Genesis Of The Daleks (1975) Review

"Yes... I would do it! That power would set me up above the gods!! AND THROUGH THE DALEKS, I SHALL HAVE THAT POWER!!"

It might be because I've already seen it once and spoiled the surprises or because of my irritating three-year old brother who sees babbling about numbers as being more important than the Doctor questioning his right to destroy the Daleks, but I just didn't enjoy Genesis Of The Daleks the way I did the first time I saw it. Don't get me wrong, it's still an effective tale, but the flaws are sharper for me than ever before.

PLOT

The Time Lords task the Doctor with rewriting the history of the Daleks, fearing that they will become unstoppable even by their standards(that's some prophetic thinking). The TARDIS crew are sent to pre-(I'll come back here later when I figure out my Dalek timeline) Skaro where they come face to face with the creator of the Daleks themselves - the mad scientist Davros. Does the Doctor have the right to destroy the Daleks? Is Davros evil enough to release a virus that would destroy all other forms of life?

ANALYSIS

Where Genesis Of The Daleks excels is the presentation. The story definitely feels special. There's an appropriately bleak and frightening atmosphere(particularly when film is used instead of video), the set design is creative and harkens back to their 1960s appereances(as opposed to the bland Pertwee sets). There's lots of brilliant ideas like the regressive Thal-Kaled war, the Elite and the interplay between the Doctor and Davros.

Where it fails is the pacing. I know four parts might've felt too short for such a grand tale, but Genesis Of The Daleks is badly padded. The crew spends episodes doing very little(worst example being the rocket-loading scenes in the Thal dome), meaning that episodes 2-4 are some of the least interesting Doctor Who episodes I've seen, which is sad because it's GENESIS OF THE DALEKS.
Another flaw is in some of the acting, which I'll talk in greater detail below.

CHARACTERS

Tom Baker bizarrely seems to turn on and off in his acting. There are some moments(like when he refuses to reveal the future of the Daleks to Davros) where he's great, but for large swathes, particularly later, he just seems disinterested. That's part of the reason I initially disliked him. All eyes are on him, but he just does nothing.

Thus he is carried by the performances of Liz Sladen and Ian Marter, whose rapport I am more and more fond of. But who cares about these two in this story?

Michael Wisher provides one of the series' best ever villains in his definite best ever showing as Davros, lord and creator of the Dalek race. His intensity and obsession with perfecting the Daleks over everything else was brilliant writing on Terry Nation's part. His death was a cherry on top and it was really a completely idiot move to bring him back after a finale like that. He just doesn't have anywhere else to go after this story(sure, he's great in anything, but he has no point).

Another stand-out is Peter Miles as the slimy, one-tone Nyder who assists Davros. Miles really plays his bad guys the exact same way every time, but his talent is used best here. He's a really entertaining sidekick to Wisher's master mind.

The rest of the cast isn't perhaps as memorable(with the exception of General Ravon because of his over-the-top style and connection to 'Allo 'Allo, which I love), but there's no bad acting to be found here, so don't even bother. It's Terry Nation in the end... he cares very little for the bit-part roles.

The Daleks were perhaps just a bit underused(they only come into their own at the very, very end). It's great that they turn on Davros at the end, but I just wish we could've seen a bit more of them actually being constructive.

NOTES

*So... what happened to all that horrible distronic toxeamia that was supposed to kill you after a few loads?
 
*Why clams? In this story, whose decision was it to include GIANT CLAMS?!

*What in-story reason does the Doctor have for giving Sarah that jacket?

*And where did his own jacket and hat materialize from? I thought they were still at the Kaled dome(under tons and tons of rubble).

*How exactly did Davros come to the conclusion that there are only seven galaxies and that Skaro is the only planet in all of them capable of supporting life?

*I can't remember if it was the same way in the previous story, but the Doctor's sonic screwdriver in this story sounds exactly like it does now.

*The Daleks seem to be operated by the same incompetent team as in Planet Of The Daleks. The lights barely work, the shells roll around as they talk and the eyestalks occasionally look in random directions. Tut, tut, tut.

*The new grey color looks terrible. Why can't they be gold or silver? Daleks should NEVER look anything, but gold or silver!

*I love the design of the Dalek incubation chamber. The green squicky stuff works wonders.

*The idea of a Time Ring that the characters depend upon is an awesome gimmick.

*I didn't find the destruction of the Kaled dome very believable. Oh, it was fine when it was being destroyed, but I saw no indication of it in the sets or backgrounds. It just seemed to not be in the story anymore.

BEST QUOTE

"They talk of democracy, freedom, fairness! Those are the creeds of cowards! The ones who would listen to a thousand viewpoints and try to satisfy them all. Achievement comes through absolute power! And power through strength! They have lost!"

CONCLUSION

An excellent, iconic story plagued by flaws.