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 For the next in my Doctor Who DVD reviews I
am jumping way back in time (which seems somehow appropriate for a review about
a series that features time travel) to a story made in the 1960s. This six part adventure features the original
and first Doctor Who, as played by the wonderful William Hartnell. My copy of The Dalek Invasion of Earth came (as
do most of my DVDs) from www.sendit.com
and came at the bargain price of £7.99 - excellent for a two disc release and a
saving of twelve quid on the cover price!
As usual I will be giving you a plot
outline so look away for the next two paragraphs and join me later.
THE PLOT
This is a classic story and sees the
Doctor and his current companions, Susan (played by Carole Ann Ford), Ian
(William Russell) and Barbara (Jacqueline Hill), in their second encounter with
the wonderfully evil Daleks. The action
is set in the latter half of the 22nd Century and the location is London - a London very different
from the one the travelers left behind.
The Daleks have invaded and are turning the remaining humans into very
UN-human Robomen. We learn that the
Daleks are planning to destroy the planet altogether.
An action packed, and rather dark,
adventure follows. Our time travelers join
a resistance group who are hiding underground in the city and the action moves
onto to Bedfordshire and the Dalek mine.
Despite the limited special effects, and the constraints this puts on
such an ambitious project, The Dalek Invasion of Earth is a deep, well acted and
still very watchable story!
The Dalek Invasion of Earth was originally
broadcast on TV from the 21st November to the 26th
December 1964 and was released on
DVD on 9th June 2003.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Disc One
Disc one of the DVD contains the
remastered copy of the story, along with a couple of additional Special
Features. We are given the option to
watch the effects as they were made or to choose to see a new lot of CGI model
effects. I watched the story both ways
and, although the new effects were loads better, it was still nice to see the
authentic version ~ the new effects are worth a look, but not really in keeping
with the look and feel of the original 60’s adventure. I would recommend opting to watch the new
effects separately, rather than overlaid on the story.
This disc also contains the
commentary. This time it is by William
Russell (Ian), Carole Ann Ford (Susan), Richard Martin (the Director) and
Verity Lambert (the Producer). I actually
rather enjoyed the commentary this time and found it interesting and pretty
informative. It is quite sad to note
that they were a little limited in people to choose to do the commentary
because a lot of those involved are no longer with us. I’m not normally a big fan of commentaries,
but I found this one made me smile and the commentators spoke with real warmth
and affection for the show.
There are also two BBC1 trailers that
were originally seen in 1964, when the story was broadcast. These are quite interesting and show us a
little piece of television history!
The final Special Feature on the first
(feature) disc are the on-screen production Subtitles (or Infotext). As usual this is a really worthwhile extra
for the Doctor Who fan and gives a really good insight into the script development,
cast information, location details and any other snippet of trivia the
compilers could find. I especially like
the location info - it is nice to know where in London (or other
places) certain scenes were filmed.
Disc Two
The second disc contains the majority of
the Special Features - the ones that are not directly linked to the story or
need to be seen alongside the main adventure.
FUTURE MEMORIES
This is a well made 45 minute
documentary which sees people involved in making the programme reliving their
memories of the production. I felt that
it was slightly too long and I ended up fast forwarding through large sections
of it.
FUTURE VISIONS
This is another documentary; this one
concentrating on Spencer Chapman, the designer of the story. This one is better because it is shorter (at
nearly 18 minutes) and also doesn’t try to deal with too many people. Some of the clips and drawings are
interesting and I found it was well made and not too tedious.
TALKING DALEKS
Any feature dealing with Dalek voices
has got to be a winner in my book! This
documentary lasts for around 10 minutes and gives an informative insight into
how the voices of the scary pepper pot monsters were created. I enjoyed the convention footage and there
were interviews and info I hadn’t seen before.
NOW & THEN
I think this is one of the most
interesting things for me, as a big fan of Doctor Who. Now and Then lasts for a little less than 7
minutes and compares the 1964 locations with how they look now ~ excellent
stuff and really fascinating!
SCRIPT TO SCREEN
This wasn’t at all what I was
expecting. I thought this would be a
documentary about the progression of the show from the script to the final
product. Instead it was a really fresh
approach, done using animation and gave a good view of how the programme was
produced ~ including camera angles, floor plans, scripts, etc. Not something I was expecting to enjoy and
actually a real surprise.
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO…SUSAN?
This was actually a spoof radio show
from 1993 and starred Jane Asher as Susan (the Doctor’s granddaughter). It lasted for about half an hour and features
interviews and reconstructions ~ it deals with Susan’s original disappearance
in the first episode of Doctor Who as if it was a real event. A very well made, witty feature and well
worth a listen.
REHEARSAL FILM
Short and to the point! A silent film showing the rehearsal of a
scene from The Dalek Invasion of Earth - it’s not very good quality but is worth a
look, yet not earth shattering.
DALEK CAKES
I loved this and had an overwhelming
desire to make the Dalek Cakes afterwards.
In true Blue Peter style, we see Valerie Singleton making edible
Daleks! Has to be seen to be believed…Excellent!
PHOTO GALLERY
The now stock feature on Doctor Who
DVDs! I don’t usually bother looking at
the stills and publicity photos anymore or just give them a cursory glance, but
I did actually find this selection more interesting than usual. This is probably because the photos were from
an era I don’t normally get to see and there were some really great Dalek
images.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I was impressed with the way the
Restoration Team had managed to clean up the sound and pictures on this very
old adventure, giving it a whole new lease of life. There are still some blurry scenes (a bit
grainy from the poor quality of the material they had to work with), but it is
a lot clearer and much easier to watch than the video footage I have seen. The sound is only done in mono, but they have
managed to make it as crisp and clear as it is ever going to get. The black and white actually adds to the air
of mystery too - there is nothing scarier to me than the image of The Daleks
coming through London.
As always, the BBC have come up with a
good and varied selection of Special Features.
The highlights for me this time are the Infotext, the Now & Then
feature and Dalek Cakes. I actually
enjoyed most of the extras though and was glad they spilt the release up into
two discs so they didn’t have to leave anything out.
Once again, a really good addition to any
Doctor Who DVD collection and a recommended purchase!
» Review by Andrea Waterhouse, Copyright 2006.
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