Doctor Who: The Daleks In Colour Review

[@mr.werb15md90]

I haven't seen it, so I'll take your word on it. as for colorized versions of classic who, I'd probably want "The War Machines" and "The Dominators". not sure how well the story could be squished like "The Daleks" were, but it'd be cool to see none-the-less.

[@thewhoview]

I love the war machines. They would probably remove most of the story though. I'd be fine with The dominators to be cut down. You could really make it look like an alien world to with the colourisation.

[@DaveHayden-o3i]

I've seen it. The colours ok, the music over the top, and it's been shortened for today's audiences who only have the attention span of a fly. A classic that should have been left alone.

[@daryljoyce1211]

I can't think of anything I'd want to see less than classic who cut down to give nuWho vibes.

[@ShamrockParticle]

Or when the scenes cut were done do carelessly. Some of the best bits were removed, which definitely added to the removal of the story's tone.

[@jnielson1121]

I found the second half of the colourised The Daleks just accelerated into an incomprehesible trailer of jump cuts I couldn't follow. It was really weird - hard to follow and rushed. And the shocking pink in the Dalek city was ridiculous and on Barbara's top was insulting - she'd never have worn that! It was still a mammoth task, done really well and under very difficult circumstances I'm sure - but... ooff :/

[@stevenmcnicoll5060]

It was an odd choice. There was a colour 90 minute version already. Dr Who & The Daleks (1965) anyone?

[@Benjiesbeenbetter.]

Not just colour but *TECHNICOLOUR*

[@IanYoung-u3v]

The old '60's Dr.Who was scarier because of it being black and white, the action often took place in the shadows where you sometimes couldn't quite make out what was happening, just hear the screams of people meeting their grisly end in the face of some alien horror. The Daleks and Cybermen were certainly scarier in monochrome, stark and unforgiving, rather than blue and pink plastic toys. The original Dalek Invasion of Earth (2164, not 2150) was much more terrifying than anything the "adult" audiences were given at the time, a holocaust tale watched by children. And when it did get spectacular, as in the civil war that concluded "Evil of the Daleks", what did the BBC do? Record Bruce Forsyth's bloody Generation Game over it. And now they've tried to tart this stuff up for a new generation and removed the dark edge that made it such compelling viewing in the first place.

[@gabriellegabbynoblecomics3913]

I agreed with your thoughts on the editing. Especially the flashbacks and the scene with them escaping the cell in the Dalek city. But I think anything that helps New Who fans start to engage with Classic Who does make this worth while. Will it get them all? Of course not. But any fans that do watch this might just get interested enough to try the next coloured cutdown offering. As long as this doesn't replace the original, it has it's place. I just hope they get more experienced professional editors on it next time. Next ones? Daleks Invasion Earth? The War Machines? Tomb of the Cybermen?

[@thewhoview]

@@gabriellegabbynoblecomics3913 A very fair assessment, my friend. I have to constantly remind myself that this is really targeted towards fans of new who. As for your next, you have some great picks there. I have a feeling tomb of the Cybermen is going to be next.

[@jimbrown9542]

Not sure what they are trying to do with this, a colour version of this story has already been done.

[@MovieHeretic]

Maybe not available Downunder Bro, haven't checked.

[@yuantheblue]

Its such a shame the editing job was so choppy...I am perfectly ok with the original black and white episodes (love them, actually, even though my first episode was a Tennant one). Seeing color on that set did have me interested at first, but such a candid review made me loop around with you at the end. More people need to give these serial stories a chance, even if they are more campy than what people are used to.

[@christyler6920]

The actual colorisation is amazing. Technically incredible. The people who edited this need to be voted of the island. And the music? Sacrilidge. The original music was comprised and created by Tristram Cary an electronic music pioneer and it was one of if not THE first completely electronic scores for a Television series, it was creepy, atmospheric and beautiful. Cary went on to create EMS synthisiers with Peter Peter Zinovieff and David Cockerell creating amongst other things the EMS Synthi 1, which you have heard in every single piece of British Prog you have ever heard. Promenently featured in Dark Side of the Moon. My point is that the original composer wasn't just some guy and replacing his music with this bombastic, over the top score is like painting over the Mona Lisa because she isn't "modern" enough.

[@thewhoview]

@@christyler6920 very insightful & I completely agree with you.

[@TheArchieTheory]

60s Doctor Who is lowkey underrated

[@stephenkay4008]

I did enjoy it, but don’t feel the need to watch it again. We know from on-set photos from the time that the controls and dials on consoles in the Dalek Control Room were brightly coloured, so that feels consistent, but the greatest shame for me is that apart from the first few moments, that they didn’t retain the dark and eerie electronic soundtrack created by Tristram Cary - that was always, for me, helped transcend the program above what is a cheaply-made teatime drama.

[@thewhoview]

@@stephenkay4008 yeah I don't think I need to watch it again. I watched it mainly out of pure curiosity for the colourisation which was good but had some choices that I personally wouldn't of gone with. But what do I know 😆. The biggest beef I have with the new version is the editing choices made, compiling scenes together into a montage & the constant flashbacks every 5 minutes.

[@Eltonlaleham]

How I wish I could have been born in 1963, or even born earlier say in the 1950s or even earlier than the 50s.

[@Eltonlaleham]

I wonder if Tomb of the Cybermen will be colourised like the Daleks, or whether it will be left in black and white I have this on dvd and it is for me a so so thing the colour is awesome but having some stuff chopped out is not so great.

[@thewhoview]

@@Eltonlaleham have to wait & see what the next 1 is that will get the colour treatment.

[@RaymondWilliams-uu1ns]

Too much colourisation, especially primary colours. Very little black or white. The editing was too severe, it needed that extra 15 minutes. Sound was good at the beginning, especially when Barbara gets caught. The over the top music at the end did ruin the enjoyment for me. It takes away all the danger and threat. Good try but it failed. I had this Preordered but cancelled my order after it aired on BBC2. Huge disappointment!

[@thewhoview]

Hopefully they take notes from how people responded to this colourisation & not repeat the same things for the next release.

[@schubertuk]

I liked this new "movie" version of the Daleks - the edit really improved the pace for me - where I do agree with this review is the music was seriously unsympathetic, too bombastic, and missing the wonderful atmospheric tension created by Tristram Cary.

[@thewhoview]

@@schubertuk I'm glad you enjoyed the new version, that's awesome. For me I'd rather stick with the OG B&W or the Peter Cushing movie. The constant flashback sequences were far too repetitive for me & like you said the tone is completely changed with the new music.

[@Budbrothers420]

Was great apart from the fact they made the original fans and anyone over the age of 17 look like idiots who couldn’t take the whole thing on board. Too much was chopped out and the music when Ian is in the dalek 🙄 what person thought that worked?

[@thewhoview]

Yeah the whole edit cut down is very obscure that scene especially with Ian as a Dalek I hated they way that was cut together in a wired montage.

[@Budbrothers420]

@@thewhoview trying to make it a fast paced moment when it never was 😂 it’s a shame that they felt like they needed to this for new viewers as it really could of been amazing if scored and chopped less the colour was wonderful and it felt like it wasn’t 60 years old

[@thewhoview]

@@Budbrothers420 agree

[@justynmatlock8873]

The thing about seeing the Cybermen rising up out of the sewers in full colour is that you have silver Cybermen against a lot of grey pavements and grey and white buildings, with a grey cloudy sky above. One classic story the could revisit would be 'Invasion ofthe Dinosaurs' with modern CGI Dino's, instead of the this-is-the-best-we-could-do-with-the-available-budget cr*p ones instead.

[@thewhoview]

@@justynmatlock8873 I'm hoping for the season 11 box set, they do a new colourisation for part 1 & new CGI update for the dinosaurs. 🤞🙏

[@justynmatlock8873]

@@thewhoview That's VERY cool. Thanks. I always thought it was a good story, but the Dino's are cringe. It's a classic example of how Doctor Who can have A Message, and still tell a story, be exciting etc.

[@thewhoview]

@@justynmatlock8873 I have no idea if they'll do it, but I sincerely hope they do.

[@justynmatlock8873]

@@thewhoview I'd be inclined to leave the rest of it, especially the analogue years, alone for the most part, just tweek the odd thing hear and there.

[@TheCastellan]

5:23 Like Red Dwarf remastered, back in the very late 1990's. And it was a disaster.

[@nickthepick8043]

It feels like it was designed for the new generation of ADHD-obsessed viewers who brag about their short attention spans because they can't take anything out of long-term substance. They got the themes of this story so wrong.

[@DrMedicsGameSurgery]

if yo uwant the daleks in colour just watch the petewr cushing movie, its way more entertaining

[@thewhoview]

@@DrMedicsGameSurgery perfect summary 😊

[@normanby100]

I think they improved the ending of the final battle which is too vague and almost an afterthought in the original. Technically it was beyond the producers in 1963 but we get some substance to the Daleks losing their power.

[@Funem]

Colour looks something more akin to a Willy Wonka chocolate factory film than a Doctor Who episode. Think I will pass.

[@inspector2363]

Justice for the Magnadon!

[@TheCastellan]

12:18 Both film and TV version are fine for me. It's the second story that the film one does better.....that one episode in the TV version with dortman and the 2 girls sneaking about London was not needed.

[@thewhoview]

@@TheCastellan yeah I much prefer the first Cushing Dalek movie over the OG tv episode.

[@akshaytrayner1960]

Great vid

[@GrilloTheFlightless]

I didn’t enjoy it at all. I’m not against the idea of colourising it in principle, as long as the B&W is always readily available. But I do feel that it’s a waste when the money could be better spent doing animations for missing episodes. The editing was awful. Very chopping done. The lurid colours seemed to take their cue from the Peter Cushing movie. I’m ok with that to a point, but it was a wasted opportunity do do something new. And whilst the addition of the Dalek ray was a welcome addition, it would have been nice if it was blue like later episodes and not that shade of aquamarine. Due to the editing they had to re-record some of the Daleks lines. Naturally they used Nicholas Briggs because the BBC seem to spent the last 19 years thinking he’s the only person qualified for the job. (Personally I’m getting a bit tired of his Dalek voices now). But getting David Graham out of retirement to re-do his original lines which was a nice touch. I’m glad he was involved. The soundtrack was the biggest problem for me. Made all the more disappointing because Mark Ayers is usually such a safe pair of hands. But they ditched a lot of the really atmospheric music from the original in favour of high-paced music where high-paced music wasn’t always warranted. I assume it was to make the story seem packer than it really was for a modern audience not used to the slow-burning style of storytelling of yore. But it turned slow, thoughtful scenes into urgent, rushed scenes and it wasn’t good. And then they threw in some 60s-style pop which just didn’t suit the spirit of the program. For me it was an interesting enough novelty, and I’m glad I watched it. But it’s not something I’d ever want to watch again. Although I’m invested to know how they justified 2 discs for this.

[@andygozzo72]

yep the music and effects were excessive, and did not like the jumpy flashbacks, but apart from that it was ok ..

[@harnois75]

I'll stick with the 7 episodes in glorious B/W, at 25 minutes an episode it's perfectly palatable. Trying to reinvent it with 'pacier' editing and bombastic cacophony is pretty offensive. RTD should steer clear of episodes he has no ownership of.

[@Scripture-Man]

Interesting review. For me, the colourization looks "good" but the choices of colour are abysmal and garish, completely lacking taste. I checked out clips of the music and the music is also tasteless. It's not "bad music", it's just inappropriate. The scene when we first see the Daleks is a still, tense, suspenseful scene where the Doctor and co are scared to move, but the music plays like a fast-paced action scene. The original audio is way nearer the mark.

[@thewhoview]

@@Scripture-Man the whole tone of the episodes has been changed because of the music. The colourisation itself was inspired by the movie dr who & the Daleks but all the saturation is dialled up 100%. I have too constantly remind myself that it's not made for the fans, but nu who viewers that can't watch B&W.

[@Scripture-Man]

@@thewhoview I must admit, black and white is a bit before my time and I've always struggled to watch it. I find it a bit cold and much prefer a warmer, more natural sepia colour. The idea of colourisation is something I like - just not THIS colourisation! But I find myself looking more now to the show's history rather than its future, wanting to go back and get to know the classic Doctors, since I have no fondness for the current show. I am completely "out" now concerning modern Who. It's dead to me. I found Capaldi's era poor, and the Chibnal era dire. But what RTD has done to the show lately, I find utterly abhorrent. The man has lost his mind IMHO. It's not even a TV programme any more, it's just a series of events happening for no reason.

[@thewhoview]

@@Scripture-Man that's an interesting way of putting it. I would say everything after Capaldi hasn't been for me & that's fine cause there are people that do enjoy it. I reviewed the newest season with Ncuti & I really struggled with it.

[@jonylawson73]

Good god tales from the tardis was bloody awful ...i long for the day that rtd and chibnell are memories

[@thewhoview]

@@jonylawson73 yeah, I wasn't a fan of the pyramids of Mars edition, but I have to remind myself that it's not for fan's it's for new who viewer's that find it difficult to watch classic Who

[@DrZacksCafe]

Slight correction: “artistic license” rather than “artistic merit” is the term you want.

[@thewhoview]

My mistake 😄

[@joshuajoshua2732]

Im personally not a fan of it i prefer the original version it should had been left alone.

[@markwardel6751]

A garish nightmare ...were the Daleks all on ecstacy when they decorated their city? Ridiculous.

[@thewhoview]

🤣🤣

[@akshaytrayner1960]

I enjoyed it but it takes away from the original

[@virtualboy2558]

An interesting experiment to recolorize a classic Who serial... but just wished they did just that, instead of also cutting down a lot of what made the original B&W story so memorable. It feels butchered and dubbed down for me how they abridged this version. Plus it tries way too hard to be epic like modern Who, when it clashes with the 60s era and its slower but more atmospheric storytelling.

[@themightybob]

I'm just gunna say it THEY COLOURED MOST OF IT IN WRONG The dalek control panels are Not pink and yellow but clear and grey blue The fluid link is NOT yellow but blue The dalek city is NOT blue and yellow but grey and silver Also these daleks don't have beam weapons, the reason their weapons were different was cause the old weaponry was radiation based, not electrical based like new daleks, that's why there was no beam and it created the negative effect when fired UGH HOWD THEY GET IT SO WRONG WHEN WE KNOW THEIR ACTUAL COLOURS

[@thewhoview]

@@themightybob I don't think they wanted to authentically capture the authentic look of the original production. They took more inspiration from the Cushing movie & really wanted it to look as bright & colourful as possible. 😊 Just remember it's not something that's really targeted towards classic who fans but more for newer fans that struggle to watch something in B&W.

[@edwardcatt2399]

Unpopular opinion (potentially); I actually like how lurid it all looks. It seems to befit its ‘60’s ‘technicolour’-obsessed era very well.

[@chrislackey775]

LIKED AND SUBBED TY1

[@joelsoetendorp3279]

The BBC attitude towards IP is bizarre sorry it's denied you some of its treasures. Sad that it took Disney to make Dr who more widely available

[@TheCastellan]

0:45 Umm, they did a edited down take on "The Brain of Morbius" in the 1980's, NO ONE liked it. Don't edit it for 'pacing'. One reason NuWho put me off after Eccleston left. I like a good, long story. I'd like a color version of the FULL story.

[@thewhoview]

@@TheCastellan yeah there's a couple of classic Who stories like genesis of the Daleks that received omnibus versions, which was a story with all parts of it's parts edited together with only slight cut's made. They were specifically created for a repeated viewing after the season had finished. It would be cool to see the full Daleks story in colour, but doing all of that would be incredibly costly & time consuming. Plus the target audience isn't really meant to be fans of classic who but rather new series fans that find it difficult to watch classic Who or even anything black & white.

[@MadMal2024]

&0 minutes edit Not quiet long enough. Your length would be better and get rid of the flashbacks... Pointless. I watched all original 7 episodes on TV as live shows... yup I'm that old. The colourising and the additional effects; help; but you are right about the colour palette of the Dalek City... Doesn't fit with the Dalek mentality... To be honest' I would have them use a Military colour grouping. The Thalls and the Kaleds were military factions Which is why I liked the look of the "ironsides" ; Dark wartime coloured green fitted them. No; as far as I'm concerned... they over egged it and ruined the recipe... in other words... They left the cake out in the rain..

[@thewhoview]

@@MadMal2024 Hopefully they can take the feedback from the fans about this colourisation & edit & apply it to the next release. But considering this was not targeted towards classic fans but new who fans, that for whatever reason can't watch B&W it will probably be the same next time round. Just have to wait & see I suppose.

[@matthewbolitho-jones]

I like The Daleks in Colour

[@thewhoview]

That's great. For me the editing just didn't really work for me.

[@joshuajoshua2732]

@matthewbolitho-jones May I asked what you liked about it? All I saw is vandalism.

[@Kybarg31]

It was made to pander to the yank influenced youth. This is why it was dumbed down.

[@thewhoview]

@@Kybarg31 I don't know about that. It's made for new who viewer's.

[@Kybarg31]

@@thewhoview exactly, yank influenced youth. True who fans see New Who as the crud it is. Nothing will beat the original. Clever stories made on a shoestring.

[@stevecallum7933]

The colour version was pointless. It cut an entire hour out of it. It just didnt make any sense. The editing is dreadful and the incidental music doesnt work in a lot of scenes. If you cant do it right just dont bother guys. Sorry but i wont be buying it on blu ray.

[@thewhoview]

Fair assessment.

[@jandoor2068]

Let's be honest here, early Doctor Who is littered with slow, boring, padded, long drawn out and tedious stories that would have benefitted from being several episodes shorter - The Daleks is yet another examples of this, so I can understand editing it down to something that drops a lot of the fat/padding/dullery, fixes the pacing, edits out some of Hartnell's whoopsies etc.... ....problem with this new version is that it goes TOO far and edits out so much that it becomes incomprehensible. I believe more like a 100 minute edit would have left the finished product closer to the source material whilst making it a "smoother" and more enjoyable watch. The colorisation is, for the most part, quite good although I agree the Dalek city should have been more monochromatic - greys, silvers and light blues with just the console controls etc in more highlighted colours. I actually don't like the Skaro sky colouring - it looks too saturated and fake. I believe it should have been a lighter, more natural looking red for the day and green for the night. The music is a total joke and should have been, in my opinion, cleaned up and edited versions of the original tracks which were fine and fit the period/feel of the story. At the end of the day it is a missed opportunity which gives a tantalising taste of what CAN be done.... but also what COULD be done by a team with better artistic taste and more of an eye on keeping the spirit of the original series intact.

[@thewhoview]

@@jandoor2068 I can't disagree with you there. The tone has drastically changed, now more focused on being a fast paced action adventure, which removes the atmosphere, suspense, & tension of the original. I don't think I need to watch it again, which is fine. I mainly watched it out of pure curiosity for the colourisation anyway, but the 1 thing I have to remind myself is that I, as a fan of classic Who am not the target audience this is trying to appeal to; it's for new Who fans that, for whatever reason, can't watch B&W.

[@kn3448]

Does a classic remain such when it is updated in such a way? I think not! Why are we so obsessed with delineating and censoring our history? Forgetfulness of past orthodoxies will not serve to satiate the sensitivities of modern audiences. Only a complete eradication of who and what we once were will accomplish that goal.

[@thewhoview]

@@kn3448 It's changed to be more appealing to a modern audience, I have to remind myself that. It's not made for fans of classic Who.

[@CongaLineMonkey]

The whole production seemed tacky to me. I'm all for preservation and restoration, but the need for professional fans to insert themselves into the history of the show is very tiresome. It's some weird Peter Pan syndrome stuff where people have try to live inside their favorite show.

[@thewhoview]

@@CongaLineMonkey I don't know what you mean by a professional fan; I am in no way professional. I'm a guy that blabbers on about Doctor Who 😆😆 I think when I say that production design looks good, what I mean by that is: it looks good for a doctor who 1960s TV budget when compared to some other stories. 😉

[@CongaLineMonkey]

@@thewhoview I don't mean you. I mean the people who made the colorized version.

[@thewhoview]

@@CongaLineMonkey👌 No worries. I do have to remind myself that fans of classic Who (us) are not the target audience for this. ☹️

[@stephenclaridge1896]

so glad you mentioned the flasbacks. it's the main reason i dislike this video

[@thewhoview]

1 or 2 flashbacks I could be forgiving, but there's so many & a lot of them are completely unnecessary. We don't need a flashback of something that happened 3 minutes ago.

[@liittlemiissd]

Classic purists when background music is changed to not sound really dated and awkward and the pacing doesn’t take 4 hours to get to the main monster: 😭😭😭😭

[@paulholgate4664]

Butchered Who - just what you’d expect from Turdy Davies.