Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Ian Brown Purists of the BBC cult programme will doubtless sniff at this cheerfully undemanding little spin-off by Amicus producers Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg. But, aimed squarely at Saturday morning children's cinema audiences, its not without its charm. Not least the paint-box colours (the petrified surface of planet Skaro is lit by a lurid green light) and lava-lamp decor. And some of the planetary landscape mattes are rather magnificent in their comic-strip way.Alas the weakest link, amazingly, is Peter Cushing as Dr Who. Though the film mainly sticks to writer Terry Nation's original story, the producers understandably had to jettison the television serial's back-story (such as it was in 1965) if it was to appeal to the crucial American market. But here Cushing's Doctor is little more than a doddery old grandfather, with none of the crotchety antagonism of William Hartnell, the role's originator. And the Tardis interior is just a mess of overhanging wires and junkyard cast-offs rather than the wonderfully sterile, futuristic control room of the small-screen.The Daleks, though larger, are more ungainly and don't have the streamlined menace of the TV ones (perhaps the only monsters on film to actually swivel with sheer pent-up malice). Worst of all, their exterminators just scoosh out rather pathetic white smoke. Was the original x-ray laser effect, turning the TV screen image negative, deemed too scary, even though most of its audience would have thrilled to it at home? There's not a great deal more to commend it. Roy Castle clowns around rather embarrassingly as the young male lead, while Jenny Linden barely gets a line of script as the heroine. All in all, eleven year-old Roberta Tovey walks away with the acting honours.

grendelkhan I have never understood the rather low esteem the die-hard Who fans give to the Amicus films. I'm a casual Yank fan of the series; I enjoy the series overall, but find individual episodes and portrayals to be very hit and miss. However, I enjoy the heck out of the movies, despite hearing bad things about them before finally encountering Dr. Who and the Daleks on a late night TV broadcast.The films depart from the series in a few respects, mostly in the character background. The Doctor is an eccentric Earth genius who has developed the TARDIS, rather than an alien. He has two granddaughters, Barbara and Susan, where only Susan was a granddaughter in the series (though the 20th anniversary magazine had a story that suggested Susan wasn't a blood relation of the Doctor). In the series, Barbara and Ian are Susan's teachers, who stumble into the TARDIS, after following the odd little girl home. Here, Ian is Barbara's boyfriend, who is shown the TARDIS by the family. Also, the TARDIS interior is vastly different, with the film version looking like a complicated mess of wires, tubes, and equipment, compared to the cleaner and more functional lines of the series. After that, the film pretty much follows the plot of the original Dalek serial.Our explorers are accidentally propelled into the future, and to another planet (Skaro), where they discover a devastated world, as seen in the wonderfully designed petrified forest. They encounter a strange city, where they meet the Daleks, armored apparently robotic creatures who have survived a nuclear holocaust. Later, they will meet the Daleks' foes, the Thals, humanoids who have developed a serum to cure radiation sickness and create immunity. The Doctor and his family join with the Thals to stop the Daleks and their aims of conquest and destruction.The world is wonderfully realized, at times very reminiscent of the 60s, yet also appearing otherworldly and timeless. The exterior of the Dalek city is very evocative of this strange race, while the insides are sleek and functional, as who fit this mechanical race. The Dalek designs are slightly modified from the series, with some of the "plunger" arms replaced by gripper claws, slightly larger dome lights, and wider bases. Also, since the film is in color, we get to see varied designs for the Daleks that weren't available in the original black & white TV broadcast. The petrified forest is an amazing set, with a sandy gray texture and the appearance of a world frozen in time (rather like Pompeii or the petrified forest of Arizona). Watching the film, you feel like you are observing an alien world, not a studio set.The actors are all terrific, with Peter Cushing making a fine Doctor. he was a bit of a departure from the gruffer William Hartnell, but fits right in with the more twinkle-eyed qualities of Patrick Troughton or Tom Baker. It's a lighter portrayal, for sure, but never campy. Jennie Linden makes for a fine Barbara, who gets to muck in with the action, though she is the closest to the standard Who companion, asking lots of questions and screaming at the appropriate moment (though not nearly as much as the television ladies did). Roy Castle adds some comic relief as the slightly bumbling but valiant Ian. Castle proves very versatile and would have made a great hero, had he continued in the sequel. Roberta Tovey is excellent as Susan, the youngest granddaughter. She essays a very mature character, one who combines the seriousness of an adult scientist with the curious nature of a young girl. Susan makes for a great heroine, as she doesn't stand around screaming or whining. She explores and she solves problems. She could have easily have been the main focus of a whole series. The Thals are able assayed by Barrie Ingham and Geoffrey Toone, in the key roles. They are given an odd appearance that does look very 60s, but doesn't scream "The 60s" at you. really, they kind of look like a proto-Glam Rock band.The film offers plenty for everyone, with great sets, costumes, and vibrant colors contrasted with more subdued elements in the petrified forest. The is plenty of mystery to go along with the action and fantastic, presenting something for both child and adult. It has many tense moments and a rousing climax that makes good use of plot points that were introduced along the way.I personally feel that the harsher criticisms of some fans are grounded in fact that they forget this (and the series) was designed for children. As such, many elements are kept simple; but, that helps strip away some of the excess baggage of many sci-fi dramas and lets you focus on the key story elements. The lighter tone helps offset the rather grim nature of the story (a post-holocaust world and a fight for survival), but it never descends into farce. If you enter the film with an open mind, you will find much to entertain you.

fedor8 A colourful piece of 60s sci-fi nonsense for the kiddies. For 60s kiddies, mind you. I'm not quite sure how the 21st-century kiddies would react to this. Unless they're younger than 7 (or a bit on the daft side) they might find it all a little too goofy and dull.Granpa, a small girl with an IQ of 249, a comic-relief oaf, and his blond gal accidentally leave Earth in Cushing's time/space-travel "room", when the blond sexually assaults her boyfriend with an attempted hug and kiss. The four cartoon characters suddenly find themselves in the midst of an age-old conflict between some tin-cans and a tribe of very lazy blond people who do nothing all day but sit around their forest, staring into trees and putting on bad make-up. It is up to the 4 silly Earthlings to restore peace to this strange cardboard planet. After all, isn't that what Earthlings are well-known for, restoring peace everywhere they go? The Daleks aren't even proper robots. Sure, they speak in a slow, almost retarded monotone, and they move slowly (on wheels?), but inside each tin-can there is a small Dalek whom we (conveniently for the budget-restrained special-effects department) never get to see. Not that I was dying from curiosity to find out what they look like, mind you. The Daleks are given voices that are so over-the-top annoying that I had to mute the sound on occasion when they were talking, I simply couldn't bare to listen to them anymore. The movie's biggest crime.Cushing & co visit the Dalek city upon their arrival, and then they go back to their "room" in the forest. Then they return to the city, get captured, then manage to escape back to the forest, only to get re-captured. Yes, it's that kind of cheesy sci-fi with the usual table-tennis plot that goes nowhere. The Earthlings are basically like four ping-pong balls that move between the Daleks and the Thaals, between the city and the woods. Yes, the Thaals. Their name has a double A in it and they're all extremely blond. Dutch? Who knows.Funny creatures, the Thaals. They start off as a bunch of placid, apathetic, cowardly Gandhinistas, refusing to fight or kill anything or anybody in the name of pacifism, even finding excuses to not defend themselves against a bunch of decidedly anti-Thaalian quasi-robots. Cushing keeps trying to change their minds, to make them appreciate all the joys which armed conflict brings with it, but they simply won't budge. Yet all it took, in the end, was for one punch to be thrown by a Thaal, and these formerly inactive lazy hippies rapidly become a bloodthirsty fighting army, ready to destroy as many Daleks as they could. They suddenly understood: violence can be a lot of fun.Yes, it's that kind of 60s movie. To top it all off, we are even forced to watch a protracted climbing sequence. I mean, what would a goofy 60s sci-fi film be without some mountain-climbing-related padding?

c_rys Yo, this movie's title: the main character in Doctor Who is named The Doctor. The shark in Jaws is not named Jaws; the main character of Die Hard is not named Die Hard. So, this film joins the ignoble ranks of Krakatoa, East of Java, &...no, wait, that's the only other one I can think of...as a film to make a goof right there in its title. This should be a clear warning flag to fans of the show regarding how much respect the material is afforded: Peter Cushing plays this "Dr. Who" as some sort of kindly old professor, & apparently, this film also believes he's human, not Time Lord. The entirely unmenacing Daleks have been downgraded from hate-driven killing machines to something more reminiscent of inept Bond villains, constantly trying to capture - not kill - "Dr. Who", occasionally puffing some sort of gas that does nothing & colliding with each other. In spite of all that, though, there is some sort of enjoyable Hammer alchemy going on here. Pretend that it's just some SF film with nothing to do with the Doctor Who series, & it's a mildly diverting ninety minutes. That's really the best course of action in watching this.