Dr. Who And The Daleks (1965) Review

NOTE: This review has been re-posted due to a malfunction in the previous version.

Dr. Who And The Daleks... ohhhhhh my goooood...

Let me just start with a big, necessary, overdone yet still valid... why?!? Why was this movie made?!?

Now that we got that out of the way, let's start.

Peter Cushing gives a somewhat annoying, but still all-around likable performance as Dr. Who. There's nothing special about him, no memorable quirks or anything except his gorgeous costume(I'm a bit of a dandy, so I can appreciate such things).

As a character, he's pretty much Hartnell., if he was lazy. And had a moustache.

However, the one problem that I have with him is that... wait for it... wait for it... he's human!! And before you get any ideas, it's not that he IS human, but how Dr. Who is written as a human. We were fine with the Doctor playing that fluid link trick on the TARDIS crew and taking them into the city, because 1) He's an alien, 2) He's selfish, 3) His granddaughter knows the risks and 4) He doesn't care about the humans.

However, Dr. Who is NOT an alien, his granddaughter is seven or eight years old and doesn't know any better and since he's human, he obviously has to care about Ian and Barbara(ethically, at least). As such it is appalling that he takes them to this voyage to an alien planet.

As a cherry on the cake, in the original version of the scene where Susan is forced to return to the TARDIS, you believe that it's the only way because the Doctor is in delirium, Ian is paralyzed and Barbara is pretty much down too. However, in this version, Dr. Who is very much awake and seems strong enough to do the trip if he had any willpower. But no, all he does is mumble ''no, it's too dangerous for her'' in the same tone Willy Wonka used to stop the naughty kids in his chocolate factory. Several minutes after Susan left, Ian walks around fine. And Barbara never had any trouble whatsoever.

Roy Castle plays Ian Chesterton(my favourite companion!) as an idiot. Fair enough, he has a few good moments(particularly one where he sarcastically invites a Dalek into the cell) and it seems like they tried to develop him into the hero he was on the show, but at the end of the journey, he's back to his old slapstick self.

Barbara is utterly forgettable. In the original show, Barbara works because Jacqueline Hill made the character a moral center for the crew and thus a vital part of it, but here, she's totally worthless. And there was no point in making her Ian's girlfriend because they have no romantic connection throughout the movie whatsoever.

The detour of Ian and Barbara going through the caves is as pointless here as in the original version. I really hoped that would be cut out, but alas!

My favourite part in the entire movie was definitely the TARDIS. Now, believe it or not, but I might actually like Cushing's TARDIS better than Hartnell's, HIS windows light up when you open the door! And the interior is pretty cool and makeshit too, a bit reminiscent of Matt Smith's.

Fun trivia: Dr. Who is the only Doctor to open his doors outside.

The ending of the movie I found hilarious. I won't say what happened, but it was definitely a plus.

Overall, as a children's movie it's decent enough and harmless, with a hidden moral about wars, but compared to the actual Doctor Who, it's very mediocre.

Sure, it's a lot faster and better filmed than the serial itself, but the acting and writing makes that point nil.