ALL SCI-FI

[The Spike]

Destroy Invaders! Destroy Invaders!

Daleks-Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. is directed by Gordon Flemyng and Milton Subotsky co-adapts the screenplay with Terry Nation and David Whitaker. It stars Peter Cushing, Bernard Cribbins, Ray Brooks, Andrew Keir, Jill Curzon and Roberta Tovey. A Technicolor/Techniscope production, with music by Barry Gray and Bill McGuffie and cinematography by John Wilcox.

A sequel to Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965), the plot finds Cushing once again playing the Doctor after he's transported to 2150 A.D. and finds London ravaged by the Daleks. The Daleks are turning humans into slave Robomen, but an underground human resistance offers hope. Can the Doctor and his companions aid the resistance and save Earth from Dalek damnation?

Even though Dr. Who and the Daleks irked the Dr. Who fan base — understandably so since Amicus' version of the good Doctor differs from the TV series version — it was enough of a success to warrant this sequel.

You pretty much get a retread of the first film with the characterizations. Cushing's Doctor is a lovable old eccentric prof, and two of his lady female relations are along for the ride. Tovey returning as the same character, and Cribbins has replaced Roy Castle as the light relief companion accidentally thrust into a chaotic world.

The Daleks remain a unique and devilish foe, their voices unnerving and their colors vibrant in Technicolor.

The plot follows a familiar trajectory; much running, puffing, capture-and-escape histrionics, and the good-versus-evil core booming throughout.

The sets remain cheap, the effects are basic (but quaint), and the acting just about passes the test because everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, Therefore, they're performing to the required standard.

Unfortunately, the music score is truly out of sync with the picture, at times it sounds like it belongs in a Carry On comedy! At other times it sounds like an episode of The Avengers. In fact John Steed would have been a good addition to the plotting! But there is some darkness in the story, making it more potent than its prequel.

This wasn't as successful as the studio hoped, so a third film was shelved. If you aren't a hardcore Dr. Who fan and you can accept it on its own daft and fun terms, then Daleks-Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. is an enjoyable enough time filler. 6/10
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The quality of mercy is not strnen.

[Gord Green]

This was a fun movie, and I remember it best from being introduced to me in a Dell comics adaptation in the 60's. I had heard of Doctor Who, but this was long before he was introduced to American viewers on PBS channels.

Peter Cushing's Doctor is not accepted as canon by anyone connected to the BBC series, but he personified attributes of the first and second Doctor. The official explanation of Peter's Doctor is that he was a old man who became to believe that he WAS the Doctor much like in the David Tennant Christmas episode THE NEXT DOCTOR.

Whatever.....

As far as I'm concerned he was an inter-regenerated version of the First Doctor who manifested himself on an alternate Earth.