Doctor Who: Why You Should Watch The Peter Cushing 'Dr. Who' Movies

For those of you who don't know what the Peter Cushing features are, they are essentially adaptations of the original two Dalek serials. The Daleks, and The Dalek Invasion of Earth respectively. Terry Nation's scripts, and creations, were elevated to the big screen and given a Hollywood make-over. Basically the irritating restrictions that shrouded over the original productions were swept aside. Everything was made much grander within these reimaginings. Plus, Doctor Who was finally presented in colour many years before the main show would be graced with this technological advancement in storytelling and presentation.

Immediately when diving into these movies you will quickly notice significant changes to the lore of Doctor Who, and the characters within it. This is not the same universe as the televised series. The Doctor is first and foremost known in these narratives as Dr. Who. He's kind of an eccentric scientist who manages to build their very own TARDIS. Also, they're not a Time Lord from Gallifrey, but rather just an ordinary human.

Essentially Peter Cushing's portrayal is loosely based upon the First Doctor played by William Hartnell, but beyond that he's his own unique variation of the iconic character. This is where the 'what if' comes into play, as we're looking into a parallel world were everything is the same but a little bit different. The narrative itself is practically beat-by-beat the television serials, while the main characters themselves are retroactively altered to fit in within this brand-new movie scaled version of the Doctor Who mythos.

The only element that remains from the original series is that Dr. Who is an intelligent, heroic character who has a granddaughter named Susan. Barbara becomes a secondary granddaughter, whilst Ian is rendered Barbara's bumbling boyfriend. But, for the purposes of this adaptation it works perfectly well, and adds to its own charm, characterisation, and world-building.