Cushing Daleks
Dr Who and the Daleks
Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.
- UK Release Dates
- 23 August 1965
- 5 August 1966
The two Peter Cushing Dalek Movies produced by Amicus Productions / Aaru screened in cinemas around the world, aired on television many times and were released on various home media formats.
RADIO
BBC Radio's Light Programme broadcast a long-running series of abridged film soundtracks on its weekly Movietime session. 27 minutes of audio from the second movie plus additional linking narration aired on 18 November 1966, from 7.31pm to 8pm. These transmissions were also heard in parts of Europe, such as in France.
CINEMAS
In all likelihood, most of the world's English-speaking countries - many of which never got the TV series, and as such don't have profiles on this website - got one of or both films. And after they had been shown in the main metropolitan centres, the films had a second life playing in smaller independent regional theatres in the years and decades that followed. And as such, it would be impossible to catalogue every single cinema screening, so only some known instances are included below.
The films were distributed by BLC / British Lion / Regal Films International, and in some foreign territories by The Rank Organisation, Rosa Films, and New Arts Associates Inc, although the second film had a much wider distribution than the first, especially in Europe.
Only the first film received a cinematic release in the United States and Canada. It was usually shown in a double-bill with another SF or horror film, often a Japanese "monster movie". The second was never distributed as a theatrical presentation in North America.
Prints for non-English territories were either dubbed or subtitled. While foreign posters often displayed a translated title, the film prints themselves would have retained the English credits, but with the foreign title only displayed as a basic text caption, if at all.
The only known instance of a film having a translated title appear onscreen (and also in the trailer) was the dubbed edition shown in Italy.
In North African and Middle Eastern countries where the second film was shown, the prints were in English or had been dubbed into another language (usually French or Italian) but were exhibited with added Arabic subtitles.
For those Asian countries where Chinese Mandarin and/or Cantonese was spoken, the second film was dubbed into the former dialect only; Cantonese viewers had to make do with subtitles.
The arrival of the second film within Latin America was late - it was subtitled in 1977 - and distribution was very limited; the only country we could find clear evidence of the movie showing was in Argentina. But both films were later dubbed into Latin American Spanish and shown on TV in the late 1970s / early 80s.
Soon after they had acquired the rights, Lumiere Pictures re-released the two films to cinemas, which appeared in various independent theatres in the UK in 1993, 1994 and 1995. Both were also shown together for several special double-bill events in 1994 and 1995.
Both films were digitally re-mastered in High-Def and had a limited return run in UK cinemas from 10 July 2022.
COMICS
In November 1966, Dell Publishing Co Inc of New York released a 36-page comic adaptation of the first Dalek movie in the United States. It retailed for 12c.
A 14-page Spanish-language comic adaptation of the second film appeared in issue 400 of the long-running Argentina film magazine "El Tony"; with a cover date of 14 February 1978, the timing of this was no doubt linked with the film's release into cinemas the previous year (see above).
TELEVISION
The movies have been broadcast on television many many times in many countries (some not profiled by this website), and as such it would be impossible to catalogue all the TV appearances, so only some known instances are included below. (Additional info on TV appearances can be found on the main country profiles.)
The sequel made its debut in the US on television in 1969, but was usually billed in print under the shortened title "Invasion Earth 2150 AD".
Both films have been shown many times on TV in the UK: they were first broadcast on BBC1 in 1972. This was in a cropped 4:3 pan and scan presentation. They aired again several more times on that channel in the 70s and 80s (sometimes as unscheduled filler for cancelled sports), while the sequel made a single appearance on BBC2 in 1983. BBC2 also showed the films in early 2005 prior to the start of the New Series.
The films debuted on Australian TV in 1972 and 1980 respectively - see our airdates listing here.
In Canada, the first film was shown on CKVU in 1976 as a direct lead-in to a run of Jon Pertwee serials. In 1983, Dr Who and the Daleks was edited into 4 parts and shown by TVOntario in a serialised form. Both films later aired on various other Canadian terrestrial and satellite stations (such as SPACE and its rebranded identity CTV Sci-Fi) in the early 2000s.
New Zealand saw the first film on TV in 1979, and the sequel not until 1989.
When the first film aired in Latin American countries in the 1980s, it was usually billed in newspapers as "El Doctor Misterio y los Daleks" (or abbreviated to "Dr Misterio...").
In September 1990, both were screened during BSB's "Doctor Who Weekend". When BSB merged with Sky, the films aired several more times on Sky Movies (where they had also aired previously in 1989), Sky Movies Gold and The Movie Channel in the early 1990s and on Sky2 in 2004.
When Lumiere acquired the rights in 1992, they re-released the films to a number of foreign satellite stations across Europe. These would have been the first digital copies of the films, replacing the film prints used previously.
Both were broadcast for the first time in a widescreen format on a UK terrestrial station when Channel 4 aired the two in November 1994 and January 1995 respectively (with several more airings of each through until 2009). For these digital screenings of Daleks' Invasion Earth, the pre-credit 'robbery sequence' had been repositioned to come after the titles. (This re-edited version was later used (accidentally?) for the first DVD release (see below).
The Channel 4 screenings were shown on a deferred basis two weeks later on the Welsh TV channel S4C.
It wasn't until the early 2000s that Daleks' Invasion... was dubbed into European Spanish for satellite broadcasts.
The two films were shown on UK's Channel 5 in November 2013 for the TV series' 50th anniversary celebrations. In more recent years, they have aired on channels such as Movie Mix UK in 2015-2016, and Sony Movie Channel in 2016.
In the early 2020s, the films were available on various international streaming sites such as Netflix.
In 2022 both films were re-mastered in High Definition; they were shown by the Horror Channel on 29 May 2022 in a "Dalek Double Bill".
The re-mastered films dubbed into French and German were available on foreign streaming platforms such as AppleTV/iTunes, and also on TV. (The two films had their German TV debuts on station Tele 5 in 2023.)
VIDEO / DVD / BLU-RAY / 4K
EMI acquired British Lion Films in May 1976. In 1982, the company - under its Thorn / EMI home media brand - released both Dalek films on VHS and Betamax for the first time in the UK - and later in Australia / New Zealand, and just the first film in the United States. The first film also came out in Spain on VHS in 1984, while the sequel only was released in Japan and Greece. The tapes were in a cropped 4:3 pan and scan format.
Thorn / EMI sold its film studios (such as Elstree) and film library to Australian entrepreneur Alan Bond in 1986; he on-sold it all for a massive profit to the Cannon Group only a few short months later. New rights holders Cannon released the second Dalek movie on VHS in Italy, and the first film only in Japan. The sequel was also released in the US on VHS and Betamax (under the HBO/Cannon brand) while the first movie was also re-issued in the UK in new packaging.
Cannon sold the catalogue to the Weintraub Entertainment Group in 1987; the home media rights were assigned by them to Warner, who released both films several times in the UK with slightly modified packaging with each new re-issue (such as the special WH Smith 'Exclusive' edition, and the first film in a variant release both with and without the "Dr. Who's First Big-Screen Adventure" corner flash). Warner-branded tapes were also released in Australia, while long-play format tapes were distributed in the US by GoodTimes. The sequel only was also released on tape in Spain in 1990.
The rights were acquired from Weintraub by Lumiere Pictures Ltd in 1992. The UK home media rights were still held by Warner, preventing Lumiere from issuing their own branded tapes to that market. But they did issue new tapes in the US only in 1994, this time through their agent Republic Pictures. With the UK market out of reach, Lumiere instead released the 30th anniversary celebratory documentary "Dalekmania" in July 1995.
In early 1996, Warner UK issued brand new widescreen presentations on commercial tape in the UK (under the "Beyond Vision Cult Classic" range) with some of the cases bearing an added "REMASTERED" sticker. It can't have been a coincidence that these tapes were reissued at the same time as the TV Movie!
Later that year, Lumiere became UGC DA International, who released the widescreen tapes in Australia (through Polygram).
UGC was acquired by the French company StudioCanal, and they issued the Dalek films on DVD for the first time in 2001. For these discs and subsequent re-issues released in the UK, United States, and Australia / New Zealand, StudioCanal used the re-edited TV version of the second film (see above). (This 'error' was 'fixed' for all post-2010 DVDs and Blu-ray releases.)
Over the next decade, there were new subtitled or dubbed foreign DVD editions released in Japan, Italy, France, Spain and Brazil; some of these were box-sets of both films. (Some of the dubs or subtitling may have been new, not reused from the previous VHS releases.)
Most of the DVD / Blu-ray sets released by StudioCanal (or their foreign licencees - e.g. Anchor Bay in the USA, and Universal in Australia) included the 1995 "Dalekmania" documentary.
Both films were re-mastered in 2022 and received brand new DVD / Blu-ray / 4K releases with a wealth of new bonus material. The films were also dubbed and released on disk in Germany for the first time.
Only some of the VHS and DVDs are noted below. See the main country profiles plus the following lists of known releases:
DALEK MOVIES TABULATED
The following tabled countries are those whose profiles contain specific reference to the movies being shown in theatres and/or on TV and/or released on Video/DVD (with the foreign or alternative titles given where known).
KEY: The table below is for cinema releases unless indicated otherwise: Y [film played in cinemas under original title]; X [film didn't play in cinemas at all]; blank [not known if seen in cinemas] (Non-cinema showings - TV / Video / DVD / Blu-ray - are in brackets)
| Dr Who and the Daleks | Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 AD | |
|---|---|---|
| Algeria | This was the French dub - possibly with Arabic subtitles? | |
| Arabic countries | غزو الأرض | |
| Argentina | (El Dr Misterio y los Daleks - TV only?) | Daleks Invasion a la Tierra Ano 2150 (also VHS) |
| Armed Forces Network | Y - shown at US bases around the world (also TV) | Y - shown at US bases around the world (also TV) |
| Australia | Y (also VHS / DVD / BR / TV - airdates) | Y (also VHS / DVD / BR / TV - airdates) |
| Belgium | Les Daleks Envahissent la Terre (French) and De Daleks Veroveren de Aarde (Dutch) | |
| Brazil | (A Guerra dos Daleks - TV only; and Dr Who e a Guerra dos Daleks - DVD only) | Ano 2150 A Invasão da Terra (also DVD) |
| Canada | Y (also TV) | (TV / VHS / DVD only) |
| Chile | (El Doctor Misterio y los Daleks - TV only?) | |
| China | (TV / VHS only? - called 达莱克斯入侵地球 - 公元2150年 on streaming sites) | |
| Denmark | Dr Who's Hemmelige Våben | |
| Finland | (Doctor Who ja Dalekit - TV only) | (Doctor Who ja Dalekien Invaasio - TV only) |
| France | (Docteur Who et les Daleks - TV only) / Dr Who Contre les Daleks - DVD only) | Les Daleks Envahissent la Terre (also DVD) |
| Germany | (Dr Who und die Daleks - DVD / BR / 4K / TV only) | (Dr Who: Die Invasion der Daleks auf der Erde 2150 n.Chr - DVD / BR / 4K / TV only) |
| Gibraltar | Y | |
| Greece | (ΕΙΣΒΟΛΕΙΣ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΔΙΑΣΤΗΜΑ - VHS only?) | |
| Guatemala | (El Dr Misterio y los Daleks - TV only?) | |
| Hong Kong | Y and 怪博士天外降魔 | Y and 公元二一五〇年的世界 or 飛碟 大力人 |
| Hungary | (Dr Who és a Dalekok - TV only) | (A Dalekok Inváziója 2150 and Dalekok Támadása a Föld Ellen - TV only) |
| Iceland | Dr Who og Vélmennin | |
| India | Y | Y |
| Ireland | Y | Y |
| Israel | הפלישה לכדור הארץ | |
| Italy | (Dr Who & the Daleks - DVD only) | Dalexs - Il Futuro Tra un Milione di Anni (also TV / VHS / DVD) [Note: The posters spell the fourth word as "Fra".) |
| Japan | (Dr.フー in 怪人ダレクの惑星 - VHS only?) | (地球侵略戦争2150 - VHS / DVD only?) |
| Jamaica | Y | |
| Latin America countries | (El Dr Who / Misterio y los Daleks - TV only?) | (?? - TV only?) |
| Libya | This was the Italian dub with Arabic subtitles | |
| Luxembourg | X | Les Daleks Envahissent la Terre (also TV) |
| Malaysia | Y and 飛碟 大力人 | |
| Malta | Y | |
| Netherlands | Dokter Who en de Daleks | Invasie van de Daleks |
| New Zealand | Y (also TV / VHS / DVD / BR) | Y (also TV / VHS / DVD / BR) |
| Pakistan | Y | |
| Papua New Guinea | Y | Y |
| Poland | (Dr Who Wśród Daleków - TV only) | (Najazd Daleków na Ziemię - TV only) |
| Portugal | (TV only?) | A Invasão da Terra (also TV) |
| Puerto Rico | ((El) Dr Misterio y los Daleks - TV only) | |
| Singapore | Y | Y and 飛碟 大力人 |
| South Africa | Y | (Daleks Verower die Aarde - TV only) |
| Spain | Dr Who y los Daleks (also VHS / TV / DVD) | (Los Marcianos Invaden la Tierra - TV / DVD only, with the alternative title Los Daleks Invaden la Tierra 2150 AD on the box cover) |
| Sweden | (TV only) | (TV only) |
| Switzerland | Y | |
| Syria | غزو الأرض / Invasion Earth | |
| Thailand | หุ่นยนต์ ทำลายโลก | |
| Turkey | Daleks Fezadan Saldiranlar 2150 Yili | |
| United States | Y (also TV / VHS / DVD / BR) | X (on TV - titled Invasion Earth 2150 AD in listings; also TV / VHS / DVD / BR with correct title) |
- The films were also broadcast on cable and satellite feeds reaching numerous countries simultaneously (such as TV4 Science Fiction and Sci-Fi Channel Europe), and some of these would have been given translated titles in the online and print listings
- The IMDB does provide a number of alternative foreign titles for several other countries and languages (as well as unsubstantiated overseas release dates), but many of these could just be 'Google translations' of what the names would be in those foreign languages rather than being official onscreen titles at the cinema, on TV / satellite broadcasts or on home media releases.
- Our list above therefore includes only those foreign titles that can be backed-up by visual evidence such as newspaper clippings, cinema posters and VHS/DVD covers
