My copy of Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150AD came from Amazon UK the other day and I watched it today after I got back from the TwinLUG meeting. The success of the 1965 Dr Who & The Daleks lead Amicus Productions to make a second film. It was loosely based on the Terry Nation serial The Dalek Invasion of Earth. It didn't do as well at the box office as the first film. They spent more money on it and the lower return killed the possibility of an adaptation of the serial The Chase.
Peter Cushing is Doctor Who, Roberta Tovey is Susan, Jill Curzon is Louise and Bernard Cribbins is Tom Campbell. It's written by Producer Milton Subotsky with additional material by David Whitaker. Gordon Flemyng returns as the director.
The Tardis is temporarily parked on a modern day London street when a robbery occurs nearby. Bernard Cribbins is the constable who tries to stop the thieves. He's clubbed for his trouble and seeking help he heads for the police box. He passes out just after he enters the Tardis and wakes up in the future. Don't you hate that? Once I passed out and when I woke up I was on the couch and it was the next day.
Outside the Tardis they find London is a mess. Even the Thames is polluted with Daleks. The Doc and the gang run about and get separated. They get caught and escape. That's where the films are similar to the TV show. The Daleks have a plan to dig a tunnel toward the Earth's core and toss a bomb down the hole. They'll fill the giant hole with a space engine and push the Earth to their own world Skaro where they can live on it. You know who is going to put a stop to that. There's a high body count as the rebels and the Daleks and their Robomen fight it out.
As you'd guess Doctor Who beats the Daleks and saves the Earth. It was fairly entertaining but not great. I was glad to have seen it and don't feel bad for buying one. There's a good bit of action and better effects than the tv show. The films aren't part of the TV shows continuity and that's ok with me. Someone gave me a copy of the RiffTrax version of the film and I watched that too. The guys made a lot of jokes but many of them weren't very funny.
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