Dr. Who and the Daleks, 1965.
Directed by Gordon Flemyng.
Starring Peter Cushing, Roy Castle, Jennie Linden and Roberta Tovey.
SYNOPSIS:
The Doctor (Peter Cushing) discovers the planet of Skaro. A primitive world devasted by nuclear war and populated by two warring species, a peaceful tribe known as the Thrals and a life form heavily mutated by radiation, encased in protective machines. A merciless force of destruction known as The Daleks!
For my reviews of the Blu-ray releases of both Dr. Who and the Daleks and its sequel Daleks’ Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D., I have enlisted the aid of my two youngest daughters (R – 8, B – 10) for I have clear memories of the films and they were yet to see either. The films were aimed at the youth of the day so I thought I’d see how today’s youth of HD Kindles, XBoxs and a new fast-paced Doctor Who would take to these movies.
For those of you yet to see Dr. Who and the Daleks, this film should not be taken as canon within the Doctor Who mythology at all. If you want to see the genesis of the Daleks go and watch “The Genesis of the Daleks” with the excellent Tom Baker. This film is a poor sound stage effort with the peaceful race known as Thrals and the Daleks and Peter Cushing as the Doctor bumbling around the set with Roy Castle and company as comic relief. As a child I remember being upset when this was on TV as it bored me, and it still bores me witless now.
Handing it over to B&R (my daughters), I asked them for their thoughts on the film:
B – I liked the Doctor and I thought I wouldn’t but I didn’t really like the story. It was too long.
R – It was a bit boring and I didn’t really like it (R actually tried to leave during the film and I had to bribe her to stay).
Story aside, I thought I’d give a few words on the Blu-ray release. As I have only ever seen this film on TV I cannot really comment on how well the transition has been handled, but the sound on this release is booming and great. Still, Dr. Who and the Daleks is the poor cousin of the two films; the sets are cheap and the story was obviously written on the back of a very small beer mat outside the BBC headquarters.
Flickering Myth Rating: Film ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★ ★
Villordsutch is married with kids and pets. He looks like a tubby Viking and enjoys science fiction. Follow him on Twitter.
Originally published May 27, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
