I am, first and foremost, a fan of New Who. I enjoy Classic a lot, but the longer early serials have always been a struggle to get through. As such, I expected a condensed, cut down version to be a great way for me to enjoy these stories without getting too distracted or bored. Unfortunately, it doesn't work.

The colourisation is well done, though it feels like the colours were chosen more as a way to show off than to really enhance the story. We know the Thal's outfits are tan, not blue, for example, from later serials. The Dalek city being multicoloured also doesn't make sense to me, as it's supposed to be made entirely of metal, and the Daleks are colourblind. Maybe it's a clashing of expectations, but honestly, some of the shots almost gave me a headache from how vibrant they were.

The score is good, though, as others have said, it doesn't fit. The music over the escape montage was far too silly for what was supposed to be a very tense scene. There were multiple moments where I felt the score was attempting to convince me to feel certain emotions, which the original story would have caused through slow build and getting to know the characters.

So we're back to the edit. Some of the cuts are very obvious and jarring, the flashbacks serve no purpose and are more annoying than anything as they make me feel as though the creators don't trust the viewers to pay attention, the montages are more confusing than anything, and the worst part is, despite all the trimming, the story is still boring.

The problem is, this show was written and filmed in a way that allowed for long scenes and lots of breathing room. The more I watched, the more I felt there is simply no way to cut that down in a way that makes both a coherent story and a fast-paced one. That's the sort of thing that needs to be decided early in production.

Do I prefer this to the original? No. Would I choose to watch the original over this version? I'm not so sure. There is something to be said for shorter runtimes when you're trying to get through a show as massive as Doctor Who. But maybe not quite this short.

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

"The Daleks in Colour: A Fresh Perspective on a Classic Serial"

To celebrate Doctor Who's 60th anniversary, the BBC released The Daleks in Colour, a 75-minute colourized and re-edited version of the iconic 1964 serial. This ambitious project brings a new dimension to the show’s first Dalek story, presenting it in a way that bridges the gap between the classic and modern eras of the programme.

The decision to cut much of Part 1, including the TARDIS food machine scene, may disappoint purists, but it’s a logical choice to streamline the narrative. The resulting opening—focusing on the TARDIS landing in the petrified forest—is impressively seamless, establishing the mysterious atmosphere while moving the story forward with efficiency. New lines of dialogue have been cleverly inserted to preserve the logic of the plot and smooth over the transitions necessitated by the edits.

Some of these edits, however, come with drawbacks. The addition of flashbacks is occasionally jarring and unnecessary, disrupting the narrative flow. Similarly, the faster pacing and sudden scene shifts, particularly in the latter half, can feel unnatural. At times, these edits give the story a rushed, almost montage-like quality that detracts from the slower, suspense-building tone of the original.

Visually, the colourization work is stunning. The vibrant palette captures the futuristic 1960s sci-fi aesthetic beautifully, evoking comparisons to Star Trek and other contemporaneous productions. The petrified forest looks hauntingly vivid, and the blue-tinted TARDIS interior is a highlight. Subtle updates to the Daleks’ extermination beams and eye lenses also help tie the visuals to the modern series while maintaining respect for the original design.

Mark Ayres' new soundtrack is another significant addition. It strikes a balance between tension and atmosphere, enhancing key moments like Barbara’s chilling first encounter with a Dalek. While the score is undeniably effective, it occasionally overpowers scenes where a subtler approach would have sufficed.

Ultimately, The Daleks in Colour achieves its primary goal of making the story more accessible for new and younger fans by condensing the seven-part serial into a brisk, action-packed 75-minute film. It eliminates much of the padding from the original, creating a tighter narrative while retaining the core elements of the story.

However, for longtime fans, the original serial's charm, character development, and slower pace remain unmatched. While this new version is a visually and narratively engaging way to revisit The Daleks, it’s likely to be seen as an alternative take rather than a definitive replacement for the classic story.

📝Verdict: 6/10

A vibrant and modernized reimagining that succeeds in bringing a classic to new audiences but may leave seasoned fans longing for the original's timeless charm.

Guilty pleasure

The editing on this was, frankly, awful. I'd never seen the original version and I couldn't make heads or tails of a lot of the story. The fast-edit, overlapping dialogue style is what does it in, I think.

A Sledgehammer to Crack a Nut.

Okay well let's start with the positives, the colours, although unlikely to be accurate, they look gorgeous, i am such a sucker for bold vibrant colour palettes, definitely after watching Channel 4's 'Utopia', so the actual colourisation itself gets top marks from me. The Daleks look so bold and clean, the 1960s Skaro Dalek design has always been my favourite, and as i said, perhaps the colours aren't faithful to how the set looked or was even envisioned, i can't find it in me to criticise how wonderfully psychedelic it looks.
But.

Everything else just completely lost me, most of my criticisms have been aired by various others so i'll try not to repeat what we have already agreed on, but my main issue with this colourisation is just how unnecessary it is. The Daleks is an amazing serial and it's no exaggeration to say that it's the reason the show exists, without the Daleks, who knows if the show would've even made it to 1966, so...if it ain't broke, why fix it? It's a perfect introduction to Doctor Who as a science fiction series, it's the first example of Doctor Who being an inherently political series, and it has absolutely buckets of world-building, and with a threat such as the Daleks, it is integral that you show the audience how much of a threat they are, the original serial creeps along, laying a lot of groundwork in order for you to know what the Daleks are, and as mentioned, how much of a threat they are.
My worry is that this will become the norm, and that the masterworks of 1960s Doctor Who will be castrated into incomprehensible technicolour rollercoasters that don't allow any breathing room, obviously they don't serve to replace the original serials, but it reeks of a strong lack of faith in Doctor Who's past. It never survived on optics and how flashy it was, Doctor Who's greatest strength will always be the quality of the concepts that are explored, story to story, the classic series, and the 1960s in particular are the purest example of that, stories could last up to 10, 12 parts long because there was so much to explore and so much to show, i know some people would call it meandering and padding, and of course that is true in some cases, but, and as i'm sure you've heard, there are rumours that the next colourisation will be of The War Games, the 10-part epic finale to 1960s Who, and i'm sorry but you just can't edit that down, you shouldn't, don't get me wrong i've never watched the War Games all in one sitting but i certainly wouldn't want to watch a 4 Hour story cut down to 75 minutes, it would just ruin the story. Colourise it, please do, The War Games in colour would be AMAZING, but Classic Who was made the way it was made for a reason, and we should respect that.