#Dalek Films

[vintage1981]

Dr. Who & The Daleks: The Official Story of the Films by John Walsh Available Now from Titan Books

The definitive guide to the making of the classic 1960s Dr. Who movies, lavishly illustrated and packed with insights into these beloved films.  

Dr. Who and the Daleks: The Official Story of the Films is the definitive guide to the making of Dr. Who and the Daleks and Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. The first and only big-screen adaptations of the long-running TV series, the films, starring Peter Cushing as the titular time-traveller, are beloved by fans – and the Daleks, in glorious Technicolor, have never looked better.

Author and film expert John Walsh has unearthed a treasure trove of archive material, interviews and stunning artwork, and takes us through the whole process of translating the metal monsters from small screen to big. In-depth information on the production, design, casting and special effects is accompanied by full-colour illustrations, including props, posters, and behind-the-scenes photography – making it the perfect gift for fans of the films.

About the Author

John Walsh is an award winning filmmaker with a focus on social justice. His work ranges from television series to feature films. He is a double BAFTA and double Grierson Awards nominee for his groundbreaking work. John’s 1989 documentary on Ray Harryhausen (Movement Into Life) is held in the Ray and Diana Foundation‘s archive. John also produced HD audio and film commentary recordings with Ray in his final years.

Hardcover | $50.00 Published by Titan Books Dec 05, 2022 (UK) Dec 20, 2022 (US) | 160 Pages | 10 x 12 | ISBN 9781803360188  

REVIEW

By Brandon Gantt

Dr. Who & The Daleks: The Official Story of the Films is a title that I have eagerly looked forward to since it was announced. Filmmaker and author John Walsh has the golden touch (or pen) when writing definitive guides on classic cult cinema. He’s done it thrice over with his tomes, Harryhausen: The Lost Movies (2019), Flash Gordon: The Official Story of the Film (2020), and Escape From New York: The Official Story of the Film (2021), all for Titan Books. To say my expectations were high would be an understatement. Consumers and reviewers highly regarded all three previous titles, and all were nominated for Rondo Hatton Classic Horror awards!

Luckily Dr. Who & The Daleks: The Official Story of the Films lives up to Walsh’s previous titles and my lofty expectations! John takes control of TARDIS and drops us effortlessly back to the swinging sixties, where Dalekmania was running wild, culminating in the two 1960s Doctor Who film adaptations, Dr. Who and the Daleks and Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. John does an admirable job of painting a vivid picture of the making of these two films, drawn from lots of archive material, interviews, unseen artwork, and gloriously restored and colourised photos by Clayton Hickman. The book examines the complete production process for both films, including production, design, casting, and distribution, all accompanied by a cornucopia of illustrations, behind-the-scenes photos, posters, and props that I’ve never seen before. The overseas promotional campaigns are always fascinating, as Doctor Who had yet to become the worldwide phenomenon it is today.

This book is a must-purchase. Whether you are a fan of Doctor Who or just cinema, John Walsh has done a magnificent job capturing the excitement and enthusiasm of 1960s Doctor Who.

Interview with John Walsh

[electronicartisanfury]

Poll: Favourite of these UK pop culture institutions of the 50's and 60's?

My own personal favourite is Doctor Who. But I'm not voting for obvious reasons of course.

[ninemelodies]

“sorry, rose.”

[halestromthewhoobsessed]

Pertwee era CSO filming photos are so strange

[do-you-know-this-dw-story]

dr. who and the daleks (film: 1965)

[yahoo201027]

Day in Fandom History: September 1…

The Doctor, Amy, and Rory are taken by The Doctor’s greatest foe in the Daleks who, rather than exterminating them, send them to an Asylum where all things go to die and destroy it. The first episode of Series 7, “Asylum of the Daleks”, premiered on this day, 12 Years Ago.

[regicidal-defenestration]

ROWAN I wanna start watching Old Who, where should I start

Doctors 1 thru 7 are on tubi but they don't seem to have 8 for some reason :( I could also dig up the TV movie or something, i remember watching at least 1 doctor who movie on vhs at my grandma's but I don't know which one it was

OKAY SO the first rule of watching Classic Who is having fun and being yourself

Further than that:

First Doctor - Start at the start!

Classic move! Put on An Unearthly Child and watch them all in the order that God, or at least the BBC*, intended

(*disregarding the ones, all from the First or Second Doctor's runs, that were purged from the archives as part of due process back then. Some have been reconstructed in a variety of ways, others remain entirely lost)

Pros of starting here: Easy! You get to watch the show develop into what it is today and you don't have to piece together context in ways you might have to to be willing to starting elsewhere

Cons of starting here: The show started very differently to what it is today. The pacing is sometimes slower, sometimes just by the nature of the story, sometimes because they had 2 episodes worth of plot they had to fit into 6 parts

Seventh Doctor - Start at the... end?

The Seventh Doctor, particularly when he's joined by Ace McShane at the end of s24, is arguably the most similar to modern DW. The first Classic Who episodes I ever watched were Dragonfire and The Happiness Patrol after I was given them on DVD as a gift

Pros of starting here: we've got drama we've got a Doctor who's a little bit fucked up with his schemes we've got a teenager willing (for better or for worse) to jump into the fight, it's often familiar to a modern DW watcher and as good a place as any to start. Also has a incredibly high proportion of banger serials, something I realised later down this post when trying to pick a few to recommend

Cons of starting here: plot threads that never develop into what they promise, due to the show getting cancelled in series 25. You may also be left with the reasonable question of "okay so I've watched the end bit of DW, now what?"

Eighth Doctor - Why is my tumblr mutual abnormal about this man

Never got a TV series :(. He has like three televised appearances: a minisode made for the show's 50th anniversary, a cameo in an episode made for the BBC's 100th anniversary, and the TV movie Doctor Who (1996), which was an attempt at bringing the show back after it got cancelled in 1989

Pros of starting here: doesn't directly follow on from any previous stories and since you already know who these guys (the Doctor and the Master) are, you know all the relevant backstories (other than a few new pieces of lore they throw in just for this film, to really piss off a certain kind of diehard DW fan)

Cons of starting here: as much as I love it dearly, and regard it as a masterpiece of cinema, I do acknowledge it would be massively improved by, for example, a coherent plot. There's a reason it took until 2005 for the show to come back properly and it wasn't because everybody at the time loved this film

Addendum - Watching orders are overrated

The order I've been watching Classic Who in has gone 7 -> 5 -> 3, excluding the odd single serials I've watched from 1, 4, and 6. The world can be your oyster if you're willing to sometimes skim some character's wiki page to find out who they're supposed to be. Some ones I recommend(*) and ones I haven't seen but have been reliably recommended by friends(+) are:

First Doctor

The Romans (+)

The Gunfighters (+)

-> DW's first musical serial!

Second Doctor

The Tomb of the Cybermen (+)

Fury from the Deep (+)

The War Games (+)

Third Doctor

Spearhead from Space (*)

Inferno (*)

The Curse of Peladon (*)

-> Really this is because I am just so delighted by Alpha Centauri whenever it appears

The Green Death (*)

Fourth Doctor

The Ark in Space (+)

Horror of Fang Rock (+)

City of Death (*)

-> Co-written by Douglas Adams this one, and is one of those stories that's pretty much as good as everyone says it is

Fifth Doctor

Castrovalva (*)

-> Does follow directly on from the previous serial Logopolis, featuring companions introduced throughout s18, but at the time of writing I still haven't watched Logopolis so you're probably fine? Good serial for fans of fucked up architecture and blonde men in distress

Earthshock (*)

The Caves of Androzani (*)

Sixth Doctor

Vengeance on Varos (+)

Revelation of the Daleks (+)

Seventh Doctor

Remembrance of the Daleks (*)

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (*)

-> Occupies an interesting place in DW history as it is in pretty much direct response to fans at the time, to the extent they kill off a parody of an obsessive DW fan who may or may not be Chris Chibnall. Mostly I'm recommending it because it has really really good clown costuming

The Curse of Fenric (*)

Survival (*)

-> Lesbian furry serial

[type40capsule]

Compliance | A Doctor Who short film by 3ddoctorwho

From the creator: All is not what it seems in this bleak, brutalist Dalek city... Here it is (in 4K too!) Perhaps one of the weirdest things I've ever made, Compliance is the product of my wildest dreams mixed with my love of Daleks. Enjoy!

[gameraboy2]

Peter Cushing as the Doctor in Doctor Who and the Daleks (1965)

[pixiedeadbeat]

Peter Cushing as Dr Who, in the film version of Dr Who in the 1960’s.

[mizgnomer]

Behind the Scenes of Evolution of the Daleks / Daleks In Manhattan (Part 9)

Excerpt from the DVD Commentary by David Tennant, Nick Briggs (voice of the Daleks), and Barney Curnow (Visual Effects On Set Supervisor)

[ as the credits roll ] David: Well. Thanks guys, that was fun! Barney: It was good Nick: Yeah! Good, I shall have to... Emergency Temporal Shift David: Oh, oh! He's gone. That's Nick gone. [ laughter ] David: I can't believe you just did that Nick: Oh, there's no limit to what I can do

Other parts of this photoset: [ one ] [ two ] [ three ] [ four ] [ five ] [ six ] [ seven ] [ eight ] (or click the #whoBtsDaleks tag)

[doctormastertardis]

For the first time in my life, I am finally watching the 2-Part Classic Doctor Who FILMS with Peter Cushing. I hope the TV series acknowledges these films as "canon" in a parallel universe. And I hope we see THIS parallel universe in the TV series!!!

Maaaaaybe these two films could be part of the Timeless Child Arc!!!!! I have so many ideas on how to integrate these films within the canon we have now. Much excited !

[dougielombax]

Oh look. Rocks!

Winspit Quarry in Dorset.

Used as a filming location for Blake’s 7, Doctor Who (for both The Underwater Menace (couldn’t get any pics), and Destiny of the Daleks) and more recently for Star Wars: Andor.

I love seeing all these different filming locations popping up in different series and media.

[do-you-know-this-dw-story]

daleks’ invasion earth 2150 A.D (film: 1966)

[yahoo201027]

Day in Fandom History: August 30…

Surrounded by his greatest enemies, The Doctor embarks onto the most dangerous place in the whole universe where his compassion is being tested when he asks Clara one simple question: “Am I a good man?” “Into the Dalek” premiered on this day, 10 Years Ago.