As you all know by now, I’m a big fan of Doctor Who. It’s #2 on my list of favorite fiction (Transformers at #1 and Godzilla at #3, for newcomers). The first attempt to introduce non-UK audiences to the show were a couple of theatrical films, starring world famous horror movie star Peter Cushing as “Dr. Who”. As most Who fans will tell you, he wasn’t “The Doctor”, a mysterious time traveler from the planet Galifrey, but a super-intelligent Earthling who just happened to invent TARDIS (not “THE TARDIS”, but the acronym was still the same). It wasn’t the only change in the original cast (made both for the international appeal of actor Peter Cushing and the fact that the TV actors were busy making the series), but it was otherwise a faithful adaptation of the arc that introduced the Daleks to the world. Funny how that worked out.
Video after the jump. I want to see how well these actually do.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Obvious from the start isn’t so much the change in cast as the change of character. In the original series, the Doctor is a Time Lord from another world. Here he is a kindly old inventor with the last name “Who”, and just happened to create a space/time machine in the form of a police box. (One fan theory suggests he used an actual police box as the shell of TARDIS.) Susan is still his granddaughter, although much younger than in the series, but Barbara is now his granddaughter as well, while Ian is Barbra’s fiance.
Peter Cushing (known mostly for horror films and the role of Grand Moff Tarkin in the first Star Wars film) plays a kindly, more lighthearted version of the character William Hartnell made famous. (This disappointed Terry Nation, creator of the Daleks and writer of the story arc this film was based on. He preferred Hartnell’s more mischievous and mysterious version, which would be the original version of the Doctor, far from the conquering hero he would become as the series continued on.) Roberta Tovey‘s Susan is more skilled in the sciences and less dramatic than Carole Ann Ford‘s version, almost at her grandfather’s level. Jennie Linden may be the most unchanged (past her origin) as far how she portrays Barbra compared to the original, Jacqueline Hill. In contrast, Roy Castle‘s Ian is so far removed from William Russell‘s version as to be a totally different character. Roy’s Ian is more of the comic relief variety, but he’s still a great character to watch.
The TARDIS itself is also very different. No longer an alien space/time machine but one built on Earth, the ship is also referred to as “Tardis”, rather than “the TARDIS”, although the acronym, Time and Relative Dimensions in Space, is still active. For this movie, Tardis is not yet complete, and the design reflects that “mid-production” feel. In the sequel (for which only Cushing and Tovey would return, with a “new” granddaughter and a bumbling cop coming along) Tardis would be a complete vessel, but still not resembling its television counterpart. The controls are along the walls (rather than the six-sided station) and the control room is quite smaller. (Also, there is no evidence that Tardis has any other rooms, unlike the other TARDIS.)
Otherwise, the movie is a faithful adaptation of Nation’s arc (now collectively known as “The Daleks“). The changes to the Daleks are rather minimal. They used claws instead of plungers for their hands, although a few remain, and the laser now releases a dangerous spray, which are actually fire extinguishers. Reports claim that they had planned to have flamethrowers but this was changed over concerns about frightening kids (I find it interesting that this movie is talked about as being more “family friendly” when the show was still a kids show at the time) and safety concerns, or that the extinguishers (or smoke projectors, depending on the article) were used to be more dramatic or something. Some of these props would later be used in the arc “The Chase“, Ian and Barbra’s final episode in the series, although the arc would actually air before the movie’s release.
I have both movies, and the documentary Dalekmania about the films, on DVD and I rather enjoy them. While the movies are obviously not in continuity, they actually stand up rather well on their own and you should probably give it a look.
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