Doctor Who Vs. Dr. Who and the Daleks

Image from The Zero Room/Etsy

AARU productions was formed by

filmmakers Amicus, to create a

cinematic reworking of the BBC's

Doctor Who, the programme's first

ever spin-off.

The company acquired the option to

produce this version (based on the

seven-part television serial The

Daleks) and two sequels from the Corporation and Terry Nation.

The feature was the first Doctor
Who adventure made in colour
(only used on the TV series from

1970) and widescreen (introduced

with the 2005 revival). Dr. Who and

the Daleks was scripted by Nation,

David Whitaker, and (producer)

Milton Subotsky, and directed by

Gordon Flemyng.

The cast was headed by horror

film stalwart, Peter Cushing

(1913-1994) as human inventor

Dr. Who. Jennie Linden (born 1939) and Roberta Tovey (b. 1953) played

his granddaughters, Barbara and Susan, whilst Roy Castle (1932-94) was

the hapless Ian Chesterton.

Shown on Film4 today, the film (released by British Lion in August 1965)

featured fourteen other links to the parent TV series:

• Cushing's long career included roles opposite Patrick Troughton (in Hamlet, The Black Knight, The Gorgon, Frankenstein and Sherlock Holmes), Jon Pertwee (The House that Dripped Blood), John Hurt (The Ghoul), Roger Delgado (also Sherlock Holmes), Richard Hurndall (I, Monster), Kate O'Mara (The Vampire Lovers and Corruption), and Bernard Cribbins (She and Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 AD)
• Tovey had uncredited roles in The Blood on Satan's Claw (opposite Wendy Padbury and Anthony Ainley), and Runaway Railway with Pertwee - her father, George Tovey was the Poacher in Pyramids of Mars
• Linden voiced Professor Klyst for Big Finish's Unregenerate! (2005)
• Barrie [Stanton] Ingham (Alydon) was Prince Paris in The Myth Makers
• Geoffrey Toone (Temmosus) was Hepesh in The Curse of Peladon
• Bruce [Albert] Wells (Thal) was a Cyberman in The Tenth Planet, an uncredited Alien in (episode 3 of) The War Games, and Ogron in Day of the Daleks and Frontier in Space
• Gary Wyler (Thal) was a Soldier in The Aztecs (1)
• Len Saunders (Dalek operator) was a Slave (3) and Cameraman (4) in Day of the Daleks
• Mike Reid (Thal) was a Soldier in The Myth Makers (3) and The War Machines, and Guard in The Massacre (4)
• Dalek operators Robert Jewell (in eight TV serials, Clown in The Feast of Steven, Zarbi in The Web Planet, and Macra operator), Bruce Castagnoli (Egyptian Warrior in The Daleks' Master Plan (9)), Gerald Taylor (also Assistant in The Underwater Menace, Man in The Daemons, Vega Nexos in The Monster of Peladon, Zarbi and War Machine operator) and Kevin Manser (also a Zarbi)
• Dalek voices were provided by David [Michael] Graham (who also voiced Skaro's finest in five TV serials, was Charlie in The Gunfighters, and Kerensky in City of Death) and Peter [John] Hawkins (also voiced the Daleks in seven stories, and voiced the Cybermen in four others)