The Dalek Invasion of Earth

010 – The Dalek Invasion of Earth
Doctor Who serial

A Dalek orders the Robomen to take the Doctor and Ian prisoner
Cast
Others
Production
Writer Terry Nation
Director Richard Martin
Script editor David Whitaker
Producer Verity Lambert
Mervyn Pinfield (associate producer)
Executive producer(s) None
Production code K
Series Season 2
Length 6 episodes, 25 minutes each
Date started 21 November 1964
Date ended 26 December 1964
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by →
Planet of Giants The Rescue

The Dalek Invasion of Earth is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in six weekly parts from November 21 to December 26, 1964. This serial marks the final regular appearance of Carole Ann Ford as companion Susan Foreman.

The basic plot of the story was used for the film Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.

Footage of William Hartnell as the First Doctor from this serial was subsequently used in the 1983 special The Five Doctors.

Contents

Plot

The TARDIS materialises, the Doctor surmising from the surroundings that they have landed in London only to find it devastated and in ruins. It turns out the year is some time after 2164.[1] Barbara and Susan are taken by a couple of refugees to a nearby shelter in an abandoned Underground station and meet resistance members named Dortmun (the leader), Carl Tyler, David Campbell, Jenny, Jack Craddock, Thomson, Baker and Larry Madison while the Doctor and Ian stumble across bodies wearing strange metal helmets and soon find an army of them and Daleks rising from the River Thames. The Daleks take the Doctor, Ian and resistance members onboard their saucer and convert any escapees into robomen.

The Doctor is caught breaking out of his cell with Ian and Craddock, who was sent with them, and he and Craddock are to be converted into robomen while Ian runs out to look for Barbara and Susan. But the Doctor's transfer operation breaks down while Susan, Barbara and the resistance team attack the Dalek force using explosives created by Dortmun. But the bombs affect the humans as well as the Daleks and several are injured or killed.

The Daleks retreat to their ship and take off to their mining operations in Bedfordshire. Ian and Larry are left onboard the ship hiding unnoticed while the Doctor with Susan, David, Baker and Tyler travel there on foot. Barbara, Dortmun and Jenny make their own ways. Dortmun is exterminated on his way out of London while attempting to use his last bomb against a group of Daleks.

The saucer lands by the mine and Ian and Larry meet miners named Wells and Ashton. Both are later killed by an aggressive creature called a Slyther, a pet of the Black Dalek. The predator falls down a mineshaft to its death, but in causing this to happen Ian and Larry are plummeted down on a cart to the mine.

The Doctor and Susan reunite with Barbara in the mine and discover that the Daleks are drilling through the Earth's crust so that they can blow out its core with a penetration explosive capsule and then use a guidance system to pilot the planet around space. Ian becomes trapped inside the device as it is on schedule. He disarms it but manages to fall at the bottom of the shaft. The Doctor and his friends enter the control room and set the Robomen against the Daleks. The device is rearmed and is sent down the shaft. But Ian creates a barrier to intercept it and he and his friends escape out of the mine before the bomb explodes, destroying the Dalek fleet and causing an entirely new phenomenon — a volcanic eruption in England.

Back in London, the Doctor bids Susan farewell to have a new partnership with David and he, Ian and Barbara leave in the TARDIS.

Continuity

Production

Serial details by episode
Episode Broadcast date Run time Viewership
(in millions)
Archive
"World's End" 21 November 1964 (1964-11-21) 23:42 11.4 16mm t/r
"The Daleks" 28 November 1964 (1964-11-28) 24:19 12.4 16mm t/r
"Day of Reckoning" 5 December 1964 (1964-12-05) 26:50 11.9 16mm t/r
"The End of Tomorrow" 12 December 1964 (1964-12-12) 23:23 11.9 16mm t/r
"The Waking Ally" 19 December 1964 (1964-12-19) 24:29 11.4 35mm t/r
"Flashpoint" 26 December 1964 (1964-12-26) 25:21 12.4 16mm t/r
[2][3]

Alternative titles

Cast notes

In print

A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in 1977. This version featured cover art based on the film rather than the TV series. A German translation was published in 1981 by Schneider-Buch with the title Doctor Who – Kampf um die Erde (Doctor Who — Struggle for the Earth) with cover illustration by David A. Hardy. A French translation was published in 1987 under the title Docteur Who – Les Daleks envahissent la Terre (Doctor Who — The Daleks invade the Earth). The cover depicts the controversial twin French physicists Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff as presenting the book.[7]

Doctor Who book
Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth
Series Target novelisations
Release number 17
Writer Terrance Dicks
Publisher Target Books
Cover artist Chris Achilleos
ISBN 0-491-02124-0
Release date 24 March 1977
Preceded by '
Followed by '

VHS and DVD releases

References

  1. ^ Howe, David J.; Walker, Stephen James (1998). "The Dalek Invasion of Earth". Doctor Who: The Television Companion. London: BBC Worldwide. p. 38. ISBN 0 563 40588 0. http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/dalekinvasion/detail.shtml#plot. 
  2. ^ a b Sullivan, Shannon (2008-03-22). "The Dalek Invasion of Earth". A Brief History of Time Travel. http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/k.html. Retrieved 2006-12-10. 
  3. ^ "The Dalek Invasion of Earth". Doctor Who Reference Guide. http://www.drwhoguide.com/who_k.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-30. 
  4. ^ The Dalek Invasion of Earth – Story Locations
  5. ^ Gary Russell (2003). Doctor Who – The Dalek Invasion Of Earth (DVD). BBC. Event occurs at 6:38 in "Now and Then" feature on Disc 2. ASIN B00009PBAN. "This was the first ever quarry to be used in the making of Doctor Who." 
  6. ^ "The Dalek Invasion of Earth". Dr Who guide. http://www.drwhoguide.com/who_k.htm. Retrieved 2 January 2011. 
  7. ^ Neal, Tim (2005-03-28). "Dalek Invasion French cover". On Target. http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~ecl6nb/OnTarget/1977/dalek/dalfrcov.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-10. 
  8. ^ The TARDIS Library: 40th Anniversary Dalek box set

External links

Fan reviews
Target novelisation