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William Hartnell
The Dalek Invasion of Earth
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Synopsis


Daleks in London
Daleks in London
 Radiation nil, oxygen normal, pressure normal...an earth reading! The TARDIS has landed in London. A menacing deserted London, with no sign of life and no sense of normality, but the decaying city is not as empty as it seems. The year is 2164 and the travellers soon find themselves facing antagonists whom they thought they had destroyed . .. the Daleks. They have conquered the earth.

 Ten years after a cosmic storm continents of people were wiped out by a plague. Then the Daleks came in saucers, shipping humans to vast mining areas, turning them into Robomen and against their fellow humans. Earth contains something no other planet contains – a magnetic core - but why are the Daleks digging for it and how can The Doctor prevent them from tampering with the forces of creation?

Source: BBC VHS Video


General Information

Season: Two
Production Code: K
Story Number: 10
Episode Numbers:46 - 51
Number of Episodes: 6
Percentage of Episodes Held:100%
Alternative Titles:"The Invaders" and "World's End"
Working Titles:"The Return of the Daleks"
Production Dates: August - October 1964
Broadcast Started: 21 November 1964
Broadcast Finished: 26 December 1964
Colour Status: B&W
Studio: Riverside (Studio 1)
Location: London: Whitehall, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Bridge, Albert Embankment, The Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, the Albert Memorial, Wembley, Wood Lane (Central Line) tube station, St Katherine's Dock (Wapping) and Kew railway bridge.
Others: John’s Hole Quarry.
Writer:Terry Nation
Director:Richard Martin
Producer:Verity Lambert
Associate Producer:Mervyn Pinfield
Story Editor:David Whitaker
Editor:John Griffiths
Production Assistant:Jane Shirley
Assistant Floor Manager:Christina Lawton
Designer:Spencer Chapman
Costume Designers:Tony Pearce and Daphne Dare (Episodes 1, 2, 5 & 6)
Make-Up Designers:Elizabeth Blattner (Episode 4) and Sonia Markham (Episodes 1-3, 5 & 6)
Cameraman:Peter Hamilton
Lighting:Howard King
Incidental Music:Francis Chagrin
Special Sounds (SFX Editor):Brian Hodgson
Studio Sounds:Jack Brummitt
Title Sequence:Bernard Lodge
Title Music:Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Delia Derbyshire
Daleks Originally Created By: Terry Nation
Number of Doctors: 1
The Doctor: William Hartnell (The First Doctor)
Number of Companions: 3The Companions: Carole Ann Ford (Susan) (Departs), Jacqueline Hill (Barbara Wright) and William Russell (Ian Chesterton) Additional Cast: Bernard Kay (Carl Tyler), Peter Fraser (David Campbell), Alan Judd (Dortmun), Martyn Huntley, Peter Badger (Robomen), Robert Jewell, Gerald Taylor, Nick Evans, Kevin Manser, Peter Murphy (Daleks), Robert Aldous (Insurgent), Peter Hawkins, David Graham (Dalek Voices), Ann Davies (Jenny), Michael Goldie (Craddock), Michael Davis (Thomson), Richard McNeff (Baker), Graham Rigby (Larry Madison), Nicholas Smith (Wells), Nick Evans (Slyther), Patrick O'Connell (Ashton), Jean Conroy (Women in the wood), Meriel Hobson (Women in the wood)Setting: England (late 2160's) Villain: Daleks

The Episodes

No. Episodes Broadcast
(UK)
Duration Viewers
(Millions)
In Archive
46World's End21 November 196423'42"11.416mm telerecording
47The Daleks28 November 196424'19"12.416mm telerecording
48Day of Reckoning05 December 196426'50"11.916mm telerecording
49The End of Tomorrow12 December 196423'23"11.916mm telerecording
50The Waking Ally19 December 196424'29"11.416mm telerecording
51Flashpoint26 December 196425'21"12.416mm telerecording

Total Duration 2 Hours 28 Minutes


Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions) 11.9
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (1998)75.03%  (Position = 39 out of 159)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2009)79.21% Higher (Position = 44 out of 200)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2014)80.22% Higher (Position = 47 out of 241)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023) Position = 1 out of 29


Archives


 All episodes exist as 16mm telerecordings. An Arabic print is also held of "World's End," "The Daleks," "The End of Tomorrow" and "Flashpoint".



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Notes


This story has also been referred to as "The Invaders" and "World's End" - notably in the frontspiece of the Target novelisation. "World's End" is the title of the first episode and was applied to the story as a whole by the 1973 Radio Times Tenth Anniversary Special. In a touch of irony, the story begins in the real World's End area of Chelsea in London.

This story features the first departure of an original cast member: Carole Ann Ford who played The Doctor's 'granddaughter', Susan. It was the production team's idea rather than writer Terry Nation's to write Susan out by way of a romance with the freedom fighter David Campbell.

Carole Ann Ford's departure was the first of what would be many cast changes in the history of the programme.

Carole Ann Ford reprised her role as Susan in the 1983 Twentieth Anniversary Special "The Five Doctors", although no mention was made of David Campbell or her life after she left the TARDIS. Some of this was explored in the BBC The Eighth Doctor Stories novel "Legacy of the Daleks" by John Peel.

The Doctor gets to visit his granddaughter again in the 2009 Big Finish Productions subscriber special audio story "An Earthly Child" starring Carole Ann Ford as Susan and Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor. This story also introduces The Doctor's great grandson Alex Campbell, played by Jake McGann, who is Paul McGann's son.

With the departure of Susan it was planned that this story would have introduced a fifteen-year-old girl named Saida, played by Pamela Franklin, as a new companion by having her stow away aboard the TARDIS at the end of the last episode. This idea was subsequently dropped and Saida became just a one-off character, renamed Jenny and played by Ann Davies.

Nicholas Smith, who would later become famous as Mr. Rumbold in Are You Being Served?, appears in his first speaking role in television. He was originally only to have appeared in episode three but he ended up leading the miners' revolution in episodes five and six.

Bernard Kay, who portrays Carl Tyler (and also provides the voice over on the longer of the 2 surviving BBC trailers for this story), would later appear in "The Crusade", "The Faceless Ones" and "Colony in Space".

An injured William Hartnell does not appear in "The End of Tomorrow" (apart from in the film insert reprise from the third) though his stand-in Edmund Warwick does. Edmund Warwick went on to appear as the First Doctor's robotic double in the later Dalek story, "The Chase".

In this story we see The Doctor kill a person. He attacks a Roboman, explaining 'I never take life... only when my own is immediately threatened!'

Dortmun calls the material the Daleks casings are made of as ‘Dalekanium’. In the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks", Dalekanium is confirmed by the Daleks themselves to be the substance which Dalek casings are made from. However, in the alternate future of the 1972 Third Doctor story, "Day of the Daleks" (and the PC computer game "Destiny of the Doctors"), Dalekanium is an unstable explosive that can penetrate Dalek casings.

The Tenth Doctor is heard to mention the Dalek’s plan to move the Earth in "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End".

The Virgin Books' The New Adventures novel "GodEngine" by Craig Hinton offers an alternate explanation for the Daleks' attempt to remove the Earth's core: an ancient Osirian weapon, capable of turning a star into a giant plasma cannon, which can be operated only on a planet without a bipolar magnetic field. "GodEngine" suggests that the Daleks were working with a rogue group of Ice Warriors to assemble this weapon, and planned to install it on the Earth. The novel also states that The Doctor returned to recover Susan's discarded TARDIS key.

This story features the first of many quarries to be used in the show's location filming - this one, John's Hole Quarry, actually is representing a quarry rather than an alien landscape.

This was the very first story which made extensive use of location filming, with London being chosen as the primary backdrop. The decision to use London also helped to keep the show within its production budget given that the BBC's Lime Grove studios, where Doctor Who was produced, were located at nearby Shepherd's Bush. Location filming took place in various parts of London including extensive sequences at Whitehall, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Bridge, Albert Embankment, The Royal Albert Hall, Kensington and the Albert Memorial. Scenes involving the Dalek roadblock were filmed at Wembley.

The dockland scenes were shot at the abandoned Wood Lane (Central Line) tube station in West London and the river sequences both shot besides the River Thames at St Katherine's Dock in Wapping and at Kew railway bridge.

The Black Dalek's 'pet', the Slyther, manages to change appearance somewhat between the end of the fourth episode and the beginning of the fifth. (This was due to dissatisfaction on the production team's part with the original version of the costume).

Along with "Planet of Giants" this story was actually the final story made in the first recording block, but was held over to open Season Two.

"The Dalek Invasion of Earth" is Story Editor David Whitaker's last involvement with Doctor Who.

A clip of the speech by The Doctor, to Susan at the end of this story, saying that he would return would be reused as the prologue to the 1983 Twentieth Anniversary Special "The Five Doctors".

This story was the basis for the 1966 Amicus Doctor Who film, Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD, staring Peter Cushing as Doctor Who. The film version starred Bernard Cribbins (as Tom Campbell), Jill Curzon (as Louise) and Roberta Tovey (as Susan).



First and Last

The Firsts:

 The first Dalek story set on Earth.

 The first departure of an original cast member. Carole Ann Ford who played The Doctor's 'granddaughter', Susan.

 The first story in which the Daleks are heard to use their famous battle-cry of 'Exterminate'.

 The first story to feature The Doctor actually killing a person - namely a Roboman.

 The first story that Dalekanium (the powerful metal from which Dalek cases are formed) is mentioned.

 The first Doctor Who story to contain a major use of location filming.

 The first of many quarries to be used in the show's location filming - the first being John's Hole Quarry.

 The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Richard Martin.

 The first Doctor Who story to be recorded at Riverside.

 The first Doctor Who story to have an individual episode watched by more than 12 million viewers. This being the second and sixth episodes.


The Lasts (Subject to Future Stories):

 Carole Ann Ford's last story as regular companion Susan.

 David Whitaker's last involvement in the show as Story Editor.


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The Plot

WARNING: May Contain SpoilersHide Text
The TARDIS by the Thames
The TARDIS by the Thames

The TARDIS materialises near a rubble strewn plot of wasteland alongside a very dirty looking river. On exiting the TARDIS The Doctor surmises from their surroundings that they have landed in London. This news delights Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton as it looks as if they have at last managed to return home.

But something is not quite right. It is curiously silent and London looks deserted. They also notice the look of decay around them making The Doctor wonder about what year it is, fearing that it is nowhere near Barbara and Ian's time. Susan attempts to see if she can see anything of interest but in doing so she slips on the loose rubble and twists her ankle. At the same time the bridge, under which the TARDIS has materialised, collapses, so burying the TARDIS and blocking the travellers' access to it.

While The Doctor and Ian Chesterton go off to a nearby warehouse to look for some tools, to help them shift the rubble away from the TARDIS door, Barbara remains behind to look after Susan. In the abandoned warehouse, The Doctor and Ian are unaware they are being watched. They also find a calendar marked 2164 – proving that they have arrived in the 22nd-century and so nowhere near the time Barbara and Ian started travelling in the TARDIS.

Back on Earth
Back on Earth

However, when The Doctor and Ian return to the where the TARDIS landed there is no sight of either of the two girls. Unbeknown to them Barbara and Susan have meet up with a team of resistance fighters, led by the wheelchair-bound Dortmun who informs them that Dalek invaders are now ruling the Earth with the aid of some humans who they have converted into zombie-like Robomen.

The Doctor and Ian also become aware of this fact when they are captured and taken to a Dalek saucer. But they are soon rescued before being turned into Robomen. The Doctor is subsequently reunited with Susan and meets David Campbell a young man with whom she has become friendly with.

A Dalek Emerges from the Thames
A Dalek Emerges from the Thames

The Doctor learns that the Daleks have established a huge mine in Bedfordshire and that they intend to remove the Earth's core using a huge bomb and replace it with a powerful drive system so that they can pilot the planet around the galaxy.

Even though The Doctor is rescued in the resistance fighter's attack on the Dalek's saucer Ian though is unable to escape and so is left onboard the Dalek saucer when it takes off and so finds himself hitching a lift to the Dalek mine in Bedfordshire.

Dortmun has meanwhile persuaded Barbara and a young resistance fighter to travel with him but his obsession with the success of his bombs eventually leads him to make a suicidal attack on a Dalek patrol. Barbara and Jenny manage to escape and so also decide to head for Bedfordshire.

The Dalek Saucer Over London
The Dalek Saucer Over London

There The Doctor and his companions finally meet up and together they are able to thwart the Dalek's plan. Ian manages to create a barrier in a mine shaft in order to intercept the bomb. The resulting explosion creates a huge volcanic eruption which destroys the Daleks, their saucer and the mine.

On returning to London, to be reunited with the TARDIS, The Doctor realises that Susan has fallen in love with resistance fighter David Campbell, and so locks the TARDIS doors to prevent her from entering. Despite the heartache it causes he realises that it is best to leave her on Earth to find a new life with David, while he continues on his travels with Barbara and Ian.

As Susan looks forlornly at the empty space where the TARDIS used to be, she fingers the TARDIS key on the chain around her neck. David reaches his hand out to her and she takes it, dropping the key onto the ground as they both walk away to start their new life together.

 
A Roboman
A Roboman
Daleks in Trafalgar Square
Daleks in Trafalgar Square
Dortmun With his Bomb
Dortmun With his Bomb
The Dalek Control Room
The Dalek Control Room
 
Escape From the Mine
Escape From the Mine
Saying Goodbye to Susan
Saying Goodbye to Susan
Susan is Left Behind
Susan is Left Behind
Travelling Without Susan
Travelling Without Susan




Quote of the Story


 'We are the masters of Earth!'

A Dalek



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Release Information

FormatTitleRelease Date (UK)Code NumberCover ArtRemarks
Video
VHS
The Dalek Invasion of Earth - Part 1 (Episodes 1-3)May 1990BBCV 4353Alister PearsonDouble cassette release
Video
VHS
The Dalek Invasion of Earth - Part 2 (Episodes 4-6)May 1990BBCV 4353Alister PearsonDouble cassette release The 'next episode' caption deleted from "Flashpoint"
Audio
CD
30 Years at the Radiophonic Workshop1993BBC CD 871Photo-montageSound effects
Video
DVD
The Dalek Invasion of EarthJune 2003BBCDVD 1156Photo-montageComplete Unedited Version
Video
DVD
The Dalek Invasion of Earth2003BBCDVD 1384Photo-montagePart of "Dalek Collector's Edition" Box Set also containing "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" and "Remembrance of the Daleks" Exclusive to W H Smith
Video
DVD
The Dalek Invasion of EarthJanuary 2007BBCDVD 2261Part of "The Dalek" Box Set containing 5 Dalek stories Exclusive to Amazon
Video
Blu-Ray
Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 2 (Limited Edition)December 2022BBCBD 0479Photo-montageBlu-Ray Limited Edition boxed set containing 9 specially restored stories


In Print

FormatTitleRelease Date (UK)PublisherAuthorCover ArtRemarks
Novel
Novel
Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of EarthJuly 1977Target No. 17Terrance DicksChris AchilleosISBN: 0-426-11244-X
(Orange Logo Cover)
Novel
Novel
Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of EarthAugust 1978Target No. 17Terrance DicksChris AchilleosISBN: 0-426-11244-X
(Blue Logo Cover)
Novel
Novel
Dalek Omnibus1983WH AllenTerrance DicksAndrew SkilleterHardback. ISBN: 0-491-03420-3
Novel
Novel
Doctor Who Classics: The Dalek Invasion of Earth & The CrusadersAugust 1988Star BooksTerrance DicksAndrew SkilleterDouble story release.
ISBN: 0-352-32264-0
Novel
Novel
The Dalek Invasion of EarthAugust 1990Target No. 17Terrance DicksAlister PearsonVirgin new cover reprint.
ISBN: 0-426-11244-X
CD
CD
Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of EarthNovember 2009Target No. 17Terrance DicksChris AchilleosAudio version of the Target Novel read by William Russell (Ian Chesterton).
CD
CD
Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of EarthOctober 2012Target No. 17Terrance DicksChris AchilleosAudio version of the Target Novel read by William Russell (Ian Chesterton). Part of the 'Invasion Earth!' Box Set.
Novel
Novel
The Essential Terrance Dicks Volume 1August 2021BBC BooksTerrance DicksHardback with a forward by Frank Cottrell-Boyce
Doctor Who CMS Magazine (An Adventure in Space and Time)Issue 10
Doctor Who WeeklyIssue 12 (Released: January 1980)
Doctor Who WeeklyIssue 13 (Released: January 1980)
Doctor Who Magazine - NostalgiaIssue 141 (Released: October 1988)
Doctor Who Magazine - ArchiveIssue 280 (Released: July 1999)
Doctor Who Magazine - Time TeamIssue 285 (Released: December 1999)
Doctor Who Magazine - Time TeamIssue 286 (Released: January 2000)
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of FictionIssue 487 (Released: July 2015)
Doctor Who DVD FilesVolume 95 (Released: August 2012)

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Photo Gallery


The Doctor and Companions

 
William Hartnell
The First Doctor

   

Carole Ann Ford
Susan
Jacqueline Hill
Barbara Wright
William Russell
Ian Chesterton
   




On Release

VHS Video Cover
VHS Video Cover

BBC
VIDEO
VHS Video Cover
VHS Video Cover

BBC
VIDEO
Sound Effects CD Cover
Sound Effects CD Cover

BBC
AUDIO
DVD Cover
DVD Cover

BBC
VIDEO
   
W H Smith Dalek Box Set DVD Cover
W H Smith Dalek Box Set DVD Cover

BBC
VIDEO
Amazon Dalek Box Set DVD Cover
Amazon Dalek Box Set DVD Cover

BBC
VIDEO
The Collection Season 2 Limited Edition Blu-Ray Cover
The Collection Season 2 Limited Edition Blu-Ray Cover

BBC
VIDEO



In Print

Original Target Book Cover (Orange Logo)
Original Target Book Cover (Orange Logo)

Target
NOVEL
Original Target Book Cover (Blue Logo)
Original Target Book Cover (Blue Logo)

Target
NOVEL
Dalek Omnibus Cover
Dalek Omnibus Cover

WH Allen
NOVEL
Doctor Who Classics Cover
Doctor Who Classics Cover

Star Books
NOVEL
   
Reprinted Virgin Book Cover
Reprinted Virgin Book Cover

Virgin
NOVEL
Target Audio CD Cover
Target Audio CD Cover

BBC
CD
Invasion Earth! Box Set Cover
Invasion Earth! Box Set Cover

BBC
CD
The Essential Terrance Dicks Volume 1 Book Cover
The Essential Terrance Dicks Volume 1 Book Cover

BBC
NOVEL
   



Magazines

Doctor Who CMS Magazine (An Adventure in Space and Time): Issue 10
Doctor Who CMS Magazine (An Adventure in Space and Time): Issue 10

CMS
Doctor Who Weekly: Issue 12
Doctor Who Weekly: Issue 12

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Weekly: Issue 13
Doctor Who Weekly: Issue 13

Marvel Comics
   
Doctor Who Magazine - Nostalgia: Issue 141
Doctor Who Magazine - Nostalgia: Issue 141

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Archive: Issue 280
Doctor Who Magazine - Archive: Issue 280

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 285
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 285

Marvel Comics
   
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 286
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 286

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 487
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 487

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 95
Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 95

GE Fabbri
   

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