Dr. Who and the Daleks – The Official Story of the Films by John Walsh

It probably hasn’t passed you by that as I type this we are approaching the end of the year and are entering that time that involves CHRISTMAS SHOPPING – something that may give you a feeling of enormous joy or sheer terror.

But never mind – coming for anyone who is a fan of the original Doctor Who series is Dr. Who and the Daleks – The Official Story of the Films, a coffee-table book that summarises and celebrates the two Dr. Who movies released in 1965 and 1966. (Please note – NOT “Doctor Who”, as there is a copyright issue there, I understand)

Context first – as I mentioned in my review of Doctor Who and the Daleks – the Illustrated Version (link HERE) these movies were made as a result of the unprecedented success of the television series which started in November 1963 and starred William Hartnell as the First Doctor. The second story of the season, shown between December 21^st 1963 and February 1st 1964, introduced viewers to the Doctor’s nemesis The Daleks. The reaction was immediate and uncharacteristic in restrained Britain, leading to what has been referred to as “Dalekmania” in 1964, and especially for Christmas 1964.

The selling point was that not only were these films movie length – 90 minutes or so rather than the usual 25-minute episodes of the television series, but that for people used to watching television on a small black-and-white set, these were the first time that people could see the Daleks in cinematic colour, as was proudly proclaimed on the cinema posters (see below).

It has been admitted that the production of the first was rushed to meet cinema deadlines, and although it was a movie rather than a black-and-white TV series money was tight. This was not the budget of a Marvel blockbuster, instead a much more modest children’s film seemingly made for a quick buck and a future in children’s matinees. Although the first film was in the top twenty box office hits of 1965, neither movie was received well by critics.

Personally, I was a little disappointed when I saw the movies years later in 1972 (and ironically on the BBC television channel.) They looked great in colour, but the scripts were not great and with the addition of two actors for comic effect (Roy Castle and Bernard Cribbins respectively) the overall result seemed a little uncharacteristic of the TV series. It was different to what I knew.

I was also bemused by Peter Cushing (who I really liked for his Hammer horror films) playing a very different type of Time Lord to William Hartnell’s version. Instead of the angry, grumpy Hartnell Doctor we got a kindly yet bumbling grandfather type figure which seemed at odds to my understanding of the character. As the book admits, the Doctor of the second movie is more restrained and less comedic. It is interesting to note that Cushing is in the second movie less due to poor health.

Over the next fifty years or so, with the films not being BBC property and therefore not part of the BBC canon meant that even with the revival of the television series in 2005 these films became mainly ignored and often regarded with disdain.

And yet over time their reputation seems not only have been maintained, but even improved. 2022 has seen the two movies – Dr. Who and the Daleks, originally released in 1965, and Daleks’ Invasion of Earth 2150 A. D. originally released in 1966 – released in 4K Ultra High Definition, something which for nearly-60-years-old children’s movies is rather unusual. It may also explain the release of this book in December 2022, surely a sign that the films have become more noticeable again. Roberta Tovey, who played the young Suzie, is quoted as saying, “I don’t think we appreciated at the time how big it would become. I certainly didn’t.”

So, what do we get in this big (25 x 30 cm, or 12” x 10” in old measurements) book? As it is printed on heavy stock paper, we get lots of colour photos, not only of the movies but of the cast behind the scenes, merchandise such as posters, models, music and so on. Some of these have not been seen in years, if at all, which may be the attraction of the book.

The ordering of the book is a little odd, following events through time (TV series (briefly), first film then second film) but then in each section there are what feel like a random miscellany of articles on disparate topics. The first section of the book looks at the big picture and explains the context of the origins of the films as I have mentioned already. There is then a section about the main cast of the first movie – Peter Cushing, Roberta Tovey (in both films) but also supporting cast Roy Castle and Jennie Linden.

All of that you might expect, but then we get a hodge-podge of interviews and material. For example, in the section on the first film we have interviews with Art Director Bill Constable and Gerald Larn who created the matte paintings for both films as well as an analysis of the Director Gordon Flemyng, based on old interviews and interviews with the surviving members of the cast. Nearly sixty years on there’s not many of these around so Walsh has to summarise articles and quotes from documentaries to add to his own details. They are generally interesting for the super-fan, but perhaps not for the casual reader.

The success of the first movie led to the second movie being made for twice the budget, and would involve outdoor filming and a Dalek saucer spaceship. In the next section about the second movie we have details of this shoot, and there is a section on the outdoor locations used for filming. There’s a good interview from the stuntman injured during filming which illustrates the dangerous nature of the stunts, as well as details again given on the models, the music, posters and the music of the second movie.

The book ends with an intriguing look at what was proposed for a third movie that was sadly never made. Like the first two movies, Lost in Time was intended to be based on one of the television serials. This time it was The Chase, broadcast in May 1965 and would have involved Terry Nation’s* Mechanoids as well as a chase through time of the Doctor by the Daleks. There were also moves made for a movie in the 1970’s involving Tom Baker, the Third Doctor, although this never came to fruition. The details are brief, yet tantalising about what could have been.

Summing it up then, Dr. Who and the Daleks – The Official Story of the Films is a great assemblage of material about the first two movies that would go nicely when accompanied with those new 4K editions of the films. It is good to have a physical summary the films and all of the related paraphernalia all in one book. Whilst some of the material is quite limited, presumably because it is hard to source such details nearly sixty years on, the variety of images and interviews do give you an impression of what it must have been like in the 60s “Dalekmania” era. For those who were around at the time and are looking for a nostalgic reminder of details all in one place, or for those fans not around then but who want to know what it was like, this is an admirable summary. And, coincidentally, just in time for Christmas!