Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.

When I first saw this on TV as a kid, I was really taken with the fanciful far-out concepts of a conquered Earth. For a 12 year-old boy into sci-fi, this was and is the ultimate escapist fare. I had no knowledge of the British TV series at the time so my intro to Dr.Who was Peter Cushing (playing older than he is), the movie version of the old-time traditional Doctor. I probably saw this film before the previous one "Dr. Who and the Daleks" as I was puzzled by the Doctor's recognition of his old foes, the unforgettable Daleks. Yes, who can forget those frog-like voices, warped by metallics, usually screaming for the death of humans. The British cast is really keen, especially Cribbins as an out-of-place copper and Andrew Keir as a hobbled resistance fighter. They bring a curious reality to the fantastic setting.

The picture has a decidedly British flavor and, of course, is filmed in the British countryside. Though I didn't reason this out at the time when I was a kid, it had an obviously different taste to it; I was mostly familiar with U.S. low budget sci-fi pics of the '50s and '60s at the time. The scope of the picture seemed really huge back then: London in a destroyed state, humanity decimated. There was that really cool flying saucer, looking fully functional and detailed. And there were the creepy Robo-men, in their slick black bodysuits and far-out helmets, like some futuristic Nazis or space zombies. All of this stuff really just took me over and I couldn't wait for the next time the local TV channels would run it again (not very often, as it happened). Some years later, I realized the title, 2150 AD, sounded cool, but the invasion by the Daleks must have occurred only a few years before the events of this movie, and the dilapidated buildings all looked like they'd been wrecked in the sixties. Ah, no matter. Many years later, I got the DVD and the thrill, tho muted by the long passage of experience and adulthood, is still there. They really knew how to make 'em back then.

In this British science fiction adventure, London policeman Tom Campbell (Bernard Cribbens) enters what he thinks is a police call-box only to discover that it's the TARDIS, the physics-defying home/ship of Doctor Who (Peter Cushing). Campbell is brought along as the Doctor, along with his granddaughter Susan (Roberta Tovey) and assistant Louise (Jill Curzon), travel through time to the year 2150, only to discover a London in ruins. The nefarious alien race known as the Daleks have conquered the Earth, and is rounding up the few surviving people to work as either slave labor, or even worse, as mind-controlled Robo-Men. It's up to the Doctor and his companions to free the human race from bondage.

This is the sequel to 1965's Dr. Who and the Daleks, which had also starred Cushing in the title role, although neither of these films are considered part of the ongoing Dr. Who canon. From what I've read, most true-blue Who fans detest these movies, although I don't have any special feeling toward the series so these movies didn't bother me in that respect. They are both slightly dopey, with a comical undertone and definite targeting of the younger members of the audience. I've always found the Daleks to be quite silly, and their accented, screamed statements ("Exterminate!") a source of much amusement. However, the movie is generally entertaining, and it doesn't overstay its welcome. Plus, I always like to see something I haven't seen before with Peter Cushing.

If I'd seen this film for the first time now, having seen most of the TV series that inspired it, I'm not sure I'd be fantastically keen on it. But I'd like to think that I'd still enjoy it for it's superficial scariness and complete indifference towards any aspect of a plot that might get in the way of the oh-so-colourful set-pieces.

I remember first seeing this film one Saturday morning, after all of the other childrens' programmes had finished and in retrospect, that's probably when it works best - the music's loud and harsh enough to wake you up, but the story's not too taxing if you're not completely with it yet.

Fantastic stuff, if you're prepared to leave your brain at home for 90 minutes.

I am a fan of the Doctor Who TV show, both in its original incarnation and in modern dress. I've also seen the two earlier movies and thought them odd and sad. I was therefore shocked and pleased to find this movie version of "The Dalek Invasion of the Earth" serial to be excellent. The pacing is better, the color photography by John Wilcox has its moments of beauty -- even the Technicolor Daleks have a peculiar beauty.

Working with only minor variations from the television serial, this demonstrates something I have long maintained: the writing on the TV DOCTOR WHO was often first rate. It was the cripplingly tiny budgets that often made it seem ridiculous, with its impossible shooting schedules, cardboard sets and monsters that frequently seemed to be a man lurking under a cast-off shag rug.

The memories of children often play them false in later years. People report on seeing a particular favorite DOCTOR WHO serial from childhood and being shocked at how much better it is in memory than looking at it as adults. Children assume the lovely details that the adult mind demands. How very pleasant for this adult to see them filled in here!

Daleks-Invasion-Earth:2150 AD, is an enormous improval on the preceeding film. It is more exciting and enjoyable and there is an impending sense of fear throughout the movie wich was evident in the Television series around this time. Peter Cushing gets to grips with his role as The Doctor in this movie. Bernard Cribbins comes on board and is fantastic. Ray Brooks and Jill Curzon enhance the swinging sixties fell apparent in the previous film, and the action never gives up. The multi coloured Daleks are a more frightening sight in a future decaying London thatn on there own planet, and the set designs and designs of the vicious Robomen are again superb. This is a juvenile movie, but enjoyable at that. For a new Doctor Who movie, someone like Tim Burton or Steven Spielberg should remake this, and they would have an absolute goldmine on their hands.