Review for Dr. Who: The Dalek Films (Re-mastered)

I suppose it’s people like me who will get the most out of these two movies. Although I gave up on Doctor Who pretty much about the time Tom Baker arrived (not his fault – I felt I had out-grown it by then) my interest has been thoroughly revived with a fantastic series of releases from the BBC archives of the first three doctors, those that I remember most vividly as a child. After all, everyone in this country born after 1955 will have their own special ‘Who’. Indeed, we might almost be at a point (I haven’t done the math so bear with me) of a third generation of Who fans. I’m not sure what they would make of this set.



Weirdly, though Hartnell’s Who is a very early memory for me, I do remember enjoying at least one of these films at the cinema around the time of its original release. The fact that it featured a completely different Doctor didn’t phase me in the least. Maybe the notion that Who was bigger than the person who played him sprung from this? The truth was that Hartnell was already up to his eyes in the TV show so had little time for the movie. Arguably, by this time, the incredibly hard-working Peter Cushing was a better box-office choice as, thanks to Hammer and Amicus he had become a well-known star in the US too. 


I guess the important thing to remember (and those of us who were there will have no trouble with this) is that this was the first opportunity to see a favourite show not only in wide-screen but in COLOUR! Fantastic sixties Technicolor at that. So watching this then, along with the first ‘Thunderbirds’ movie, or later still ‘Dougal and the Blue Cat’ and ‘Pufnstuf’, was a pretty magical experience and one which, watching these films again today, still produces a frisson probably not shared by a new audience. ‘Dalekmania’, a brief featurette produced in 1995 and included here as an extra, does a splendid job of re-creating that excitement in its opening and closing sequence which shows a young boy and girl being taken to the local flea-pit to see the film.



So what about the movies when viewed through the lens of a critical 21st century eye? Well, for me they’re quite magical and an enormously refreshing counter-point to the over-engineered, CGI laden special effects marathons which blight so many of the current batch of super-hero movies. Put aside the fact that they’re Doctor Who films for a second (and all the fan gripes about the way Cushing plays it) and just soak up the Saturday cinema atmosphere and you’ll get the point. They weren't made as some knowing part of the Who canon (that came later) but as a spin-off of a popular TV show that probably didn't think it would see the 1970’s. 



So what of Cushing? Unlike Hartnell’s grouchy demeanour, Cushing played the part as a likeable if old gent – though physically he was similar to Hartnell. Then there’s Roy Castle of course, providing some bewildered comic-relief.


The two films were made by British studio Amicus, who generally specialised in horror anthology films, and adapted from the scripts of the first two Dalek stories. The first is when the Doctor and his crew arrive on post-nuclear planet populated by the Thals (the goodies) and the Daleks (the baddies). There are moments, which always happens with the Daleks for me, when you simply want to shout ‘climb up something’ but generally, despite a slower pace than we are perhaps now used to, it keeps the excitement levels up in a way that is enjoyable to view as an adult but which is clearly aimed at 8 year olds. 

The second film in the set takes us into bleak future on earth and has far more ‘exterminations’ – faster moving, less ‘studio’ in feel and actually somewhat more terrifying. This time it’s Bernard Cribbens who is the befuddled time travelling companion as a policeman who is accidentally caught up in the time travelling action, a common theme in early Who. There’s also a lovely turn by a youthful Ray Brooks (the voice of Mr. Benn) as a denim wearing resistance fighter who is super-cool at throwing a knife. It’s what you want. The film is full of exterior shots of empty tube train entrances so I guess was filmed very early in the morning.
The image quality looks great though it already did on the DVD release so unsure whether worth a double-dip on that account alone.


All the extras of the DVD releases are here again with one or two fairly slight additions (again not worth double-dipping for). There are some technical pieces about how the image quality has been cleaned up and increased definition achieved. I always find these a little dull. We’ve got the idea. 

There is also an interview with the author of a book about Shepperton studios (where the bulk of the film’s were shot) and a 4 minute interview with Bernard Cribbens.

Best of the extras is the Dalek nostalgia piece, ‘Dalekmania’, a featurette itself now 15 years old, which also recently appeared on ‘The Aztecs’ release. It runs for the best part of an hour. There is also the original Jennie Linden and Roberta Tovey commentary which appeared on the DVD release.

All in all, if you love these films you’ll love this release. I have the original DVD set of both and remain unsure whether the improved image quality is enough to justify a double-dip. If you don’t have that then this is a no-brainer.