Review - Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD

The two Dalek movies are generally seen within fandom as a bit of a joke and Peter Cushing's second outing into the thrilling world of the Metal Men is perceived as the better of the two.

Invasion Earth is certainly enjoyable in places but it really is the worst of the two films for a number of reasons. Despite looking lavish in places it really does lack the cash needed to pull off such a project. OK, the Robomen look great in their fetish suits and the Daleks themselves have great presence, most notably during the night time "Attack the Saucer" scenes but the matt backdrop drawings and the London sets in general make the movie look painfully studio bound.

When the action does move out into the countryside it's quite jarring but so nice to see real horizons and this helps to get through some of the quietest parts of the plot, which by this time is all over the shop.

Making a TV serial into a film isn't a simple process. The first thing a film has to do is provide its audience with an engaging central character and Bernard Cribbins does his best as P.C. Tom Campbell. Cushing's Doctor Who is relegated to supporting character (in the script) and this fails to give the film the necessary urgency and perhaps as a consequence all semblance of framework goes out the window.

In hindsight the production team would have done well to go down the James Bond route and to show the end of Doctor Who's previous un-screened adventure but instead they opted for Bernard Cribbins getting beaten about the head by a jewel thief. Despite this poor bit of originality it may have been much better to have come up with something completely original rather than another version of a Terry Nation TV story.

The film also does a bad job of re-introducing the Daleks to the cinema. It is assumed that the viewer knows what these metal meanies are. At no stage is there even a hint that there is something alive inside the casings so lets assume that they're robots.

Cushing does a very good job here despite being ill at the time of filming and being given such lame material. He is often compared to William Hartnell as he was taking on Hartnell's role but in this and the previous film he is much more comparable to Patrick Troughton's portrayal of the character. Unfortunately the script gives him little to do and he lacks impact in the finished product.

The film is thankfully brief and despite being laughable in many places it does have some charm. The scene that seems to annoy most fans is the "Tom Pretending to be a Roberman" section in which a comedy meal ensues. I've never understood why people dislike this scene apart from the fact that it isn't funny. But then the drama parts of the film aren't that dramatic so why quibble? I like it simply because it shows that the makers of the movie knew their audience and they wanted to make the film as accessible as possible.

This film was a flop at the cinema. It came towards the end of the Dalekmania period and it simply didn't have the well made gloss of it's stablemate.

If it had been a success it was rumoured that the BBC serial The Keys of Marinus would have been next. Both Keys and the third BBC Dalek story, The Chase showcased the epsiodic format of Dr Who perfectly and it's perhaps for the best that only two movies were produced.