This is a great example of how collaborative old Who was. With the arrival of Philip Hinchcliffe, experienced writers like Terry Nation are suddenly reinvigorated. Robert Holmes is clearly relishing the opportunity to put his mark on the show unfiltered by Terrance Dicks. So with just one fresh voice behind the scenes, Doctor Who suddenly has a whole new feel.
I’ve been a Doctor Who fan since I was 9 years old. There were two channels that showed Doctor Who when I was first watching it, a local PBS station in Seattle and a station from Canada. This season was one of the two seasons that was on when I first started watching and it is still one of my favorite seasons. I love Genesis of the Daleks and my wife, who is not as much of a fan as I am, also loves Genesis.
Genesis is one of my favorite stories of all time. The acting, lighting, set design, script, and basically everything is perfect imo. I watch it at least once a year, and usually more whenever I feel like its time to watch it again.
Lovely review. You’re dead on about the whole Tom/Phillip/Bob/Nation vibe all coming together. One of my favourite scenes in the show is the Time Lord/Doctor confrontation, two magnificently realised aliens feeling like two magnificent aliens, joyous! Although hardly in it, the background presence of the Daleks has never felt more palpably Dalek. After years of them popping up all over the time and place, Genesis makes the Daleks once again mysteriously dangerous. We know them because for twelve years they’ve been in our front rooms, but we’ve never known them as blobby children, yet to be fully grown exterminators. Harry is one of the series very best companions, a cuddly buffoon, shaped holistically human by such superb acting. Not since Barbara have we had female companion as a genuine lead, Genesis completely cements Sarah Jane as equal casting. There are times it feels like her story. Davies really understood that, actually so did Nathan Turner. Wisher, my favourite Davros and to see his spectacular performance first time round, no other Davros comes close. Love Davies but he was wrong about Davros’s appearance. This is a character as a kind of god, his abilities are profound, in many ways he’s a super powered being. ‘Genesis of the Daleks’ reshaped Doctor Who, even as a kid watching, I knew it felt more adult than before. Phillip Hinchcliffe was starting to create ‘the golden age’. Gx
I think I'm VERY much in the minority of people who thinks this episode is just fine 😅 About 2 episodes too long with characters running in place, getting captured, escaping, then getting captured again with no plot progression. Davros is head and shoulders the best part, but you could say that about most of his episodes 😅 The whole "Do I have the right scene" looses its impact when you realize the only reason he doesn't do it, is because he gets distracted and not because he took the moral high ground (he even goes back to blow them up at the end!!!) Solid 3.5/5 for me...I will return my Doctor Who fan badge in the mail 😉
You're not alone. I also think this one is highly overrated. It has strong points - but lots of weaknesses, too. I can't call it a Classic. It's okay, at best.
Nice review. I myself wouldn't say that Genesis of the Daleks is overrated, but simply there are other stories I love more- which would go against the polls. I'll just say now that Genesis of the Daleks is my fourth favourite Fourth Doctor story, but I'll share which ones for me top Genesis of the Daleks when they come on the marathon. However, even though I prefer other Fourth Doctor stories to Genesis of the Daleks, or other Dalek stories to this one, that in my mind doesn't undermine the quality of this story. Not one jot. It is excellent. I watched it recently, and I think Davros works so beautifully in this episode. He feels more real in this episode than in subsequent appearances. I think this is because he is operating in a culture and war he grew up in; whereas in the other episodes he's operating with the world of Daleks that he created. In subsequent episodes it feels like he's shifted his focus to universal domination, but in Genesis of the Daleks its Davros' desire to simply be right and have his own way that makes him so chilling. For Davros the Thal-Kaled war is just a sideshow, and he could actually care less about who wins. This is shown by how Nyder bosses around the military, and orders supplies from the military even at the expense of the war effort. Davros' insistence on being right all the time is further shown in the way that Nyder rejects that the Doctor and Harry come from other planets, on the basis that Davros has said no intelligent life can develop outside of Skaro. Its because Davros desires to be right at all costs, that he is willing to commit genocide against his own people. This story excellently displays his genius and his evilness, as he plays the Kaleds off the Thals, and frames it all on Ronson. I think him helping the Thals to destroy the Kaled dome epitomises Davros' evil more than him making a reality bomb (sigh) and more than turning people into food (although the latter is also chilling). Davros' desire to be right is not shown in an obvious way, instead it is well-crafted in such a unique way compared to other villains, that makes Davros, sadly, feel very real and relevant. Although this isn't my favourite Dalek story, I would say this is my favourite Davros story. Ah, it makes sense with what you say that Genesis of the Daleks was the last filming block of Season 12, as I feel Tom Baker was still feeling his way in the role in Revenge of the Cybermen (although I still admire his performance in that episode, as I might be alone in defending it on your next review). Oh that is so gutting accidentally deleting the review! I think I've done something similar. I know I've accidentally saved over a script I had just written, so I effectively deleted it! That was so annoying as I had spent hours writing it. I managed to rewrite it in an hour, but I think sometimes when that happens you can end up getting out the creases and wrinkles in the rewrite/reshoot. But accidentally deleting your work is a painful experience; nevertheless you got there in the end which is the main thing.
The theory I liked from this story was the change to the Dalek timeline was Davros surviving. We never heard of him before. The Daleks were big an powerful. After this Davros survivies and the Daleks keep coming back. So the change being that Davros surviving delays their progress and makes them more dependent on him making them weaker.
It'll be interesting to see how things differ now that Russell T Davies has confirmed that Davros never gets crippled in the new timeline. How will that change the Daleks?
When I was first getting into dr who, my uncle would send me dvds of classic stories as and when I requested them (I was very blessed) and one day he got genesis...needless to say I had to watch it. Except for a change he only let me borrow it, rather than getting it for me outright. So even he didn't want to get rid of genesis Truly a classic, one of my favourites to revisit. Genuinely been waiting so long for you to reach this one. There's a couple more special ones to come
The Daleks never scared me as a kid In the 60s. I was too much in love with their design to ever feel the need to hide "behind the sofa" from them. But, I do feel that they were at their most truly terrifying in "Genesis". Although in my mid teens in 1975, I can fully understand how they could have put the fear of God into kids who were my age during the Hartnell and Troughton eras, during the time of Philip Hinchcliffe's tenure as Producer.
My first experience with Genesis of the Daleks was via audio cassette (bought at Longleat!), and it was excellently done, with some connecting audio to explain what was happening visually, but getting to watch it later just conveyed how much... more there was of it. The story in isolation is great, but the small acting decisions you can see on screen elevates far beyond what I thought of it, and I thought it was great to begin with!
When I first saw this story, on American PBS, in 1985, it was a movie edit. I only had Peter Hailing's "Celebration" test, from 1983, to tell anything about stories. My family had a Beta video, which I had started to record WHO with Robot. Yet, this was the first "six parter" in the series. I already had "Sontaran Exp" on a tape, and I recorded "Genesis the next week. Yet, the tape ended, as The Doctor and Davros had their debate on ethics. I wouldn't see this whole story for another two years. I did get the Target novel.
This definitely a top 20 story in the entire 61 year history of Doctor Who but I've never felt like it was the best Classic Who story, out of all the stories reviewed so far things like the Aztecs and the Daemons I would rank above it from the top of my head and there's a Dalek story yet to come that I thinks better than this
Would a ranking of Tardis teams of multiple companions be interesting? Would companions lower down on the individual companion ranking be elevated by how they perform with their Doctor and other companion/s? 🤔
Last time I watched this, I was struck by the maturity and moral questions raised, and, if it was Nation's handiwork after all, it seemed almost like a personal exorcism of the horrors of World War II. I'm torn on Davros, insomuch as while the character is written so well here, and brought so vividly to life by Michael Wisher, I still wonder if the ending would have had more power if Davros had been killed. Hoist by his own petard, his creations' lack of pity being the reason for his demise.
Part of me always likes to think of this story in isolation and imagine that Davros never came back. While he has had some good material since, it would have been the perfect conclusion to his character
Lots to like, great direction, great production, great cast, Wisher and Miles especially, but not a personal favourite. Still think it's very good though!
Excellent thoughts on GOTD. This was the second ever story I watched and it blew me away. Night and Day compared to what I had seen previously (The Daemons). Out of interest, was your first time watching this in December 1992ish on BBC2? If so, I was on the other side of the UK doing the same
@@ZoahLord Yes the 1992 repeat season, although now I type this I think Genesis might have been early 93? If that's the case then it wasn't 92 like I said in the video...
@@chris_stokes It was either late 92 or early 93. I remember The Daemons being a little too "Scooby Doo" for me, so when BBC2 announced GOTD was coming I remember thinking "I've heard of both Tom Baker and Daleks. Let's give these a go"...very glad I did. There could have been a couple of weeks break between the stories. The only story I remember coinciding with anything was an episode of POTD falling on or around Bonfire night '93
Until RTD mentioned it, I'd never considered Davros to be an example of the "disability villainy" trope. I always thought that his physical condition meant (like AH not being an example of Aryan manliness) that by his own standards, he was not a member of his own "master race". Davros _should_ have been regarded as a muto - the fact that he wasn't merely added hypocrisy to the list of the Kaleds' vices, as it did with the Nazis.
I do wonder if Pertwee ever watched this and thought "why couldn't Nation come up with something like this for me?"
This is a great example of how collaborative old Who was. With the arrival of Philip Hinchcliffe, experienced writers like Terry Nation are suddenly reinvigorated. Robert Holmes is clearly relishing the opportunity to put his mark on the show unfiltered by Terrance Dicks. So with just one fresh voice behind the scenes, Doctor Who suddenly has a whole new feel.
I’ve been a Doctor Who fan since I was 9 years old. There were two channels that showed Doctor Who when I was first watching it, a local PBS station in Seattle and a station from Canada. This season was one of the two seasons that was on when I first started watching and it is still one of my favorite seasons. I love Genesis of the Daleks and my wife, who is not as much of a fan as I am, also loves Genesis.
Genesis is one of my favorite stories of all time. The acting, lighting, set design, script, and basically everything is perfect imo. I watch it at least once a year, and usually more whenever I feel like its time to watch it again.
Lovely review. You’re dead on about the whole Tom/Phillip/Bob/Nation vibe all coming together. One of my favourite scenes in the show is the Time Lord/Doctor confrontation, two magnificently realised aliens feeling like two magnificent aliens, joyous! Although hardly in it, the background presence of the Daleks has never felt more palpably Dalek. After years of them popping up all over the time and place, Genesis makes the Daleks once again mysteriously dangerous. We know them because for twelve years they’ve been in our front rooms, but we’ve never known them as blobby children, yet to be fully grown exterminators. Harry is one of the series very best companions, a cuddly buffoon, shaped holistically human by such superb acting. Not since Barbara have we had female companion as a genuine lead, Genesis completely cements Sarah Jane as equal casting. There are times it feels like her story. Davies really understood that, actually so did Nathan Turner. Wisher, my favourite Davros and to see his spectacular performance first time round, no other Davros comes close. Love Davies but he was wrong about Davros’s appearance. This is a character as a kind of god, his abilities are profound, in many ways he’s a super powered being. ‘Genesis of the Daleks’ reshaped Doctor Who, even as a kid watching, I knew it felt more adult than before. Phillip Hinchcliffe was starting to create ‘the golden age’. Gx
@@Gerrypotterpoet Thanks Gerry!!
I do wonder how Pertwee would have been in this story, and his interaction with Davros and the scenes in the incubation room.
The gold standard of Doctor Who.
@@leejnew An example of the show at its best
Absolutely loving the marathon can't wait for more
I think I'm VERY much in the minority of people who thinks this episode is just fine 😅
About 2 episodes too long with characters running in place, getting captured, escaping, then getting captured again with no plot progression.
Davros is head and shoulders the best part, but you could say that about most of his episodes 😅
The whole "Do I have the right scene" looses its impact when you realize the only reason he doesn't do it, is because he gets distracted and not because he took the moral high ground (he even goes back to blow them up at the end!!!)
Solid 3.5/5 for me...I will return my Doctor Who fan badge in the mail 😉
You're not alone. I also think this one is highly overrated. It has strong points - but lots of weaknesses, too. I can't call it a Classic. It's okay, at best.
Definitely a good place to start if you want to get people into Doctor Who
Nice review. I myself wouldn't say that Genesis of the Daleks is overrated, but simply there are other stories I love more- which would go against the polls. I'll just say now that Genesis of the Daleks is my fourth favourite Fourth Doctor story, but I'll share which ones for me top Genesis of the Daleks when they come on the marathon. However, even though I prefer other Fourth Doctor stories to Genesis of the Daleks, or other Dalek stories to this one, that in my mind doesn't undermine the quality of this story. Not one jot. It is excellent.
I watched it recently, and I think Davros works so beautifully in this episode. He feels more real in this episode than in subsequent appearances. I think this is because he is operating in a culture and war he grew up in; whereas in the other episodes he's operating with the world of Daleks that he created. In subsequent episodes it feels like he's shifted his focus to universal domination, but in Genesis of the Daleks its Davros' desire to simply be right and have his own way that makes him so chilling. For Davros the Thal-Kaled war is just a sideshow, and he could actually care less about who wins. This is shown by how Nyder bosses around the military, and orders supplies from the military even at the expense of the war effort. Davros' insistence on being right all the time is further shown in the way that Nyder rejects that the Doctor and Harry come from other planets, on the basis that Davros has said no intelligent life can develop outside of Skaro. Its because Davros desires to be right at all costs, that he is willing to commit genocide against his own people. This story excellently displays his genius and his evilness, as he plays the Kaleds off the Thals, and frames it all on Ronson. I think him helping the Thals to destroy the Kaled dome epitomises Davros' evil more than him making a reality bomb (sigh) and more than turning people into food (although the latter is also chilling). Davros' desire to be right is not shown in an obvious way, instead it is well-crafted in such a unique way compared to other villains, that makes Davros, sadly, feel very real and relevant. Although this isn't my favourite Dalek story, I would say this is my favourite Davros story.
Ah, it makes sense with what you say that Genesis of the Daleks was the last filming block of Season 12, as I feel Tom Baker was still feeling his way in the role in Revenge of the Cybermen (although I still admire his performance in that episode, as I might be alone in defending it on your next review).
Oh that is so gutting accidentally deleting the review! I think I've done something similar. I know I've accidentally saved over a script I had just written, so I effectively deleted it! That was so annoying as I had spent hours writing it. I managed to rewrite it in an hour, but I think sometimes when that happens you can end up getting out the creases and wrinkles in the rewrite/reshoot. But accidentally deleting your work is a painful experience; nevertheless you got there in the end which is the main thing.
The theory I liked from this story was the change to the Dalek timeline was Davros surviving. We never heard of him before. The Daleks were big an powerful. After this Davros survivies and the Daleks keep coming back. So the change being that Davros surviving delays their progress and makes them more dependent on him making them weaker.
It'll be interesting to see how things differ now that Russell T Davies has confirmed that Davros never gets crippled in the new timeline. How will that change the Daleks?
When I was first getting into dr who, my uncle would send me dvds of classic stories as and when I requested them (I was very blessed) and one day he got genesis...needless to say I had to watch it. Except for a change he only let me borrow it, rather than getting it for me outright. So even he didn't want to get rid of genesis
Truly a classic, one of my favourites to revisit. Genuinely been waiting so long for you to reach this one. There's a couple more special ones to come
The Daleks never scared me as a kid In the 60s. I was too much in love with their design to ever feel the need to hide "behind the sofa" from them. But, I do feel that they were at their most truly terrifying in "Genesis". Although in my mid teens in 1975, I can fully understand how they could have put the fear of God into kids who were my age during the Hartnell and Troughton eras, during the time of Philip Hinchcliffe's tenure as Producer.
My first experience with Genesis of the Daleks was via audio cassette (bought at Longleat!), and it was excellently done, with some connecting audio to explain what was happening visually, but getting to watch it later just conveyed how much... more there was of it. The story in isolation is great, but the small acting decisions you can see on screen elevates far beyond what I thought of it, and I thought it was great to begin with!
Gonna watch this after my late shift tonight. Can't wait seeing the title and length of this review!
When I first saw this story, on American PBS, in 1985, it was a movie edit. I only had Peter Hailing's "Celebration" test, from 1983, to tell anything about stories. My family had a Beta video, which I had started to record WHO with Robot. Yet, this was the first "six parter" in the series. I already had "Sontaran Exp" on a tape, and I recorded "Genesis the next week. Yet, the tape ended, as The Doctor and Davros had their debate on ethics. I wouldn't see this whole story for another two years. I did get the Target novel.
14:33 IT ME!
Also terrific dissection of a perfect story
When setting up equipment for Genesis you need to turn it on. Turn it on. Turn it on again
Ohhh, absolutlely, so many powerful moments in this perfect anti war story!
If Shakespeare had written a Doctor Who, it would have been this!
This definitely a top 20 story in the entire 61 year history of Doctor Who but I've never felt like it was the best Classic Who story, out of all the stories reviewed so far things like the Aztecs and the Daemons I would rank above it from the top of my head and there's a Dalek story yet to come that I thinks better than this
Would a ranking of Tardis teams of multiple companions be interesting? Would companions lower down on the individual companion ranking be elevated by how they perform with their Doctor and other companion/s? 🤔
@@andykey78 It's not something I'd considered but not out of the question...
Last time I watched this, I was struck by the maturity and moral questions raised, and, if it was Nation's handiwork after all, it seemed almost like a personal exorcism of the horrors of World War II. I'm torn on Davros, insomuch as while the character is written so well here, and brought so vividly to life by Michael Wisher, I still wonder if the ending would have had more power if Davros had been killed. Hoist by his own petard, his creations' lack of pity being the reason for his demise.
Part of me always likes to think of this story in isolation and imagine that Davros never came back. While he has had some good material since, it would have been the perfect conclusion to his character
Lots to like, great direction, great production, great cast, Wisher and Miles especially, but not a personal favourite. Still think it's very good though!
Excellent thoughts on GOTD. This was the second ever story I watched and it blew me away. Night and Day compared to what I had seen previously (The Daemons).
Out of interest, was your first time watching this in December 1992ish on BBC2? If so, I was on the other side of the UK doing the same
@@ZoahLord Yes the 1992 repeat season, although now I type this I think Genesis might have been early 93? If that's the case then it wasn't 92 like I said in the video...
@@chris_stokes It was either late 92 or early 93. I remember The Daemons being a little too "Scooby Doo" for me, so when BBC2 announced GOTD was coming I remember thinking "I've heard of both Tom Baker and Daleks. Let's give these a go"...very glad I did. There could have been a couple of weeks break between the stories. The only story I remember coinciding with anything was an episode of POTD falling on or around Bonfire night '93
People tend to like the Daemons too, so you had good fortune in your first experiences of Who.
Until RTD mentioned it, I'd never considered Davros to be an example of the "disability villainy" trope. I always thought that his physical condition meant (like AH not being an example of Aryan manliness) that by his own standards, he was not a member of his own "master race". Davros _should_ have been regarded as a muto - the fact that he wasn't merely added hypocrisy to the list of the Kaleds' vices, as it did with the Nazis.
28 mins. Know what? I forgive you the technical gremlins that weren't even your fault 🤣
Anyone else notice Sladen’s wardrobe change and think it out of place?
The only other Doctor that may have been able to deliver the 'Have I the right' would have been McCoy?
Of the classics perhaps, Capaldi could pull it off I reckon
I love it
@@akshaytrayner1960 me too!!
@@chris_stokes I got fed up of pertwee dalek stories this was nations masterpiece
This one is 1/16 of a point above Inferno as the best ever. Last story made before the purple end of the scarf was chopped off.
It fascinates me how Nation can yo-yo between utter garbage and absolute excellence. Genesis, of course, belongs to the latter 😁
Don't know if it's the best ever. But there's no ideological agenda behind it. Just great storytelling. And good characters.
Daleks are Nazis:NOTE Nyder has a Nazi-like cross for a couple of episodes which then dissapears...🎩
This is a story I've somehow never got on with despite how wonderful it objevtively is. Hopefully you'll change my mind.
You didn't :(
A retcon which works, unlike the timeless children.