[.ca] Doctor Who: The Dalek Invasion of Earth

From Amazon.com:
The second story of season 2, Dalek Invasion of Earth sees William Hartnell's Doctor in a six-part adventure pitted against his greatest nemesis, the Daleks. The Doctor, Susan (Carol Ann Ford), Ian (William Russell), and Barbara (Jacqueline Hill) arrive in the London of 2164, where the Nazi-like Daleks have turned the remnants of the human race into salve workers or "Robomen," who unfortunately foreshadow Monty Python's hilarious "Gumbies." The Daleks' plan involves a vast mine in Bedfordshire and the final destruction of the human race, while pitted against them is a World War II-style resistance movement led by Dortmun (Alan Judd) and David Campbell (Peter Fraser). One of the most famous of all Doctor Who stories, Dalek Invasion of Earth features such iconic moments as a dalek emerging from the Thames, and a remarkable flight across London showing daleks crossing Westminster Bridge and patrolling Trafalgar Square and the Albert Memorial. Terry Nation's story is almost insanely ambitious for the budget, and while sets and effects are primitive the location work is highly evocative. Lavishly remade for theaters as Daleks Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. (1966), the plot here is more detailed and mercifully free of comic relief, and delivers a surprisingly sensitive ending to mark Carol Ann Ford's departure from the series. --Gary S. Dalkin

Additional Features:
Doctor Who: Dalek Invasion of Earth is a comprehensive two-disc set with a generally excellent black-and-white picture and mono sound. The highlight of disc 1 is a warm and very informative commentary hosted by Gary Russell and featuring director Richard Martin (all episodes), producer Verity Lambert (5 episodes), and Carol Ann Ford and William Russell (4 episodes each). There are optional subtitles for the episodes, as well as for the commentary, and further text titles giving detailed background information. Optional new CGI-effects shots have been added, which via seamless branching can be selected over the original 1964 model work. The new material obviously lacks authenticity, but looks about 1,000 times better. Disc 2 offers an abundance of extras including an amusing extract from Blue Peter (6 min.) showing how to make edible Daleks. There is a photo gallery and some very poor quality rehearsal footage, but most fun of all is a 27 minute 1994 BBC spoof radio documentary that asks Whatever Happened to... Susan? Jane Asher plays Susan Foreman in a sci-fi comedy as ingenious as it amusing and irreverent. This is a remarkable set that belongs in any Who fan's collection. --Gary S. Dalkin

We are the masters of Earth!:
For anyone who bought the VHS, this dvd is nothing short of a revelation. DIOE has gone under some major clean-up work via the Doctor Who Restoration Team's wonderful new VidFIRE machine and looks almost as good as it did (and in the case of episode 5 even better than) back in 1964. It's not entirely perfect due to the age and quality of the source material, but it is impressive. A great assortment of extras rounds out the set. A must buy.

The first truly great Who series there was:
After the first Dalek episode, which was somewhat weak other than the novelty factor, it was refreshing to see this Dalek adventure in which the Daleks have taken over Earth and are in the process of finishing off London. Made almost 40 years before Danny Boyle killed most of London off in his remarkable "28 Days Later," this episode does the same thing in London circa the year 2152, after the Dalek invasion is nearly complete. Quite creepy to see a Trafalgar square empty of all but Dalek life. The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan fall in with a group of rebels trying to survive against the Daleks and the robomen -- humans that the Daleks have turned into half human/half robotic overseers working against their own, like the Jewish capos in Nazi death camps. The Nazi similarity to the Daleks is played up fully for the first time here and the action moves all the way through. The sets are quite wonderful, and the sense of menace is strong enough to get past the rather cheesy special effects that were all the BBC could afford in the '60's. But it's easy to put that and the Daleks' obvious shortcomings aside is this great thriller in which the rebels are running out of time against the Daleks' plan and the imminent destruction of the human race. By this point in the series, the actors had matured and developed a true bond with each other. Susan gets to fall in love (in a 60's kind of way) and William Hartnell seems to have a hit a good balance between being crusty and arrogant and concerned for human welfare, in spite of his rather obnoxious habit of saying "hmmm?" after all his sentences. If only they'd have let Susan stop shrieking all the time -- I was actually hoping they'd let her get eaten by an alligator. You can't blame the actress, however -- it was several decades before the doctor's female companions finally were allowed to stop shrieking. And Susan, being a teenager, got to shriek more than most of them. There is a tendency on Amazon to review Doctor Who episodes a little more favaorably than they probably deserve, given how much we all love the series, but this one really works on so many levels. Besides being a barely saved episode and only the second one featuring the Daleks, it allowed the Daleks to function in different ways and started to give them personalities and structure. The rebels aren't one-dimensional and have various character attributes that keep them interesting. There is also a disk of fascinating extras with this one, including talks with the set designers and writers as well as various cast members on how the how was shot and what some of the difficulties were. One of my favorite Doctor Who purchases to date, and a good chance to see the original cast when they'd knitted together and gotten rid of the early kinks. Highly recommended.

Outstanding !:
I just bought this dvd and was amazed ! I'm a huge Doctor Who fan but have never before seen any of the first doctor's episodes. The Dalek Invasion Of Earth was filmed in 1964 and it was incredible how well both the acting and the effects (well, quite a few of them, anyways) hold up. The Daleks are as evil as ever, with very few differences in the way they were later constructed (later versions have solar panels around their necks and a shorter base) This Doctor story has everything that makes Who one of the best sci-fi series ever; a vile, ruthless enemy, great acting, outstanding and inventive story, and wonderful character interactions ! If you love old "campy" effects, ie. Godzilla, other Japanese '60s movies, then you should get this Doctor Who story....even if you're not really a fan of the show, this story is an incredible stand alone story for fans of good, old, fun sci-fi. And the extras that are included are great. Behind the scenes interviews, an option to see the show with updated cgi effects, a commentary track....this has got to be right up there as one of the best Doctor Who dvd releases !

Magnificent!:
This is one of those titles I looked forward to long before I knew of any definite plans to release it on DVD. I've always felt that, along with the Patrick Troughton story "The Seeds of Death", this is probably the best-photographed story of the entire 26 year history of the show; this is despite the fact that the cameraman's shadow can be seen drifting in and out of certain shots, but this can be forgiven since it is only the vastly improved DVD resolution that makes it visible at all, a problem that didn't exist when it was originally broadcast. It was the first Doctor Who story to contain a significant amount of location footage, which enhanced its credibility; to see Daleks swarming around familiar monuments and landmarks leant the story authenticity, and the exterior lighting conditions throughout are flawless, and contribute greatly to creating a tense atmosphere of apprehensive foreboding. I would also like to say that I have always been outspokenly opposed to the modification of old films and TV shows for any reason, so when I learned that some of the special effects had been replaced with newly-created CGI images, I was a little disturbed. But when I saw the results, I was floored: the new sequences are integrated so seamlessly and applied with such restraint that I have been forced to reconsider my objections. Furthermore, this DVD allows the viewer to choose between the original special effects sequence originally broadcast and the new updated CGI sequences. This terrific feature, along with the high quality of the transfer, is an excellent example of the extreme care the BBC has taken in presenting these stories on DVD. They have taken an almost reverential approach in presenting this beloved British national icon to the rest of the world, and this is yet one more reason to buy this DVD.

"RADIATION NIL, OXYGEN NORMAL.....":
"The Dalek Invasion of Earth" is one of the best "Doctor Who" adventures of all time. It has excitement, awe and wonder, terror, and humor mixed into an epic tale of conquest and survival! William Hartnell gives a fine portrayal of the Doctor, and the storytelling and acting are top-notch! The farewell to the character of Susan Foreman (the Doctor's granddaughter, played by Carole Ann Ford) makes for one emotional ending! Sadly, the DVD extras aren't the best. The featurettes have fine interviews, but are so lengthy and boring, no one really cares what their talking about. However, the six-part serial more than makes up for it! Any "Doctor Who" fan will not wanna miss "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" on DVD! Program Grade: A+ (5 Stars) DVD Grade: B+ (4 Stars) Overall Grade: A- (5 Stars)