Many Whovians know that on November 23rd, “Doctor Who” will be celebrating its 50th year anniversary. A simple show on a shoe string budget in 1963 is now one of the most popular television shows ever, thanks to a recent continuation that started in 2005. For those who don’t know, “Doctor Who” is about a humanoid alien called The Doctor who travels through time and space in his TARDIS (it’s a police box with a broken circuit). He has the ability to completely change his body if he’s in mortal danger but it also changes his personality. He’s been through 11 regenerations and with his many companions he has saved the universe from threat after threat. Although many actors have portrayed him, the 10th Doctor played by David Tennant, is often considered the best by modern fans.
However, when the show was first starting it out, we didn’t get a young and spry Doctor like we have had recently. Instead, he was a grouchy old man played by William Hartnell, who traveled with his granddaughter Susan. His first two companions, Ian and Barbara, were actually kidnapped by the Doctor when they didn’t believe who he was. This is what made this Doctor so interesting, we didn’t know why he was so hostile towards people. The second serial produced was about the Doctor’s most famous enemies, The Daleks.
This serial was what really made the show popular, especially with kids. It was so popular that a full length movie was commissioned in 1965 with Peter Cushing as the Doctor. However, when making this movie they decided to base it on the second serial with the Daleks and to feature them prominently. This was due to a big boom in the U.K. called “Dalekmania” which was sweeping the nation. To fit this trend and get an international release, they changed a few other things as well.
The story is set in the then current 1960’s London where an eccentric inventor named Dr. Who (Cushing) is sitting at home with his granddaughters. His nine year old granddaughter Susan (played by Roberta Tovey) is engaging with the doctor while his older granddaughter Barbara (played by Jennie Linden) is waiting for someone. That someone is her boyfriend Ian (played by Roy Castle), but the doctor uses this opportunity to show him his latest invention. The Doctor shows them the TARDIS, which Ian accidentally activates. They soon travel to a somewhat barren planet called Skaro where civil war between the Daleks and Thals is underway. The group must escape this planet without being “EX-TER-MIN-ATED!”.
Reading this plot synopsis probably just made some hardcore Whovians’ heads explode, as there was a lot of liberties taken. People complain about any slight detail changed but how about every single character not even being close to the original characters. One of the biggest changes is that the Doctor himself is called called “Dr. Who” and is human which really affects the way you see the film. Changes in a film can be understandable to reach a different audience but this seemed to be way too much of a change.
Most of the negative things about this film revolve around the changes made. It seems almost pointless to make a “Doctor Who” film without the Doctor being an alien. Imagine if “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” was about an American college student going to magic college. All the characters would have their names and the plot would be about the same but you couldn’t watch it because they changed so much. This isn’t to say that change can’t be useful, for example “Jurassic Park”, which changed things from the book that wouldn’t translate to film.
While one could go on and on about how all the main characters have been changed, there are good things about the film. The Daleks, who are the real stars of the show, are really entertaining to watch. This is mostly due to the presence they have and how they are built up before the crew goes into the Dalek stronghold. Something also must be said for the set design, as the film is very colorful. There isn’t a part of this movie that isn’t drenched in color, a trademark used by a lot of films in the 1960’s. People consider this very gaudy, but for this movie it works as it draws your attention to the sets. However this does reach a limit as we see the Thals have discovered body glitter and eyeliner. They look like they should be dancing in Austin Power’s night club.
This is a very interesting film for those who love Doctor Who. Many changes have taken place but it’s still important to watch as a Whovian. It’s interesting to see an attempt made to bring this movie to a different medium. Although the DVD can be hard to find, it’s easily watched on the Internet and it may be on Netflix.