Pre-Order Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) (Blu-ray) Available for Preorder (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

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[Angelo Colombus]

Finished watching the Blu-ray last night and it's a fun popcorn movie with a good print of the film. I one thing i did not like was Roy Castle
character who acted too much like a doofus.

 

[JoeStemme]

Some two years into the original run of the BBC serial, this feature was made to capitalize while it was hot (of course, the show lasted for over two decades). The TV Doctor (William Hartnell) was jettisoned for the more well known Peter Cushiing - along with some of his sharp edges (some of the reasons why hardcore Dr. Who fans don't consider the features to be canon). The Producers knew that children were a major part of the show's success and the film was fashioned as kiddie matinee fodder. On those terms, it mildly succeeds.

I was never a big series fan, although I watched it for a brief spell during the Tom Baker years, and I only caught bits of this film many years ago. The Daleks are the main attraction and their creepy slowed-down electronic voices must have scared some of the wee ones back in the day - especially with their constant threats to “exterminate” and “destroy”. Further, the main plot with the Daleks attempting to eliminate the humanoid race the Thals by using a neutron bomb isn't typical kiddie fare. The plot closely parallels that of George Pal's film of HG Wells' THE TIME MACHINE with the Thals aping the pacifist Eloi and the Daleks being the mutated Moorlocks.

Milton Subotsky's script and Gordon Flemyng's direction are pedestrian, but there is some imaginative ideas on the production front, even if its all obviously stage-bound. Peter Cushing does the amiable absent-minded professor thing enjoyably enough. Jennie Linden and Roy Castle are okay as the young couple who's date gets waylaid by the good Doctor's Tardis. The real standout is Roberta Tovey as his spunky granddaughter Susan - the kid had moxie. It's all in good fun for the younger ones, and there is some genuine sci-fi in there for the older crowd.

The movie was a decent enough hit to warrant a sequel the next year, DALEKS INVASION EARTH 2150 A.D. (it's on my queue).

 

[Lord Dalek]

(some of the reasons why hardcore Dr. Who fans don't consider the features to be canon)

The AMICUS Dr. Who movies are loose remakes of two pre-existing TV serials with a very different backstory for "Dr. Who" (yeah he IS Dr. Who in those movies and isn't from another planet). Of course they're not canon.

 

[JoeStemme]

The AMICUS Dr. Who movies are loose remakes of two pre-existing TV serials with a very different backstory for "Dr. Who" (yeah he IS Dr. Who in those movies and isn't from another planet). Of course they're not canon.

Absolutely the case for many Who fans