Before the first Dalek film had even hit the screen, Milton Subotsky foresaw the Dalekmania of the forthcoming Christmas, and set about creating a sequel. The film was brought out a few months after the climax of the three-month-long 'Daleks Masterplan'.

Props for the second Dalek film were again supplied by Shawcraft. Following the design style of their TV counterparts the "solar panels" were added to the shoulder sections although interestingly (and helpfully for those tracking props) their slats were more numerous and arranged differently to the TV Daleks. Where normally on a TV Dalek  there would be six half-sized panels over the gunboxes, on the film Daleks there were seven, with one extra one directly in the centre.

Daleks in the second film had to make allowances for the rough terrain the Daleks might face during location shooting and therefore the film props' fenders have one solid-framed rim at the top and flexible material beneath which provided some "give" against raised ground (illustrated right).

The colour scheme of the standard props differed greatly from their first, extremely colourful feature film livery. This time the Daleks were silver with light-blue skirt hemispheres. Were it not for their enlarged fender and lights, they would easily pass for TV props to the untrained eye.

The props had a variety of features either by accident or design, which makes it possible to identify different component sections. Three Daleks were fitted with the types of claws seen in the first film, and three props had the traditional sucker attachments. One Dalek had a unique scissor-like pincer (pictured left) and another had an unusually small, silver sucker, shown below (second from right). A black eye pivot and eye-stalk (pictured below centre) was to be found on one head. In addition to these features there are bolt holes to the found in the front two panels of each Dalek's skirt which are in a different configuration in every prop due to them being drilled by hand and this allows for certain skirts to be followed throughout the course of the film.

Shawcraft provided a total of eleven casings for the story, comprising eight hero props and three dummies for stunt work. In part they used roughly the same build methods for the props that were to be destroyed, but of a lower-quality finish intended only ever to be seen in the far distance, or for very brief periods.

Most of the scenes requiring the use of an army of silver props were filmed first, such as the Daleks being run over and the failed attack on the saucer. The scene featuring the Daleks destroying the shed was filmed towards the end of the schedule which therefore required all the props to be restored to their silver appearance after they had previously been painted different colours. This scene in particular is of note because it is the only time the eight hero props all feature, however one is completely static (above). Curiously the scissor-pincer attachment is not present on any of the props, presumably replaced during refurbishment.

There is no shot in the film where all the props are used at once however in the scene where the van ploughs through the Daleks there are ten props seen, being seven hero props and three dummies.

These images show when a Dalek prop is destroyed by the van it affords us some great views of the insides and the build quality of the props. This prop looks fairly respectable in side view, however the view to the right showing a sequence of frames as the van hits the prop, makes it clear that this is a fairly roughly-assembled Dalek, despite its authentic parts. It is still clearly a proper fibreglass skirt, which splits in various places on impact. The material around the edge of the fender frame is ripped off and in the photo below left, it exposes the prop's wheels.

In scenes which required the appearance of the leading classes of Daleks, three silver props were repainted, thus reducing the visible number of silver props. However clever editing often made it appear that there were more props than there actually were. One Dalek become primarily black, with gold hemispheres, a claw arm, and red lights, one Dalek became red with silver hemispheres, a claw and red lights, and the gold Dalek had black hemispheres, a sucker attachment and gold lights. The silver Dalek with the black eye stalk and pivot retained this quirk in becoming the gold Dalek. During the control room scenes, the unusual silver sucker Dalek can be seen at controls in the background.

Throughout the film, and particularly towards the end, the props sustained a considerable amount of damage. When the van hits the Daleks, not only are the dummies blown up, but there is a knock-on effect into other props  at the side of the road. When the Robomen rebel, a Dalek is rammed with a heavy goods truck at the mine workings, and most notably when the leader Daleks are magnetised into their shaft the red and black Daleks lose all sorts of parts including eyes and lights. Also of note during this shot is the fact that the red Dalek's base is covered with fabric to hide where the operator's legs would have reached the floor, however it does show off the rather unglamorous wheels.

For shots which could not be achieved using full-sized props, small, custom built models were created and dropped down the shaft or rammed into exploding machinery. Black, red and silver Dalek models were made.

A bigger budget of £180,000 had been allotted for this film, but still going over-budget the financial gap was plugged by Sugar Puffs who not only got posters for the cereal up in the war-torn future Earth but were able to run a promotion in which allowed them to offer an original Dalek prop as a prize.

When filming had been completed there were very few prop  components left for future use. A set of three Daleks was assembled for promotional work using the surviving parts. It is interesting to note that in this image (right) that one film prop features a TV-style gun with spokes, demonstrating how quick refurbs were being done when necessary using whatever parts Shawcraft had lying around their workshops.

However, compared to some of the extremely strange refurbishments made to film props in later years, this would pale into insignificance!

As touched upon in the  first film page, two 'Daleks Invasion Earth' props underwent some strange changes. The gold Dalek passed into the hands of Terry Nation who then loaned the prop to the BBC where it was heavily modified to become the Dalek Supreme for 'Planet of the Daleks' serial. It was later photographed for the stageplay 'The Seven Keys to Doomsday' and alongside it is another hideously modified prop (pictured left).

It also features a torch eye and has refitted gunboxes with faceplates, rails on the arm and different lights on the head. Perhaps it was perceived that it should be modified to fit in with the Dalek Supreme.

Due to the relatively poor reception of the second film, plans for a third film were dropped and Doctor Who never returned to the big screen, however six months later they would be back on television screens.

Next Chapter: 'Power' >>>