Captain's Library: DOCTOR WHO MONTHLY "Dalek Movies"

Peter Cushing IS Doctor Who!

Sadly, most of today's audience doesn't even know he played Doctor Who...twice!

Note: I didn't say "The Doctor", since Cushing's version was not a Time Lord from Gallifrey, but an eccentric human scientist!

To be fair, the exact concept of who (or what) the character was didn't get defined until the final episode of the first Doctor's run, which was done after the first Cushing film!

In the Hartnell stories the Doctor is said to be from "another time, another world", but that can be just taken as his being from a future Earth (which certainly would fill both criteria).

Even when other characters from his home (like the Meddling Monk, who also had a TARDIS) were introduced, no clear definition of where (or when) they were from was presented!

(The terms "Time Lord" and "Gallifrey" were first used during the second Doctor's {Patrick Troughton] run.)

Though Cushing's two films were adaptations of BBC-TV serials ("Dead Planet" and "Dalek Invasion of Earth"), they are not considered part of the official canon of the TV series.

Here's the cover-featured story from Doctor Who Monthly #84 (1984), which was only available in America through Forbidden Planet's New York store!

(The series was made available to the US market through Diamond Distribution a couple of years later, but this particular issue wasn't.)

You can see Peter's Doctor Who in comic book form...

Doctor Who and the Daleks Part 1

Doctor Who and the Daleks Part 2

Daleks vs the Martians

Plus Peter Cushing in other Hammer Film roles...

Baron Victor Von Frankenstein 

in Curse of Frankenstein

Part 1

Part 2

Lawrence Van Helsing

in Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires

Part 1

Part 2

There's more cool Cushing stuff to come!

Bookmark us and visit often!

And check out other posts from the Peter Cushing Centennial Blogathon by clicking on the art below!

Captain's Library: DOCTOR WHO "Daleks vs the Martians"

Set between the two 1960s Dr Who films starring Peter Cushing...

...this tale was created for Doctor Who Magazine's 101st issue thirty years later in 1996!

As it turns out, it was, as we saw in Daleks: Invasion Earth, 2150 AD...

Some feel the Peter Cushing Doctor Who is an "alternate universe" version of the character, much as the current Star Trek films depict an official alternate version of the Classic Trek universe.
There's also speculation that the two films are actually part of the BBC's universe as movies portraying the Doctor's public image based on rumor and speculation!
Considering that Peter was offered the TV series role twice (after the 1st Doctor, William Hartnell, and 4th Doctor, Tom Baker, announced their departures) it's not unreasonable to assume the BBC would've found a way to incorporate material from the flicks into the series.
Note: Cushing turned down the first offer feeling he didn't want to do an ongoing TV series.
The second time, he was interested, but had no time in his schedule to accomodate a commitment of several months!
You can learn more about the genesis of this strip (and see larger scans of the art) at THIS POST at the amazing Peter Cushing Appreciation Society blog.
The official comic book adaptation of Doctor Who and the Daleks can been seen at Part 1 and Part 2.
(Plus a bonus page of videos HERE.)

Tomorrow:

An extensive text feature (with cool pix) about Peter's Dr Who films from an even earlier (and harder to find) Doctor Who Monthly!

And check out other posts from the Peter Cushing Centennial Blogathon by clicking on the art below!

Captain's Theatre: DOCTOR WHO & THE DALEKS / DALEKS - INVASION EARTH: 2150 A.D. Trailers!

Since the Doctor Who and the Daleks comic adaptation has garnered such a response, we're presenting the two trailers for the film

along with a bonus you'll see when you scroll down...

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The British Trailer, narrated by Peter Cushing as Doctor Who!
Note the sound effect that was later used as the alien ship effect on Gerry Anderson's UFO!

The American Trailer
Plus:
Trailer for the sequel, Daleks-Invasion Earth: 2150 AD!

Captain's Library: DR WHO & THE DALEKS Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

Doctor Who, his granddaughters Susan and Barbara, along with Barbara's boyfriend Ian, accidentally activate Who's time-and-space machine, the TARDIS, and travel to an alien world where they become involved an a centuries-long war between two races, the humanoid Thals and the life-support device-enclosed Daleks.

While the comic's scripter is unknown, the art was by Dick Giordano and Sal Trapani.
Encouraged by the box office for this film, Amicus adapted the second Dalek story into an even more-expensive feature film, Daleks-Invasion Earth: 2150 AD.

There was no American comic adaptation of the second Dr Who movie.

Captain's Library: DR WHO & THE DALEKS Part 1

The British have a long tradition of taking successful tv series in every genre from sitcom to sci-fi, and remaking them into feature films.
So, it seemed only logical that, with "Dalekmania" reaching a frenzied peak in 1965,  a feature film adapting the first tv appearance of the lethal pepperpots, would be a box office smash.
It didn't quite turn out that way.
Amicus Productions, basically a lower-budget Hammer Studios, acquired the rights, and produced Dr Who and the Daleks, starring horror icon Peter Cushing as Doctor Who.

Note: I said "Doctor Who" and not "The Doctor".
That's because the movie's Doctor is an eccentric human inventor named "Who", not an alien Time Lord using the title "Doctor"!
The TARDIS, while still a space-time travelling device bigger on the inside than the outside and looking like a Police Call Box, is now the product of one man's expertise, not the culmination of the technology of an advanced civilization.

Beyond that basic change to the concept, the movie was a fairly straightforward condensation of the  seven-episode serial, utilizing the original story's major plot points.
With the benefits of

• being the first color version of Doctor Who (the tv show was shot in black and white until 1970)
• a bigger budget than the tv series and
• a music score by Thunderbirds composer Barry Gray

the movie did very good box office in Europe and Asia, though only moderately-well in the US, where the tv show had not yet aired.

With all that in mind, let's continue...

We will discover more of the Daleks' plans and how to stop them, tomorrow, in the exciting conclusion!