Dalekmania (1995)

Interesting facts

Dalekmania is a 1995 British direct-to-video documentary film about the 1960s Doctor Who film adaptations Dr. Who and the Daleks and Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. In 1960s Britain, "Dalekmania" was the name given to the craze or "mania" among children for all things associated with the Daleks, recurring villains on Doctor Who. The documentary was directed by Kevin Davies.

Production

By the 1990s, Canal+ had acquired the rights to the Dalek films through its subsidiary StudioCanal. Lumiere Films, a home video distributor for Canal+, engaged Amity Productions to make the documentary.

While carrying out preparatory research at Pinewood Studios, director Kevin Davies re-discovered the degraded original soundtracks to both Dalek films in the Pinewood vaults. After restoration, the soundtracks were commercially released in 2010.

Dalekmania was filmed between 25 May and 17 June 1995. The first interview to be recorded was Curzon's, at London's Arundel House. Ingham and Antrobus were interviewed at the London studios of Limelight Productions on 2 June, followed by Tovey, Gillatt, Hearn and Eddie Powell (a stuntman on the second Dalek film) at the BBC Visual Effects Workshop on 17 June.

The documentary is framed by drama sequences showing a young brother and sister visiting a 1960s-style cinema, where they encounter a sinister commissionaire (played by Michael Wisher), followed by a prop Dalek, and then (as seen in the second film) a squad of Robomen and a Dalek spaceship. These sequences were shot at the Muswell Hill Odeon cinema (now the Everyman Cinema) on 11 June 1995.

The documentary also includes scale model effects footage shot for Mission of Doom, an unofficial sequel to Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. which was never completed. Mission of Doom was conceived by London-based model maker Julian Vince, who is interviewed in the documentary.

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