Doctor Who - The Dalek Invasion Of Earth
I have a hard time deciding what kind of Doctor Who DVD I love best - the ’70s and ’80s episodes I grew up with, now with extra features, or the 1960s episodes I only discovered in my 20s, now cleaned up and restored and made to look like they were shot yesterday (the episodes, that is, not my 20s). When a great example of the BBC’s painstaking restoration work like The Dalek Invasion Of Earth lands in my DVD player, it’s a pretty close race.
When the Daleks first appeared just before Christmas 1963, they caused an instant sensation and there was virtually no avoiding a sequel, despite the fact that writer Terry Nation had seen our heroes witness the ultimate comeuppance of his definitive villains: the Daleks all died out at the end of their first story. Not that this was going to stop anyone: the Daleks’ return story would simply be set before their first appearance, since the series is about time travel. And The Dalek Invasion Of Earth as ahead of its time by leaps and bounds - a true post-apocalyptic tale before such things were really in vogue. Now, granted, the restrictions of British tea-time TV in 1964 made it a rather mild-mannered post-apocalyptic tale, but I’d argue that it doesn’t soften it too much: big signs near the waterfront reading “it is forbidden to dump bodies in the river” imply rather a lot.
The DVD edition of Dalek Invasion is a grand example of the Doctor Who Restoration Team’s work, with all six episodes restored as close to their former glory as they can be. For the studio-shot material, this means it looks like live B&W TV. But Dalek Invasion also features extensive location work, the first in the series’ history, and that material tended to be shot on 16mm film, so you have here the beginning of that famous, slightly jarring change between studio and location material, at least as far as Doctor Who is concerned.
The extras for The Dalek Invasion Of Earth are well-chosen and interesting, for the most part. The featurettes focus on the burgeoning Dalek phenomenon in pop culture, and examine how the metal monsters were made so frightening on TV. (Whoever’s directing the Dalek comeback story for Christopher Eccleston’s ninth Doctor would do well to take heed.) Even the Dalek voice artists get their own featurette, which is both funnier and more insightful than you might think.
There’s a commentary with surviving regular cast members Carole Ann Ford and William Russell, producer Verity Lambert and director Richard Martin. I know some of it is probably due to telling and retelling these stories to interviewers and convention audiences, but I’m always amazed by how much the cast and makers of the shows remember some 40 years on. Equally interesting is the TV ephemera of the time - the infamous original TV trailers (showing the Daleks taking over London) are included, back when elaborate custom-made trailers for a single episode or serial were very uncommon, and the Blue Peter feature on how the make a Dalek cake is quite amusing. Inadvertently amusing is the 8mm silent home movie rehearsal footage shot by Carole Ann Ford on the set - as the intro to this feature explains, the film had already been used, and she accidentally double-exposed it. So, over the droning bleeps and bloops of the Dalek control room sound FX loop, we see the only extant color footage of 1964 Doctor Who…with what looks like a miniature golf game going on in the background. It’s tragic that this is how this film survived, but also rather funny in its own way.
An option is also included to view newly made CGI effects in place of the original wobbly model-on-a-string footage, but as always, the original is the default setting; one must go to the menu and make a specific selection to see the spruced-up stuff (George Lucas, please take note). There’s also a short featurette with all of the CGI shots, with captions explaining how they were accomplished.
The Dalek Invasion Of Earth has been treated to a grand remastering job befitting its historic place in the BBC’s longest-running SF series. Being able to see the story in this new light even has me reassessing my old view that it was perhaps two half-hour episodes too long. So, to the Restoration Team and BBC Video, I say: bring on the B&W episodes. If they’re as good as this one when the work is done, I can certainly wait for the later material.