I Watch FIlms: Dalek Invasion Earth 2150 AD

Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 AD

Peter Cushing’s second and final appearance as Dr Who. Tom Campbell (Bernard Cribbins) is a policeman who fails to stop a jewel robbery and heads into a nearby police box to call it in; it’s the TARDIS, with Dr Who, his granddaughter Susan and (replacing granddaughter Barbara from the first film), his niece Louise. They head to London in 2150 AD only to find that it’s deserted and in ruins.

They split up, because of course they do, and variously encounter robo-men and regular men who tell them to hide. It turns out that Daleks have invaded and turn people into robo-men to keep them under control, and also are taking people into Bedfordshire to dig a mine.

There’s a fantastic space ship and Bernard Cribbins gets to play both action hero and comic relief, disguising himself as a robo-man. There’s some actual science in the conclusion which is nice. If there’s a flaw then I can’t help noticing that 2150 AD London looks very like 1950 London or possibly 1940 London, with ruined buildings and people hiding underground from air attacks.

If there’s more than one flaw then it’s a very silly adventure for children that has impregnable Daleks being destroyed by someone driving a van at them, and whose invincible blasters squirt out gas that is very short range – think of a fire extinguisher.

In fact think about that a bit more.

Watch This: For a Dr Who curiousity, or some silly sixties science fiction adventure
Don’t Watch This: If you want something clever and witty