02.10: Dalek Invasion of Earth

[ray gower]

02:10- Dalek Invasion of Earth

Synopsis
After eight months blundering around time and the Universe, the Doctor finally manages to return his two less willing passengers to something that looks like London in 1964.

Except things are not quite right. Where are the people? Why has Battersea powerstation lost two chimneys? why is everything so badly decayed?

The answer is that it is 2164 and the Daleks have taken over the world and are even now digging to their final victory deep under the lime of Bedfordshire.
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As a young chap I was deeply impressed by this story, especially by the science lesson about magnetic forcefields after the Doctor and Ian where caught by the Daleks.
I never even gave great thought to the practicality of scooping out the Earth's magnetic core to make way for a star drive either. But hey, this is Sci/Fi.

Watching it again after 40 years the first thought was it is so corny it ought to have Fray Bentos corned beef labels attached. Susan, as usual, is a melodramatic accident waiting to happen, there is the required 1950's wobbly flying saucer, the Robomen are mincing around as if their mobile phones are about to fall off their heads, everybody suffers from the terminal shortsightedness that can only be caused by the need to pretend 10 feet in a studio is actually 400 yards in the real world, just what is a Slither and why would the Daleks want one as a pet?

Which is a pity, because once past the limitations imposed by a non-existent budget and technology it really has a lot going for it.

Even the story of how the Daleks, a race that nominally can't even handle stairs is well considered- Bombarding the Earth with meteors, then deploying a plague to further weaken and break up any coherent resistance by humanity.

There are the characters that they meet, sometimes unpleasant, some honest, but all ordinary people trying to organise a resistance and survive under the Dalek plunger.

And then there is the flight of Barbara and her party of two (plus wheelchair) across a deserted London, avoiding Dalek patrols. Surely one of the most dramatic scenes of any childrens show?

It is not as glossy as the later film, but the story is much stronger and of course the body count is higher!

 

[Dave]

Re: 02:10- Dalek Invasion of Earth

Originally posted by ray gower
Synopsis
once past the limitations imposed by a non-existent budget and technology it really has a lot going for it.

One thing that modern day viewers forget, and even I do, and I used to watch this every week as a wee lad, is that the number of episodes was never billed, only the episode titles. The overall stories didn't even have titles until later. So, you never knew if the story had ended and the Doctor and companions had finally escaped or would be recaptured. Now that we have magazine and internet spoilers of everything, and downloads of complete series, not to mention DVDs so that you can run and re-run episodes again and again, it is really from another age.

Also, that it was much closer to the second world war and Nazi Germany and the Cuban missile crisis and the Daleks could actually be humanities own fate not just a successful scifi monster.

I haven't seen this in 40 years yet I still remember the images of Daleks in famous London landmarks. That, in it's own, is incredible.

 

[Dave]

I've just watched this again after 53 years and have little more to add to Ray's synopsis and my previous comments. The science is dreadful, as is the quality of the acting and special effects. I still think it is wonderful though!

It is interesting however, that they thought Battersea Power Station would become a Nuclear Power Station (in the heart of London) first before becoming derelict, rather than being turned into multi-million pound flats. Or, that they thought abandoned warehouses would remain abandoned for the next 200 years, rather than become multi-million pound flats. Or, that no one would ever clean that black soot off all the stone buildings. Or, that any other futuristic or high-rise development wouldn't take place within that time.

I didn't live in London as a child. Seeing them wandering around bridges and the Albert Embankment, the Albert Memorial and Albert Hall, must have been shocking if you knew those places in real life. The other astonishing thing is how empty the streets are in real-life 1964. Even early on a Sunday morning, you could never close so much of London to film those scenes today.

 

[BAYLOR]

It has a faults, but it still entertaining.

 

[Caledfwlch]

I didn't live in London as a child. Seeing them wandering around bridges and the Albert Embankment, the Albert Memorial and Albert Hall, must have been shocking if you knew those places in real life. The other astonishing thing is how empty the streets are in real-life 1964. Even early on a Sunday morning, you could never close so much of London to film those scenes today.

There is a nice clip on youtube, from when they got up early, though not sure whether its a Sunday to recreate the iconic scene of Daleks on London Bridge, well, to effectively film the actors playing Verity Lambert and her crew filming the iconic scene and as you can see on the footage, its a nightmare of Buses and Police Cars hammering past in full "blues and twos" mode.

It's a wonderful story, though I think I saw the Cushing Film before I saw the original - back in the early 90's, I had been a fan since I was about 5, but in that pre-internet age my knowledge of the shows past was limited to the Doctor Who Magazine and whatever Target Novelisations were in the local Library, and buying both the Target novelisations, and the Virgin New Adventures & the monthly or however frequently, the VHS Tapes were being released with my Paper Round wages, and didn't know the Cushing films existed, until one Saturday morning in 1992, I finished my Round, shot straight over to WH Smiths, because the newly rediscovered Tomb of the Cybermen had been released on VHS that very week, but before popping the tape in, i had a quick look at the TV guide, and saw starting soon was "Daleks Invasion Earth" with Peter Cushing, and was all WTF!! and Tomb's viewing got delayed as I watched a "Dr Who" I had never even heard of - I knew the TV version with William Hartnell existed, i had just never heard of the 2 movie reboots. I think the TV version was out on VHS at the time, but in those days, the 2 tape Dr who sets were about £19.99 which was an impossible amount to spend on a £10 weekly wage, and with all the books & normal £9.99 releases, saving was impossible too

I remember being baffled as I watched the movie, and then at some point later, the TV original, that it was supposed to be the future, 2150 etc, yet everyone was dressed and styled in early 60's fashion, and the vehicles were 50's/60's typical British stuff. Always wondered why they didn't box a bit cleverer and at least have the cast such as Bill Tyler in futuristic looking clothes.
Incidently, I then watched Tomb with the curtains closed, lights off, and my little Brother who was around 6 wanted to watch it too, so we were comfy on the Sofa with the Dog cwtched up on my lap as always.
I always saw Age Ratings as guidelines, and a conspiracy by the authorities to stop me from seeing the good stuff, & my parents, in return for free babysitting so they could go down the pub in the evenings, along with my mam's best friend who worked in one of the local video rental shops and brought whatever I wanted home for me didn't mind me watching stuff rated 15, 18+ so at the ripe old age of 13, I had already seen, Robocop, Dawn of the Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street etc etc, and enjoyed them all, Dawn I loved and still do, never spooked me - I think the only thing that did a little for some reason was Day of the Dead.
Yet.. Tomb of the Cybermen, this shaky old B&W kids story from the 60's really, really unnerved me for some reason.
My 6 year old Brother, who had seen a couple of Zombie movies and things with me, no problem?
Tomb, a serial in a family show made for kids his age scared the absolute hell out of him!!!!
Seriously, he had really bad nightmares for days after!!!
Zombies, Freddy Krugers, and Robocops? No problem for that plucky 6yr old... Cybermen in what at the time was a nearly 25 year old story? Nightmares and bed whetting!

 

[Le Panda du Mal]

I hugely enjoy this one as a nice bit of pulpy 60's scifi. The opening with the roboman drowning himself and the sign warning against dumping bodies in the Thames provides a lovely grim flavor to start out. The London rebels have some truly terrible leadership ("okay everyone, let's send everyone out on a frontal assault that depends on these new bombs I haven't tested yet") that would get any real world insurgency wiped out real quick, but that's part of the fun. The Daleks look great, wobbly saucer aside, and their plan to turn the earth into a giant spaceship (why???) is delightfully insane.