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.

I will start by saying that to my untrained eye the colourisation of this story is fine, there are choices in it I don’t like, particularly in the city itself but overall it seems competently done.

That said, if someone is looking for a faster paced version of the Daleks that’s also in colour, the Peter Cushing movie is a much better choice. This version takes a story that’s strongest element is its atmosphere, recuts it so it's faster paced especially towards the end, and adds vibrant colours to scenes that were much better served when the sets felt eerie and clinical. The recut is definitely the worst of the two changes, the colourisation only really felt off in the Dalek city, and out in the forest it actually led me to notice new things like the large holes in the Thals costumes, meanwhile the pacing issues caused by the recut really worsened the whole story.

In addition to the recutting and the colourisation, this version also adds new music, and it does not fit at all. Background music is not normally something I notice, it usually just washes over me, but here it is pervasive and distracting. This is a comparatively minor complaint but if I didn’t make it this review would be lacking

As an experiment into whether or not a colourisation of black and white stories is possible I suppose it worked, the montage of clips from other stories was perhaps the most enjoyable part, but the Daleks was not the right choice of story to do this for, but this treatment might work or stories where the atmosphere is less important or with sets props and costumes that it makes sense to have in all manner of crazy colours, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is a worse version of not one but two stories.

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.

In many ways this is yet another approach to get people, mainly used to new who into classic who (similar to the Tales of the Tardis Episodes) and well did it worked?

Obviously I can't answer that, I may have properly started with new who (I watched Season 24 first, as well as the TVM and later started the first 5 Series of the revival, before I returned years later to properly watch all of televised Who). I will say personally, as a huge classic Fan, this doesn't work.

But before I get into my negatives, I will say I have massive respect for anybody involved. I can only praise the great colorization work we got here, while I may not agree with every choice they went with, it would be very nitpicky of me to use that as an actual criticism point. I will also say there are some fun moments and clever choice to edit, but that's where my praise stops.

The Daleks in Colour in many ways brought me near to the Original Serial, one which I wasn't huge about (and still not am), yet it showed me that despite my issue and criticism its runtime, while still a bit too long, in my books, shouldn't have been brought down so much. As I said before this very much feels like an approach to get newer viewers into the classic series and that's fine of course, but really when I watched it, I scratched my head at some choices of this cut down-version. The biggest issue that plagues this Version of the classic Story really comes down to the massive parts of context missing. Some rather charming scenes or even more important Scenes are missing here to achieve a shorter runtime that doesn't pass the longest revival episode (Power of the Doctor) for example. And that I find is a big shame. I'd argue at points it can feel rather confusing, especially for viewers who haven't seen the Original, making me question who this was made for?

I, of course, cant speak on behalf of anybody other than me. But I really doubt most classic fans would prefer this Version over the Original. Similarly, I feel like fans mainly of the revival could possibly still be put off by this, especially when it comes to the Parts with the Thals, before that the Story flows pretty nicely.

At the end, I can recognize that this wasn't made for me, which is totally valid! But I'd wonder who this was for? As I put in my reasoning, I'd struggle to see the benefits for any side and I am sure some loved it or even prefer this, which I am happy about of course! But I really do hope when we get more of those colorizations in the Future, that they maybe chose to cut less out, I am not against cutting stuff out, but I think when it comes to a 7-Parter or some bigger ones, more is a bit better. (I do understand that this process takes time but I happily wait a bit more if it means that the end result feels more cohesive. Again no dig at the team, they did a good job with what they were given, I just hope we improved onwards with those new Versions of old classics!)

Doctor Who: 60th Anniversary Specials n.X 

They did a good job with the colourisation, and fixed a few pacing issues of the original serial, although the new soundtrack was a bit too loud.