"The Daleks"

The Daleks
Disc 2 of "The Beginning" Box Set
(Special Edition DVD)


Starring William Hartnell
7 Episodes
1963
169 minutes (black and white)
Disc 2 of a Three Disc Box Set
"The Beginning Box Set"




 

 

Production Notes
Doctor Who
William Hartnell

Barbara Wright
Jacqueline Hill

Ian Chesterton
William Russell

Susan
Carole Ann Ford

Written by
Terry Nation
Directed by
Christopher Barry
&
Richard Martin

Produced by
Verity Lambert

Original Airdate
Dec 21, 1963 - Feb 1, 1964

US DVD Release Date
March 2006

Warner Home Video
#E2491

U.K. Box Set Cover


U.K. Individual Cover



 

Cover Blurb
The TARDIS lands in an alien, petrified jungle, beyond which is a mysterious, deserted city.  The Doctor insists on exploring, but before long the crew begins experiencing the early effects of radiation poisoning.  Soon they discover that the metal city isn't as deserted as they first thought.  The Doctor is about to have his first meeting with the Daleks!



 

DVD Features
 

Disc Two
All 7 episodes of "The Daleks" as they were originally broadcast in 1963 plus the following DVD features.

 
  • Creation of the Daleks:
 A 17 minute featurette that chronicles the rise of the Doctor's single most popular enemy - the Daleks.
 

 
  • Photo Gallery:
 A collection of both black and white as well as color photographs showing many publicity stills from the production of The Daleks.  Many of the pictures are rare or even never before seen.
 

 
  • Audio Options:
 Audio commentaries were recorded for the following episodes...

"The Survivors" Episode 2 - Christopher Barry (director) and Verity Lambert (producer).

"The Ambush" Episode 4 - William Russell (Ian Chesterton), Carole Ann Ford (Susan), and Christopher Barry (director).

"The Rescue" Episode 7 - William Russell (Ian Chesterton), Carole Ann Ford (Susan), and Richard Martin (director).


Long time Who fan and producer of the Big Finish radio plays, Gary Russell serves as moderator for all three episodes.
 

 
  • Information Text:
 Lots of trivia and tidbits of Whovian detail are provided.  The text appears intermittently along the bottom of the screen and is written by members of the Doctor Who Restoration Team
 

 
  • Easter Eggs:
 There are no easter eggs on this release.  For a full list of known Easter Eggs and screen grabs of them click HERE.  
 

 

 

 

Additional Notes
  • Unlike other R1 Doctor Who box sets which have the individual story titles also sold separately, The Beginning is sold ONLY in the box set format.
     
  • "The Daleks" marks the first story featuring the Daleks, and their initial success helped to propel Doctor Who's ratings for many years to come..
     
  • Look for one of the all time classic cliffhanger scenes at the end of episode 1.
  • Also look for some wonderful fluff moments including "anti-radiation gloves," styrofoam rock cliffs coming apart in the actors' hands, and Daleks colliding with consoles.
     
  • Because the early episodes carried individual titles instead of an overall story title "The Daleks" has also gone by the name "The Mutants" (not to be confused by the Jon Pertwee story with the same title).  "The Daleks" is the official BBC recognized title.
     
  • This story was literally saved on its way to being destroyed.  While at the BBC long time fan Ian Levine came across a platform full of old film cans wrapped in plastic and marked for destruction.  These were the film cans containing all 7 episodes of this story.  At Levine's (and other fan's) insistence the BBC soon halted their junking of old episodes that occurred throughout the last half of the the 70's.
     

  • Years after its first VHS release in 1992 this story, along with "An Unearthly Child" and "The Edge of Destruction," was scheduled for a special VHS box set release in the U.K in 1999.  Several months later the BBC decided to alter their plans and release each story individually over the course of three months.  These VHS releases (and in the case of the first two stories - rereleases) never made it to the North American market.
     

  • Due to the success of the Daleks - two feature films were made in the mid 60's.  The first one was a restructuring of this very story and starred Peter Cushing as Doctor Who.  The second film was a remake of "The Dalek Invasion of Earth."
     

  • The "The Daleks" was given the usual expert cleanup and VidFIRE treatment by the Doctor Who Restoration Team.  Specific details on the restoration of "The Beginning Boxset" can be found HERE.