Genesis of the Daleks
The Doctor and Harry are captured by the Kaleds, their possessions confiscated, and are taken to a bunker to meet the scientific and military elite, including the lead scientist Davros, who unveils the "Mark III travel machine", or "Dalek".
When planning stories for season 12, producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks felt that it was time for Terry Nation to return to the series and write another Dalek adventure.
[2] The stories lined up for the season were handed over to Letts and Dicks' successors, producer Philip Hinchcliffe and script editor Robert Holmes, with whom Genesis of the Daleks gained a darker tone.
[1] In a 2006 interview, Dicks said that he does not believe the story would have been much different if he and Letts had been in charge, though he remarked he would have added some lighter moments to soften the "grim" tone.
[1] Director David Maloney stated that the images of war at the beginning of the serial were intended to create atmosphere, and he had no intention of losing the younger audience.
[2] Hinchcliffe and Maloney were not keen on the Doctor's original meeting with the Time Lord, which took place in a lush garden, and changed it to the Skaro war-zone which they felt more appropriate.
[1] The Thal soldiers were originally supposed to be boys aged 15 or 16 to illustrate the youth of those fighting in the war, but this was later changed to make them appear more mature.
Maloney cast John Franklyn-Robbins as the Time Lord because he had worked with him before and intended his character to resemble Death in The Seventh Seal.
[2] The design was inspired by the Mekon, a comic book character with a small body and a large "green, dome-like head" which Hinchcliffe remembered from his childhood.
[1] To prepare during rehearsals, Wisher acted in a wheelchair with a paper bag over his head that only had slits cut out for his eyes so he would be used to the "disorienting" situation and be able to express himself without using his whole face.
[2] As Sarah Jane had been filmed in Revenge wearing a combat costume, it was added into Genesis that the Doctor would hand her the outfit, into which she changes by the next scene.
[2] Nation, who grew up during World War II, intentionally based the Daleks on the Nazis, and this episode contains many deliberate parallels.
[1] Davros has been likened to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler several times,[12][13][14] while physical comparisons have also been drawn between the appearance of Nyder and SS chief Heinrich Himmler; aside from the resemblance, both wear similar uniforms and spectacles.
[1] Sarah Honeychurch and Niall Burr, in the same book, wrote that the corruption of the Daleks showed that creatures should not be created with "such limited moral reasoning," and that in our world we cannot "impose our own personal human standards on everybody else".
The Time Lord who appears at the story's beginning is intentionally costumed to resemble Death in Ingmar Bergman's film The Seventh Seal.
[2][20] Gareth Roberts has compared this character to the ghost of Hamlet's father, setting the protagonist (the Doctor) on a violent mission with which he has moral qualms.
[20] Martin Wiggins, senior lecturer and fellow at the Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-upon-Avon, suggests that the Doctor's indecision about destroying the Dalek embryos in the "have I the right?"
[1] David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker, in their Doctor Who: The Television Companion (1998), recorded a positive reaction from fans in regards to creativity and Davros, though one writer noted the ending did not satisfyingly close the story.
[22] The BBC's Audience Research Report concluded, "A little more complex than some Doctor Who adventures, perhaps, and with underlying questions of conscience, the serial had been 'different' it was occasionally felt and, although dismissed in some quarters as far-fetched, long drawn-out, confused and/or predictable, had provided acceptable escapist entertainment for the majority.
"[22] Howe and Walker themselves described the serial as "well-written and full of new ideas, while still remaining true to the Daleks' roots by effectively equating them with the Nazis", and particularly praised the production values, pacing, and moral dilemma.
They considered it to have a few minor flaws, namely Harry being attacked by a giant clam, some "duff" cliffhangers, and "many of the scientist characters serve no other purpose than to act as Dalek-fodder".
[22] In 2010, Mark Braxton of Radio Times awarded the serial a full five stars and hailed it as "Terry Nation's finest hour for the series", suggesting that Davros was "the greatest villain in Doctor Who history".
He was also positive towards Dudley Simpson's score and Davros's allies, who were "impeccably written and played" from Nyder to Gharman, but was disappointed that Harry did not have much to do.
He particularly praised Davros and Skaro, but considered the "major problem" with the portrayal of the Daleks was that "we're not given any choice but to view them as psychopathic murderers", and the Doctor came across as a "catastrophically incompetent secret agent".
[23] DVD Talk's Stuart Galbraith gave Genesis of the Daleks four out of five stars, calling it a "real fan-pleaser" and writing that Wisher was "superb" as Davros.
While noting that the story "is mostly concerned with action and suspense, which it does rather well", he wrote that it "isn't especially original" as it dealt with common time-travel issues, despite doing it in "intelligent ways".
[27] Writing for BFI Screenonline, James Donohue thought Genesis of the Daleks "shows the series developing a more complex appreciation of the moral issues surrounding being a monster", but "the plot contrives to prevent the Doctor from having to make the difficult decision himself anyway.
[31] In the magazine's 2009 "Mighty 200" poll, asking readers to rank all of the then-made 200 stories, Genesis came in third place, behind The Caves of Androzani (1984) and "Blink" (2007).
[40] It was subsequently released on CD in a revised and expanded version by BBC Audio paired with Exploration Earth: The Time Machine in 2001.
[43] Genesis of the Daleks was released on VHS by BBC Enterprises in 1991 with The Sontaran Experiment,[40] and again as part of a box set of stories featuring Davros in 2001.
