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.
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 that followed. And as such, it would be impossible to catalogue every single cinema screening.
The films were distributed by BLC / British Lion / Regal Films International, and in some foreign territories by The Rank Organisation 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. The second was never distributed as a theatrical presentation in North America.
Non-English prints 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.
But some foreign trailers - such as the one from Italy (see below) - did have fully-realised translated title cards, and given the expense to produce, these would have also been applied to the film prints.
In 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.
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.
TELEVISION
The movies have been broadcast on television many many times in many countries, 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 under the shortened title "Invasion Earth 2150 AD".
Both films 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.
New Zealand saw the first film on TV in 1979, and the sequel not until 1989.
In September 1990, both were screened during BSB's "Doctor Who Weekend". The films were also shown on other UK-based Cable and Satellite stations.
Both were broadcast for the first time in the UK in a widescreen format on Channel 4 in November 1994 and January 1995 respectively (with several more airings of each through until 2009). For these screenings of Daleks' Invasion Earth, the pre-credit 'robbery sequence' had been repositioned to come after the titles - an edit presumably made by the then-distributors, Lumiere Pictures (see below).
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.
VHS / DVD / BLU-RAY
The distribution rights to the British Lion film library were held by EMI in 1976. In 1982, EMI / Thorn released both Dalek films on VHS for the first time (in the UK, US, and Australia / New Zealand). The first was also released in Spain, while only the second came out in Japan and Greece. The tapes were in a cropped 4:3 pan and scan format.
EMI was sold to Cannon in 1986, and the new owner issued dubbed or subtitled foreign language editions of the second film only in Italy, while the first finally made its arrival in Japan. The tapes were also re-issued in the US.
Cannon sold the catalogue to the Weintraub Entertainment Group in 1987, and they re-issued the tapes in the UK and Australia (through Warner), and the US (by GoodTimes).
The rights were acquired from Weintraub by Lumiere Pictures Ltd in 1993. New US tapes were issued through Republic Pictures in 1994. Lumiere also released the 30th anniversary celebratory documentary "Dalekmania" in July 1995.
It wasn't until 1996 that Lumiere issued widescreen presentations on commercial tape in the UK (under the "Beyond Vision Cult Classic" range, via Warner). Lumiere then became UGC DA International, who released the widescreen tapes in Australia (by 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 versions. (This 'error' was 'fixed' for all post-2010 DVDs and Blu-ray releases.)
Over the next decade, there were new subtitled or dubbed foreign editions released in Japan, Italy, France, Spain and Brazil. (Some of the dubs 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.
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)
| Movie 1 | Movie 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Arabic countries | غزو الأرض | |
| Argentina | Daleks Invasion a la Tierra Ano 2150AD (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 and De Daleks Veroveren de Aarde | |
| 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) |
| China | 飛碟 大力人 (also TV) | |
| Denmark | Dr Who's Hemmelige Våben | |
| Finland | (Doctor Who ja Dalekit - TV only) | (Doctor Who ja Dalekien Invaasio - TV only) |
| France | (Dr Who Contre les Daleks - DVD only) | Les Daleks Envahissent la Terre (also DVD) |
| 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 飛碟 大力人 |
| Iceland | Dr Who og Vélmennin | |
| Ireland | Y | Y |
| Israel | הפלישה לכדור הארץ | |
| Italy | (Dr Who & the Daleks - DVD only) | Daleks Il Futuro Fra un Milione di Anni (also TV / VHS / DVD) |
| Japan | (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 | (Dr Who y los Daleks - TV only?) | |
| Libya | This was the Italian dub with Arabic subtitles | |
| Luxembourg | X | Les Daleks Envahissent la Terre (maybe TV only?) |
| Malaysia | Y | |
| Malta | Y | |
| Netherlands? | X | De Daleks Veroveren de Aarde |
| New Zealand | Y (also TV / VHS / DVD) | Y (also TV / VHS / DVD / BR) |
| Pakistan | Y | |
| Poland | (Doktor Who i Dalekowie - TV only) | (Najazd Daleków na Ziemię - TV only) |
| Portugal | A Invasão da Terra | |
| Singapore | Y | Y |
| 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 | |
| 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; 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
