Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD

"The Daleks are the masters of Earth!"

Writers: Milton Subotsky & David Whittaker 

Format: Movie

Released: 26th July 1966

Series: Movie Adaptation #2

Featuring: Dr. Who, Susan, Louise, Tom 

Synopsis 

Policeman Tom Campbell stumbles into TARDIS on a normal day and ends up being taken to 2150 AD by Dr. Who. The future seems to be deserted, but the group soon finds out that the world is controlled by the evil Daleks. The human survivors hide, lest they be turned into Robomen. The Doctor teams up with the survivors to try and take down the Daleks.

Verdict

Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD was actually a pretty decent film and certainly a bit of an improvement from the previous movie of Dr. Who and the Daleks. Despite all the deviations from the television show that is Doctor Who, it's still quite incredible that two movies were adapted from the series back in the 1960s. That really does bring home how much of an impact the Daleks made by having films produced based on their first two serials. The one bonus about these films is seeing the Daleks of the 1960s in wonderful colour. There was again quite a range of colours for the Daleks and that really brought them to life which was terrific. I thought the special effects for the Dalek saucer were actually incredible and I think that's what impressed me most of all about this movie. Considering this is now fifty years old, I was mightily impressed. It really gave more credibility to the Daleks and their invasion where The Dalek Invasion of Earth couldn't due to budgetary restrictions. The Daleks themselves were quite different with the absence of the infamous sucker and the smoke effect of the extermination. I didn't much like the latter and I think that's where the television series bettered the film, by quite a lot actually. The plot is obviously outstanding in both the television serial and the novelisation but with some things missed out and others rushed, it didn't quite seem as great in this movie which was a shame. There wasn't really much emphasis on the Daleks having conquered Earth which was a surprised but they were here and the streets were deserted. I was quite surprised that the characters of Ian and Barbara were replaced by Tom and Louise and the way the former stumbled into TARDIS was a good start to the film I must admit. It was very interesting to see a young Bernard Cribbins in a Doctor Who story, even if this wasn't canonical. He was still instantly recognisable and his companion character was very good. I was intrigued that Louise was said to be Dr. Who's niece as we got closer and deeper into his family, even if he wasn't quite the Doctor. I thought the Robomen were pretty poor in the film which was a great shame as I loved them in the television serial but where they seemed so robotic there, they were full of energy here which was a direct contrast. The scene with Tom following their in sync routine was absolutely hilarious though I must admit. That was a gem and although it went perhaps a little longer than it should have, I thought it was brilliant. It seemed strange that in a story based off what it was, we didn't see a Susan farewell. I know the portrayal of the character in the films is mightily different with her being so much younger than the televised character but it was strange but the replacement finish was good with Tom stopping the robbery that we saw at the start of the movie. That was actually a paradox but I'm not going to argue semantics about it. The way Dr. Who dealt with the Daleks was much different to the televised serial and the magnetic addition was very clever I must admit. I did think he contacted the Robomen a bit too easily though. Overall, still too much deviation for my liking but not bad at all.

Rating: 7/10