Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (26 July 1966)
To many Who fans, it seems sacrilegious to prefer this to the original TV story; and as a Hartnell fan, it feels like a bit of a guilty pleasure to me as well. But prefer it, I do. Whilst I struggle to get through DIOE, my nostalgic affection for this particular film never seems to get dampened by time. It’s something of a mystery to me why this second Dalek film was apparently such a commercial failure, whilst the first one was quite a success; as I personally think it’s much better, overall.
It has a stronger cast; including Ray Brooks, Godfrey Quigley, and the splendid Andrew Kier; not to mention a memorable outing for the excellent Philip Madoc. The comedic element is provided this time by Bernard Cribbins; who for my money, carries it off far better than Roy Castle in the first movie; and is also convincingly serious when required.
Being rather shorter than the original 6 episodes, it’s very well paced, with plenty of Dalek action. Highlights include the fab Dalek saucer, and great sets like the mineshaft and Dalek ship interiors.
If anything annoys me about this film, it’s the terribly unsuitable soundtrack, which at times detracts from, rather than adds to the overall effect. One again, Cushing is never going to be my choice as any kind of Doctor; but there are far more cringeworthy Doctors out there than Cushing. 😉
I’ve just watched the stunning looking Blu-Ray, and this film is still fun to watch after all these years. 8/10.
Throughout 1966, the Daleks comic strip was still going strong in the TV21 comic, now into their second year. And on September 8th, the third and final Dalek annual of the 1960s was released. This was called the Dalek Outer Space Book. As well as the Daleks, there was a lot of emphasis in the stories; on Sara Kingdom and the Space Security Service.
Here are the strips and stories.
Power of the Daleks (5/11/66 – 10/12/66)
It must’ve been really intriguing for audiences who had seen the Doctor apparently change at the end of The Tenth Planet, and who were now tuning in to learn more about this new face of the Doctor.
This early second incarnation seems to have retained a few First Doctor-esque elements, such as when he snaps: “Come Here!”, at Polly, but clearly this imp-ish character with his recorder playing, and stove-pipe hat, has some eccentric traits of his own, and i can empathise with Ben’s impatience at the Doctor’s continually recorder playing. 😛
A good first part of Ep.1 naturally deals with the immediate post regeneration scenes, but by the time we’re half way through the ep, the story is beginning to set itself up, as we meet the characters on the planet Vulcan.
The first really good Troughton moment comes towards the end of Ep.1, when the Doctor is brooding over the pieces of metal in Lesterson’s lab, and he seems clearly uneasy with the familiarity that they have for him. Just building up to the Ep.1 cliffhanger; that sense of uneasiness permeates into the overall atmosphere of this story as the Doctor, Ben, and Polly are creeping around the seemingly deserted space capsule, & they discover the dormant Daleks covered in cobwebs, & as the eerie incidental music adds to the dark atmosphere; a Dalek mutant scuttles across the floor….. A great first episode!
As Episode 2 progresses, we learn that Lesterson has a third dormant Dalek hidden away in a secret compartment. Troughton’s interpretation of the Doctor is proving to be quite mercurial. One minute he’s doing the ‘Lesterson Listen! Lesterson Listen’ sillyness, (in other Doctor’s i’ve always put this down to the usual post regeneration quirkiness, but Troughton retains this element to his portrayal, i think) and the next minute he’s quietly spoken and deadly serious when he finds the listening device, and explains to Ben and Polly how the Daleks are so terribly dangerous that they have to stay, for the sake of the colonists.
Meanwhile, Lesterson begins to experiment on the inert Dalek, feeding it with power until the point where it kills one of Lesterson’s assistants. Perhaps even more disturbing is the fact that Janley hides the body, & lies about his condition. It becomes more clearer that something further is underfoot at the colony…….
Later, Lesterson has removed the Dalek’s gun, and brings the half powered Dalek to show to the governor. The Dalek appears to recognise the Doctor, indicating that the Daleks have encountered the Doctor in his future. As the Dalek speaks it’s first words: ‘I AM YOUR SERVANT!‘, Episode 2 comes to a close.
In Episode 3, the plot regarding Bragan and Janley’s bid to take over control of the colony starts to come to fruition, and Lesterson and his team learn that the Dalek has the ability to think and reason, after it pledges itself to serve Lesterson after it ignored the Doctor’s ‘order’. Also, there’s another curiously Hartnell-esque moment from Troughton when he congratulates Ben for using his brain and realizing that the Daleks are “most important thing!”.
Later, Lesterson is performing tests on the Dalek, & we begin to see it’s cunning, as it manipulates Lesterson into leaving it alone in the lab whilst he gets materials and a further power source, then it increases the power control to the Dalek space capsule, & before long 2 more fully armed Daleks appear, and later disarm themselves to further deceive Lesterson.
A quick acknowlegment of the actors at this point, Bragan is played by Bernard Archard, who plays one of my favourite characters from ‘Pyramids of Mars’ – Marcus Scarman. He makes an excellent job of Bragan, and the other characters are similarly effective, especially Pamela Ann Davey as the conniving Janley. Robert James proves to be rather OTT as Lesterson, but it’s not an un-entertaining performance! 
I did feel that Episode 3 did get slightly slower, towards the end, and i also felt this about Ep.4 to an extent. Though the latter part of Ep.4, where the increasingly suspicious Lesterson spies on the activity inside the Dalek capsule, firmly re-establishes the sense of foreboding, when he sees the extent to which he has been manipulated, as a new ‘race’ of Daleks is being produced, in a scene that makes for another classic cliffhanger!
In Episode 5, Bragan’s ambitions to take over the colony are realised. (albiet not for long) I quite enjoyed the confrontation scene between him and Governer Hensell, which ultimately ends with the Dalek killing Hensell, and Bragan, drunk with power, believes the Daleks are merely doing his bidding. Meanwhile the Dalek asks a question of Bragan, which i’m sure many of us often wonder: ‘WHY DO HUMAN BEINGS KILL HUMAN BEINGS?‘ – Bragan doesn’t answer…….
By the end of the episode, the cunning of the Daleks has become more than evident. They plan to help the human factions wipe each other out, & the daleks will destroy any survivors. ‘DALEKS CONQUER AND DESTROY!‘
The exciting final episode sees Bragan’s megalomania escalate to the point of ordering the death of his own people, whilst a reluctant Janley eventually concedes, unwittingly playing into the Daleks’…. erm….. ‘hands’. 😉 The Daleks relish playing both sides off against each other, and taking part in the death and destruction.
Meanwhile, Lesterson’s mind has completely broken down, and i enjoyed the ‘Man’s Had His Day’ speeches. Soon, Janley is killed by the Daleks, and eventually after the colony is virtually wiped out, Lesterson is also coldly exterminated, just before the Doctor causes the power surge which destroys the Daleks & their equipment, before returning to his recorder.
As the Tardis dematerializes, a Dalek’s eye stalk looks up, as if to watch it leave……. The animated story is good, but I’d like to’ve seen that moment ‘for real’. A subtle reminder that the Dalek’s are never defeated….. 😎
The Daleks are presented very well here, and I enjoy the emphasis on their ability for subterfuge and Machiavellian planning. A great story all round. 8/10
As 1966 turned to 1967, things were changing of the comic strip front as well.
TV Century 21’s The Daleks comic strip, which began on January 23rd 1965, reached it’s final instalment 2 years later on January 14th 1967.
Here is the complete collection in video form; which later became known as the Dalek Chronicles.
Meanwhile, the Daleks returned to the nations tv screens again, at the end of Patrick Troughton’s first season….
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