Dr. Who and the Daleks
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Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) was the first of two Doctor Who films made in the 1960s, and was followed by Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD.
The film features Peter Cushing as Dr. Who, Roberta Tovey as Susan, Jennie Linden as Barbara, and noted Carry On star Roy Castle as Ian.
It is based on The Daleks, the second Doctor Who serial (and the first to feature the Daleks). Filmed in Technicolor, it is the first Doctor Who story to be made in colour. The television series continued to be made in black-and-white until 1969.
Plot
Dr. Who and his granddaughters, Susan and Barbara, show Barbara's new boyfriend Ian his invention, a time machine called Tardis. Ian accidentally activates the machine, which takes them to the planet Skaro, home to the peaceful Thals and the deadly Daleks.
While attempting to cure the sickness caused by the radiation on Skaro, the travellers join forces with the Thals, teaching them to fight against the evil Daleks.
Changes from the series
Several changes were made to the main characters. Cushing's Dr. Who is an Earth-born scientist and inventor who built Tardis (not the TARDIS as in the television show), his time travelling ship. Cushing plays the Doctor as an amiable and absent-minded inventor, in contrast to William Hartnell's more prickly and mysterious persona. Barbara and Susan are now both his granddaughters (with their surname presumably being Who, not Foreman or Wright). Ian Chesterton is now Barbara's bumbling boyfriend, and the entire subplot of them being Susan's teachers is dropped. Ian is the comic relief in the film, rather than the heroic version seen in The Daleks.Because of this departure from the established continuity of the television series, this film is generally not considered canon, although attempts have been made in various spin-off media to fit it in.
Notes
- Originally, the Daleks were going to have flamethrowers; but these were vetoed (for fear of being too frightening, and also health and safety reasons) and replaced with smoke-projectors.
- The Daleks were slightly redeisgned from their appearance in the television series. The new design ended becoming the standard version, and several of the Dalek models were purchased by the BBC and used in the serial The Chase. As the film was not released until after The Chase, this film actually marks the new Daleks' second appearance.
- David Whitaker novelised the original television serial in 1964 as Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks (later retitled Doctor Who and the Daleks). Although not strictly a novelisation of the film, there are some similiaries in that the book has Ian joining the TARDIS crew for the first time as he does here (even though he actually joined the Doctor in a previous serial in the television version).
Trivia
- This film is notable for containing the only incident where The Doctor refers to himself as "Doctor Who", rather than "The Doctor".
- In the film [[Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit]], a marquee is briefly seen advertising "Dr. Hoe and the Garlics", a reference to this film.
External links
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