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Doctor Who: Genesis of the Daleks (Story 78)

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In every sense of the word GENESIS OF THE DALEKS is a "classic".

It has classic scenes, classic lines, classic charcters, a classic setting and the classic of all classic DOCTOR WHO villains - THE DALEKS. How can you go wrong? With both eyes closed, it hardly seems you could... but even the most die hard fan must admit that while GENESIS aims high, it is often mired in a disjointed plot, long winded writing, and paced like a car wreck. It's all bits and pieces flying everywhere - and you can't take your eyes off it. GENESIS OF THE DALEKS is truly a mess - but a wonderful one.

Terry Nation takes us back to the origin of his most famous creations and manages to not only provide a crediable and interesting background story for the Daleks - but establish a new character, DAVROS, who has managed to last almost as long as the Daleks themselves. This is a high point in the story, and one of the main reason why you should own this collection - as for the rest, there are some problems. At six episodes GENESIS runs too long for the material - causing many charcters to reapeat actions, dialouge, plot and story over and over again. The Doctor, Sarah and Harry end up spending a lot of time walking (and running) in this story as well.

From one dome to the another. Above ground, underground, in corridors, under floors, up ladders and down trenches - they are always on the move and always just missing each other at every moment. This story also features one of the least classic monsters in DOCTOR WHO's history - the Giant Clam. It looks exactly like the plastic, spray painted and hand operated "monster" that it is - it's so bad, it's classic. Roger Corman would be proud. But, underneath all the studio cheek and filmed quarry sequences there lies a good story. What do you do when you're presented with the chance to rewrite history? To stop interstellar war, horror and genocide - and what do you do when it's your mission? The Doctor faces these facts and fails to come up with any answers - this is not a bad thing.

GENESIS OF THE DALEKS comes packed as a two disc special edtion and even casual fans will find a number of things here to entertain and inform them. But there are a few downsides - the largest of which is the commentary provided by Baker (the Doctor), Sladen (Sarah), Miles (Nyder) and Maloney (director) - there are a few sparks, but far too many gaps, pauses and long silences as everyone involved tries to remember something. Names pop up, production problems rear their heads and Baker and Sladen demonstrate that chemistry that made them the duo that they were on screen. In fact, it's Sladen that rescues a lot of this commentary - from her references to the new DOCTOR WHO series, and her role in it - to her personal asides and feelings on the production. The worst though has to be Peter Miles who plays Nyder - a dark, vile charcter in the story - but Miles has little next to nothing to say about it. Perhaps there is nothing to be said - Nyder is evil. While I love the ideas behind these commentaries - they are hit and miss. While a Peter Davison and Frazer Hines commentary is bound to leave you informed and laughing - others are trials. A moderator, someone in the know, with facts in hand and the ability to not only prompt, but interview as well, is really required to bring the experience to life.

Text commentary fills in a number of the gaps - but have your remote at the ready. There are times when whole passages of text appear on the screen for two seconds or less, causing you to rewind and pause to read. Also - there are a few errors in facts and some "duh" mistakes that you can't help but laugh at - but they can be forgiven.

GENESIS is a classic. It's one of my all time favorites - and for those new to the series, it's a must own. Look past the extras and just enjoy the show.

Genesis of the Daleks was one of the first Doctor Who stories I remember watching when I first started watching the program on PBS. Genesis was actually the first Dalek story I had ever seen, and it remains my overall favorite today, as well as one of my overall favorite Doctor Who stories. After years of thrilling stories with the Doctor's oldest archenemies, The DW production staff, along with writer/Dalek creator Terry Nation, decided to explain the origins of the psychotic, megalomaniacal pepperpots in Genesis of the Daleks. The Doctor (Tom Baker) and his companions Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) and Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) are brought to Skaro, the Daleks' homeworld, by the Time Lords at a time before the Dalek race existed. The Time Lords want the Doctor to either prevent the Daleks from having ever existed, or alter their development so that they evolve into less aggressive creatures. The Doctor, Harry and Sarah find themselves in the middle of a long-running war of attrition between two humanoid races--the Kaleds and the Thals. They discover that the nuclear bombardments have caused people on both sides to mutate. The Kaleds, who are into racial purity, have expelled their mutants (called Mutos) into the wastelands outside their city. One exception is Davros (Michael Wisher), their chief scientist. Davros, believing these mutations are speeding up the evolution of the Kaleds, is performing experiments which lead to the creation of the first Daleks. But Davros' experiments cause the Daleks to lose their sense of emotion--love, hate, pity, compassion. They are driven by one thing--the need for power over the Thals and other "lesser" races. Davros betrays the Kaleds by helping the Thals nuke the Kaled city and destroy his own race. He then turns on the Thals by sending an army of Daleks into their city to exterminate them, sending the survivors running into the wastelands. In addition to Baker, Marter, Sladen and Wisher, some other great performances come from Peter Miles as Nyder, Harriet Philpin as Bettan and James Garbutt as Ronson. Although Resurrection of the Daleks was a very good story, Genesis of the Daleks is probably the last Dalek story from the original series that could truly be considered a classic, and I am thrilled that it is finally coming to DVD.

Imagine you could pick your favorite villains, from your favorite TV show, and do more than just reinvent those villains, but invent those villains, infront of the eyes of a viewer totally familiar with who those villains are, then go back and tell the story of their origin from the perspective of the protagonist. When that protagonist is a TIMELORD, it's easy to tell that story. That is just what Genesis of the Daleks is, the story of how the Doctor's greatest enemy comes to be. But, this concept is taken further than just telling their origin, the Doctor's mission is to stop that origin!

This is truely one of the best story arcs of the 4th incarnation of the Doctor, as played by fan-favorite, Tom Baker (currently narrator on the successful "Little Brittain" series).
This gritty and sometimes extremely dark story is one I and many fans have been waiting on for DVD release. The Doctor questions his own morality, wrestling with the decision to wipe out the Daleks like some terrible disease: To destroy an intelligent life form, wiping out a race, would 'he' be any better than the Daleks.

One short-coming is the price of BBC 2-disc sets is high and the special-bonus material is usually less-than special.

This was the story that got me hooked on Doctor Who back in the early 80's. My friend was a fan long before me and was always getting me to sit down and watch episodes on local TV with commercials. I was not impressed by what I saw until they ran Genesis of the Daleks during a PBS pledge drive. That was all it took to make me a diehard fan. Other reviewers have gone into detail about why this story is so good so I won't repeat their excellent comments here.

With this release my Top 5 favorite stories are now on DVD. Shame about the price increase though. On the plus side we're getting one of the Tom Baker's best stories and he's even doing a commentary!

Now if the BBC will only release Pertwee's Dalek stories...

It's hard for me to make up a list of the best "Doctor Who" episodes. Well, let me restate that. I can make a list from here to Ravalox and back, but it's hard to put them into any order. It's a list the contains things like Doctor Who - The Talons of Weng-Chiang, Doctor Who - The Tomb of the Cybermen, and, of course, "Genesis of the Daleks". I'm not sure if it's the best story (what's your favorite? Comment!), but it's definately the best Dalek story.

The story opens with our heroes trying to return to Earth after one of their most recent adventures. They get, essentially, pulled over by the Time Lords. One of them, dressed, for some odd reason, rather like Tim the Enchanter, explains to the Doctor that he's on Skaro and must prevent the construction of the Daleks.

Now this opens up a great many interesting doors, including such things as the grandfather paradox. A lot of them don't get opened, but some do, such as the Doctor questioning the morality of destroying the Daleks. He sites the evil that they do, but also explains that by forcing various species to work together against them they also cause good (in Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch it's observed that evil sows the seeds of its own destruction. This is a great example).

The story is also notable for the introduction of Davros. Ah, Davros. For some reason, despite the Daleks appearing every-other episode of the new series, he hasn't shown up yet. Probably only a matter of time, as it were.

Both the story and the acting are of quite high caliber here. Tom Baker, who hadn't been the Doctor for long, does an excellent job of developing out the chracter he'd play for seven years. The various supporting roles, especially the Kaleds, are also very well-done.

As is usual with the "Doctor Who" DVD releases there's a wealth of extra materiel. Especially of note is the entertaining commentary. I couldn't help but laugh when there's a shot on the screen of a man wearing a gas mask and Elisabeth Sladen says, "Mummy!" (if you don't get it, watch the new series. Most of it's... well, adequete).

Any "Doctor Who" DVD collection simply must feature this story. If you don't have it, get it.

(as a side note, years ago I, in what I can only guess was a sleep deprived state while attending Norwescon, began to shout out randomly, "We- are- Daleks- of- Borg! You- will- be- assimilated! Assimilate! ASSIMILATE!" Yeah... I'm just that weird)

THE PLOT: (This 1975 story is part of an excellent arc that began with "Ark in Space" and concluded with the next serial "Revenge of the Cybermen".) The Doctor (Baker) and his companions Harry (Marter) and Sarah (Sladden) are intercepted by one of the Doctor's fellow timelords, and brought to the war torn planet of Skaro. Who fans know that Skaro was the original homeworld of the implacable Daleks - horribly mutated creatures that live inside machines, and exist only to conquer and ex-term-in-ate!!! Anticipating a future in which the Daleks reign supreme over the universe, the timelords dispatch the Doctor on a desperate mission to Skaro at the point of the Dalek's creation. Learn as much as possible about them, inhibit their evolution and, if possible, destroy them.

Unfortunately (and as you'd expect for a Who story), The Doctor and his companions become embroiled with the politics of pre-Dalek Skaro: between the two warring humanoid races of the planet - the Kaleds and the Thals, and between factions of the Kaleds, the apparent progenitors of the Daleks. We also meet Davros, a horribly mutated Kaled scientist and the apparent creator of the Daleks. With their planet scarred by every known form of weaponry - including chemical, bacteriological and nuclear - there seems no hope in preventing the Kaleds from devolving into globby things that will need to travel inside the machines that will become the Daleks. However, Davros has a mind and soul to match his scarred body - he also engineers a new form of organic life devoid of conscience or any sense of compassion. Rather than mutant Kaleds, it is these twisted organisms that will become the dreaded Daleks. The Doctor struggles against both Thals and Kaleds, while occasionally making use of both.

This was a great episode that lives up to its hype. Though it loses steam in the latter half - in which the insidious Davros uses every form of trickery he knows to protect his project from doubting Kaleds - it's always riveting in true "Who" tradition. The planet Skaro - burned by centuries of futile war - is a compelling setting, while Davros makes an engaging new enemy - he's something of a Dalek himself. In a powerful exchange between Davros and the Doctor, the two debate the meaning of power over life and death and the morality that must come with it (somewhat prefiguring a similar conversation between Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson in "Schindler"). Though a kid's story, the dilemma the Doctor faces is very mature - he finds himself empowered to destroy the Daleks before they can threaten the universe - but does he have the right to commit genocide against a then-innocent life-form?

FOR THOSE WHO KNOW NO "WHO" - this is one of the stand-out stories that makes a great entry for those knowing little about the show. "The Doctor" is apparently human, but is actually an alien timelord (over 700 years old, two hearts, and the ability to regenerate every time the role needs to be re-cast). Having a time-spaceship (not seen in this story) the Doctor can travel anywhere in time and space. Though originally a kid show, this era of "Who" coincided with the show's inroads to older American viewers. Though production values are low, they're more than adequate given the crisp writing which puts the shows light-years ahead of the sedate and sterile thrills of "Star Trek" of the late 1980's. Best of all, the story is a perfect highlight for Tom Baker's dramatic range - his ability to go from a child's whimsy to an adult fury. Baker was still new to the role (he would hold it for about 7 years) and the producers scheduled this and a Cybermen story ("Revenge") to get him up to speed. Toss in Sarah-Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan as prototypical modern-day British who can go anywhere (or time) the Doctor goes, but never seek to understand what they're doing there. This was strangely the last Dalek story for years, and probably the last really good one for even longer. If you've only watched the new series, "Genesis" may be your strongest argument for getting into the original show as well.

I would put this in my top ten best Doctor Who list. I think it is around the 4th or 5th highest rated by fans of all Doctor Who episodes. Tom Baker is my most favorite Doctor. Elizabeth Sladen is one of my most favorite assistants. Dalek episodes are always some of my most favorite stories. This is by far the best Dalek episode ever made. I watched this story several times on repeats on PBS as a kid. The story is essentially about how Davros created the Daleks in his own image. He was the great Kaled engineer that was very [..]like. I think he was overused in the later stories of the Daleks. He fit perfectly into this story. It takes a lot from the William Hartnell episode The Daleks, which is the first ever Dalek story.

It's all too easy to say of anything that it's a classic, to the point that the word almost gets cheapened from overuse. But sometimes no other word will really do, and that really does go for "Genesis of the Daleks" here, for on the one hand it's very typical and characteristic of the show (especially as it was in the mid-1970's), while on the other hand it's a bit of a cut above the rest. It features the Doctor's most popular nemesis, but does so in an unusual way that's interesting both if one's been following the show up until this point and if this is the first time one's ever even heard of a Dalek. And it succeeds both as a thrilling science fiction adventure and as an exploration of some fundamentally important issues.

This is also clearly a transitional moment in the show's history, shifting in emphasis somewhat from a kid's show that grown-ups can also enjoy to a grown-up show that kids can enjoy too. A subtle shift, but noticeable. Really we have a dark and bleak storyline with this one, lightened only by the Doctor's ever-reliable oddball eccentricity, Sarah Jane's lovable feistiness, and Harry's doofishness (always putting his foot in it). Otherwise the themes of genocide, eugenics, militarism, fascist totalitarianism, wars of attrition and genetic mutations, forced labor, suspicion and betrayal, megalomania, stark moral dilemmas and such cuteness all add to the somber lighting and the dull ash-grey sets (definitely a "Death Star" palette here, folks) to make this a compellingly grim adventure indeed. In some ways the moral dilemma faced by the Doctor at the climax is a variant on the old "would you kill Hitler when he was an infant?" conundrum, but it is disturbing enough to him on the spot--and to us, who understand his hesitation and the issues involved but also kind of just wish he'd throw ethics to the wind and nip the Daleks in the bud. Geez. All a little heavy for Saturday afternoon tea time, I'd think. There's a new depth of seriousness here that we hadn't quite seen before in "Doctor Who."

It is also an exceedingly imaginative masterstroke to set this storyline back when the Daleks were first invented or evolved or whatever, though it may be easy to overlook just how innovative this was after the fact. Dalek storylines can get a bit repetitive after a while if the writers aren't careful. They invade, they exterminate, and the Doctor stops them. Instead of a retread, though, "Genesis" succeeds admirably in breathing new life into the concept, exploring their formation in a compelling manner. And the Dalek's inventor, Davros, is a superb villain, a man of science and reason like the Doctor but who puts that knowledge to very different uses--the contrast between them is depicted wonderfully in one of their key dialogues (script-writing at its best). And Michael Wisher probably deserves an award for bringing Davros to life, convincingly portraying a wide range of different evil emotions and radiating creepy charisma all while immobilized in body (except for a right hand), crammed in a lower-Dalek wheelchair contraption, and encumbered by a well-designed and realistic mask that covered most of his face and blocked his vision. Finally, the final scene between Davros and his new creations, the Daleks, is a beautiful example of good old-fashioned irony, or maybe instant karma--a nice touch that also (for what it's worth) serves cleverly to maintain continuity with the many preceding Dalek stories in the series.

Don't get me wrong. Not everything's perfect. The writers lead the Doctor up to the big moral dilemma only to kind of let him off the hook, only to lead him back to the hook and yet pretty much release him again. This makes for some annoying anticlimax. And a few things stretch one's credulity just a little. And yes, the giant clams look fake. But overall, if I were introducing a friend to this show and wanted to find an exemplary story that exemplifies much of what's great about "Doctor Who," this would likely be one of my choices--though probably I'd want to compliment it with another one a bit more upbeat.

Before buying any Dr Who series you should be aware that the special effects for the most part suck. However, the general plot is great and the plot lines are exceptional. This was a must have from my childhood, expecially since it was a Tom Baker (the long scarfed Doctor) series. I enjoyed thoroughly because it brought to light the creation of one of the Doctors most deadly enemies (the Daleks). It also contains a few characteristic one liners by Tom Baker.

Genesis Of The Daleks is, in my opinion the best Doctor Who story produced to date. The story is the fourth to feature to Tom Baker as the Doctor, meaning he was still at the height of his abilities as the Doctor. Add to that Terry Nation's amazing script, an excellent supporting cast, and above-the-average Doctor Who production values and one finds a classic piece of Doctor Who.

The serial finds the Doctor and companions Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan sent by the Time Lords (the race of whom the Doctor is a member) to Skaro towards the end of the Thal-Kaled war on a mission to p[revent the creation of the Daleks. Along the way they meet Thals, Kaleds, mutants, the nefarious Nyder (played to perfection by Peter Miles) and the creator of the Daleks, the crippled scientist Davros (Michael Wisher, who was best known for supplying Dalek voices during the Pertwee era). As they carry out their mission, each of the characters sees the horrors and futility not just of war, but of eugenics, genetic experiments, and what happens when you play God. Needless to say, this is heavy stuff for a show that was in the eyes of many "just a children's show". This story is an eerie, tense, and thought provoking one in the style the show was going at the time. Yes there are polystyrene monsters (only a couple in a cave) but outside of those there isn't anything to complain about in production values from the Nazi-like costumes of the Kaleds to the amazing Davros make-up to the bunkers where so much of the story takes place. Then there is the Daleks. The show;s longest running and most-popular villains, they had some uninspired usage during the Pertwee era and they have there revenge here. For anyone trying to understand why the Daleks are so popular and evil, watch the last five minutes or so of the last episode because who'll understand why. So as I wrote above, the best Doctor Who story produced to date.

The special features are a real treat. Of special interest are the two documentaries on the second disc. The first, Genesis Of A Classic details the behind the scenes story of the story's making through interviews with surviving participants and rare production stills and drawings. The other documentary is a real treat for fans: The Dalek tapes. This hour long documentary is a fascinating look at the Daleks, from creation to their various appearances and evolutions during the run of the classic series. Other feature include the continuity commercials from various broadcasts of the story, Blue Peter showing off Doctor Who models made by a fan, an excellent commentary for both audio (featuring Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, Peter Miles, and director David Maloney) and a text one on the production.

Now for the ultimate question: is this worth your money? Considering this story is two and a half hours long (longer then some major movies) with a second disc full of bonus features, I would say yes. Why is it worth it? Because Genesis Of The Daleks is a morality story wrapped up in a nice science fiction wrapping paper with a bow on top. And also, because they just don't make it like they used to.