Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. (1966)
Directed by Gordon Flemyng

Film Review

Once Dr Who and the Daleks (1965) had proved to be a box office winner, producer-writer Milton Subotsky didn't wait a single rel before rushing back to the BBC to get permission to make a sequel, this time based on the second televised encounter between the famous time traveller and his pepper pot-shaped enemies, The Dalek Invasion of Earth.  Confident of another success, Subotsky pushed the boat out budget-wise and delivered a film that was far more visually impressive than its predecessor, although it takes just as many liberties with the original story, to the everlasting annoyance of diehard Doctor Who fans everywhere.  Despite the noticeably improved production values, Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. still feels like a pale imitation of the TV story that inspired it, one of the darkest and most compelling in the show's entire history.

On the plus side, the film boasts a far better cast than the first Dalek film, one that includes such distinguished character actors as Andrew Keir, Philip Madoc and Eileen Way, who are all excellent in their respective roles.  (Way appeared in the very first televised Doctor Who story, whilst Madoc was cast several times in the series, usually in memorably villainous roles.)  Whilst we can only lament the fact that Keir (who would play Professor Quatermass in Hammer's Quatermass and the Pit the following year) was not chosen for the role of Dr Who, his presence adds considerable gravitas to a film that is otherwise pretty lacking in depth of characterisation.  Bernard Cribbins is another welcome addition, although his part is badly underwritten and his role is essentially the same that Roy Castle was saddled with in the first film, that of the idiot companion.  (Four decades on, Cribbins would once again face the Daleks, in the revamped version of the BBC television series.)   As spare-part companion number three Jill Curzon is even less well utilised and could have been airbrushed out of the film without anyone noticing.

With a bigger budget and far bigger sets, director Gordon Flemyng manages, after his first dismal effort, to deliver a proper action-adventure film and show the Daleks at their best, exterminating all and sundry without looking half as prosperous as they often appeared in the television series.  In their widescreen Technicolor manifestation, the Daleks have never looked better, even if their plan to remove the Earth's core is quite clearly bonkers and doomed to failure.  By contrast, their nemesis, Dr Who, looks feeble and insignificant, partly because the actor playing him, Peter Cushing, was not in the best of health whilst making the film.  Cushing isn't quite the doddering old fool he was in the first Dalek film, but he is nowhere near as imposing as William Hartnell was with his television portrayal of the mysterious time traveller.

Whilst very few committed fans of Doctor Who have any time for it, Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. continues to enjoy some measure of popularity on account of its association with the long running television series.  Visually, it stands up quite well alongside many other British fantasy films of this era, and is let down only by its sanitised plot, poor character development and some totally misplaced slapstick.  Despite the increased budget, the film had far less of an impact at the British box office than its predecessor (the Dalekmania fad had all but burned itself out by the time the film reached the cinemas), so plans to make a third Dalek film (based on the televised story The Chase) were swiftly abandoned.  Since, there have been various initiatives to make another film based on the television series, but so far none has come to fruition.   At the time of writing, a Hollywood blockbuster is currently being planned, based on the revamped series and scheduled for release in 2014, but it is not yet known whether this will feature the Daleks.  Only time will tell whether the motorised dustbins will be allowed back onto the big screen...

Film Synopsis

Having failed to prevent a raid on a jeweller's shop, London constable Tom Campbell enters a police box hoping to call for reinforcements.  To his surprise, he finds himself in a huge control room, the interior of a spacetime machine known as Tardis.  The machine's owner, Dr Who, introduces himself and his two companions - his granddaughter Susan and niece Louise.  The ship arrives in London in the year 2150 and the Tardis crew are surprised to find the city in ruins.  Dr Who and Tom are soon captured by robotised humans, Robomen, and taken to a flying saucer which belongs to none other than the Daleks.  Meanwhile, Susan and Louise meet up with a party of resistance fighters who reveal that the Daleks have invaded Earth and seem intent on enslaving humanity.  Dr Who is curious to know why the Daleks have converted the whole of Bedfordshire into a mining area.  What is it they could possibly be mining for?  The truth is far more fantastic than even Dr Who could have imagined.  The metal invaders intend removing the magnetic core of the Earth so that they can pilot the planet anywhere in the universe!