Over forty-five years since it was originally broadcast, Genesis of the Daleks still stands out as one of the best stories in Doctor Who history.
There are some stories that you can find any excuse to rewatch. And, if you’re a writer for a website dedicated to the Doctor Who fandom, you might find any excuse to review those stories more than once, too. Genesis of the Daleks is definitely one of those very stories.
As we recently covered, in terms of mythology, it’s absolutely an essential story to watch. The introduction of Davros; the roots of the Time War; the setup for The Magician’s Apprentice. It’s certainly an important story, but what makes it a great one? In fact, what makes it one of the most popular serials of the Classic Series?
The first thing that springs to mind is Davros. This is his first appearance in Doctor Who, and he would appear in every following Dalek story of the Classic Series. Regardless of whether this was the right thing to do with the character or not, it’s certainly clear why he became so iconic so quickly.
Tom Baker gives a fantastic performance in this story, and shows just why his Doctor became so popular so quickly.
(Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images)
Davros and Nyder
Along with having an extremely effective design, Davros is also characterized brilliantly. As the creator of one of the evilest races in the universe, he’s certainly not a pleasant individual. In fact, he’s quite terrifying in how ruthless he is. But he also has some interesting motives for creating the Daleks. Essentially, his ultimate aim is to create a force for good. A force that will dominate all other life in the universe. While this doesn’t make him sympathetic, it does make him interesting and helps to add a lot of depth to his character.
But of course, it’s not just Terry Nation’s excellent writing that makes him stand out. We also have an amazing performance by Michael Wisher, too. Wisher was the perfect choice for a character like Davros. Along with voicing the Daleks themselves in several Third Doctor stories – thus giving some of their vocal mannerisms to their creator – Wisher also knew how to add subtlety to the character, too. This is extremely impressive, especially since most of his face is covered behind a mask! It’s amazing to think that this is Wisher’s only on-screen performance in the role, as it still stands out as one of the very best takes of the character.
We also need to give credit to how effective his henchman is, too. While we won’t go into too much detail on Nyder, (particularly as we recently wrote a whole article about him,) he easily stands out as one of the best henchmen in Doctor Who history, thanks to a fantastic performance from Peter Miles.
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A grim tone
The story also has an extremely dark and gritty tone, one that complements its themes of brutal, ongoing war just right. The opening scenes alone help to establish the tone of the story: several soldiers in gas masks being horrifically shot down. Not by laser blasts, but by machine gunfire. It establishes from the very beginning that, while this is a war on an alien world, it’s one that’s meant to reflect historic wars that we recognize.
Genesis of the Daleks isn’t a perfect story, admittedly. As many six-part stories shared in the same period, the serial suffers the occasional moment of padding. Characters get captured, escape, and recaptured again very quickly, making no clear impact on the plot. This is especially clear at the end of episode 2 and the start of episode 3, in which there’s a bold escape attempt that actually goes nowhere.
However, this is a very small problem. Overall, Genesis of the Daleks is an extremely strong story. With brilliantly conceived characters, excellent performances, and a bold reimagining of one of Doctor Who‘s greatest monsters, this still stands out as one of the very best stories in Doctor Who history.
Are you a fan of Genesis of the Daleks? Is it one of your favorite Dalek stories? Do you think it lives up to the hype? Let us know in the comments below.