Streamline | The Official Filmstruck Blog – Dr. Who’s on First Dr. Who’s on First Posted by David Kalat on April 23, 2011 Tonight is the season premiere of DOCTOR WHO on BBC America .Â I have no business promoting a television program on a rival network, when this is (ahem) TCMâs movie blog. . .Â but DOCTOR WHO is my favorite show, and has been since I was 10.Â But Iâm no shillâI want to talk about DOCTOR WHO and what makes it great, but Iâll do so by the back door.Â This week Iâm blogging about one of DOCTOR WHOâs rare forays into the world of cinema, the 1966 Amicus film DALEKS INVASION EARTH 2150 AD starring Peter Cushing!

Itâs a curious challenge to write about DOCTOR WHO.Â This program has been around in one form or another since 1963âwhich means thereâs a huge body of accumulated mythology and behind-the-scenes anecdotes.Â But this bloat of backstory is so massive as to be alienating to newcomers without being illuminating to longtime fans.Â Choosing what to say, and what to exclude, is tough. But we can start at the basics: the show is about âDr. Who,â or rather a time traveling superhero who has never revealed his true name and just goes by the pretentious designation âthe Doctor.â To say much more about our hero is one of those challenges alluded to above, because his personality changes every couple of years as the lead actor changes.Â DOCTOR WHO is very much a star-driven program oriented around its lead actor, and since 1963 there have been eleven different actors in that top role.

TV shows routinely face the task of replacing cast members.Â Sometimes actors become famous and wish to pursue a movie career, or they grow afraid of typecasting, or sometimes die.Â Every once in a while an actor turns into a raving coke-addled maniac and has to be replaced.Â Those shows that are ensemble casts built around a central premise, rather than a person, tend to weather such transitions just fineâthink ER, or LAW AND ORDER.Â Those that are personality-driven, like sitcoms, have a rougher go.

DOCTOR WHO is that rare example of a program that actually thrives on replacing its lead, even while it builds its screen identity around that very guy.Â The trick is a narrative gimmick that says, well, the Doctor is an alien who only looks human, so his species has the ability to survive death by resurrecting in a new form.Â And with that, the series avoided the need to concoct any messy and implausible explanations of why a beloved actor suddenly disappeared, yet keep on truckinâ as before.Â If anything, the concept has a certain logic to itâthe Doctor leads a dangerous life.Â If heâs gonna spend his days fighting monsters and saving planets, every so often heâs gonna get hurt.Â Yeah, he gets killedâand the show goes on.

Along with the onscreen transformations of the lead cast, DOCTOR WHO has endured even more frequent and more radical upheavals in its creative team.Â There has been a revolving door of producers and head writers who have, over the decades, variously emphasized different elements: Innes Lloyd and Peter Bryant went for lots of monsters and pulpy sci-fi, Barry Letts and Terrence Dicks wanted a socially relevant DOCTOR WHO grounded in 1970s counterculture, Philip Hinchcliffe and Robert Holmes went for gothic horror, Grahame Williams and Douglas Adams opted for comedy. . .Â you get the picture.

This kind of inconstancy in creative vision is reflected down, like a fractal pattern, to the individual episodes.Â Other shows have well-defined âhouse styles,â in which the storytelling approach, the sets, the cinematography and music all adhere to a single vision enforced from the top.Â DOCTOR WHO is a free-for-all.Â Each week the time machine takes the Doctor to a new setting, a new premiseâand with it a new director whose stylistic choices may have no connection at all to anything else that the show has done.Â You never know what youâre going to get.Â Current showrunner Steven Moffatt has said the magic of DOCTOR WHO is that it is basically every other TV show in one. But when I say there have been eleven Doctors Who, what I mean is that the TV show has had eleven different leading men.Â But the numberâs a bit of a dodgeâother actors have played the role in other media, such as the two films by Amicus. Milton Subotsky slapped together a “studio” called Amicus, along with partner Max Rosenberg, in an attempt to cash in on the whirlwind success of Hammer.

Â They copied as much of Hammer’s tone and style as they could, and poached Hammer stars like Peter Cushing. Subotsky had watched the skyrocketing popularity of this TV series and licensed the rights to make three feature film remakes of the TV adventures.Â DALEKS INVASION EARTH 2150 AD was the second and final of the trilogyâthe third one was never made. Both films were written by former DOCTOR WHO head writer David Whitaker, adapting scripts originally written by Terry Nation. Â For the movies, we get the inestimable Mr. Cushing in the role of the Doctor, playing an alternate version of the character as originally inhabited by the first Doctor, William Hartnell.

Now that weâve introduced the Doctor, letâs meet his time machine, the TARDIS, which is pointlessly disguised as a 1960s-era police telephone booth, and is bigger on the inside than the box is on the outside.Â Almost never in the history of the series has the fact that the ship looks like a phone booth ever been used in the storytelling.Â But, the opening scene of Flemyngâs DALEKS movie doesâand brilliantly at that.Â The only thing wrong with this scene is that it comes after the opening titles, when it would have made an absolutely crackinâ good pre-credits cold open: [wpvideo 1Ka68mOV] (By the way, on the soundtrack album, the jazzy Fugue that accompanies the robbery scene precedes the opening title theme, as if that scene were the precredits cold open.Â Listening to the CD I get to re-edit the film in my head) The policeman is Bernard Cribbins, a British comedian responsible for one of my favorite moments in John Cleeseâs FAWLTY TOWERS: [wpvideo 3yn8k5lu] He

 renewed his DOCTOR WHO association more than 40 years later (!) by joining the cast of the BBC series in 2008 and 2009.

Heâs not the only actor to benefit from DOCTOR WHOâs unprecedented longevity.Â Elisabeth Sladen was the female co-star in the mid-1970s, and revised the same role in a DOCTOR WHO spin-off series in 2007.Â Come onâhow many starring roles are there for 63-year old ladies on TV?Â How many starring roles for 63-year old actresses use them as action-heroes and brainiacs? Digression: Elisabeth Sladen passed away on April 19, 2011. Â When I got the news, I started to delete this section, and then decided to leave it in, to mark her memory. Â I met her only briefly, a few years ago, when I wanted to tell her how much of a role model she has been to my daughter. Â It was a crowded room, and she was distracted by lots of fans, and somehow in the confusion of the moment she got the mistaken impression that I had worked on Claude Chabrol’s 1987 film CRY OF THE OWL. Â I know, I know, how does something like that happen?

Â I was that film’s home video distributor, and I was trying to give her a copy as a gift, and somehow the conversation got away from me very quickly. Â She asked me to autograph a copy of the DVD–which I did, because I couldn’t think of a good reason not to–and I walked away from that encounter thinking a) “She’s really amazing! Â I’m thrilled to have met her!” and b) “Why didn’t I explain that I didn’t really have anything to do with Chabrol?” Having stumbled into the TARDIS, Bernard Cribbins is suddenly transported into the distant future, in which London is a ravaged ruined wasteland.Â As the Doctor and his rag-tag collection of companions start to explore their surroundings, the crumbling buildings collapse and block their access to the time machine.

This is worth some comment.Â Although the TARDIS is a fantastic plot device for getting our recurring main cast into a new setting and a new premise for each new story, it does threaten to undermine any sense of tension: whereâs the sense of racing against time, if youâve got a time machine?Â Any characterâs death could be unmade by going back and changing history.Â The Doctor would merely need to show up, figure out what the bad guy was up to, then nip back in time and stop him before he got started.Â Right? The earliest writers tried to get around that potential narrative problem by regularly separating the Doctor from his ship by some contrivance or anotherâthis movie, adapted from an episode from the showâs second season, offers an example of this approach. But it doesnât really resolve the problem, does it?Â The Doctor could still go back and tinker with recent events once he was eventually reunited with his ship.

So the writers also depicted the Doctor as being unable to properly fly his unruly time ship.Â If he canât reliably predict where heâll end up, then he canât use the thing with any precision within a story. Later writers in the 1970s decided the narrative value of having the Doctor indeed use the TARDIS with precision during a story was more important, and so an alternate explanation was offered for why he couldnât/wouldnât use the TARDIS to violate all laws of drama.Â This explanation doesnât bear repeatingâitâs just a bunch of techo-babble about âthe web of timeâ and âthe causal nexusâ which simply amounted to a narrative fiat that the TARDIS was not a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Interestingly, the current production team, led by the afore-mentioned Steven Moffatt, has discarded all of that, and revels in the Doctorâs ability to manipulate history during the course of a single story, and far from destroying the drama this has served to make DOCTOR WHO in its current form the TV equivalent of a Christopher Nolan puzzle box film. There are four time travelers in this film: the Doctor himself, the policeman Tom who stumbled into the adventure, and two girls.Â One, played by Jill Curzon, has no meaningful narrative presence at all.Â She barely has any dialogue, no discernable character, and exists purely so that the film would have a pretty face.Â The last is Susan, the Doctorâs granddaughter, played by Roberta Tovey (who along with Cushing is reprising her role from the previous film, DR. WHO AND THE DALEKS).

Exploring the ruined city, the Doctor and Tom find an army of zombified mindless ârobo-menâ remote controlled by radio transmitters installed in their helmets.Â Hereâs the Doctorâs reaction to finding one of these helmets: [wpvideo 6eN1Uj3E] I love that!Â Hereâs a guy with a time machine thatâs bigger on the inside than the out.Â Heâs been to the far-flung future, he travels the universe, and as we shall see nothing fazes him.Â But show him some crappy transistors awkwardly glued into a plastic helmet, and âOoohâhighly advanced.âÂ Itâs always fun to see sci-fi movies from the past make their predictions about the technologies of the future.Â Writers have such a hard time imagining the genuine scientific progress that is to comeâthat helmet doesnât look advanced at all, not by the standards of 2011, and certainly not by 2150.

Ah, but Iâm not here to point and laugh, but to celebrate.Â The Robo-men are the slaves of the ruthless Daleks, who have conquered the Earth and are plundering it for ridiculous sci-fi reasons. [wpvideo SMwmwNiv] The Daleks were introduced in the second story of the first season, and instantly cemented DOCTOR WHO as a pop culture phenomenon.Â They arenât robots, mind you.Â They are the mutated survivors of a nuclear war on their own planet, who built these metal casings as travel machines to compensate for their own biological infirmity.Â They are the universeâs ultimate racists, determined to subjugate and/or exterminate all other species, for the crime of being un-Dalek.Â Combining the ever-present relevance of racism and intolerance with such a spiffy piece of 1960s design was a masterstroke.

Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 A.D (1966) | Blu-ray Review | Horrorview.com Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 A.D 4 Video: When Milton Subotsky and Max J Rosenberg of Amicus Productions joined forces with executive producer Joe Vegoda for their summer 1965 release of Aaru Films’ “Dr Who and the Daleks” – a glossy full-colour big screen adaptation of Terry Nation’s first Dalek serial, originally written for the BBC TV series DOCTOR WHO in 1963 – critics reacted with vitriolic scorn to both Subotsky’s over-simplified screenplay and Gordon Flemyng’s unembellished direction, both of which pitched the film directly to a matinee market consisting of very young children on their summer holidays. However, this was one occasion on which no amount of critical brickbats would affect the outcome.

The Aaru team had chosen their subject well: by 1965 ‘Dalekmania’ was at its peak all across the nation, and the film version of Nation’s tale appeared at just the right moment to capitalise on the phenomenon, becoming a major hit at the British box office and easily making back its money, going into profit on distribution deals alone even before its release, simply because of the fact that it presented the Daleks in full colour for the first time! A quick sequel was a no-brainer, and Subotsky had already signed up Cushing to appear again as the elderly, white-haired and professorial Dr Who during the final days of the first film’s production, the actor happily agreeing so long as the follow-up also found room to include his 12 year-old co-star Roberta Tovey, who was indeed to appear again alongside him as his resourceful Granddaughter Susan.

Shot in Studio B at Shepperton Studios (“Casino Royal”, with Ursula Andress, was shooting in Studio A at the time) the sequel took much the same approach as the first film, with Subotsky again adapting Terry Nation’s work himself, this time taking the writer’s second Dalek story, “The Dalek Invasion of Earth”, as his source. This was arguably the story in which Nation and the TV production team, led by director Richard Martin, had taken what could have been a passing popular fad and made it iconic. The link between the Daleks and the Nazi regime was at last made explicit in a story that fed on the still-familiar imagery of the Blitz, as well as a sub-genre of WW2 invasion literature which imagined an alternative history in which Hitler succeeded in invading Britain. Narratives centred on the wartime occupation of France also provided an obvious model for what was a much earthier treatment of the Dalek menace, where they now habitually used their catch-phrase ‘EXTERMINATE!’ before mercilessly dispatching their victims without pity.

Outgoing script editor on the TV series, David Whitaker, is credited with working on Subotsky’s screenplay in the form of so-called ‘extra material’, which perhaps accounts for its much tauter construction and a greater emphasis being placed on fast-paced action and drama, incorporating the inclusion of stunt work –more so than was apparent in the first film. The budget was increased to £180,000 and there are consequently more effects and composite shots to be seen, such as in sequences in which the Dalek saucer hovers over a bomb-damaged London, etc. Also, the look of the movie is much more naturalistic thanks to the inclusion of exterior scenes shot on the back lot at Shepperton Studios; there’s even some location footage, filmed in the surrounding Surrey countryside and briefly also in London itself for the iconic shot of a Dalek rising from the depths of the Thames. To pay for the bigger budget, a deal was struck with the makers of the breakfast cereal Sugar Puffs, which resulted in the picture becoming one of the first to sport prominent product placement ads on-screen.

Posters for Sugar Puffs on walls and boxes of the cereal in the background can be seen prominently in shot on numerous occasions in what is supposed to be the year 2150; although this doesn’t prove as incongruous as it could have looked due to the fact that the mid-twenty-first century turns out to look exactly like a pre-internet age 1960s England with 1940s levels of bomb damage – a visual design aesthetic which very much aligns itself with the implied milieu of Nation’s script and the BBC’s own TV realisation of it, which also became the first television DOCTOR WHO story to make extensive use of location filming. Gordon Flemyng’s direction is noticeably more dynamic and varied than his work for the first film, too, where the fantastical setting and the Daleks appearing in colour for the first time had become the primary focus, sometimes to the detriment of dramatic purpose.

Here, there’s sharper editing and a more energetic shooting style in use for the copious action sequences, which include choreographed battle scenes and explosions during a raid on a Dalek saucer-ship; an exciting high-speed escape by van through the Dalek-invested streets of Central London; and much more stunt related work, courtesy of stuntman Eddie Powell -- more usually remembered for being Christopher Lee’s body double in Hammer’s Dracula films and during his stint as the Mummy, but here given a brief speaking role as a rebel who defies the Daleks and gets exterminated for his troubles after first falling through an awning onto a pile of bricks: a dramatic stunt that went seriously wrong, resulting in Powell breaking his ankle in a scene which still got left in the film because, mistake or not, it looked good. While Cushing and Tovey both resumed the same roles they’d developed for the previous Dalek movie, the rest of the TARDIS team was replaced -- Jennie Linden and Roy Castle being unavailable or unwilling to repeat themselves a second time as chaste couple Barbara and Ian.

Instead Jill Curzon plays yet another time travelling Who family member when she appears as the Dr’s glamorous niece Louise; and again, like Linden, she doesn’t really get to contribute much to the plot but looks beautiful in a wonderfully designed Sherlock Holmes-themed tweed jacket with winged sleeves; Bernard Cribbins meanwhile, who had appeared alongside Cushing before in Hammer’s “She”, was an obvious choice to replace Roy Castle, having proved himself equally at home in comedy and family drama on numerous occasions in the past. In this instance he stumbles into the dystopian fantasy world of Dr Who after a nicely executed pre-credits sequence in which his character, policeman Tom Campbell, is embroiled in a jewellery heist while on a routine night patrol of a London high street.

He enters the TARDIS after mistaking it for a normal police box, and after fainting from being coshed on the head by one of the escaping jewel thieves, finds himself whisked off to the 21st century by Dr Who’s time and space machine, which has had something of an interior revamp since the last film: still with no central console or roundels, but now sporting blinking computer banks and flashy controls that look much more like the original series’ conception of the futuristic ship. The title credits play out to a busy, faster-paced title theme from Bill McGuffie, whose music for the film is much more in line with the jazz-based action cues of early-sixties crime movies, but the vortex-like opening visuals prefigure the time tunnel opening sequence which came to be associated with the TV series from Jon Pertwee’s last series and throughout the remainder of the 1970s. The rest of the cast is filled out by a host of very able British character actors who bring a richer characterisation to the Daleks' second big screen outing.

They’re led by Andrew Kier, squeezing in a slim but noticeable role here between his appearance in Hammer’s “Dracula Prince of Darkness" and his lead role in “Quatermass and the Pit” as a disillusioned resistance fighter. Ray Brooks (“The Knack”) handles the heavier action scenes as a denim-jacketed rebel after he teams up with Cushing’s Dr Who, helping him escape from the Dalek saucer and afterwards accompanying him on his trek cross country to Bedfordshire where the Daleks have set up a mine which turns out to be at the centre of their latest plot. Meanwhile, TV actor Godfrey Quigley plays an idealistic, wheelchair-bound resistance leader who thinks he can defeat the trundling invaders with homemade bombs and a small army of renegade resistance fighters hidden in a section of bombed out & abandoned London Underground.

Although an able comic actor, Cribbins falls more believably into the action hero mode of support than his fellow light entertainer Roy Castle did previously, saving Susan from falling masonry after the TARDIS team finds itself in the middle of a crumbling Thames embankment when the crew first exit their time machine, and later proving instrumental in diverting the bomb the evil invaders plan on using to cause a fissure at the Earth’s core. He is allowed one silly and tonally fairly ill-fitting comedy routine in the middle of the film though, when he’s comically shown trying to pass himself off as one of a platoon of the Daleks’ converted drone guards, who’re called Robomen, and attempts to march in step and eat a meal in the same regimented robotic style affected by these converted humans. Other than this brief moment of facetiousness (and another involving an out-of-control food conveyor belt) the tone is fairly serious throughout and even Cushing’s portrayal of Dr Who is less comical and eccentric here, as befits the bleaker material. The whole film seems to be aimed at a slightly older child audience, although it still retains the U certificate.

This time the protagonists enter a landscape scarred by debris and ruin -- the victim of an earlier Dalek bombardment of cosmic rays, meteorites and aerial attack from superior Dalek flying saucer technology which has managed to raze all the major cities to derelict, sparsely populated rubble during the ensuing Dalek takeover of the country. Even though we never hear anything about what’s happening in the rest of the world – this is very much an alternate British wartime allegory given a SF spin – the Daleks now proclaim themselves Masters of the Earth and broadcast Lord Haw-Haw-like radio messages to the last vestiges of human resistance, in which they attempt to deplete morale and persuade them to give themselves up. The Daleks themselves benefit enormously here, both from the tighter script, which this time attempts to make them scary again rather than simply the attractive, commercialised space-age tech-fetish toys they’d been turned into by the end of the first film, and also from Gordon Flemyng’s much edgier direction.

Flemying’s use of hand-held cameras enables the viewer to experience the creatures up close from a Dalek-eye-view aboard their own ship, and, rather than the petulant, childlike form of aggression they display in the first film, here they are much more cunning and ruthless, developing a clever test to determine the intelligence of their captured prisoners by leaving a built-in flaw in the design of their confinement chambers that allows for the possibility of escape: those clever enough to find it are the ones destined to be turned into their zombie-like, whip wielding Robomen, overseeing the work of the more general human slave rabble, and thus preventing any organised rebellion against Dalek hegemony from taking root. Although the main innovation of the first film, in which the Daleks are ranked and distinguished by the colour of their outer shells, is again used here for those seen on the flight deck of the Dalek transport saucer (and this time we also get a gleaming gold Dalek with black finish to add to our previous collection of black, blue and red ones), those we see most of the time are the generic soldier class who sport silver finish with pale blue hemispheric bumps around the ‘skirt’.

Though it was absent from their previous big screen incarnation, Dalek designer Raymond Cusick’s recent upgrade of his original design – consisting of the addition of the ‘solar panel’ vertical slats circling the middle section of the Dalek casing – is also now included, and we also get to see ‘gangs’ of Daleks patrolling London exteriors (although not the famous TV series shots of them cruising around Trafalgar Square and other well-known landmarks of Central London), escorting long lines of their bedraggled human prisoner-survivors and firing on anyone who attempts to flee. Perhaps the weakest element of the Daleks’ portrayal in this film is their barmy plan itself, although that’s a feature of the original Nation plot so Subotsky can’t really be held responsible this time. It consists of forcing human slaves to dig a great big hole in a Bedfordshire mine, down which the Daleks plan to drop a bomb that will cause a fissure which will then enable them to extract the Earth’s magnetic core and replace it with an engine so that they can pilot the planet like a vast spacecraft. A plan to which the only suitable response is … Why for goodness sake???

Although this film makes much more pronounced use of exciting action set-pieces and there’s a grittier ‘real world’ feel about much of it, both of which are qualities that mark this second movie out as a far superior vehicle for the Daleks than its predecessor, despite the use of painted London backdrops in occasional scenes (which now look even more artificial still in high definition), its greatest strength resides in better and more complex characterisation, and the greater emphasis it places on the variety of possible human responses to occupation. Susan and Louise first encounter a depleted, divided resistance movement being led by a former geologist in a wheelchair, called Dortmun (Godfrey Quigley) who’s figured out enough of the Dalek mining plan, and what it will mean for the future of the planet, to have become almost fanatical about launching an attack on the invaders, even if it is, practically speaking, doomed to certain failure and likely to cause enormous loss of life.

The conflict between his and Andrew Kier’s gruffer, more disillusioned character Wyler gets a nice payoff when, after the defeat of Dortmun’s rebel attack on the Dalek saucer (which does nevertheless manage to disrupt Dalek plans to convert Dr Who and Tom into Robomen) he elects to sacrifice his own life in order to hold off the attack of a Dalek patrol force while Susan and Wyler make their getaway by van and head for Watford. The relationship between Wyler and Susan also provides Roberta Tovey with one of the few moments in this film where she becomes the focus of the narrative for a while, after being at the centre of events all the way through the last movie. Forced to dodge numerous dangerous situations as they trek across some attractive Surrey countryside after the destruction of their van by a Dalek saucer laser attack, they eventually strike up a touching father-daughter rapport which is nicely played by both actors.

The middle section of the film largely concerns itself with Dr Who and Susan attempting to find each other again after earlier having become separated in the traditional manner of a standard DOCTOR WHO plot line, Susan for the present under the grudging care of Wyler and Dr Who teaming up with Ray Brooks’ David (while Tom and Louise hitch a ride to the Bedfordshire mine in the Daleks’ transport saucer). During the course of each of their picaresque roamings, and while attempting to evade capture by Dalek round-up squads and Robomen alike, both groups discover home truths about the social precariousness of life in an occupied land. Two of the film’s better sequences hinge on aspect of betrayal and collaboration: Sheila Steafel and Eileen Way are particularly notable as a cottage dwelling daughter and mother pair who appear to be kindly when they first take in a fleeing Wyler and Susan, but then unrepentantly betray them to the Daleks in return for extra food rations. Philip Madoc is similarly creepy and untrustworthy as the rain-coated black marketer Brockley.

After putting them in touch with workers at the Dalek mine who are willing to help Dr Who and David in their effort to disrupt the Daleks’ plan to detonate a bomb at the Earth’s core, Brockley then goes and tells the Daleks exactly where to find the Doctor. In this case though, his betrayal has been anticipated by the wily old time travelling scientist, who stays behind in a shed on a work site near the mine shaft, deliberately hoping to be captured so that he can get aboard the Dalek saucer in order to put one last vital part of the resistance’s plan into effect. Brockley, meanwhile, pays for his betrayal by being blown up while still trapped inside the shed, while Dr Who is led away by his Dalek captors.

“Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.” is an entertaining action SF spectacle that comes with an enjoyably satisfactory payoff in which the Daleks all manage to get themselves sucked down the mine shaft and into the Earth’s core by haywire magnetic forces, and Bernard Cribbins gets to re-enact the last few minutes of the jewellery raid seen in the pre-credits sequence thanks to Dr Who setting him back down in his own time several minutes before the crooks were able to make their getaway. The film ends with Tom Campbell driving the captured criminals’ own getaway car back to the station while contemplating his coming promotion – ‘Detective Inspector Tom Campbell … OBE!

Subotsky had the option to make Nation’s third Dalek story, “The Chase”, into a movie the following year, but poor box office returns for this much bigger budgeted feature, in combination with a lacklustre promotion campaign for the film in America and the gradual fizzling out at home of the Dalekmania phenomenon, meant that Amicus’ backers British Lion had little interest in seeing it through, and the Company instead made do with shoddy low budget SF adventure fantasy films such as “The Terrornauts” and “They Came From Beyond Space”. The film is probably better than the TV serial it was based upon, though: distilling six episodes into a pacy 80 minute full colour action extravaganza, which also has a strong cast and some nice performances in the midst of the Dalek onslaught. The transfer is as clear and well-defined as the Techniscope format the film was shot in allows for, and it generally looks gorgeous, the grainier elements almost certainly inherent to the original source but never becoming in the least bit distracting.

The transfer was created using the original 35 mm interpositive which was made from the original Technisope negative, and the records of the original colour grading had been preserved allowing for what Marcus Hearn describes as ‘the best looking version of the film since it originally played in British cinemas’. The original mono audio track has also been digitally restored and brushed up, and now sounds excellent. Extras on this disc are fairly light (although there was quite a lot of information about it on the documentary “Dalekmania” and the commentary track that can both be found on the “Dr Who and the Daleks” disc, where Roberta Tovey shares her memories of making this follow-up feature alongside Peter Cushing). There are three short featurettes though, the first “Restoring Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.” features BFI curator Jo Botting and film historian and writer Marcus Hearn talking about the history of the Techniscope format, and various technicians at the Film and Digital Service Deluxe talking about the work that is required in the process of digital restoration of archive film prints.

The second featurette is a short interview with actor Bernard Cribbins who remembers working with Peter Cushing and director Gordon Flemyng; while the third and last of the video extras features author of “The Shepperton Story” Gareth Owen talking about the making of the film and its poor reception from critics. There is also a small collection of production stills included in an animated gallery, and, finally, a theatrical trailer for the film rounds of the release. Available separately as a Blu-ray or a DVD release, or in a limited Blu-ray collector’s edition which brings together both Dalek films in one package, this is an entertaining spectacle which has only grown in stature and value over the years, with Cushing perfecting his portrayal of the cinema’s alternative version of Dr Who and the Daleks finally fulfilling their potential as megalomaniacal big screen villains. Both films are a must buy. Read more from Black Gloves at his blog, Nothing but the Night ! Average: Doctor Who Vortex Magazine Issue 22 by Stephen Henderson - issuu issuu Issuu on Google+ #22 DWV is a fan made publication by Stephen Henderson (issuu.com/StephenDavidHenderson) and is no way connected to BBC.

BBC LOGO © BBC 1996. DOCTOR WHO LOGO © BBC 2009. TARDIS IMAGE © BBC 1963. DALEK IMAGE © BBC/TERRY NATION 1963. CYBERMAN IMAGE © BBC/KIT PEDLER/GERRY DAVIS 1966. K-9 IMAGE © BBC/BOB ANDERSON/DAVE MARTIN 1977. All photography remains the property of the original owner, generally this is BBC. Text © Stephen Henderson 2013 except extracts. DWV is published on issuu.com on a non-regular basis. This publication is known as 'Doctor Who Vortex' or 'DWV' and is not connected or affiliated with any publication of similar name. #DWVortex stephendavidhenderson.tumblr.com INSIDE: 4 - Pete's World 6 - The Five Doctors vs Day of the Doctor 8 - Series 8: Everything We Know 11 - NEWS: Doctor Who in an Independent Scotland NEWS Is Peter Cushing a Parallel Universe Doctor?

We examine some of the best theories that try to include the movie Doctor into the Doctor Who Universe The Peter Cushing movies ('Doctor Who and the Daleks' and 'Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 AD'), which are adaptations of the first two Dalek stories but with a slightly different character set-up and back story. 'Dr Who' is a mad-cap human inventor who has invented TARDIS and goes on adventures with his grandaughters Susan Who and Barbara Who and Barbara's boyfriend Ian. Ian and Barbara are replaced by niece Louise and policeman Tom (as played by Bernard Cribbins) owing to casting changes. The original cast couldn't appear in these movies, which were made to maximise on the popularity of the Daleks (dubbed Dalekmania), as they were busy filming the main TV series for anything up to 48 weeks of the year. This, however, leaves us with this alternate first Doctor that doesn't quite fit into the canon. But there are many theories as to how these movies can become canonical. Theory One is that these take place in a parallel universe, just like Pete's World, where everything is same but with a few vital differences (such as the Doctor being human).

This would also explain why the same things happen to these different groups of people. Theory Two continues on from Theory One, but theorises that the Peter Cushing Doctor is an aged Metacrisis Doctor. The human Tenth Doctor and Rose raise a family on Pete's World eventually having a grandaughter called Susan and Barbara (named after the real world Barbara and Susan) and having made their own TARDIS. A deleted scene from 'Journey's End' has the real Doctor give the Metacrisis Doctor a chunk of TARDIS to grow into a new one. Steven Moffat has also thought along these lines. He wrote in Doctor Who Magazine that Clara was to have found a movie poster for the Dalek films in the Black Archive (but owing the rights issues the scene was not allowed). "In my head, in the Doctor's universe those films exist as distorted accounts of his adventures". Assumably, therefore, UNIT had halted production of these films and confiscated these films My personal theory (Theory Three, if you will) is that these movies are...movies. Bear with me here. We take a universe in which the Doctor is real - the Doctor Who canon and theorise that these movies are in fact artefacts from within that universe.

Tales of the Doctor's escapades have found themselves Movie Poster for Cus hing 's first film in the wrong hands and movie makers want to make movies of thus the poster is in a collection his adventures - the Peter of things that "shouldn't exist, but Cushing movies - starring actors do". in the roles and the inaccuracies (his being human) are simply human assumptions or errors. DWV has been away since the 50th Anniversary and therefore we never got a proper review of the big spectacular episode. So instead, as the episode has probably been reviewed to insanity by now, and therefore I'm going to compare the big 5-0 to the big 2-0. The Five Doctors and Day of the Doctor have many similarities to be drawn upon. Obviously, they are both multiDoctor episodes for big anniversaries but they both had to deal with Doctors who couldn't and wouldn't appear. The Day of the Doctor ends with stand-in replica Doctors which has faint echoes of The Five Doctor's promotional photocall in which featured a waxwork Tom Baker,as he had declined to appear - a decision he later regretted.

He then rectified this represented by some archive decision by being the only classic footage as in DotD. However, Doctor to appear in DotD. some of that 'archive footage' is actually that of another actor Appearing as a new character (or playing the 1st Doctor again - this perhaps not) was the only way time it's impressionist John that an 80 year old Tom Baker Guilor. could be explained away. However that wouldn't wash for Both these episodes had the another three Doctors looking problem of a Doctor who turned much older (Paul McGann still down the opportunity to appear. looks similar - and indeed it While Tom Baker was represented by some archived footage Chris was replaced by an all new Doctor. That was the stroke of genius. A whole new war-torn Doctor, played by a legendary actor who would never normally play this part. He returns: McGann Baker the Curator wasn't a problem in Night of the Doctor). But thank god they didn't try to replace a Doctor as in The Five Doctors.

Richard Hurndall is OK - he's no Hartnell but it's a way of keeping the original title and Hartnell is John Hurt's War Doctor It's not another actor impersonating the role, but a whole new take on it and a bona fide Doctor. John Hurt just nails the part and his acting talent just shines through into a brilliantly unique and yet familiar at the same time. This isn't just an after thought Doctor to replace Chris. This is an entirely new Doctor, perfectly developed. The Five Doctors that could have been Both these episodes also have an impending regeneration in the works. Both Colin Baker and Peter Capaldi were waiting in the wings, however only Peter has a cameo appearance. Had this been the case of Colin it would have solved two problems. First, had Colin shown up - with fans The Three Doctors already aware that this man is the Doctor - it would have meant that either one of the missing Hartnell or Baker Doctors could be replaced by a new incarnation of the Doctor (while keeping the Five Doctors title) and give the audience a massive surprise.

their Sandshoes/Chinny/Grandad moment in the form of Clown/Scarecrow (ironic, considering Jon Pertwee also plays a Scarecrow at the time of braodcast). However with the weight of many more companions in The Five Doctors would mean that there would be nothing for the companions to do as the 3.5 Doctors would have all the best lines. But DotD does do that too the scene with the 13 Doctors saving Gallifrey is the only scene featuring all 13 - even if they never meet in person. It would also mean that by the time that the disaster that is The Twin Dilemma comes along, fans are already familiar with the 6th Doctor. They know that the manic homicidal Doctor isn't the way he'll turn out in the series proper and won't spend months in the interregnum steadily going off They are both brilliant in their their only impression of the new individual ways. One has a lot Doctor. more history to cram into the same running time but they both What made DotD so great is the have their great moments. While way in which the three Doctors the Five Doctors can feel a bit interact with each other.

bogged down in continuity (with Sandshoes vs Chinny vs Grandad only 20 years of it), DotD fits was pure comedy gold at some only the choice cuts into the moments and a formidable team episode making the references to at others. Its just a shame that the past like little treats along the (and in the words of David story as opposed to one big lump Tennant) "three Doctors and a of selfbloke in a wig" never get to all referencing. meet up right until the final scene. Although Jon and Patrick do get NEWS DOCTOR WHO IN AN INDEPENDENT SCOTLAND? SBS, they claim, would "enter into a new formal relationship with the BBC as a joint venture. This would see the SBS continuing to supply the BBC network with the same level of programming, in return for ongoing access to BBC services in Scotland". They also point to Ireland's RTE broadcaster which alongside home-grown programmes buys in British programming as well as several co-productions such as Mrs Brown's Boys. Doctor Who has been brought onto the debating table of Scottish Independence.

The show, which is now headed up by Scottish actor Peter Capaldi, will be airing during September 2014 when Scotland decides whether to break away from the rest of the United Kingdom. Yes Scotland put it clear, "Scottish viewers will still be able Yes Scotland, who are to see their favourite BBC campaigning for Scotland to programmes just like viewers in become an independent Ireland are able to." Scotland's official stance is that the BBC would cease to exist in However, Better Together, Scotland. Instead, "a new Scottish campaigning for the UK to public service broadcaster, based maintain united, claim this is on the staff and assets of BBC speculation. The SBS would, like Scotland and working in the BBC, have to account cooperation with the remaining primarily to home grown BBC" would be created - programmes first and as such no provisionally called the Scottish promises could be made about the Broadcasting Service (SBS). But future of broadcasting. Leader of would Doctor Who still be the Scottish Tories (who form broadcast in an independent part of Better Together) Ruth Scotland? Davidson, herself a former BBC employee, said: “We pay around Yes Scotland say believe so.

The £300 million towards the licence fee but, by clubbing together with the rest of the UK, we get well more than £3 billion worth of programming. Running a new Scottish broadcaster means something has to give. Either, it will mean losing programmes or paying more from amazing coverage of things like the Olympics, to great channels like CBeebies and services like the iPlayer. Why pay more for what we already enjoy?" Ms Davidson was also quoted in the Scottish Sun, saying: “The SNP simply cannot guarantee that we’d still get Dr Who after independence.” DWV doesn't normally deal with political matters, unless they are brought up in the show. But on this one exception, and owing to the fact I'm from Scotland, I felt this matter had to be discussed. Besides, Spaceship UK in the episode 'The Beast Below' didn't feature a Scotland building as they had demanded their own Spaceship. Perhaps a prediction by the story's Scottish author? All pages: Doctor Who Vortex Magazine Issue 22 Stephen Henderson Follow publisher Unfollow publisher Be the first to know about new publications. Will The Friday Docback Survive 'The Dalek Invasion Of Earth'??

Or, DALEKS' INVASION EARTH 2150... BBC ONE / BBC AMERICA CONFIRM DOCTOR WHO CHRISTMAS SPECIAL AIRDATE This is hardly surprising, but it never hurts to have such confirmation: BBC One and BBC America say that this year's DOCTOR WHO Christmas Special - "The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe" - will indeed air Christmas night in both the U.S. and U.K as previously anticipated. All of this is grand because we are talking about a Christmas Special after all...and most Christmas Specials don't seem to air on Christmas at all...and sometimes they don't even air close to it. Which makes this news doubleplus cool...but also nifty because DOCTOR WHO is one of the best Christmas presents someone can receive. Win. Win. BBC One will broadcast the Special at 7pm on Christmas night. On BBC America, "The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe" will air December 25th at 9pm ET/PT.

In the days leading up to the broadcast, the network will air a marathon of previous DW Christmas Specials (beginning December 23 9pm ET/PT), along with a "Best of The Christmas Specials" show which hits December 24 at 8pm ET/PT . It is described thusly by BBCA: A collection of fans from the celebrity, comedy, sci-fi and digital worlds discuss their favorite moments from Doctor Who Christmas specials as part of the countdown to this year’s main event. Hmmm. I'll have to DVR this as to not intrude upon our family's long-established tradition of viewing beloved Christmas movies on Christmas Eve (A CHRISTMAS STORY and DIE HARD). Find more about BBC America's ramp-up to the Special HERE . AND THE RECIPIENT OF THE SEASON/SERIES FIVE AND SIX BLU-RAY BUNDLE IS... The name of the game was to e-mail me at, or closest to, a randomly pre-selected time. This time, randomly/arbitrarily selected by me before announcing the contest, was Saturday November 26, 2011 at 11:22 PM CST USA.

Going by the time stamps appearing at the top of each incoming contest submission, it seems PAUL H from California will receive one (1) set of DOCTOR WHO Series Five on Blu-Ray, and one (1) copy of DOCTOR WHO Series Six on Blu-Ray. Paul's e-mail was received at 11:23 PM CST USA on Saturday November 26. Submissions were TREMENDOUSLY clustered for this particular contest - more so than I've ever seen when conducting other AICN contests. Had any number of other times been selected as a "winning" time, the contest would've been determined by ONE SECOND in many instances. In Paul's case, the next closest entries were both ten minutes or greater on either side of the chosen 11:22 PM time frame. Paul's contact information has already been passed along to BBC - who is quite generously handling fulfillment for this contest. I'd like to express my heartfelt gratitude to BBC DVD for making this opportunity possible - there were a high number of submissions, and we're looking into bringing you further opportunities in the very near future. So, stay tuned... IAN: You know, Doctor...sometimes you astound me. DOCTOR: Only sometimes, dear boy?

What's happened to your memory? "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" - Episode 6 - 'Flashpoint' Welcome to 22nd Century London, where the future looks quite a bit like the 1960s, one wrong move can land you in big trouble with demented pepperpots, and slapping a girl in the face with a fish can bag you a cute Gallifreyan babe for life. Scripted by Daleks creator Terry Nation (who previously wrote “The Daleks” for DOCTOR WHO and later went on to bring us the great "Genesis of the Daleks" (Baker, Story #78) as well as the BLAKE'S 7 television series ), the plot here is remarkably simple: The Doctor (William Hartnell) arrives in 22nd Century London with companions Barbara (Jacqueline Hill), Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Susan (Carole Ann Ford). They find our world overrun by Daleks, join a human resistance against the scummy little bastards, and set out to thwart the Daleks' broader scheme - their plan to steal the Earth and drive it around in the cosmos towards nefarious ends.

We later see this “stolen Earth” conceit revisited in a different way by writer Russell T. Davies in the Tennant Era episode called, well, "The Stolen Earth." “Dalek Invasion” is an extremely effective story whose greatest weakness is that it...like many of its early WHO predecessors...is driven by too little material spread over too much time. Tedium does set in upon occasion, primarily rising from our inescapable realization that some of the story’s side plots simply don’t relate (or contribute significantly) to the whole of the adventure. This sometimes threatens to dilute the elements that do work about “Dalek Invasion,” but never fully undercuts the story’s better qualities. Because when "Dalek Invasion" does work, it’s generally shines brilliantly.

This story nicely propagates the Daleks-as-Nazis parables earlier implied by "The Daleks" and later borne out fully in "Genesis of the Daleks.” Humans are essentially brainwashed into cooperating the Daleks, there’s a resistance movement against a technologically superior and ruthless occupying force, Daleks use humans for violently enforced slave labor, there’s a “Fire Bomb” subplot, one Dalek cries our "final solution!" when it learns that it's time to purge Earth of human pestilence, etc. This is World War II with different names and set in a different time. It is violent (shootings and stabbings), it is scary (sequences of essentially deserted London are a tad unnerving in their imagery), and..even with the story’s limited budget and resources...it effectively illustrates the “mass” and dehumanizing nature of large-scale occupation. All of this culminates in an action finale which works well enough - although one gets the strong sense that the installments’ makers may’ve been struggling to actualize some of Nation’s admittedly challenging set pieces. Fortunately, this sometimes floppy denouement is overshadowed by Susan’s blindsinding departure from the show.

Her exit makes a bit of sense and is probably well-supported when taking her character, her relationship to The Doctor, and her overall history with him into consideration - but it’s presented somewhat unexpectedly, although handled quite powerfully. "There must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs...” offers the Doctor after sealing the TARDIS doors so his "granddaughter" can’t get in. It’s a powerful crossroads for The Doctor, who...possibly for the first time in his existence...may be realizing the inherent injustice of playing to a captive audience. The Doctor is, essentially, cutting her umbilical and setting her free - while also severing his own dependence on her. In a very real sense she’s abandoned...yet left to a world where she can find a way to belong, with a new man who loves her and wants her. She’s lived and adventure far grander than most people will ever know. Yet, in this moment, The Doctor is acknowledging that she is also being deprived of the closeness and sense of belonging that every person deserves - no matter where they've been or what they've seen.

One might also argue that The Doctor is more or less making this decision for Susan - that he is forcing a change into her life without any prior discussion and with little time for rational evaluation. I.e. what appears to be decisions he made in her best interest could actually be Machivellian in nature, and yet another example of The Doctor doing what The Doctor wants to do...too bad if others get caught in the slipstream of his whimsy. Either way, this is a potent moment for Susan. While many instances thus far have portended "modern" WHO, this is our first strong indication of the sometimes confounding complexity that would eventually characfterize later embodiments of The Doctor. The first ture sense that travelling with The Doctor is not always the right, or healthiest, thing to do. Our first acknowledgement that The Doctor may sense intuitively know this, but is afraid to let go. Perhaps he's afraid to be alone with himself. The sequence is simple, quick, potent ,and is incredibly dense in undercurrent and subtext. It’s also our first substantial evidence of the unexpected emotional “gut punches” that would characterize later WHO - particularly the Tennant and Smith eras.

Indeed, The Dalek Invasion of Earth” advances a number of firsts: it introduces a color-coded hierarchy for the Dalek command/social structure (in this case a black command Dalek), it represents the show’s first extensive use of location work (previously there were only there were only a few brief establishing/travelogue location shots featured in “ Reign of Terror ”), and it’s the first episode shot in Riverside Studios (after relocating from Lime Grove Studios). Riverside was a larger and more recently renovated studio than Lime Grove, allowing the production larger and more multi-faceted sets. For example: the Dalek ship was built as one continuous set, and is essentially seen/shot in cutaway. In other instances, multi-level sets were possible for the first time on the show, etc. Design by the incoming Spencer Chapman is also notable across-the-board. The interior of the Dalek ship is populated with gadgets that actually feel like they may plausibly possess some level of functionality. Doorways in the Dalek ship slide or swing open or upward with smooth efficiency, accompanied by nifty swooshes akin to STAR TREK or STAR WARS.

Even a rebel hideout - a relatively unremarkable room - feels more nuanced, solid, and textured. There's even a (probably inadvertent) J.J. Abrams-esque lens flare for good measure. All of these enhancements combine into a 1-2 punch that brings around a DOCTOR WHO which...while still clearly hamstrung be budgetary limitations...feels roundly embiggened, and often evokes the ambitious WHOs that we see today. Location sequences are presented without sound and generally backed by a minimalist purcussive score that nicely accentuates the episode's sometimes desolate imagery and atmospheric tension. This sequence... ...in which Barbara and she-rebel Jenny (Ann Davis) must push a wheelchair-bound Dortmun (Alan Davis) down the street while avoiding detection by Daleks evokes some of the better bigscreen suspense pieces of the era. Despite its occasional sag, "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" is a generally strong entry - and a must-see for anyone interested in DOCTOR WHOstory. It's a fascinating glimpse into the show's past, and a wonderful tease for what DW would become in later years. It's availabe of DVD HERE in the U.S. and HERE in the U.K.

This theatrical film is more or less a licensed remake of the TV episode discussed above, released a few years after “The Dalek Invasion of Earth” first aired on BBC. Intended to capitalize on “Dalekmania” of the time, the picture stars Peter Cushing as a genial and eccentric scientist from Earth named (literally) Dr. Who. He travels though time and space in his TARDIS (still a blue Police Box), although his companions differ in this iteration. A hot niece named Louise (Jill Curzon)... ....replaces Jacqueline Hill's Barbara. Bernard Cribbins (Donna Noble's father Wilfred during the Tennant era) replaces William Russell's Ian with a not-entirely-effectual policeman named Tom. “Granddaughter” Susan does exist in this iteration, although she’s a bit younger than Carole Ann Ford’s TV counterpart - and played by Roberta Tovey this time around. Notably, little Susan is not jettisoned from this movie’s WHOverse.

This is very much a Bizarroverse version of both DOCTOR WHO in general and “The Dalek Invasion of Earth.” Like The big-screen adaptation of “The Daleks” before it (watch it HERE free and legallly), characterization here is paper thin...indeed, it’s almost non-existent. Our human protagonists exist solely as a entree into the movie’s Dalek-driven action, and the focus here is clearly on breezy entertainment instead of well-developed Science Fiction. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with this dynamic...just noting the “apples and oranges” nature of this strangeness. The film shares many identical events with its television predecessor, although occasionally a movement will come about via different characters (i.e. we frequently see almost exactly the same occurrences, instigated by different characters - perhaps in slightly different ways). These changes don’t always make a great deal of sense, and some feel like ‘change for the sake of change’ rather than legitimate alterations designed to accommodate plot mechanics and whatnot. Ultimately, however, the overall structure of Terry Nation’s tale remains readily identifiable throughout the movie.

Alas, when all is said and done, this “take” on his material is rarely as interesting or provocative as its televised progenitor. It’s fun for fun’s sake, but little more. Milton Subotsky’s screenplay greatly abbreviates the strong subtexts of Nation's progenitor story in favor of narrative brevity and action-centric propulsion. A very recognizable shell of “The Dalek Invasion of Earth” exists here, but only as a ghost. It’s hollow and gutless. Interestingly, both iterations of this adventure possess qualities the other might’ve benefitted from - and neither perfectly achieve that difficult balance between decelerated allegory and frothy, high octane entertainment. Where Nation's take gets bogged down in subplots and maneuverings which emerge as more or less irrelevant to the ‘bigger picture,’ this movie could well have prospered from a bit more flavoring and substance. If we could magically mash up the two? We’d end up with one helluva production. As is, each version has its unique strengths and each has its readily shortcomings. But in terms of overall vibe, and emotional and intellectual resonance? The trophy goes to the television version.

Bill McGuffie’s 's propulsive and spy-like score stands in sharp contrast to Francis Chagrin's eerie, drum-strong music for the TV story - a few riffs here suggest AUSTIN POWERS more than alien-occupied atmospherics. SPACE: 1999’s Barry Gray is credited as composer of “Electronic Music” in the film’s opening - although I could never finger his exact contributions at any point in the proceedings. I’m wondering if they were so intertwined with McGuffie’s work as to be indistinguishable? Action and corridor shenanigans on the Dalek saucer ship strongly evoke STAR WARS rompiness on a few occasions, and said ship...featuring two counter-rotating rings (the gold bands at the vessel's top and center, seen in the pic below) ...is pretty badass in a FLASH GORDONy sorta way. Kudos to whomever conceived the alien weapon which...like the Weirding Module in David Lynch’s DUNE movie...appears to be gathering energy from the air around it before firing. Nicely conceived and well played, although not as spectacularly realized as it might’ve been.

As stated above, the overall tory structure here more or less follows the television version, but there are several deviations. One of the movie’s more agreeable augmentations finds Cribbins' non-brainwashed, in-disguise Tom becoming inadvertently swept up by a battalion of Dalek-controlled Robomen (zombified human Dalek operatives who are tuned in to some sort of master control frequency). He’s hustling to keep up with their unified moves (sitting, standing, walking in formation, etc.) - which is difficult given he's literally and figuratively not on their wavelength. Yes, the gag is dopey as hell, but it’s amusing and well executed from a conceptual and comedic perspective - and is indicative of the kind of clever vitality the film could’ve used much more of. DALEKS’ INVASION seizes the color coded Dalek conceit suggested by the TV episode and takes it to next level by inserting golden and red Dalek models into the grey/silver and black hierarchy established previously. This broader color palette would feature later in the series proper - and (happenstantially, I’m sure) allowed for the production of many more toys variants.

A peculiar novelty for WHO fans, but definitely not a way to inDoctornate new or reticent viewers, DALEKS’ INVASION OF EARTH 2150 A.D. emerges as little more than harmless vapor. For my money it’s the better of the two theatrical WHO adventure to date (I found myself irrepressibly bored by DR. WHO AND THE DALEKS - and...man...should Thalls not be see in color), but it’s also the least successful of the two undertakings. So much so that a planned third Dalek film was eventually canned. So, what the hell do I know?

Question: Which actor played the role of Tom The Policeman, one of the travelling companions of Dr Who in the 1966 film Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 AD ?
Answer: BERNARD CRIBBINS