“We’ll have to bypass Watford. The place is full of Daleks!”
This classic 1960s sci-fi flick from Amicus Productions is loosely based on the story Dalek Invasion Of Earth, which was the second TV adventure to feature the dreaded Daleks.
Its original title was The Daleks Invade Earth, and filming began on 31 January 1966. This was the second Dalek feature film to be made by Amicus; the first, Doctor Who and the Daleks (1965), had barely finished filming when it was decided to make a sequel.
Peter Cushing and Roberta Tovey returned for the second film. However, Roy Castle and Jennie Linden were unavailable, so Milton Subotsky wrote two new characters – Dr Who’s niece Louise (Jill Curzon) and a policeman named Tom Campbell (Bernard Cribbins) who accidentally stumbled into the TARDIS after mistaking it for a real police box.
Together, this new group travelled to a future Earth besieged by marauding Daleks. This time, the Daleks plan to hollow out the Earth like a Scotch egg and turn it into a giant spaceship.
They have started turning humans into brainwashed ‘Robomen’, and England seems to be a pile of rubble ruled over by its deadly new pepperpot masters.
Luckily, the Doctor makes sure the tin-plated vandals get sucked into a gravitational vortex below Bedfordshire!
The budget was a whopping £180,000, some of which was financed by Quaker Cereals, who made Sugar Puffs, which is why throughout the film, advertising posters for the cereal can clearly be seen – even two centuries into the future – in an early example of product placement.
Due to Peter Cushing’s illness, the shoot ran over schedule, finally finishing on 22 March 1966.
Premiering at Studio One on 22 July, the nationwide release was a little over two weeks later on 8 August 1966.
Despite £50,000 being spent on promoting it, the film was not as successful as its predecessor (so a projected third movie was abandoned), although both are now big cult hits.
On the positive side, this film has more action than the first. The Robomen are partially responsible for this, as they are much more mobile than the Daleks, so getting them to do some of the dirty work keeps things moving along.
Gerry Powell, the stunt coordinator, actually broke his ankle in one of the action sequences.
He portrays a Dalek prisoner who decides to run for it and falls from a building to his doom at the pincers of the little green blobs in poly-bonded carbide armour.
Unfortunately, part of the building gave way too soon, and he fell awkwardly and had to be taken to the hospital before returning to the set to complete his death scene.
The film also provides a great comedy moment where Bernard Cribbins’ character, Tom, is disguised as a Roboman and follows a troop of the real thing to lunch.
By far the true highlight of the film, however, is the Dalek Saucer. Even now, it looks magnificent.
ILM may be able to do it better for films like Star Wars etc., but the effect of the saucer counterpointed amongst the other somewhat cheesy effects is breathtaking.
Doctor Who Peter Cushing
Tom Campbell
Bernard Cribbins David
Ray Brooks
Wyler
Andrew Keir
Susan
Roberta Tovey
Louise
Jill Curzon
Wells
Roger Avon Roboman
Geoffrey Cheshire
Conway
Keith Marsh
Brockley
Philip Madoc
Roboman Leader
Steve Peters
Thompson
Eddie Powell
Dortmun
Godfrey Quigley
Craddock
Kenneth Watson
Lead Dalek Operator
Robert Jewell
Its original title was The Daleks Invade Earth, and filming began on 31 January 1966. This was the second Dalek feature film to be made by Amicus; the first, Doctor Who and the Daleks (1965), had barely finished filming when it was decided to make a sequel.
The budget was a whopping £180,000, some of which was financed by Quaker Cereals, who made Sugar Puffs, which is why throughout the film, advertising posters for the cereal can clearly be seen – even two centuries into the future – in an early example of product placement.
On the positive side, this film has more action than the first. The Robomen are partially responsible for this, as they are much more mobile than the Daleks, so getting them to do some of the dirty work keeps things moving along.
David
Roboman
