010 - The Dalek Invasion Of Earth

Broadcast:

21^st November - 26^th December 1964

Doctor:

William Hartnell

Companions:

Ian, Barbara, Susan

Adversary:

Daleks

Written by:

Terry Nation

Director:

Richard Martin

Music:

Francis Chagrin

Script Editor:

David Whitaker

Producer:

Verity Lambert

Average Viewers:

11.9m (11.4, 12.4, 11.9, 11.9, 11.4, 12.4)

Summary: In the year 2164, the Daleks have invaded Earth (England) wiping out much of the population with a plague and converted suitable survivors into Roboman slaves. As they dig to the Earth's core only a small resistance group and the TARDIS travellers stand in their way.

This was it, the big rematch that cemented Doctor Who as a continuing success that could run for many years. The Daleks had ensured the show's initial success a year earlier and allowed production to continue to the full intended series when it was the second serial broadcast. Now it was the dastardly dustbins time to return in the second series, again in the second serial slot, and really work their magic. This kind of 'sequel' was practically unheard of at the time but their initial success let the production team know that they were onto a winner and The Dalek Invasion Of Earth was soon lined up for commission. What followed became known as Dalekmania, like Beatlemania before it the country would be swept away with enthusiasm, merchandise and a couple of films. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Although The Dalek Invasion Of Earth spanned six weeks, there is very little news to report in setting the scene. Kenya became a republic exactly a year after gaining independence from the UK and the Beatles earned their second Christmas number one with "I Feel Fine". Other number ones included The Supremes "Baby Love" and The Rolling Stones "Little Red Rooster" (But not The Go-Go's "I'm Gonna Spend My Christmas With A Dalek" which failed to chart!) In the cinemas were two contrasting films Black Sabbath and Mary Poppins. Two events that are worth noting but of which the public would not have been aware are the abduction and murder of 10 year old Lesley Ann Downey - the fourth moors murders victim (the second having been 12 year old John Kilbride, rather poignantly for Doctor Who fans, in the early evening of 23 November 1963) Police began their search on 26th December but it would be another year before the perpetrators were identified. Something else that would have its own impact but a delayed awareness, and strangely relevant to The Dalek Invasion Of Earth was the first flight of the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, a secret aeroplane built for stealth and speed with unusual triangular wings, it would lead to reports of UFO sightings in America and feed the belief that aliens were out there and on their way!

Meanwhile, in Doctor Who, they were already here...

The Dalek Invasion Of Earth is a major landmark for Doctor Who. Not only does it feature the first returning alien, it is also the first Earth invasion story, has the first proper and extensive use of location filming (including the first of many quarries!), studio work was entirely at Riverside Studios allowing for bigger and more open sets as well as much better camera angles (Riverside would soon become the series's home for several years), and it saw the first departure of a main character as Carole Anne Ford left the show. It had the best viewing figures to date and made it into the top 10 for the first time (both episodes 2 and 3) It would also remain in the top 5 most viewed Doctor Who serials until Destiny Of The Daleks in 1979 (which was artificially boosted by strikes at ITV) and remains in the top 10 even today.

Episode one opens with an ominous poster partially obscured which reads "It is forbidden to dump bodies.." before we see a very desolate looking man with a curious helmet trudge his way into a river and as the TARDIS materialises we see the poster goes on to clarify "... in the river", quite a grim start and one that sets the scene quite nicely. Indeed, the BBC would receive negative comments regarding how grim, violent and dark the story was, but it didn't stop the masses from sitting down each week to watch it! For unknown reasons, the side windows of the TARDIS police box are open, angled in slightly. It seems odd that the prop would even have been built with opening windows, let alone having them opened without explanation, and as far as I'm aware this is the only time they were (though I'll happily be corrected as I continue my voyage through the series)

Although we don't get to see it for some time, Barbara and Ian get a feeling that they have finally arrived back in London and the Doctor jovially exclaims "I don't want to boast, but we might be somewhere in London. More by luck than good judgement" but he's not so sure of the year. Ian points out that it's pretty deserted and surmises that it's probably Sunday but "A year or two either way doesn't make much difference to us", however things get more worrying when Susan falls from the embankment and the bridge overhead starts to collapse, blocking access to the TARDIS. The episode progresses nicely, setting the scene, establishing the emptiness of the place, separating the travellers, introducing wobbly flying saucers and a wobbly set (Ian kicks a door in a derelict warehouse so it is possible that the wobble wasn't out of character) and Hartnell manages to slip in a line fluff "Don't you know what has... don't you want to know what has happened?" and all this before we see the first Dalek!

As it happens, the first Dalek doesn't appear until the very end of the first episode in a now iconic shot of it emerging from within the river Thames! Curiously, the Dalek is seen from three angles and its colouring looks different each time. There are two different shots of it emerging from the water, one is definitely on location but the second was possibly in an Ealing studio water tank (but it is not clear if this was the case) it's bumps definitely appear darker in the second shot, then as production moved to the television studio a different prop was used and the colours are different again (check out Dalek6388.co.uk for at least some details!) Completely separate from this anomaly, Ian and the Doctor notice changes since they last saw the Daleks, they now have parabolic dishes on their backs presumably to receive power so they can move on Earth rather than running on static electricity from their metal floors on Skaro. What they didn't mention was the enlarged bases which were added to enable the operators better movement over rough, non-studio floors (again Dalek6388 has a good run-down, but new designer Spencer Chapman reasoned that they would look like hovercraft skirts and could potentially give them theoretical agility over uneven surfaces and possibly steps, though this aspect was never explored in the narrative, presumably because it was not practical to achieve in reality) It is interesting though that the dishes are very similar to those on the Roboman headsets which are described as ears or means of communication rather than power sources. Regardless of the finer details and their narrative reasons, which are only speculated anyway, there is a more definite and more obvious introduction that would have impact on future stories... the lead Dalek is a different colour! In fact when 'he' first appears 'he' is two tone with a dark head-dome and gun-boxes while 'his' skirt segments are almost alternate dark and light. This Dalek is identified by the locals as the Saucer Commander but in later episodes is referred to by the Daleks themselves as "The Black Dalek" because, by then, the two-tone is gone and the paint job is complete, 'he' is completely black (and throughout there is a crude repair job visible on the grill section)

Speaking of the Dalek Saucer, it is first seen close up (rather than the wobbly model) during a flashback montage as the story of their invasion is retold by two separate characters, one telling the Doctor and Ian, one telling Barbara and Susan - an effective but pretty adventurous sequence for an as-live production. However well it works though, two stage-hands / crew-members are seen in the background and a cue is heard! There is also some unusual 'background' noise that can be heard at various points which may be from the studio's talk-back system (there is a very definite example of this during The Sensorites which has become infamous, so it is very possible). The Saucer's access ramp was partly responsible for an incident that saw William Hartnell hospitalised and unable to record an episode. The DVD's production subtitles suggest that his presence was fairly minimal in the episode any way but a few rewrites were needed to cover the fact that Edmund Warwick was standing in and only seen briefly from behind before fainting very early on in episode 4. With Hartnell back at work the following week the Doctor is returned to the action almost immediately in episode 5, adding to the sense that his absence was not as deliberate as the notes suggest. Something else that makes a sudden appearance at the start of episode 5 is a large quarry bucket over the shaft that had provided the cliffhanger. Rather disappointing that Ian and the resistance worker (sorry, I've forgotten his name) were menaced by the Slyther (which was an anomaly in itself) and they were backed up against the sheer drop with no means of escape... then suddenly there is a means of escape and they manage to jump the gap but the Slyther doesn't. However, as we see them descend in the bucket there is a really good sense of motion provided by passing shadows and a wobbling of the camera - in reality, of course, they were completely static. Oddly enough, when they reach the bottom there is no sign of the Slyther! Unfortunately these kind of structural/continuity issues seem to be a mark of Terry Nation's writing, as we saw in The Keys Of Marinus, he created some great adventures but they don't stand up to very close inspection. But this is fantasy fiction aimed at a young television audience so we shouldn't judge it too harshly (especially when each episode would only have been viewable once and there were no repeats for many years - occasional cut-down omnibus editions during the holidays in the 70s or special seasons to mark the 10th anniversary etc but that was it until slow VHS releases in the 80s and the cult reruns on BBC2 in the 90s)

Whilst on the subject of disappointments and things that don't quite make sense, there is a scene where the Doctor is imprisoned by the Daleks and they apparently give him an aptitude test to see if he can escape and it makes no sense whatsoever! Neither the test equipment and the Doctor's handling of it nor the fact that the Daleks aren't ready to re-capture him when he succeeds! Also, some of the Dalek voices sound quite weak (which is really an observation that can only be made from a modern point of view based on standards set later on) including the Saucer Commander saying "Errr... errrr..." before making an announcement as if it's nervous and doesn't know what to say! However, when Barbara manages to outwit them with an amalgamation of historic revolution references (she's a History teacher after all) she does a good impersonation of their slow deliver while the Doctor's take is the more frantic version that is more familiar today. Other expectations are that the Daleks always say "Exterminate!" but that has yet to become standard. They merely used "extermination" once in a sentence in The Daleks but it starts to creep in more here as the prisoners are told "Do not try to escape or you will be exterminated" in episode 5 as Terry Nation builds up the Nazi influences with their type of rhetoric and self-superior language "Arrange for the extermination of all the human beings", "Our final solution... cleen up this planet... Kill! Kill! Kill!" "I will arrange for their extermination" It is approximately one minute into the final episode that we first here it as a battle cry "Exterminate him! Exterminate him! Exterminate him!"

Also in the final episode, William Hartnell has a bad time with his lines. He gives us the first complaint about his name well enough "Thank you, but don't call me 'Doc', I prefer 'Doctor'" but he goes on to say "We've got to pres... er... prevent it", "Immola... Immobilise" and 'consternation' instead of 'constellation' Perhaps this was partly due to the emotional strain of this episode. It was, after all, Carole Anne Ford's departure and the final scenes were very emotional, despite the cold way in which the Doctor just locks Susan out of the TARDIS and essential tells her to get on with her own life. Earlier in the story, Susan had expressed her desire to find somewhere she fitted in, something that had first been expressed several adventures earlier in The Sensorites and she had developed a closeness to David, though it seemed to grow rather rapidly in episode 5 to the point where they were kissing almost unexpectedly. Essentially, the Doctor knew that she would struggle to choose between leaving with him and staying with David so he made the choice for her, stating that she is a woman now and she no longer needed him but here was a chance to really do some good and help rebuild Earth. This is rather in contrast to the first episode where she goes scrambling up the embankment like a child and needing "a jolly good smacked bottom" when she causes the collapse! He also explains that she needs 'taking in hand' because she has become quite disorganised. He leaves her with a now famous speech that was used to open The Five Doctors ahead of them finally seeing each other again "One day I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back. Until then there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine..." a speech which is perfectly and poignantly delivered by Hartnell. Susan drops her TARDIS key and walks into David's arms. The camera pans back down to the key and the picture cross-fades into a shot of the galaxy which then dissolves to black as the credits roll.

That saw the end of the first production block and the actors took a five week break before returning, without Carole to work on The Rescue where a new companion would be found...

Other things of note that I didn't manage to squeeze into meaningful passages include the sighting of a Dalek's underside as it his hoisted up victoriously by freed slaves (though it doesn't have its extra chunky bumper addition), Barbara driving a van through a row of Daleks, the Daleks' improved mobility leading to them almost dancing around for no reason, various walls and objects being marked with large "VETOED" signs (never explained in the narrative but presumably a mark of Dalek control, though from the designer's point of view it was a reference to receiving his paperwork back from producers with all the nice expensive elements being marked "Omit"), the first use of the word 'Dalekanium' (though it is pronounced 'Dalakenium') and two set wobbles as Susan falls backs on a ladder and as the Doctor climbs down the edge of a crater. Also worth noting are the effective use of stock footage, of both the quarry workings and its destruction, a fight sequence so tightly cut that one of the cameras isn't quite ready, and the brilliant location sequences of Barbara on the run and the Daleks touring London (Trafalgar Square, The Albert Memorial, Westminster Bridge) and the first use of acetone-on-polystyrene to create a melting/dissolving effect. The next meeting was commissioned half way through this one's broadcast and the film rights to the first had been secured by Christmas. Oh and the confusion surrounding the serial's setting... the text on the DVD cover says it's "the middle of the 21st century" rather than 22nd, but contemporary confusion includes the trailer advertising it as the year 2000, the first draft stated 2041 and the film version had it as 2150! Episode of course revealed it to be 2164, exactly 200 years in the future (or 150 years from now!)

There may be faults and odd moments, but The Dalek Invasion Of Earth is a great adventure over all and the extra production quality afforded to it really helps cement its success. I scored it 80%, the highest so far, with its Content aspect being a clear winner and Production aspect only being outranked by historicals and The Sensorites, largely due to costume and some weak performances