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Unlike The Seeds of Death and The Talons of Weng-Chiang, the other six-part stories released during Doctor Who's 40th anniversary, I never bought The Dalek Invasion of Earth on video, being content with my off-air copy from BSB Galaxy all those years ago (despite the fact that the transmission fast forwarded for a few seconds when Barbara and Jenny were in the truck). The main reason for not buying the VHS release was that Dalek Invasion was not a story that I'd particularly rated. However, rewatching it on DVD did allow me to reassess the story and I found it better than I'd expected. The story is notable for several "firsts". It's the series' first sequel, the first time it had shown Earth invaded by an alien race, the first significant use of location filming in the show's history and the first time one of the regular cast had been written out. For many viewers in 1964 the possibility that England could be under the control of an alien power would have been a real possibility, so seeing the Daleks raising their sucker arms beside famous London landmarks would have been a very powerful image. That's not the only parallel Terry Nation draws between his creations and the Nazis. The resistance fighters, led by Dortmun, are clearly based on the groups that fought that Nazi in occupied Europe, the Daleks also have a "final solution" to exterminate all of mankind and the Black Dalek is referred to as the work camp's "commandant". Despite the Daleks' bonkers plan to remove the Earth's core and some dodgy science, Dalek Invasion proved to be an enjoyable story. All of the regulars get decent material and there are also some sizeable roles for the guest cast. Although director Richard Martin and designer Spencer Chapman generally work wonders with the show's meagre resources, there are some occasions when they can't stretch them far enough. The Dalek saucer is undoubtedly one of the series' worst ever effects and must have looked bad enough back in 1964, let alone now. The Slyther and the model shots of the truck exploding and the bomb descending are other examples of effects that simply don't convince. However, despite the occasional bus in the background, Martin makes good use of the location shooting and Chapman's Dalek-language graffiti is subtle and inspired. The Dalek Invasion of Earth was the third and final in a run of six-part stories given the two disc treatment and the extra space allows for even more extras than usual. Once again, Gary Russell was called upon to moderate the commentary, which brings together William Russell, Carole Ann Ford, Verity Lambert and Richard Martin. Martin is the pick of the bunch, with lots to say, although the two actors (and Russell in particular) don't really contribute a great deal. Perhaps short interviews would be a better format for the pair for future releases? As with The Ark In Space DVD, there's an option to wach the story with some of the effects shots replaced. The shots in question are Battersea Power Station and the infamous saucer and work well, offering an alternative to the original effects without looking out of place.
The most substantial feature on disc 2 is Future Memories, a 45-minute documentary with many of the guest stars recalling their time making the story. Several of these also appear in the Talking Daleks feature, which looks at the creation of the creatures' memorable voices. I've already mentioned designer Spencer Chapman's work, and his contribution to the story is featured in the Future Visions mini-doc. With so much film shooting in the story, Now and Then provides an interesting look at how the locations used have changed over the last 40 years. Script to Screen demonstrates how the final episode was shot. Animated floorplans, the camera script and clips are used to show how the cameras captured the action. There's another look at the studio sessions in Carole Ann Ford's silent colour 8mm footage of the final rehearsal. Unfortunately it's double exposed, but still offers a fascinating glimpse of the original Doctor Who team in action. Whatever Happen to....Susan? is an episode from a radio series that looked at subsequent adventures of various fictional characters. As the title suggests, this one is about Susan Foreman, here played by Carole Ann Ford. Some of it is quite amusing, but some of the silliness - such as Temmosus working at the EU - was more annoying than funny. Still, it's good that the BBC even bother to include these sorts of things. Once again, the Blue Peter archive is called upon, this time for a February 1966 feature with Valerie Singleton showing us how to make some incredibly dodgy looking Dalek cakes. As you'd expect, there are the usual production subtitles and photo gallery, and a couple of trailers, which were partially included on the Daleks - The Early Years video. A couple of Easter Eggs featuring the Slyther are also included, but these didn't really work for me I'm afraid. Nonetheless, a good story and plenty of extras make The Dalek Invasion of Earth another impressive Who DVD. back to the top |
THE DALEK INVASION
OF EARTH |
