Peter Cushing as Dr Who in Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966)
With Doctor Who’s early popularity, and the UK’s Dalek obsession, both reaching their peak in 1965, it was almost inevitable that a big-screen adaptation of the series would be available that year. Written and co-produced by filmic entrepreneur Milton Subotsky under the Aaru Productions banner, Dr. Who and the Daleks was a breezy adaptation of Terry Nation’s first television Dalek story (1963-64), released just in time for the school summer holidays.
But this was a slightly different version of Doctor Who. The lead character was now a human inventor with the surname Who, who has built ‘Tardis’ in his back garden. With the television cast neither available, nor in possession of the requisite international appeal, Dr Who was played by Peter Cushing, familiar to cinema audiences worldwide as a Hammer horror star. Under Gordon Flemyng’s direction, the film played up the all-colour widescreen spectacle of the story. It was a hit, meaning that a sequel went into production early the following year. Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D., adapting the TV serial The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964), was released in the summer of 1966.