Dalekmania begins
1964 was the beginning of ‘Dalekmania’, which over the next year or two saw the release of all kinds of Dalek related toys and merchandised. Some early items even appeared even before the sequel The Dalek Invasion of Earth, was broadcast on tv in late November through December 1964.
The most important of these was undoubtedly the aforementioned Dalek Book, which was released on June 30th, 1964.
As mentioned in the link, this was was the first collection of original, printed stories set in the Doctor Who universe. Co-written by Dalek creator Terry Nation and series writer David Whitaker, the book contained information on the Daleks, as well as original stories and comic strips, a Dalek dictionary and a photo-story about Susan Foreman meeting the Daleks, featuring images from the 1963-64 serial The Daleks.
Here are the comic strips and stories contained within.
The popularity of the initial Dalek story prompted a sequel which shown before year was out. By that time, various other Dalek related merchandise had appeared on the market. This included the first of Dr Who’s long association with confectionary and food products, as seen here with these sweet cigarettes by ‘Cadet’, which evidently copied their depiction of a Dalek, from the 1964 Dalek Book, above.
The first novelisation of The Daleks, was also released on November 12th, 1964.
The first Dalek playsuit by Scorpion was rush-released in time for Christmas, and also at Christmas there was a novelty single by The Go-Go’s….
But most importantly of all, the Daleks returned to our tv screens with an iconic sequel.
The Dalek Invasion of Earth (21/11/64 – 26/12/64)
Personally, I’ve always found this story something of a disappointment after that wonderful intro story. It’s partly because I’ve always been so much more familiar with, and enjoyed rather more; the second of the ’60s Dalek movies starring Peter Cushing. But also because I feel that the tv story really flags so much more over its 6 part length, than its predecessor does over 7 parts. And a 4th viewing of it since it’s VHS release in 1994, has done little to change my feelings about it.
Of course it’s far from all bad. Cushing, as good as he is in more suitable roles, could never be a substitute for William Hartnell. Hartnell owns The Doctor at this stage, and turns in a suitably strong performance. Meanwhile, the iconic imagery of the Daleks in London during episode 2 speaks for itself.
Despite that terrible, original Dalek saucer; some of the other visuals aren’t half bad; particularly the mineshaft towards the end of the story. The opening episode is very atmospheric, and has some great incidental music that underscores that. Once again, the Tardis team are in great form, as some of the support cast such as Alan Judd and Bernard Kay turn in excellent performances.
Hartnell gets some terrific moments. Aside from the obviously much loved departure speech for Susan, there’s a nice defining scene where the Doctor forcefully stops the unnecessary killing of one of the Robomen in episode 5, declaring: “I never take life – only when my own is immediately threatened.”
So the story definitely has some plus points, but the problem of the pacing is a big issue for me; I just find it very slow going, with really only enough juice in the plot for about 4 episodes. The Robomen aren’t particularly effective; especially with those lumbering great hunks of metal of their heads; and much as I’m usually pretty good and suspending disbelief, even to the point of overcoming the weaknesses of The Web Planet, I just find the Slyther laughable in every respect.
In terms of the Daleks themselves; obviously this is a really important story for them. They’ve managed to break away from Skaro with the use of solar dishes to provide power. Fortunately, this will be further refined visually by the next story. The real bugbear for me regarding the Daleks is how ineffective the voices are. Even comical at times. They are voiced well enough by Hawkins and Graham, but it sounds like they forgot to turn the Ring Modulator on. There’s simply not enough effect on the voices, and it really detracts from their overall prescience in the story.
So for me, it’s definitely a bit of a mixed bag. But with the best will in the world, the excess padding and the poorly realised Dalek voices and so on; I can only give this story 6/10.
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