In Review: Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. 4K Collector’s Edition

Synopsis: In Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. Dr. Who and his companions arrive on Earth in the year 2150 AD, only to discover that the planet has been invaded and its population enslaved by the dreaded Daleks.

The Story

Joined on this adventure by two new companions. Dr. Who and his granddaughter Susan find themselves in the year 2150 in London which has been devastated by a Dalek attack. Along for the ride are Dr. Who’s niece Louise and policeman Tom who accidentally winds up in the tardis when he confuses it for a real police box. As they were still in use back in the 1960s. Joining up with a resistance group. Dr. Who works to figure out what the Daleks are up to and finds out that they is looking to use the earth’s core to turn earth into a giant spaceship. As we British know. This is an everyday occurrence.

The Acting

I’ll make no bones about it. There’s a reason that this is my personal favorite of the two Dr. Who films. I mean aside from the bigger budget, which shows on the screen. The film features two actors that I loved to watch while growing up in the 70s and 80s. And still love to watch to this day. First off you have the late great Peter Cushing who always played scientists and authority figures so well. But he always played the more outspoken types of scientists that no one believed. For this, though he does his best doddering old man, but boy couldn’t he run. Watching him run in the scenes where he was running away from Daleks made me believe that he could easily outrun your average mobility scooter with change to spare.

The other actor is of course Bernard Cribbins who often played the everyman kind of characters that both adults and kids could relate to. But also read to us kids of the 70s on television Jackanory. In this Cribbins plays the iconic friendly copper called Tom and gets some wonderfully comedic stuff to do as well as some pretty decent action scenes. One of my favorite moments is when he is posing as a roboman and is ever so slightly out of sync with the group he is sitting with when they are going about their exact daily routines of eating, sleeping, and going on duty. Cribbins is one of those true gems or an actor that could do both serious drama and comedy and is truly a national treasure in my opinion.

Also putting in great performances are a returning Roberta Tovey as Susan and Ray Brooks who plays David who is the main resistance fighter that helps the Dr. Who get to the mining camp where the Daleks have their human slaves digging.

The Presentation

As with last month’s release of the first movie. This set is another must-have for collectors and is beautifully presented. The box has a metallic look to it with beautiful comic book-style artwork of Dr. Who and his friends surrounded by Daleks and Robomen. Inside the box is packed with goodies and the two disks. One is the movie in glorious 4K and the other is a normal Blu-Ray version of the film with all of the extra content.

Blu Ray Extras

Once again. You get spoiled for extras on this set. First and foremost you get loads of great things in the actual box before evening putting the disk into your 4k Blu-Ray player or PS5 in my case. You get two lovely posters. One of the original movie posters for the film and the other is a poster version of the image on the box. You also get two collectible books. One is full of essay material about the films while the other focuses on the cast and characters and promotional imagery from the films. Add to that, you also get 4 postcards featuring black and white stills from the movie as well as a commemorative coin, which has Dr. Who on one side and the Daleks on the other.

On top of that you also get the following:

•  The Dalek Legacy: Invasion Earth
• Audio Commentary with critic Kim Newman, screenwriter/writer Robert Shearman, and actor/writer Mark Gatiss
• Dalekmania
• Interview with Gareth Owen
• Interview with Bernard Cribbins
• Restoring Dr. Who in 4K
• Original Trailer
• Stills Gallery

Overall

Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. is another wonderful box set to add to the collection here. Rewatching the film brought back fond memories of the summer holidays off from school in the 1970s when ITV would show this and many other great movies as part of the morning kids line up. Of course, there is no such thing as this lineup anymore. As Philip Scholfield and Holly Willoughby have taken over the universe, sadly they are not vulnerable to the earth’s magnetic core.

I had a blast watching this Invasion Earth again and really enjoyed the innocence of the movie’s story. Specifically, the part when Dr. Who says that will stop the Daleks from invading the earth again. Hmm really? Seems to me they have done many an invasion earth and continue to do so.

In terms of the extras. I have to say that I really enjoyed listening to Mark Gatiss and Robert Shearman talk about the film. As they share the common experience of growing up with this movie, which I had.  In terms of the other extras. I suspect I will be going through them slowly over the next week. As there is plenty to see.