Dr. Who and The Daleks (1966)

In the mid-1960s, with Dalekmania sweeping Britain, BBC TV's Doctor Who materialized on the silver screen. Doctor Who and the Daleks replaced William Hartnell with Peter Cushing and remade the Daleks' TV debut with a much bigger budget in Technicolor and Techniscope. With his two granddaughters, Roberta Tovey and Jennie Linden (and Roy Castle along for comic relief), the Doctor becomes an intermediary in a conflict between the robotic Daleks and angelic Thals on the almost-dead world of Skaro. A huge hit on release, the film remains an enjoyable, well-produced family adventure, though somewhat lacking the menace of the TV original. --Gary S. Dalkin Amazon.com

DR. Who and The Daleks

While still markedly different from the BRITISH SERIES Peter Cushing's performance as (the human) DOCTOR WHO is still fun. August 3, 2007

It's a Dalektable lark

This 1965 film and it's 1966 sequel "Daleks-Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.". Were made cheaply and quickly to capitilise on the immense success the Daleks were having on the kids of Britain at that time.(Myself included)
You could buy Dalek toys, sweets, wallpaper, Pyjamas and slippers, sounds familiar doesn't it?
The reason the Doctor was changed to an eccentric "Professor type" from an Alien were for reasons of simplicity. At that time the Doctor Who TV show was not playing in as many countries as it is now, so no complicated and time consuming back story would be needed.
Plus it made audience identification that much easier with the various members of the cast.
(The only demographical group missing from this Tardis crew is an ethnic one, but it was the much more free sixties afterall.)
~~~~
The producers, Subotsky and Rosenberg approached the BBC to see if they could use the TV show's distinctive theme music and opening graphics, but due to the high price the Beeb wanted, that idea was dropped.
This film is an edited version of the first Dalek story shown on TV in 1963, with marginally better production values, and did much better at the box office then the more action orientated sequel.
As a long time Doctor Who fan,(Episode six,Dalek Invasion of Earth, December 1964 was my first episode.), I have to admit the Daleks in these films are a long way more visually impressive then they were on the TV show.
Happy memories, I can still remember my Mother taking me to the Pictures to see this Movie and the sequel.
Both films were made for a family audience, so get a big tub of popcorn, lower the lights, and watch them with your children!
(To see who the real stars are in this film notice the size of text "Doctor Who" get's compared to "The Daleks" on my house poster picture!)
~~~~
Who-Trek connections:~ The actor Barry Ingham who plays Alydon the Thal in this film, plays Danilo O'Dell in the second season Star Trek next generation story, Up the long ladder. February 13, 2007

A curiosity piece for Doctor Who fans

Although I'm a great fan of Peter Cushing, I would have much preferred the original cast of the show in this feature film version of the Doctor's first encounter with The Daleks. My biggest complaint is the way the character of the Doctor has been rewritten for the movie. Instead of a Time Lord from another world, in the movie you get the impression that the Doctor is nothing more than an eccentric inventor. He is not nearly as interesting a character. Cushing plays the Doctor as a lovable, doddering old man. It's a shame because this movie could have been quite good. Instead, it's not much more than a curiousity piece for the die-hard Doctor Who fan. September 1, 2006

new and old

the daleks are strong but they could never take over a planet with staires they could not walk up them for years and years this has been the daleks weakness when the time war was in place beetween the daleks and the timelords different time machines were destroyed a red phonebox who beolonged to this is true the dentist the red phonebox was known as the margate the tardis being known as the last time machine was also the most famous was prosumed to be destroyed the doctor a timelord the last of the timelords every dalek was an enemy to the timelords but they most feared the doctor because they ran into him the most and over time they were all wiped out one by one whitch made them all scared of him remember the timelords all wiped out giveing there lives the save the intire universe and the doctor still keeps to his duty trying to save the universe with no help from his people DID I MENTION IT ALSO TRAVELS IN TIME? December 18, 2005

A Sad Recreation

Overall, this movie was not impressive. The characters seemed to be too stereotypical for my tastes, with the eccentric inventor, the hapless but cute girls, and the clutsy but well-meaning guy.
Gone is the mystery of the Doctor and Susan's origins. Gone is the darkness of the script. I know, I know, the original series was a bit lame, but that's because of the budget. The script by itself was suspenseful. This recreation had none of that.
In fact, the only thing I find likable about this was the TARDIS' interior. It was an interesting change. April 23, 2004

More reviews at Amazon.com ...