The Dalek Invasion of Earth
Aug. 30th, 2007 04:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meddowAt the current rate I’m going, it’ll be about 2021 when I finally manage to make it through the entirety of the Classic Series of Doctor Who, but I plod on, because I absolutely love it. And I’ve done another screencap review, this time of 1964’s The Dalek Invasion of Earth, which is very much a cross between Last of the Time Lords and Doomsday.
The Dalek Invasion of Earth
The Dalek Invasion of Earth is notable for the fact that it is the first time ever that a companion leaves, or not so much leaves, as is locked out of the TARDIS in one of the (if not the) saddest scenes ever, but I’ll get to that later. While the serial ends on a depressing note, but it also starts on a depressing note - a man drowning himself in the River Thames. And this is a kid’s show – wonderful stuff!
Really, the Dalek Occupation of Earth would be a better title since we never actually get to see them invade. When the TARDIS Team arrive, the Earth’s already fallen under Dalek occupation, as we discover in the cliff hanger for the first episode when a Dalek emerges from the river.
Meanwhile the Daleks have taken normal people and turned them into Robomen, which are - unfortunately for the serial - about as menacing as they look, and seem to be an early conceptual ancestor of the Cybermen.
Anyway, in not much time at all, Susan has sprained her ankle (oh, Susan), the team is split up and join up with guest stars. The plot is concerned with their journey’s to Bedfordshire, where the Daleks are digging a whole in the ground with the intention of using it to remove the Earth’s magnetic core and then use the plant as a gigantic space ship to pilot around the universe. Riiiiight.
On a side note, they mention in the special feature on locations that that quarry was the first ever quarry to be used in Doctor Who. Time for a gratuitous quarry screencap.
Anyway, Ian stows away on a Dalek flying saucer ends up having to face the dreaded Slyther.
After the swamp monster in the The Daleks and the giant clam in Genesis of the Daleks I’m starting to wonder if it is obligatory that ever old school Dalek serial contain within it a monster which is just a little bit pants. Not that this is a bad thing since they all have been rather fun, I really enjoy a good pants monster.
And in Ian fashion watch, this serial we get Ian facing Daleks in a suit, while more respectable than a cardigan, it lacks the hillarity of the a cardigan.
Meanwhile, the Doctor escapes being turned into a Roboman and partners with Susan, David and Tyler and head through the sewers, where they are menaced by Robomen and stock footage of what appears to be a baby alligator.
Along the way, Susan and David fall in love and you just know this is not going to end well.
It’s Barbara’s journey to Bedfordshire which provides the most fun – running through famous streets of London with her new-found cynical friend Jenny, pushing a wheelchair.
All the while Daleks watch on (and in some instances run around doing Nazi salutes) with historical landmarks in the background. This is made all the more impressive by being shot on location. Classic stuff!
This chase scene is followed by a trip in an antique truck, in which Barbara takes down four Daleks at once by ploughing right through them. I know I say it all the time, but I’m saying it once more, Barbara is awesome.
They all succeed in their attempts to get to Bedfordshire and through their uncoordinated individual efforts manage to take down the Daleks.
There’s a lot in this serial which makes it feel like Last of the Time Lords. Earth is under occupation, the companions going on individual journeys to put and end to it. A companion even leaves at the end. Thankfully there’s no Gollum/Dobby/Tinkerbelle/Jesus Doctor in this one. I really am starting to appreciate Hartnell’s Doctor. While it really is the Ian and Barbara show (and I love it for being that since I adore the pair of them), when Hartnell’s on, you realise why it’s Doctor Who.
The Daleks have improved from their first serial. They can now travel along something other than metal. And for the first time we have a Black Dalek.
Other than the use of baby crocodiles rather than the real thing, cake-tin flying saucers and the use of stock footage when it comes to a big explosion, the effects really aren’t that bad. The Dalek’s rarely look funny and you really don’t notice their limitations that much, even when they are cruising around the streets of London. DVD has the option of watching the serial with improved special effects, so the Dalek flying saucers can be a pie tin or something more impressive depending with what you feel like. The new effects blend in perfectly with the serial, it’s done really well. So when a flying saucer fires of Barbara’s truck, you can choose between this…
Or this…
The serial ends with the heart wrenching Doomsday-esq scene in which the Doctor locks Susan out of the TARDIS and take off, which sounds a bit jerky, but he does it because he knows she will choose to travel with him rather than do what she really wants. Anyway, I took a tonne of screencaps of this scene because it’s so very well done.
Cue Doomsday music: Ooooo ooo ooo ooo ooooo ooo ooo oh oh
First off, we get a cute Doctor & Susan moment, in which she’s obviously miserable because she doesn’t want to leave, and he’s obviously miserable because she’s miserable. Those two are very sweet together. All of Susan's rather annoying screaming and ankle-twisting is worth it for those moments between the two characters.
Someone needs to write fic in which any companion post One stumbles across Susan’s broken shoe in the TARDIS. The Doctor takes it off her with the intention of fixing it as he enters.
Anyway, then we get the saddest proposal ever from David, with Susan saying no because her Grandfather’s getting on in age.
This is followed by a miserable Doctor locking the TARDIS doors. Ian and Babs must be in on it, because they don’t say a word.
The whole actual explanation that the Doctor’s leaving is conducted through the TARDIS monitor and outside speakers, like Ten, Rose and the hologram.
The Doctor gives his reasoning: “Believe me, my dear, your future lies with David and not with a silly old buffer like me. One day I shall come back, yes I shall come back.”
And then the TARDIS de-materialises, leaving Susan
But of course, like Rose had Jackie (and Pete, and Mickey and the unborn sibling for that matter), Susan has David.
The last shot we get is of Susan’s TARDIS key discarded on the ground, which then fades into a picture of a galaxy. It’s absolutely heartbreaking.
The bottom line is that it’s a wonderful serial, with Barbara - as always - kicking arse and being awesome, Hartnell on form and a brilliant companion leaving scene that’s even sadder than Doomsday. Plus it’s got slightly rubbish monsters and Daleks, what more could you want from a Classic Who serial? Highly recommended.
The Dalek Invasion of Earth
The Dalek Invasion of Earth is notable for the fact that it is the first time ever that a companion leaves, or not so much leaves, as is locked out of the TARDIS in one of the (if not the) saddest scenes ever, but I’ll get to that later. While the serial ends on a depressing note, but it also starts on a depressing note - a man drowning himself in the River Thames. And this is a kid’s show – wonderful stuff!
Really, the Dalek Occupation of Earth would be a better title since we never actually get to see them invade. When the TARDIS Team arrive, the Earth’s already fallen under Dalek occupation, as we discover in the cliff hanger for the first episode when a Dalek emerges from the river.
Meanwhile the Daleks have taken normal people and turned them into Robomen, which are - unfortunately for the serial - about as menacing as they look, and seem to be an early conceptual ancestor of the Cybermen.
Anyway, in not much time at all, Susan has sprained her ankle (oh, Susan), the team is split up and join up with guest stars. The plot is concerned with their journey’s to Bedfordshire, where the Daleks are digging a whole in the ground with the intention of using it to remove the Earth’s magnetic core and then use the plant as a gigantic space ship to pilot around the universe. Riiiiight.
On a side note, they mention in the special feature on locations that that quarry was the first ever quarry to be used in Doctor Who. Time for a gratuitous quarry screencap.
Anyway, Ian stows away on a Dalek flying saucer ends up having to face the dreaded Slyther.
After the swamp monster in the The Daleks and the giant clam in Genesis of the Daleks I’m starting to wonder if it is obligatory that ever old school Dalek serial contain within it a monster which is just a little bit pants. Not that this is a bad thing since they all have been rather fun, I really enjoy a good pants monster.
And in Ian fashion watch, this serial we get Ian facing Daleks in a suit, while more respectable than a cardigan, it lacks the hillarity of the a cardigan.
Meanwhile, the Doctor escapes being turned into a Roboman and partners with Susan, David and Tyler and head through the sewers, where they are menaced by Robomen and stock footage of what appears to be a baby alligator.
Along the way, Susan and David fall in love and you just know this is not going to end well.
It’s Barbara’s journey to Bedfordshire which provides the most fun – running through famous streets of London with her new-found cynical friend Jenny, pushing a wheelchair.
All the while Daleks watch on (and in some instances run around doing Nazi salutes) with historical landmarks in the background. This is made all the more impressive by being shot on location. Classic stuff!
This chase scene is followed by a trip in an antique truck, in which Barbara takes down four Daleks at once by ploughing right through them. I know I say it all the time, but I’m saying it once more, Barbara is awesome.
They all succeed in their attempts to get to Bedfordshire and through their uncoordinated individual efforts manage to take down the Daleks.
There’s a lot in this serial which makes it feel like Last of the Time Lords. Earth is under occupation, the companions going on individual journeys to put and end to it. A companion even leaves at the end. Thankfully there’s no Gollum/Dobby/Tinkerbelle/Jesus Doctor in this one. I really am starting to appreciate Hartnell’s Doctor. While it really is the Ian and Barbara show (and I love it for being that since I adore the pair of them), when Hartnell’s on, you realise why it’s Doctor Who.
The Daleks have improved from their first serial. They can now travel along something other than metal. And for the first time we have a Black Dalek.
Other than the use of baby crocodiles rather than the real thing, cake-tin flying saucers and the use of stock footage when it comes to a big explosion, the effects really aren’t that bad. The Dalek’s rarely look funny and you really don’t notice their limitations that much, even when they are cruising around the streets of London. DVD has the option of watching the serial with improved special effects, so the Dalek flying saucers can be a pie tin or something more impressive depending with what you feel like. The new effects blend in perfectly with the serial, it’s done really well. So when a flying saucer fires of Barbara’s truck, you can choose between this…
Or this…
The serial ends with the heart wrenching Doomsday-esq scene in which the Doctor locks Susan out of the TARDIS and take off, which sounds a bit jerky, but he does it because he knows she will choose to travel with him rather than do what she really wants. Anyway, I took a tonne of screencaps of this scene because it’s so very well done.
Cue Doomsday music: Ooooo ooo ooo ooo ooooo ooo ooo oh oh
First off, we get a cute Doctor & Susan moment, in which she’s obviously miserable because she doesn’t want to leave, and he’s obviously miserable because she’s miserable. Those two are very sweet together. All of Susan's rather annoying screaming and ankle-twisting is worth it for those moments between the two characters.
Someone needs to write fic in which any companion post One stumbles across Susan’s broken shoe in the TARDIS. The Doctor takes it off her with the intention of fixing it as he enters.
Anyway, then we get the saddest proposal ever from David, with Susan saying no because her Grandfather’s getting on in age.
This is followed by a miserable Doctor locking the TARDIS doors. Ian and Babs must be in on it, because they don’t say a word.
The whole actual explanation that the Doctor’s leaving is conducted through the TARDIS monitor and outside speakers, like Ten, Rose and the hologram.
The Doctor gives his reasoning: “Believe me, my dear, your future lies with David and not with a silly old buffer like me. One day I shall come back, yes I shall come back.”
And then the TARDIS de-materialises, leaving Susan
But of course, like Rose had Jackie (and Pete, and Mickey and the unborn sibling for that matter), Susan has David.
The last shot we get is of Susan’s TARDIS key discarded on the ground, which then fades into a picture of a galaxy. It’s absolutely heartbreaking.
The bottom line is that it’s a wonderful serial, with Barbara - as always - kicking arse and being awesome, Hartnell on form and a brilliant companion leaving scene that’s even sadder than Doomsday. Plus it’s got slightly rubbish monsters and Daleks, what more could you want from a Classic Who serial? Highly recommended.
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no subject
Date: 2007-08-30 09:38 pm (UTC)-Interesting to see the Dalek font int he fist cap- perhaps this serial is where it comes from!
no subject
Date: 2007-08-31 04:33 am (UTC)I think the Dalek font on the first cap was added to the DVD along with the new CGI, since it’s only visible when you watch all the episodes together, so I’m not sure if this serial is from where it originates.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-31 04:39 am (UTC)They did everything first ~ with awesome-sauce on top.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-31 04:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-30 11:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-31 04:43 am (UTC)