Doctor Who - Genesis of the Daleks (1975)

My first Doctor Who episode ever....

This was the first Doctor Who serial/episode/feature I ever saw. I really didn't know what to expect, but the local PBS station (WTTW in Chicago) used to have a British night when they would show Monty Python, Dave Allen, and Doctor Who for 2 1/2 hours on Sunday night. So I watched this. Even though I didn't really understand everything, I found it fascinating. I was hooked, and have been a Doctor Who fan ever since.

This is probably not the greatest place to start on Doctor Who. This episode requires you know a little about the series before it starts. The TARDIS isn't in this one. for example. The Doctor and his companions are intercepted by a transmat beam by the Time Lords. They send the Doctor, Sarah, and Harry back to Skaro, the home of the Daleks. There is a civil war between the Thaals and the Kaleds that has raged for a 1000 years. The Doctor is assigned to alter the genetic development (or kill) the Dalek race, because they have become far too powerful in the universe and the Time Lords are concerned about this (even though the Time Lords are supposed to be "neutral" in these matters).

While this episode's special effects are questionable (they always were in the early years of Doctor Who), the writing and acting is exemplary. It's an intelligent, thoughtful, and fascinating episode that really gets better when you learn more about the Daleks and Doctor Who folklore. It's one of Tom Baker's best episodes (only his fourth), and one of the better Dalek adventures, far superior to Baker's later (and somewhat boring) Destiny of the Daleks.

I find that I like the older Doctor Whos better than the recent series. David Tennant (the current Doctor) is excellent, but too often the series is given over to special effects instead of people. The writing isn't as sharp, and the series seems a bit hollow. Regardless, this is one of Baker's best ones, and a must for any Doctor Who fan. July 14, 2008

Not the best, but still very cool.

I discovered Dr. Who back in the 80's and loved it. When it came on again, I called my kids into the room and asked them to watch it. Much to my amazement they loved it too. There is something timeless about this show, even with its cheesy special effects, corny dialogue and plot holes you could drive a truck through.

Genesis of the Daleks is well acted-Baker and company do a great job. Davros and company are engaging villians. The running back and forth between domes and such. The main flaw is that, in the end, the authors cop out. Dr. Who has had no trouble meddling with the Sontarans and killing one of them to prevent a war between them and the humans, so why not wipe out the Daleks too (except that to do so would change the series.) This isn't the moral equivalent of killing Hitler as a child, but killing him as he's getting ready to annex Austria or invade the Sudatenland. The Daleks have already wiped out two civilizations at the end of this episode. I freely grant that for plot purposes Dr. Who could not wipe out the Daleks, but his reasoning at the end is feeble and vapid. July 9, 2008

Tom Baker's 4th Doctor at it's best.

Great Dr Who Classic. The origin of the daleks and Davros is a must see - and a must see again!!! February 10, 2008

Doctor Who At It's Best

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. January 17, 2008

this is not a sequal but a prequal to "The" Daleks for the Hartnel Years

Genisis takes place long before Hartnel's initial Dalek story and of course also takes place before Invasion Earth 2064. Keep this in mind while enjoying the story. It is not totally counterdictary to "The Daleks" and you must be forgiving of Dr. Who that is notorious for this neglect of reference in most stories anyway. Hartnel's Doc #1 refers in "Invasion" That is, his first Skaro visit was "millions of years in the future." Puzzling the Daleks are more advanced in locomotion in 2164 AD than in the first story where they could not leave thier city. Here the pre-dalek race is referred to as "Kaled" yet in the first it is "Dal". That is the only real counterdiction and still yet, maybe the Doctor initially misinterpeted the runes in the sand in the Thal's enclave,(The Daleks 1963). This is the best story I know in bringing light to a desparately needed backstory to not only Daleks but the Thals as well. Thals, as any #1 encarnation fan knows, once were very warlike and became passive as result to thier repulsion to the surrounding world. Bettan, a true Thal and her little war band along with the smarter rebel mutos and a hand full of Kaleds like "Raven" "Chief scientis Ronson" and "Thane" not to mention "Garmon" supposedly become the first real resistance force of "Thals". Mutos not being "pure" yet what "Thal" is after the war? Kaleds are more advanced than Thals(yet Thals know of rockets) and in this telling Kaleds are "Nazi" totallitarians, who obsessively want control over all distircts and results in this war. The wheapons of the first war resulted in the bunker which appeared in ruin in "Destiny of the Daleks" , and it's "scientific" research via Davros, creation of the Daleks and a team of scientists to research for purpose only to survive and in self defense, not to control. Yet this turned into a power struggle between the Thals and "wheapons of mass distruction"(Daleks) were in demand as the new goal of this organized Kaled city and Davros. Mutos resulted from failed experiments of the past and thus the tale is very well thought out. Thier is no better story or screenplay than this in Doctor Who! Now the real mystery would be "Genisis of Davros". How/why is he a mutant himself and how did he become so through a birth accident via the first chem war or of a circumstancial accident? Being a "Kaled" mutant, he hates "mutos" himself. January 11, 2008

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