Dr. Who and the Daleks

love me some cushing

7️⃣🔼 = ENJOYABLE!

Thworping through time and space, one sidestep at a time!

“BUMBLING BOYFRIENDS AND COLOURFUL PEPPERPOTS!”

Based on the 1964 seven-part TV serial The Daleks, Dr. Who and the Daleks is a strange cinematic reimagining of Terry Nation’s classic story. It combines the show's familiar premise and basic structure with a fresh take on the character and the lore.

The plot largely follows Nation’s original scripts, but it streamlines the narrative and gives us a 90-minute version of a 175-minute story. All main plot points are maintained while the filler fluff has been left out, so the natural flow of the story is better. We get here a fascinating piece of 60s adventure sci-fi, and it is in many ways a superior version of the original serial (not to mention the recent colourised edit).

It’s still a bit slow in the middle, and there's little to no action until the climax. The cave climbing sequence is vastly improved from the original (it’s the dullest sequence of the seven-parter), thanks to the improved sets and the dramatic score. The climactic battle provides an exciting and explosive finale to the adventure.

Peter Cushing embodies the William Hartnell incarnation of the Doctor in his light-hearted, absent-minded, and curious lead performance as human inventor Dr. Who (yes, that’s his name), but goes for an approach of his own; he’s more proactive and considerate than Hartnell was at this point during the show. Roberta Tovey is a genuinely charming, intelligent, and likeable granddaughter Susan (better than Carole Ann Ford and far less whiny), and Jennie Linden is pretty close to Barbara (but much duller) as the older granddaughter. Meanwhile, Roy Castle provides comic relief as Barbara’s bumbling boyfriend Ian, a far cry from the dashing and heroic William Russell version that I admire greatly, which bothers me somewhat.

The Daleks are as mysterious and effective here as in the original, and the Thals have been faithfully recreated as well, even if the individual character remains a bit flat.

Seeing this colourful reimagining of the Daleks—with all the big sets and wonderful pastel colours—is amazing. The new Dalek designs look better than anything ever seen during Classic Who; in contrast, the TARDIS set looks much less interesting. The production successfully transports us to the barren world of Skaro, and the 4K restoration brings the sets, costumes, and simple effects to life even better than before.

There is something incredibly fascinating about early Doctor Who fandom - and the fact that it was almost all driven by the Daleks. The actual show itself was saved by the success of the first Dalek serial; and it's natural that the sheer popularity of the Daleks at the time would lead to an inevitable spinoff film. So a year and a half after the serial started; this film made it to the cinemas; releasing the day before the last episode of The Chase - the third TV Dalek story - aired on the BBC. I think this film is an incredibly interesting example of how the tone of the initial version worked so well; and how good a job the BBC did on the original version although this certainly has highlights.

There are some plot changes to ensure that things get going quickly - realistically with the 80 minute runtime and needing to not only run through the key points of a 3 hour TV serial plus also introducing the characters things won't be as the TV version was. All of the main characters are different - Dr Who (as is the characters official name here) and his granddaughters Barbara and Susan (who is a young child in this version; rather than a teenager) are relaxing at home; waiting for Barbara's boyfriend Ian to visit. When he arrives he's immediately shown the TARDIS and accidentally the four end up on Skaro when Ian's clumsiness launches the ship. The design of the TARDIS on the inside is totally different and I think works for Cushing's interpretation of the character - the First Doctor is an mysterious alien figure which the sleek modern design of the initial TARDIS helps to convey; while Cushing is a human mad scientist who's cobbled together his TARDIS and so its all wires hanging around and individual things stuck together - while I prefer the design of the TV version both works here.

After that start; the story runs with all of the beats of the original - the Doctor faking a problem with the fluid link to explore the Dalek city; the radiation sickness, the escape and then convincing the Thals to fight with them. It obviously has a much faster pace than the TV show - the convincing the thats to attack and the process of getting into the city is three episodes of the broadcast version but is covered in the last 20 minutes of this film as an example: with major elements reduced or cut down. All in all its an interesting adaptation but I prefer both the original serial and the 75 minute cut of the colourisation.

The production is impressive in some ways but I think overall lacking relative to the TV show despite the much high budget. The Dalek props look impressive - a lot closer to the modern TV ones than the classic Daleks plus there's a lot more props making the fight scenes feel bigger, and the voices are, as you might expect, much more developed considering that they had access to changes made by the voice actors (the same as were in the BBC TV version) in Dalek Invasion of Earth. The wider design is also impressive - the forest looks good; the city looks weird in the reddish hues but is well designed on the whole. The lighting and the soundtrack though completely change the town of the film compared to the serial - the original Daleks is dark and forbodding with the pressures being put on the characters being clear; this has a much more light hearted tone that I do not think works.

The charactarisations here also are weaker than the TV show. The Daleks are a lot more openly evil here and I don't think it often makes sense - a prime example is the Daleks telling Susan that they are using the letter as a trick rather than making the main characters learn about the Dalek's intent through their wider actions. The TARDIS trio are also much weaker characters because of the shorter runtime (and lack of preview material) which doesn't help - Cushing's bumbling mad scientist thing I think works as a version of the Doctor and he does the role well; Ian's role though is much worse basically being used as comic relief as much as anything else; and Barbara is just there. You don't have the looming tensions within the initial TARDIS crew that add to the tension here; and while that makes sense with this group of people it still feels off. Additionally the following of the TV beats sometimes feels off - the fluid link thing makes sense with the First Doctor at that point; don't think it does here.

In short: this is a fun film as a showcase for an alternative world of Doctor Who and I think is worth a watch; but it's definitely much weaker than the TV version of this show. It feels too jaunty and light hearted - which isn't appropriate for Doctor Who in my eyes.

Having only faintly heard of this film up until last year, I finally took the time to give Dr. Who and the Daleks a proper look and I have to say while it wasn't terrible, this isn't some unsung gem of the franchise either.

It is fine, and only enhanced by the fact it is such a curiosity. A sort of remake of the original television story, but with upgraded effects, a whole new cast, a very brief redux of the pilot, and a pretty severe change in tone.

It is cool to see the Daleks in colour (and a good amount of them too), with a lot of creativity and energy being put into stuff like the sets and action of the film. I do appreciate that, but little else really works for me. Some of the cast is interesting but Ian is way over the top while it feels like Peter Cushing is a rather weak take on the Doctor. Overall the movie is little more than something for fans to check out if they are interested, but you shouldn't expect too much out of the experience.

Some of it feels rushed as we have to introduce both the Doctor and Daleks in one film, and none of that frantic pacing really pays off when compared to the television series. What is most remarkable about Dr. Who and the Daleks is how the tone can change what is the fundamentally same story. In the show, the moody atmosphere and lack of colour creates a lot more sense of horror and dread to the Daleks. Here this is more like a light-hearted adventure and the Daleks don't come across as much of a threat at all.

The Dr. Who movie. What a different kind of beast. I think in some ways, this can be described as Doctor Who’s first proper spin-off media. It’s also recently (re)gained some attention because of its HD Blu-ray releases and the discovery of a third movie script. So, considering I’ve now personally seen both the original stories in the show and the adaptation is “all the rage”, this is as good a time as any to take a look.

This story is an adaptation of the original “The Daleks” story for the big screen. It’s pretty clear from the outset that no prior knowledge of the show should be required for viewing. This makes a more critical look tough. On the one hand, it is adapted from existing media that has now lasted for almost 60 years. On the other, it does some thing very differently than the show. So, in some places comparison might be justified, while in others, we should probably take it at face value. I think this’ll show when we review.

We start off in an everyday living room. This scene is important, because all the character establishment happens here. We see Dr. Who sitting in a chair, reading a comic book. After that we see 2 girls reading thick scientific material. Assumptions can be made right of the bat. Dr. Who will probably a bit childish, while the 2 girls will be very smart. It’s a nice contrast.

Through conversation, we quickly learn the dynamic with these 2 girls. The youngest one, around 8 if I had to guess, is called Susan. Dr. Who is her grandfather and often lovingly refers to her as “Suzie”. The other girl, a late teen, is called Barbara. She’s also a granddaughter of the good Dr., Currently waiting for her boyfriend Ian to arrive.

Ian enters the scene head first, as he stumbles and rams his head into a grandfather clock. Soon after, he sits on chocolate. It’s pretty clear he is a klutz. Hopefully a loveable one. That’s really all there is to say about him.

Lastly, we have our main attraction: Dr. Who himself. As mentioned, original impressions are childish. In conversation he shows a very optimistic tone, always talking like he’s trying to broaden the mind of a child. It’s charming. He has a clear love of science that has clearly carried over onto his two granddaughters and also loves explaining scientific concepts.

That love of science also carries over when we’re introduced to his greatest invention. A ship called Tardis, that’s bigger on the inside. On the outside, it looks like a police box, while inside looks like a laboratory. The Interior of this Tardis is very busy, being filled with wires, orbs and other science mumbo-jumbo. It matches Dr. Who’s cluttered mind well and is an interesting contrast to the sterile and clean tardis we’re used to. An interesting part of the Tardis is also the doors, which are police box shaped, like the modern Tardis in the show has.

The Doctor is proud of his invention, and goes into a full speech about the science behind Tardis on an almost molecular level. Which can be seen as technobabble, but does also reinforce character. Interestingly, very little is actually mentioned about Tardis’s capabilities to travel to time and space. If you didn’t know that before heading in, I don’t think the movie catches you up on that very well. After an accidental bump into a lever, Tardis takes off.

However, when we land on the planet Skaro, the story takes a really odd turn. I hope you liked the original content we had until now, because the movie now decides to copy the TV show almost completely. It’s shocking how much of a shift this is. All the moments from the original story are here in almost the exact same way. The party wants to leave, but the Doctor messes with the fluid link, they go to the Dalek city, they get captured, Susan has to go into the jungle alone to save them. It’s beat for beat the same story.

And that’s why I mentioned that looking critically is tough. Yes, this is an adaptation of the original episode, so it makes sense to use moments from it. But until this exact point, the story had a way more original approach. It tried to do its own thing. Can I fault it if it suddenly stops doing that?

I do think I’ve found my answer for that. Let’s look at it this way: We now have basically the same story, but with a different foundation. The problem is that this old story does not line up with the new characters we’ve just established. We have a mismatch between the new and the old. And I do think that is something we can fault it for.

2 scenes in particular feel off with the new dynamics we have established. Namely the introduction of the Daleks and the radiation sickness in the party. Let’s look at those in more detail to show how the new foundation influences these events.

First is the introduction of the Daleks. Aesthetically, it’s great! They’re varied, colorful and appear in large numbers. They have different kinds of arm attachments, colors and even their balls vary in color. Love the look. But besides that, they’re never properly established as a threat. In the TV show, we get a few scenes to show the danger they present. Think of the now iconic scene where Barbara is fleeing in a first-person perspective. Okay. She is scared, so we should probably be too. Movie Barbara also screams, but its because a door closes behind her. Considering we know she’s very smart, why does this trigger something for her? We never get an answer.

The same happens with Ian. In the TV show, Ian, being the protector of the group, is shot down and paralyzed. The greatest hero in the last story is literally brought to his knees in seconds. That establishes some danger! That’s a threat! Movie Ian is also shot down, but he is shot while trying to flee. Now Ian isn’t a hero, but a whimp. This is just typical behavior for him. Fall to the floor, ram you head into a clock, Just Ian being Ian. This does nothing to establish the Daleks. Ian’s new personality is in the way.

The second moment where the new characterization and the plot mismatch, is in the radiation poisoning. First of all, the idea of radiation is pretty poorly explained, just like the time and space travel. We have 1 mention of a Geiger counter having a high reading, but no implications are mentioned. Reactions to this are also weak, with only Ian muttering an “Oh, well” before moving on.

And that clashes later when the radiation is supposed to be a driving force in the story. The difference is night and day. On TV, the Doctor was very weak and sluggish throughout. Learning that he had radiation poisoning made sense and explained his odd, slow and weak behavior. Movie Dr. Who however, is just acting with his childish scientist persona set up at the beginning. There’s no sign of radiation anywhere. Sure, he sometimes throws in a complaint, but he always stays energetic until the story suddenly requires that he lays down. It’s quite jarring.

And besides personality clashes, sticking to the original script also has other consequences for the movie. Mainly in pacing. It goes through all the motions of what was originally 6 episodes of television. This includes the original content that was mostly padding, like an extensive scene of Ian and Barbara exploring a cave system with the Thaals. This would’ve been the moment to be selective. This isn’t an audience that watches 20 minute pieces of a larger narrative for weeks, this is a 90 minute movie. It could stand to lose a few parts, so it can move a bit faster. I’m pretty sure no one went into the movie hoping that they would run through caves again. So maybe tone it down. Make it match that original creativity that the opening showed.

This might sound quite hateful, but it’s not like the movie is bad. It’s just worse at telling the same story. And that is because it is the exact same story instead of something more fitting. That doesn’t make the movie irredeemable though. It’s a visual spectacle with great setwork. When Susan enters the jungle alone, she has to walk over this huge slope. Absolutely massive. Which reinforces the idea of the small child entering the big world alone. The Dalek Empire also matches the colorful designs the creatures have, even if some of it is just weird cellophane taped to the wall. Still, it’s bombastic and very memorable. And that salvages the movie a bit. Is this definitive version of the original story? Absolutely not. But it looks absolutely grand. I urge you to go look up some screenshots to see the strong visual style this movie had. That can’t hurt.

Besides that, though, I wouldn’t make this your first viewing of either ‘The Daleks’ or ‘Doctor Who’ as a whole. As a second viewing though… Why not? If you are familiar with the original Dalek tale, why not see it again while looking at some sets the TV show could only dream of? It’s doesn’t have the best story, the best doctor or the best enemies, but it has its own charm and aesthetic that are worth seeing at least once. Even if it is just that one time.