Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (theatrical film)

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Released in 1966, Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD was the second and final feature film based on the Doctor Who television series. Adapted from the television serial DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, the colour film stars Peter Cushing as a human scientist named "Dr. Who".

File:Daleks Invasion Earth Picture1.jpeg
Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD
Doctor: Dr. Who
Companions: Tom Campbell
Louise
Susan
Enemy: The Daleks
Setting: Earth, 2150
Writer: Terry Nation (story)
Milton Subotsky
David Whitaker
Director: Gordon Flemyng
Producer: Max Rosenborg
Milton Subotsky
Cinematography: John Wilcox
Release Date: 26th July 1966
Format: Cinematic Theatrical Movie
Running Time: 84 minutes
Previous Movie: Dr. Who and the Daleks


Synopsis

Policeman Tom Campbell stumbles into the TARDIS on a normal day and ends up being taken to 2150 A.D, by Dr. Who. The future seems to be deserted, but the group soon finds out that the world is currently being controlled by the evil Daleks. Those who have still survived are in hiding, to prevent them from being turned into Robomen. Dr. Who teams up with the survivors in order to take down the Daleks.

Plot

Tom Campbell (Bernard Cribbins), a London police officer, is on patrol near a jewellery store. Men are burgling the shop and Tom is struck down by their getaway driver before he can stop them escaping. Running to what appears to be a police box to call for backup, Tom unwittingly enters the Tardis, a time machine inhabited by its creator, Dr. Who (Peter Cushing), along with his niece Louise (Jill Curzon) and his granddaughter Susan (Roberta Tovey).

The Doctor moves the Tardis forward in time to the year 2150, where they find that London has been reduced to an empty, ruined landscape of partially demolished buildings. The Daleks, one-time adversaries of the Doctor, have invaded Earth and ravaged entire continents, while the remnants of human civilisation have formed underground resistance movements. Some captured humans have been turned into deadened, emotionless slaves called Robomen, but the majority have been taken to the Dalek mining complex in Bedfordshire, where the aliens' excavations extend to the core of the Earth.

Louise and Susan are taken in by a group of rebels based in the London Underground, led by Wyler (Andrew Keir), David (Ray Brooks), and the wheelchair-bound Dortmun (Godfrey Quigley). Meanwhile, Tom and the Doctor are captured by a squad of Robomen and taken onboard a Dalek spaceship, where they are placed in a cell with a man called Craddock (Kenneth Watson). The Doctor realises that the door is sealed by magnetism and breaks the connection with a plastic comb, but he is unaware that escaping from the cell is merely an "intelligence test" devised by the Daleks to determine which prisoners should be robotised. However, while the Doctor, Tom and Craddock are undergoing robotisation, the rebels launch an attack on the spaceship with hand-held bombs. During the battle, the Doctor flees with David while Tom and Louise, who is knocked unconscious by one of the bombs, stow away in a deserted part of the ship. The Daleks emerge victorious and take off for the Bedford mine with few prisoner losses.

Wyler, having lost virtually all his contingent, returns alone to the rebel hideout, where Dortmun and Susan are waiting. The group commandeer a van to rendezvous with any remaining survivors in Watford, but Dortmun is killed in an encounter with a Dalek patrol and Wyler and Susan are forced to abandon the vehicle before it is destroyed by the Dalek spaceship. Resolving that the Doctor would avoid the Daleks in Watford, Wyler and Susan set off for the Bedford mine. David and the Doctor are indeed heading for the same destination, but are confronted by Brockley (Philip Madoc), an unscrupulous contraband smuggler, who seizes their rifle in exchange for a promise to get them safely into the complex.

Eventually, the spaceship touches down at the mine. Tom and Louise exit the craft through a waste disposal chute and take refuge from the Daleks inside a tool shed. Meanwhile, Wyler and Susan shelter at a hut owned by a pair of spinsters (Eileen Way and Sheila Steafel) who repair slave workers' clothes in return for freedom and food. However, the women betray them to the Daleks out of desperation for extra provisions.

In the morning David and the Doctor are brought into the mine by Brockley, where they are reunited with Tom and Louise. One of the miners, Conway (Keith Marsh), reveals that the Daleks are planning to drop a bomb into their mineshaft to punch out the Earth's core, which will be replaced with a giant motor enabling the aliens to pilot Earth to their home world of Skaro. However, the Doctor learns that the old shaft leads to a point of convergence between the North and South Magnetic Poles and deduces that, if the bomb were deflected down this path, the magnetic energy unleashed by the explosion would be powerful enough to suck the metal Daleks into the core of the Earth while leaving humanity unscathed.

As Tom and Conway leave to alter the bomb's trajectory, the Doctor orders David and Louise to create a diversion while he chooses to remain in the tool shed. Brockley offers to help the Doctor and escorts him outside – where the scientist is unsurprised to discover a detachment of Daleks waiting to take him away. The treacherous Brockley then tries to evade capture himself, only for the Daleks to destroy the tool shed with him inside.

In the mineshaft, Tom and Conway run into Craddock who, having succumbed to the robotisation onboard the spaceship, is now a Roboman. Fighting to the death, Conway and Craddock fall into the shaft. Tom removes the timbers boarding up the entrance to the old shaft and then rushes back up to ground level.

Transferred to the Dalek command centre for extermination, the Doctor discovers Wyler and Susan. In the control room the inventor seizes an opportunity to distract the Daleks and speaks into the Robomen's command circuit, ordering them to turn against their masters. As the Robomen fight the Daleks the Doctor escapes with Wyler and Susan, while the slave workers flee from the mine. The Daleks defeat the Robomen's revolt and release their bomb into the shaft. Tom has successfully altered the route, however. The device is deflected into the disused shaft and detonates at the pole convergence. The Daleks, overwhelmed by the resultant magnetism, are pulled into the Earth's core and destroyed. Meanwhile the spaceship, having just taken off, is brought crashing down onto the complex in a massive explosion.

Later the Doctor, Tom, Louise and Susan return to the past. The Doctor materialises the Tardis a few seconds before the jewellery store raid, giving Tom enough time to knock out the burglars before they can get away with their loot. The Doctor, Louise and Susan wave Tom goodbye as he drives off to the police station with the unconscious criminals.

Cast

Crew

Story Notes

Myths

to be added

Filming Locations

Plot Holes, Errors and Mistakes

  • When the van rams through the ranks of blue/silver Daleks in the street, some of those knocked flying and destroyed are clearly seen to be completely empty casings.
  • Wires are visible on the Dalek saucer in almost all shots of it flying.
  • When the red Dalek falls down the shaft, there is a very clear shot of its base with three small furniture casters (though it must be a dummy, as there is no hole for the operator's feet to protrude).
  • Observing the Dalek saucer, the Doctor notes that it seems to be landing in the vicinity of Sloane Square. There is then a lengthy shot in which it is shown to be continuing in level flight for what must be several miles over London (with no apparent intention of landing) before we finally get a close-up of it descending.
  • The Dalek mine is set in Bedfordshire. We see the encampment with high mountains beyond. Bedfordshire is a county of low rolling hills, with virtually no rock.
  • The Dalek in the Thames does not flash its lights when addressing the Robomen. (The casing did not contain an operator, and therefore no one to operate the lights.)
  • Why isn't there an explanation for Ian and Barbara's absence? They had appeared in the first film. (This seems to take place some time after the first film)
  • When Dortman dies he moves his legs, despite the fact that he's disabled. (Wheelchair means can't walk", not 'legs are completely paralysed').
  • One Dalek sees Dr. Who run to the Roboman controls but then looks up anyway, and why don't they kill him while he's telling the Robomen to attack?

Continuity

TV to film changes

Here are a few of the notable plot changes made between the TV version of the story and the film (not including the fundamental differences involving the character of Dr. Who himself):

  • Ian and Barbara are replaced by Tom and Louise.
  • In this version Dr. Who, Tom, Louise and Susan journey to the mine in different ways. Dr. Who goes with David, Susan travels with Dortmun, and Tom Campbell and Louise use a Dalek ship (in the original, the Doctor and Susan go with David, Barbara travels with Dortmun and Ian uses the Dalek ship.)
  • In the TV version, David and Susan use the sewers to avoid the Daleks.
  • The film doesn't feature the Slyther.
  • The resolution is slightly different: in the TV version the bomb is used diverted to the Daleks' ship to destroy them, but in the film it's the Earth's magnetic properties.
  • Since Susan is depicted as a child in the film (rather than a teenager as in the TV version), the original subplot of the character's romance with David and being left behind by the Doctor is eliminated.

DVD, Video and Other Releases

Super 8 Releases

Video Releases

  • Released in the UK in 1982 on VHS and Beta by Thorn EMI.
  • Released in US in 1985 by Thorn EMI.
  • Released in Japan in 1992 on VHS by King Video/Tohokushinsha Film Co.
  • Released in Australia in 1990 by Warner Home Video.
  • Re-released in US in 1994 by Lumiere.
  • Re-released in UK in 1996 by Warner Home Video.

DVD Releases

Novelisations

No novelisation of the screenplay was ever published, however the original teleplay, The Dalek Invasion of Earth was eventually novelised by Terrance Dicks in 1977 as Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth.

See also

Dr. Who and the Daleks

External Links

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