Subotsky (an archival piece continuing from the Dr. Who and the Daleks release),actor Cribbins, and author Gareth Owen (once again).
We also get another legacy doc for Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D., a featurette on the 4K restoration of both film’s in the series, the film’s trailer, and a still gallery.
If you’re a Whovian, these will be worth picking based on curiosity value alone… not to mention that both features are escapist sci-fi fun of the highest order!
