It might be crazy to think anyone could know how the London Underground would look in more than a hundred years time. But let’s not kid ourselves, for in just over 125 years, we do get to see a snapshot of the tube in 2150AD! And that come thanks to the good doctor – although I must stress, that particular one isn’t a canon figurehead by the way – disappointingly, but even more delightfully perhaps is the fact he’s a totally mortal, earthly guy, with a curiosity for time travel. And yes, at one time he did have a penchant for ridding the world of vampires!
Seeing Roy Castle trending gives me an excuse to repost this joyous little clip of him and Peter Cushing having fun on the set of the first Dalek movie. #DoctorWho pic.twitter.com/YZ4ekrM3FW
— The Dobson Family and Colin the Dalek (@DobbersW) July 15, 2024
Sheer delight as Dr. Who learnt he’d be required to visit planet Earth in 2150AD even if not for the purposes of sampling London’s underground! Perhaps one of his progeny could do that instead? Besides, it was Cribbins, not Castle, who joined the trip to sample the ruins of London nearly two hundred years later!
Upon arrival in London 2150AD Dr. Who and his companions discover London has become a goddamn awful mess! Who the f*ck undertook this demolition derby?
Dr. Who and Tom look out over the River Thames, and the very first evidence of the London Underground in the 22nd Century comes in the form of Lots Road power station. But instead of its being perhaps restored to use in powering the tube (essentially a downgrade from being those expensive flats) its taken a mighty beating and looks in danger of falling down!
One must wonder, well can the tube still be working in 2150AD? Good question! Lots Road power station was sequestered from its role in supplying power to the London Underground after just under a hundred years of use. That being the period from 1904 to 2002. It was eventually converted to luxury flats. Would it even have been powering the tube in the 22nd Century? And if not, where would the the tube get its power from?
Questions indeed! Perhaps the ‘tube’ in 2150AD had in fact become a network of foot tunnels by which humans networked with each other and passed between various locations for the acquisition or supply of food, medicine, essentials etc? A purpose for which a small group of portable generators might have been able to dimly lit miles and miles of tunnel. Thus it would have been completely immaterial in 2150AD as to whether Lots Road had stood in one piece or got turned to ruin…
Okay, so the question is what happens in terms of the tube midway through the 22nd Century? Rather disappointingly not a lot in fact! Unless there’s a parallel universe or a time loop of some sort it seems the Victoria Line was at that very moment in time (before the great Dalek calamity ensued) still being built (or maybe its a different upgrade to convert it to a 100mph tube line – a sort of hyperloop?) Not only that London Bridge station on the Northern line is getting an upgrade – and both of those happened back in 1965 as well. Funny how life turns out to be nothing but repetitive Centenaries!
One thing that can be deducted from al this is LT is just so totally fed up with Henry Figgs, Harry Bell Measures, Leslie Green, Stanley Heaps and Charles Holden. Sod heritage and history! Damn those stations built by these guys! Its back to basics -and the tube station of the future is given in the example we can see at Embankment!
In 2150AD tube station entrances are without a doubt totally bland even though there is a slight nod to the 1910s/20s design idiom. Each and every escalator/lift on the system has been removed entirely no doubt to reduce any chance of the Daleks getting a free saunter through the tube tunnels! These perfectly bland tube station entrances have another role – and all that because architect Charles Holden had been a cunning master of disguise…
Stairs – a stumbling block for the Daleks! Though one can say with confidence that presently (2024) its been known for a few years (well since 1988 anyway) that the Daleks found a way to levitate & negotiate these pesky stairs. The question however is, did those Daleks in the year 2150AD have that ability or were they a much older type that had somehow got caught in a time warp en route to Earth?
In fact this totally awful style of tube architecture was because the Daleks blasted quite a few tube stations right of the map, thinking these were hostile flying saucers the humans had. RIP Arnos Grove, Osterley, Sudbury Town and Southgate stations besides others!
According to the Daleks, Charles Holden – that a cunning master of disguise – had conceived what was no doubt seen as a blatant attempt to trick any Dalek invaders into assuming that the more stupendous tube stations couldn’t be anything other than pure architectural wonders….
Many tube stations suspected of being cloaked spaceships eliminated in the quest for Dalek superiority! That’s one of the downsides of having a transport heritage that somehow celebrates interstellar travel by way of these covert flying saucer/station constructs. Even the posting of a solitary policeman outside Arnos Grove station was no use for the Dalek’s spaceship could flatten the lot easily…
That for example is what happened to Southgate station. Just so blatantly obvious to the metalled space invader thingies what the whole structure was about! An early USS Enterprise in fact! Hidden UFOs beholden towards the notion of humanity becoming a space race!
This is what the Daleks had ‘discovered’ hidden below ground at these tube stations! No doubt it was a case of London’s tube boldly going where no other metro had gone before!
According to the Daleks, Charles Holden had somehow got wind of the plans to invade Earth at some future date – thus he cleverly disguised a number of spaceships for use as a defence means. These tube stations, they’d do the really big jobs right out there in space whenever a Dalek mothership approached the planet. As for Holden’s Senate House and 55 Broadway these would rise into the sky, and little fighter ships would leave from every corner of the building whilst commanders direct intensive aerial incursions against the Daleks. And yes, those Epstein characters would really come to life, and despite their nakedness they’d be armed with weapons they’d be shooting every bloody Dalek in sight! A totally naked aggression!
In consideration of the evidence presented here, there’s no doubt the Dalek invasion had begun on a somewhat intermittent basis much earlier than 2150AD before intensifying. By the time Dr.Who arrived the tube was on its last legs as a public transit system, having changed completely beyond recognition. Anyway, on with the show… sorry… movie – and here’s a bit more about those 1965/1966 posters seen in the year 2150AD!
Gawd! Are they STILL building the Victoria line in 2150AD? The poster at right is for Highbury and explain show the station will be upgraded and alterations made to incorporate the new Victoria line. Traffic jams galore and street markets abound too in 2150AD – when there’s obviously no Daleks about!
The central poster no doubt an effective means of highlighting the car menace – a bus can take almost seventy passengers whereas it would take numerous cars to transport that same number of passengers. In 2150AD it didn’t it matter much anyway as humans preferred to use their vehicles to mow down as many Daleks as could be found!
The tube map showing the system in 2150AD – much like it was in early 1966! The Victoria line under construction and the Metropolitan line to New Cross/New Cross Gate. That’s nearly two centuries of no change!
London Transport fire buckets in use in the year 2150AD? The best technological means available – and of no use to the Daleks!
On second thoughts perhaps the Daleks had requisitioned so much human derived infrastructure that the London underground system has had to be rationalised. Indeed, maybe the Victoria Line isn’t being upgraded but downgraded in fact to its mid 1960s condition? A bit like Brazil where neo-technology too pervaded the future. Twas the only way to keep the Daleks and their filthy sink plungers from stripping so much stuff that could be an asset to them…
On the wall besides David can be seen a London Underground Guide for 1965. Are these any use in 2150AD considering how much of the system has likely been destroyed? Nay, in this very year it ought to be a London Underground Guide to the smouldering remains of the tube system – with guidance and tips on the best refuges. the best communities to mingle with – and where to go as a means of escape should the Daleks a comin’ through those tunnels.
See Ref #5
Del Monte peaches? Very useful when there’s a war with the Daleks underway! Tinned food no doubt the order of the day – and anyway refrigeration’s quite lacking in 2150AD!
Interestingly the film set depicted in these scenes featured a rather bland sign that simply said Platform 1. Its not shown in the film but can be seen in this photograph from Alamy.
The Embankment tube station reappears some time later in the film when Cushing and Brooks are seen exiting the building. This is the one and only time Dr. Who is seen in any of the tube station scenes. His appearance had to be minimised because Cushing had health problems at the time.
Dr. Who and David at Embankment station. The Bostwick gates are prominent. These gates were numerous across the tube system at one time and were even used for the system’s older lifts. Just a handful of stations in 2024 still have these gates. An UndergrounD sign can also be seen.
The men look up and see the Dalek spaceship leaving London, no doubt for the rocky uplands of Bedfordshire where the Daleks have a base and in side that a neutron bomb is being primed to hit the earth’s core and cause chaos all over the planet by way of modifying the planet’s magnetic fields.
Once the spaceship has disappeared from the skies of London Dr. Who and David exit the tube station – and for a brief instant two of LT posters can be seen in their fullness – though the text is illegible.
The entrance lobby at Embankment station showing the tube posters depicted earlier. There’s also a tube roundel and the only one to be seen in the film. Its more the style of those from the early years of the 20th Century.
In this part of the film it seems everyone is leaving London and making their way towards the mountains of Bedfordshire in the hope that any attempt by the Daleks to bomb the Earth’s core can be stopped.
Bedfordshire mountains? But Bedfordshire doesn’t have any! Well it does, at least in the film! Before anyone can object such sacrilege of ye olde England counties, what about that made some ten years earlier? Olivier’s Richard the Third and yes, another English county, Leicestershire, is portrayed was having a mountain range and semi arid desert! No doubt it makes things far more credible than the green green grass of home!
Scenes screencapped from the 1966 Dr.Who film Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150AD.
References/links to the posters seen in Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150AD. All the locations are at Shepperton Studios where the entire film was made.
Ref #1 – Seen in the entrance to Embankment tube station:
Centenaries 1966. Stan Krol. (1966). London Transport Museum.
Victoria Station. Unknown. (1965). London Transport Museum.
London Bridge Underground station is being modernized. E. Barker (1965). Twentieth Century Posters.
The fact Centenaries 1966 is depicted among these poster sets indicates these sequences may have been done somewhat later in the movie’s production.
Ref #2 – LT Posters spotted in side corridor:
Street markets. Martina Selway. (1965). Science Museum.
These vehicles are carrying 69 people. Heinz Zinram. (1965). London Transport Museum.
Highbury Station – As It Will Be. Unknown. (1965). London Transport Museum.
Ref #3 – LT Map on large wall:
London Underground Quad Royal Map. Paul Garbutt. 1966. Bryars & Bryars.
Ref #4 – LT Book on side pillar:
London Underground Guide (1965 or 1966). No source available for 1965/66 – however various similar guides from the 1950s and 1960s are available on Ebay.
Ref #5 – Del Monte tinned peaches:
Peach Halves by Del Monte. Pinterest.
Not exactly a LT poster but nevertheless of interest! These still exist today with the can cover having a somewhat different illustrative depiction of the contents. The Pinterest image isn’t exactly as that seen in the film but its near enough!
Embankment Station:
Sadly the station seen in the film no longer exists. That part of Shepperton Studios is now a housing estate, thus this Google Street view is approximately where the former Embankment tube station once stood!
