It’s the little things that matter. As a long-standing fan of the BBC version of Doctor Who, I was less bothered by the large-scale changes in this first cinematic adaptation of the television series than I was about the little touches.
It was easy to accept the convention of calling the main character (played with dotty, if underutilized, aplomb by Peter Cushing) “Doctor Who” instead of merely “The Doctor,” as was established in the series. It was harder to accept the notion that this Doctor was a human of the absentminded scientist variety rather than a myserious and irascible alien. Both interpretations have an air of the unworldly about them, but Cushing’s ethereal demeanor seems less suited to galactic crusading than the superiority — larded with a host of other qualities in greater or lesser proportions by the host of actors who have assayed the role over the past four decades — of the television Doctor.
It was easy to accept the TARDIS as something cobbled together by a lone genius tinkering in his garage workshop. It was harder to accept the sight of the TARDIS without the accompanying TARDIS dematerialization sound effect.
It was easy to accept the Daleks as armored killing machines bent on the eradication of their enemies. It was harder to accept that they would go about the killing without uttering their familiar battle cry “Ex-ter-min-ate!”
Regardless of these small differences, the film version captures the spirit of Doctor Who, or at least the spirit of the original programs. That is to say it is a children’s program first, and a rollicking intergalactic adventure second. It’s easy to tell the good aliens from the bad aliens, even if it does take a few moments to adjust to the alien-ness of the good aliens. Adults are variously kind, bumbling, or background nuisances. When watching the film with The Kid, it was suggested that Susan, Doctor Who’s precocious granddaughter, has a lot in common with Lucy Pevensie from the C.S. Lewis Narnia books. It’s a good comparison, both in terms of character and intention.
Forty years on, the film shows its age. The internal logic — or lack thereof — of the film is shaky at best. The characters are two-dimensional, and that’s being generous. But despite it’s many shortcomings, the film still manages to have a tremendous amount of kinetic energy and a sense fun that carries it over the rough spots, provided the viewer is willing to grant Doctor Who and the Daleks some leniency.
