Doctor Who Reactions: "Genesis of the Daleks" (SPOILERS)

[The Baron]

1)Like "Revenge of the Cybermen", this was one of the stories that Philip Hinchcliffe felt stuck with by his predecessor, Barry Letts. In the end, he ended up making the story quite a bit more graphic and intense than Letts would've done. Nation did alot of re-writing of Dalek continuity here - I get the impression that even he didn't exactly remember the events of "The  Daleks" properly.

 

2)"We'd like you to return to Skaro at a point in time before the Daleks evolved."  I've always wondered what the Time Lord at the start of this story was up to and who he was working for - the high council, the CIA, Rassilon?   Really, they returned the Doctor to a point just as the Daleks were coming into being. Why not send him back with some breathing room? For that matter, why not prevent whatever it was that happened to Davros? Why not go back and prevent the Thal-Kaled War?

 

3)The Doctor had some good scenes in this - in particular his despair over Harry and Sarah when he thought they were dead.  And of course, the famous "Have I that right?" scene when he debates the morality of destroying the Daleks.  I wonder how he felt about that after the Time War.

 

4)Harry was pretty good in this - I especially liked the scene where he helped the Doctor get his foot off the land mine. Sarah on the other hand didn't get to do too much other than lead the prisoner revolt that didn't really work out too well. Also, in Par tfive, she changes into some clothes she found for no apparent reason! Really it was for continuity with "Revenge of the Cybermen", but it does seem odd that no story reason is given - it just looks as though in the middle of an exciting adventure with the Daleks, the Doctor handed her some clothes and she wen off and changed into them.

 

5)This story has two of my all-time favorite Doctor Who villains in it - that is, Davros and Nyder! Wow, Michael Wisher and Peter Miles both do some excellent work in it. Wisher really makes Davros into a worthy opponent for the Doctor - with respect to the subsequent Davroses, none of them ever quite captured the character as well as he did. In fact, he established the character almost too well, since  - they never did another Dalek show without Davros for the remainder of the old series! And Davros would never again have a foil as good as Nyder, his own personal Himmler.

 

6)Lots of good supporting performances in this -Ravon, Gharman, and Ronson (who gets the dubious honor of being the first person killed by a Dalek) spring to mind, but especially Sevrin and Bettan.

 

7)Wow, the Dalek and Thal cities are just a short walk away from each other - any closer nd they'd be able to throw rocks at each other.

 

8)The killer clams made me laugh out loud.

 

9)The Thals bought into Davros' offer a little too easily, I thought - they trusted him too quickly.

 

10)The was the first story in which the Dalek guns were seen to have "beams" - SFX technology marches on!

 

11)I liked how they conveyed the Dalek attack on the Thal city by sound only - something they couldn't have afforded to actually show, but they still managed to convey it.

 

12)How fortunate that they were always able to find monitors to tune into whatever scene they wanted to see.

 

13)"But I'm afraid I've only delayed them for a short time - perhaps a thousand years."  I've long debated whetheer the Doctor actually changed history, or if what he did merely established the history he already knew - that is, if they hadn't sent him back there, the Daleks would've been more powerful.

 

14)Some fun quotes:

• "Like finding the remains of a Stone Age man with a transistor radio." "Playing rock music?"
• "Mutos are the scarred relics of ourselves."
• "Our battlecry will be 'Total extermination of the Thals!'"  Be funny if he'd prevented the creation of the Daleks only to find the Kaleds were just as bed.
• "No tea, Harry."
• "All norms are our enemies." Hear, hear!
• "Aliens! I must exterminate!"  Many years ago, almost thirty now, there used to be a college student who would drink too much beer and yell this at his bemused dorm mates. I wonder whatever happened to him...
• "The whole of the Kaled people? You would go that far?" "Did you ever doubt it?"  "No." My nominee for one of the best-acted scenes ever in Doctor Who.
• "Excuse me. Can you help me? I'm a spy."
• "Thank you. That's what I wanted to know." Gharman, you moron.
• "Even the sonic screwdriver won't open this door."  Obviously, they had dead-lock seals on Skaro.
• "'Pity'? I have no understanding of the word. It is not registered in my vocabulary bank."
• "We obey no one! We are the superior beings!"  Another favorite of that long-ago collegian. Really it's a wonder that I that he didn't get punched more often.

 

15)Cliffhangers:

• Part One: Sarah watches Davros test a Dalek!
• Part Two: Sarah falls off the scaffolding!  (Really, the way she landed should've broken her neck.)
• Part Three: The Doctor is zapped by an electric fence!
• Part Four: Davros threatens to torture Sarah and Harry!
• Part Five: Dalek embryos attack the Doctor!
• Part Six: The Doctor, Sarah and Harry go whirling off into time

 

Overall:

Not a bad story - some excellent performances here, but probably more remembered for its impact on subsequent stories (and the hash it made of Dalek continuity) thant for its own merits.  As I say with almost all six-parters, might've been better edited down to a four-parter.

 

[Part of list of Doctor Who episodes here.]

[The Baron]

Yeah, this would be a weird one to walk in in the middle of.

[Horn'd One]

Genesis of the Daleks was the first Dr. Who episodes (well, truth be told, one of the episodes in this mini-set was) that inspired my mom to make me my own Dr. Who-themed scarf. Of course, this was decades ago & I still have the scarf. It's knitted wool, is 17ft 9in long & 10in wide, and I get complimented on it still.
While the pic itself is only 4 years old, the scarf is well over 25+ & still holding up well.
http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h79/BookWyrm_photos/?action=view&...

[The Baron]

That's pretty cool.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I am very much looking forward to seeing this in the theater tonight.

[The Baron]

I hope you enjoy it. I had trouble staying awake for "Power of the Daleks".  Not that it was dull, just that it was after work, and the seats were extra comfy.

[Philip Portelli]

Seriously thinking about going tonight but I have to get up early for work tomorrow!

What to do, what to do?

[Richard Mantle]

Silly Britisher Question -- What's all this about watching in theatres?? Thankyou.

Otherwise -'Possibly my favourite ( THE Greatest ??) Dr Who story ever and THAT most memorable "Have I The Right??!!" moral dilemma really struck a chord with me as a kid.

[Doctor Hmmm?]

And coming out on blu ray next week.

[The Baron]

Certain stories have been shown in cinemas over here.  When I saw  the animated version of "Power of the Daleks", no less than Anneke Wills was three seats over from me.

Richard Mantle said:

Silly Britisher Question -- What's all this about watching in theatres?? Thankyou.

Otherwise -'Possibly my favourite ( THE Greatest ??) Dr Who story ever and THAT most memorable "Have I The Right??!!" moral dilemma really struck a chord with me as a kid.

[Richard Mantle]

Thank you Me Baron sir.

You lucky foreigners you with your cosmopolitan ways 

The Baron said:

Certain stories have been shown in cinemas over here.  When I saw  the animated version of "Power of the Daleks", no less than Anneke Wills was three seats over from me.

Richard Mantle said:

Silly Britisher Question -- What's all this about watching in theatres?? Thankyou.

Otherwise -'Possibly my favourite ( THE Greatest ??) Dr Who story ever and THAT most memorable "Have I The Right??!!" moral dilemma really struck a chord with me as a kid.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

The interviews with Tom Baker before and after were delightful, but I’ve got a few nits to pick with the plot…

The Time Lords send the Doctor to the past of the planet Skarro to prevent the creation of the Daleks. They give him a time ring to return him to the TARDIS when he has completed his mission. He is captured, and reveals vital knowledge of the future. Then he escapes, destroys the tape, and concludes his mission is accomplished and it’s time to return. What did he achieve, really, other than to set right a situation he himself caused?

Later, he is given the choice to (we are led to believe) wipe out the entire Daleks race before it can spread. He chooses not to (because the doctor should not commit genocide), but then later changes his mind. He attempts to destroy the Daleks but fails, succeeding only with the accidental help of a Dalek. Then we find out the Daleks race is not destroyed after all, only delayed for 1000 years or so.

The only real change I can see is that the “Dals” were replaced by the “Kaleds,” but that happened before he even arrived. The Doctor was ultimately ineffectual in this one, and we didn’t even get to see the TARDIS.

[The Baron]

It's a fun story, but as with many fun Doctor Who stories, it doesn't bear much thinking about.