In the classic Doctor Who serial “Genesis of the Daleks,†the Time Lords instruct the Doctor to travel to Skaro before the Daleks were created in order to prevent them from existing. There, we discover just how the Daleks were born into existence. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch a classic episode of Doctor Who.
Ok, this serial was incredibly long, repetitive, kind of silly, and had a whole lot of running and hiding. But you know what? DON’T CARE. Because this is easily my favorite classic Who story I’ve seen so far.
I like the Daleks because they can alternate between terrifying me and making me laugh. What they represent—the call for racial purity, the outcasting of those who are different—makes them the best of the reoccurring villains on this show. I still remember my introduction to them via “Dalek†in the first series of nu-Who. (Awww, now I miss Eccleston just a bit.) Not only was that a great introduction, it did what a lot of good fiction does for me: It made me ask questions. Where did the Daleks come from? Why were they designed this way? What’s with the pepperpot casing? Why do their voices sound weird? Why do I resemble a seven-year-old in class with my hand raised high, waving it around and hoping the teacher will pick me?
I didn’t check the dates for when this story arc initially aired. I like to surprise myself with whichever Doctor I’m about to watch. OMG YAY TOM BAKER, YOU ARE MY FAVORITE. But I had just assumed this story would take place with the first or second Doctor, since it was an origin story. But Terry Nation’s script is so much more intriguing than that. In the timeline of the show’s canon, we’ve already met the Daleks. This was in the twelfth season, many years after the show debuted. Nation created an origin story by adding a twist: could the Doctor return in time to erase the existence of the Daleks?
It was surprisingly easy to pay attention to this very, very, very, very, very long serial (seriously almost two and a half hours long WHAT THE FUCK) and a lot of that falls on a few things: Terry Nation’s story is just so fascinating! He doesn’t avoid making some uncomfortable (but necessary) parallels to real life events. Tom Baker and his companions are fantastic and I loved seeing Sarah Jane Smith for the first time. (Also, if you think about it…how awesome is it that they got the exact same actress for the show like thirty years later? That’s amazing.) On top of that, while there was a lot of posturing and talking and clever monologue-ing, this episode was full of a lot of believable action and dramatic twists. I liked the scaffolding climb scene/cliffhanger a lot because SCAFFOLDING IS FUCKING TERRIFYING. RIGHT?
I was reminded of “The Caves of Androzani†in the first part of this serial, as the Doctor and his companions are dropped into warring factions on the planet Skaro: the Kaleds and the Thals. The roots for what the Daleks would eventually become are sown in this strife: many Kaleds were mutated by chemical warfare and are thus exiled out of the community for being imperfect. (I don’t know if it was outright confirmed, but were the chemicals from the Kaleds themselves?) This desire for perfection is certainly a huge factor in the creation of the Daleks and also will support an idea that first popped up in this first part.
We are then introduced to a LOT of characters. Not as many as “The Caves of Androzani,†but still. A lot of names and faces, many who perish, but certainly a whole lot I was forced to try and remember. Security Commander Nyder was definitely the easiest of the bunch to stay in my head, and it certainly helped that as soon as he was introduced, I yelled at the TV, “EVIL! EVIL!†I mean, how could he not be evil? Look at his face!
But the point that Terry Nation makes in introducing Nyder and Davros is about absolute knowledge and absolute power. To the Kaleds, it is inconceivable that there is life outside of the seven planets in their system. It’s so inconceivable that the Kaleds, including Nyder, react with violent hatred towards the Doctor and his companions. I have a feeling that part of this is because of Davros, but I suspect that if Davros had never even shown up on Skaro, they’d still be the same way.
Which brings me to a point that will either make me look silly or wildly insightful: I totally think the Kaleds and Davros are modeled after the Nazis. (Man, I bet at least a million people have already said this before.) I mean…look at their uniforms! And the way they walk. And their obsession with racial purity, especially in the context of wanting to eliminate those who do not fit their mold. They’ve already outcast the Mutos for being different, and Davros creates the Daleks as a method for reaching that purity.
The great irony in this all is that in discovering how the Daleks were created, I realized that the Daleks themselves weren’t all that pure. They are mutations, designed by science, sure, but mutations nonetheless. I suppose that when it was referenced in the new series that the Daleks were created for a specific purpose, I never realized how literal that was. In that sense, “Genesis of the Daleks” truly is a necessary serial for any Doctor Who fan to watch.
Beyond just providing us with the fantastic origin story of the Daleks, I now see where Russell T Davies got his cues about forcing the Doctor to analyze himself. After the charges were set in the Kaled mutation room, I assumed that the Doctor wouldn’t hesitate to prevent the deaths and suffering of hundreds of millions of creatures. Given the context of this airing in 1975, I was completely enthralled that this was on public television. The Doctor had to actually think about committing genocide. Could he do it? Could he also ignore that there was a significant silver lining to the Dalek’s existence? How much of his own life would he change if he prevented the Daleks from coming into this world?
As a companion to this, the Doctor’s conversation with Davros about the morality of the Daleks was equally as fascinating, and I imagine it’s a scene that many people would choose as a highlight of Tom Baker’s era. By framing the situation as if Davros was creating a viral weapon, could the Doctor use intellect and logic to instead dissuade Davros from continuing to create the Daleks? For a moment, I believed he might have actually changed Davros’s mind, but alas, it seems destined for the Daleks to exist. Still, I love that the Doctor chose to frame it all as a virus. The analogy works well, because Davros had no idea when creating the Daleks that they would very quickly become a being all of their own, uncontrollable and independent of their creator.
I can look past the length, the many chase scenes, and the awkward pacing with ease. This was a fantastic serial, an interesting origin story, and further proof that Doctor Who really can be timeless. Goddamn, I love this show.
THOUGHTS
- I have spoken rather highly of this serial, and for good reason, but it was hard for me to ignore some of the silliness. Like the mutated…clams? What were those things? Either way, when Harry got his leg stuck inside of it, it was one of the least tense scenes I’ve ever watched.
- On that note, the Doctor had two companions! And one was a male! Why does this make me use exclamation points!!!
- What on earth was the Time Lord in the very beginning wearing? I just re-watched The Seventh Seal and I could swear that was the exact same outfit.
- One of the more interesting twists in the story was having the Doctor tell Davros all of the methods that the Daleks were defeated by. I mean…could his mission get any worse? Not only had he not destroyed the Daleks, but now he was guaranteeing their invincibility.
- More specials! And then “The Mind Robber!” This will be a fun week of Doctor Who.
I am still making my way through Genesis of the Daleks, so I can't comment too much on it at the moment, but
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this was all I could think about during the opening scene.
HAHAHA GODDAMN IT. YOU ARE SO RIGHT.
I will never be able to look at a gas mask again without thinking of Doctor Who.
Elisabeth Sladen even said it on the commentary. WIN.
All Who fans are united! (Even the actors!)
I'm sure that Steven Moffat was inspired by the opening scene of Genesis of the Daleks when he wrote The Empty Child.
You are not alone.
AHHH MARK YOU FINALLY WATCHED GENESIS OF THE DALEKS. (Sorry, I've been campaigning for this one since the first time you let us suggest classic!Who so I'm excited.) I love this story for all the reasons you highlighted, and yes, the Daleks = Nazis.
I love Sarah Jane, I love Tom Baker, and I love it when the Doctor has male companions. Doesn't happen often, obviously, but when he does, it tends to be awesome.
While this serial isn't perfect, as you mentioned, it hits so many highs that the lows don't make much of a dent in my enjoyment. And I will never, ever, get over how much genocide plays a part in the history of Doctor Who. We see him contemplating it here, we know he committed it against the Daleks and his own people during the Time War, and we saw 10.5 commit it in the series 4 finale–and this is a "children's show." Mind = blown.
Well, more a "family" show. On the spectrum of shows set in the Whoniverse, The Sarah Jane Adventures is specifically for kids (which isn't to say that adults can't enjoy it too, but it's designed more for kids), Doctor Who is meant to be enjoyed by both kids and adults, and Torchwood is specifically for adults.
Oh man, I have to admit to renting out the first season of Sarah Jane and going through it in like, a day, because it's the most mature kid's show I've ever seen!
Torchwood is… interesting. I was very up and down about the first two seasons, but Children of Earth? That is the stuff of nightmares. Bless your hearts, Gwen and Rhys, for having the balls to go through what you did.
I made the comment on here once that SJA skewed younger than Dr. Who and was immediately descended upon by a thousand people (okay, exaggeration, but several) telling me that it was about deep themes and much more adult than I was giving it credit for annnnd yeah. I don't touch that argument anymore. I don't have the patience to argue it out.
Sorry that happened. Heck – everyone connected with making the shows in the Whoniverse has said that SJA was for a younger audience generally. Doesn't mean it can't be enjoyed by older folks, but jeesh. I get a bit miffed at those who take issue when Who sometimes seems – childlike, or doesn't get into, or skirts over, and don't get me started on the romance stuff. Target audience for Who is "general", so you can only go so far as in not graphic. That's why they came up with Torchwood (although they really didn't get that right until "Children of the Earth").
Yeah, that's just weird. Just because a show is made for kids doesn't mean it has to be totally shallow. I've only seen a couple episodes of SJA (the ones the Doctor guest stars in) and they definitely have a "younger" feel. It's not insulting it to say it's a kids' show, for god's sake!
At one of the panels at Gallifrey One this year (Doctor Who convention last month in LA) The writers talked about how they have think carefully and get things approved more for SJA because it is designed for kids to watch by themselves, where Doctor Who is designed for kids to watch with their parents. For example, they had to get permission to have a scene where Rani and Clyde use fire extinguishers on an alien monster because of the risk kids might decide to copy that behavior and use a fire extinguisher on other kids.
Long serial? I just watched the ten part The War Games a week or two ago! Took me about three days!!
Also Multi Companion stories rock! Harry was brilliant! And I didn't realise it was Sarah Jane for ages, cause they called her sarah and the quality was rubbish. Embarrassing!
Did anyone else expect Skaro to be less….bbc quarry-y? I dunno, in my head it was an evil gallifrey… =/
I also didn't expect the Kaleds to be nice (or at least some of them). I knew a few basic things and somehow I believed that the Kaleds were all in on it!
Sarah Jane was a bit of a BAMF with her organising the escape, wasn't she 😀 well impressed!
And finally- THE SCARF! Oh my god pick that thing up off the floor, four! You're gonna trip on it! I couldn't take my eyes off it for the entire serial
Oooh, you finished it? Not to threadjack, but what did you think? "The War Games" is one of my favorites! Which you probably know, since I suggested you watch it…
Yeahhhh! I totally freaked out at the ending! Not to spoil but I was like: sdjflhskdhrfdasjgfsaslkjd!!!!1!!one!!eleven!!!!!1!!!
And then of course I went to google to answer some questions about what happened next!
To the spoiler board, we can discuss!
Surprised at the BBC quarry? Nah. I've only seen abou ten Classic episodes, but already the BBC quarry is feeling like an old friend to me.
And yes, Sarah was a BAMF. I was glad of this, because the other serial I've watched with her in it involved lots of running and screaming (on the Doctor's part, too. They weren't particularly useful.).
Was it "Pyramids of Mars?" Because that involved a lot of running around. >.>
Yep, exactly! Good guess. I swear, I sometimes wanted to scream at them, and say, "STOP RUNNING!"
Yeah… I always hear classic fans raving about that serial, but I never understand why. Apart from the admittedly bad-ass Sutekh, it was kind of boring.
There always does seem to be an awful lot of running.
Well-played.
This video can never be posted enough; it is that awesome. From: notifications@intensedebatemail.comTo: laurabev233@hotmail.comSubject: electric ashera replied to your comment on Mark Watches 'Doctor Who': Genesis of the Daleks
lol Yeah, I immediately though to myself "You obviously haven't watched War Games yet, Mark." when he talked about how long this serial is! Honestly, I wondered if that thing would ever end. Not that I don't love the second Doctor, I'm just saying. ^_^;
I was sort of pleased that Skaro was a rock quarry because… that's totally the stereotype, right? This was the first Classic Who I've ever seen. So when it opened in a rock quarry I was all, "HAH! ROCK QUARRY, AWESOME."
it also opened on people with gas masks! Majorly freaked out!
OMG YES WHY ARE GAS MASKS SO FUCKING SCARY?
(I think it might have been Neil Gaiman's Sandman that made me so scared of them. Or maybe they were always so scary and Gaiman just cemented it for me.)
I've never read Sandman and gas masks scare the crap out of me. I think they're just inherently terrifying.
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There's just no way for that to not be the stuff of nightmares.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH No sleeping for me tonight!!
Did anyone else expect Skaro to be less….bbc quarry-y?
I was! I'd only seen Skaro in their first appeareance with One and it looks very different. It is set about a thousand years later but the quarry was unexpected.
Traditional Time Lord outfits are very, very, VERY silly indeed. The huge collars… It makes every single one of them look evil in the Emperor Ming sort of way. Silly Time Lords!
EDIT: I just realized I needed to clarify since there are actual historical Emperor Mings…. I meant Ming the Merciless a la Flash Gorden…. Not historical China.
Yeah- honestly, in comparison the Doctor is down-right sensible in his clothing choices.
But they did have very fine hats.
"A-ha-ha! You are as PRESUMPTUOUS as you are POOR and IRISH. Tarnish notte the majesty of my TOWER of HATS."
…too much Team Fortress 2.
Its watching old episodes that make me glad that the Timelords were exterminated in the Time War, they're just so ridiculous.
There was a callback to the end of this story back in the first Dalek episode of New Who, when the Doctor is electrocuting the imprisoned Dalek.
"HAVE PITY!"
"Why should I? You never did!"
The Time Lords wore such silly outfits. It's sort of charming, like how 80s scifi films are just amusingly cheesy when they put everyone in glittery spandex and 80s hair. At least it explains why the Doctor (In Old!Who, at least) had such weird costumes. The scene in Tom Baker's first serial where he's trying to decide what to wear? So ridiculous, I love it.
amazing scene, Tom Baker's first half an hour or so is just brilliant
I adore "Robot," as it was my first Classic serial. That scene is just pure gold.
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…it… sparkles… and clown… D:
Oh dear heaven… and I thought the clown outfit in "Black Orchid" was an eyesore…
Be glad the Brigadier vetoed it. XP
Trust me – I am!
It was my first Classic serial too but it's a bad place to start. I figured Tom Bakers is the most popular doctor so lets start with his first story but really you're just jumping on in the middle of the show if you watch Robot first. Better go straight to Arc in Space or start with Pertwee's first story Spearhead from Space as that was fresh new start for the show itself at the time.
That's true, as it does continue on directly from Jon Pertwee's last episode and may leave you completely baffled if you don't know who UNIT or Sarah Jane were. Plus, the utter campiness and terrible special effects may be a bit of a turn-off for some (though not for me XP).
"Spearhead from Space" is an excellent story, and one of my favorite post-regenerative ones. It is the perfect place to start.
You guys just convinced me to go check this episode out, and I'm about 2 minutes in… but- the Brig :D:D :'(:'(
and Lieutenant Sullivan (I THInk that's his name…) is totally laaavly 🙂
Lieutenant Sullivan? That would be Harry. 🙂
Oh dear! I need to pay more attention! In my defence I though Harry was fit in Genesis 'too'! haha!
Ah genenis of the daleks. Overrated, imperfect but still one of the best and certainly one of the most important and memorable stories ever. It's really interesting how this story ultimately leads to Journey's end. I mean the Reality Bomb is the theoretical virus the doctor was talking about in this story. Also it hard not to look back and think damn it Doctor if only you'd listened to Sarah and destroyed the Daleks when you had the chance. The whole time war would have never happened.
The opening scene is a deliberate echo of The Seventh Seal.
What's so impressive about this is that not only did it go out on public TV but it went out at 5.30pm on a Saturday evening in a slot aimed squarely at children and their families. I was five years old when I saw this serial and the virus speech and the "have I the right?" speech have stuck with me ever since.
Davros and Nyder
Sitting in a tree
PL-O-T-T-I-N-G
Also, you have to sign this petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/hsatgc/petition.htm…
That petition is amazing. You are amazing.
Oh shit, I LOVE THE SEVENTH SEAL SO MUCH. That actually makes sense, given the morality content of this episode..
That petition sent me into Super-LOL mode XD
When I first watched “Genesis” I found it a bit dull and slow, but that’s because it was one of the first serials I watched and since then my attention span has quadrupled when it comes to Classic Who. I still think it would have made a better four- or five-parter with some scenes cut out (clams, anyone?), but I appreciate it a hell of a lot more now. You thought this was long? I just finished watching "The War Games." 10 episodes long, over FOUR HOURS (but it was brilliant!).
What I think works masterfully is the Daleks being sparingly used. Davros is the real baddie of this serial and Michael Wisher plays it brilliantly. If you can have a favorite Doctor or master, can you have a favorite Davros? Wisher is definitely mine. He’s just fucking chilling. That monologue he delivers about having the deadliet virus ever makes my skin crawl.
Another golden speech: Baker’s “Have I that right?” You can tell that Four is a much younger and more innocent Doctor in that moment. Nine and Ten probably would have done it, erased the Daleks from existance before they ever left Skaro, but not Four. He’s not willing to change history and commit genocide, and I sort of love him for that.
On a slightly less analytical note, can I just say, I love this Team TARDIS to itty bitty pieces? So I shall spam them. :3
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Stupid fandom, you say Harry is redundant and useless? He just saved the Doctor from a land mine, thank you very much. Sarah Jane, all my love. You are rocking the army girl outfit! Four’s first team had a very solid first seson, imo.
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Would like to use this little corner of the response section as a shrine for Mr Ian Marter (28 October 1944 – 28 October 1986) who died far too young. Hats off to you sir.
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RIP
Nice one guys, he left us far to long ago and far too young. Let's hope he and his friend Nck are finally re-united and having a drink together.
Well said, sir. Well said.
*doffs hat, even if it is a floppy cloth thing*
granted I haven't made my way through all of Baker's series yet, but that first season is easily my favourite so far. 'The Ark in Space" is very very good
I love Harry. So much. He was totally my first little girl crush (even before Peter Davison, although Harry was more like a "I wish Harry and Sarah would get married!" because I was only about five and didn't know you could have boyfriends yet). Also, Davros! Davros!. And Interesting Fact about Old British Sci Fi, Terry Nation created and wrote much of Blakes 7 – a co-running (for four years) series which IMO for at least the first three seasons matched Doctor Who for sheer Sci Fi GLORIOUSNESS.
I love watching Tom Baker episodes! I actually own the book copy of this thanks to my dad who was a major Doctor Who fan during the Baker era.
I LOVE THIS SERIAL. It's one of my favorite Classic Who stories (though I don't love it as much as The War Games, which, man, if you thought this one was long…)
This story is a nice example of what total dicks Time Lords were to the Doctor. They were always pushing him around, stealing his TARDIS, and worse things, but spoilers for classic serials. It kind of makes you wonder why the Doctor misses them so much in the new series when he spent most of the classic series evading them. I love the look the Doctor gives the Time Lord who gives him the directive at the beginning of the episode. I like to imagine he's thinking, "Yeah, screw you and the TARDIS you flew in on. Fucking Time Lords."
I adore the moment when the Kaled general or whatever he was orders Four to empty his pockets and he, totally nonchalant, starts pulling all this random crap of his pockets and piling it on the table. Such a Four moment.
I'm glad to know I'm not the only person with an unreasonable amount of affection for Harry. I'm not sure why, but I love him. And I love Sarah Jane, but she's not exactly at her finest in this serial. Poor girl keeps running headlong into trouble.
And okay, I can kind of see Four's point about why he doesn't off the Daleks right there (and really, who wants to commit genocide, even if it's genocide of Nazi pepper pots?) but from the perspective of the new series, it's a bit of a wallbanger. I imagine Nine or Ten looking back on that choice and wanting to break all rules, cross his own time stream, go back to Skaro and make himself destroy the Daleks. No Daleks, no Time War, no being The Last Of His Kind and accompanying angst.
Oh, and have some outtakes from the Tom Baker era: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfMh_5hy-48&fe…. Not really any classic spoilers, since the clips are all pretty brief and even if you know where they come from it's hard to tell what's going on. The one beginning at :38 is one of my favorite outtakes of all time (exceeded in awesomeness only by the "Kaylee, find that kid who's takin' a dirt nap with Baby Jesus, we need a hood ornament" outtake from Serenity).
Those outtakes! Drunk K9 is the best thing ever.
"Insufficient data." "No, you never fucking know the answer when it's important." LOL Tom Baker, that never stops being funny.
I am not a new commenter! I am kytten, but the kytten account no longer admits I exist. So time to start again (I don't really mind, this account is at least linked to the blog I write for)
I LOVE THIS SERIAL SO MUCH. This IS classic Who to me. Silly, overacted but dealing with deep issues remarkably well. Full of adventure and science and running. And Tom Baker, who exists on a diet of scenery! AND HAM!
Mark- Of course the Daleks were the Nazis. It was only a generation or so after WWII and the scars of it still kind of lingered at that point. A lot of TV shows and radio shows were examining what it takes to make people do things like that. Dr Who was somewhat uniquely placed to do that by removing the issue from 'humanity' in a way.
"That's the point, Group Captain. It isn't even remotely human!" / Doc 7.
The circle of time closes.
"To hold in my hand a capsule that contained such power. to know that life and death on such a scale was my choice. To now that the tiny pressure of my thumb enough to break the glass, would end everything. Yes. I would do it."
"People and planets and stars will become dust. And the dust will become atoms and the atoms will become… nothing. And the wavelength will continue, breaking through the rift at the heart of the Medusa Cascade into every dimension, every parallel, every single corner of creation. *This* is my ultimate victory, Doctor! The destruction of reality *itself*!"
I'm not going to say too many words about this serial. Instead, I'm going to share some pics (posted as thumbnails) of `Famous Daleks` taken from a Doctor Who 25th Anniversary Special by Tim Quinn and Dicky Howett…
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These are epic.
I haven't seen this serial, so I'll just post this greatness that I found yesterday.
http://ungapants.deviantart.com/art/Dalek-yaoi-61…
It's been some time since I last saw this and I didn't have time to re-watch for today's review (may I be forgiven by the Mark Does Stuff gods), but I do remember that this was the serial that compelled me to watch the next two Tom Baker stories – "Revenge of the Cybermen" and "Terror of the Zygons" – and I enjoyed them all very much. You can tell that "Genesis of the Daleks" was a big part of the inspiration behind the Doctor of the new series. I loved the whole "Should I or shouldn't I?" internal debate going on. As far as TV storytelling goes, it was very ahead of its time.
And by the way – I TOTALLY ship Sarah Jane/Harry. And, yes, Daleks=Nazi comparisons are totally valid (Nyder=Name to Run Away From Really, Really Fast. After Davros, of course).
I ship it too. 🙂
YOU ARE FORGIVEN.
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I'll do it next round, which is after I finish series 5.
I absolutely love this story. Not only is it good writing, fun adventures, but Sarah Jane wears two of her cutest outfits ever, the sweater and skirt, and the army outfit. I want at least half her outfits from her time on the show. These two, the Ark in Space white, the Andy Pandy red, and the hippie-ish one from Masque of Mandragora. Seriously, Mark, watch all of the episodes with Sarah Jane and Tom Baker. They are all amazing. Harry is fun too. I would have loved to see Harry and Sarah married, and who knows, they might have but his actor died… 🙁
I just wish I'd seen Classic Who before New Who so I would have seen the significance of the Classic Who elements like Davros and the Daleks, Cybermen, Trickster, etc.
You should also watch Third Doc's "The Silurians"! It's got Jo Grant, she's almost as tiny as Sarah Jane!
Jo Grant isn't in "The Silurians" – that was Liz Shaw. Jo's in "The Sea Devils".
Jo is AWESOME in The Sea Devils.
Mark should watch "The Silurians" anyway.
It's interesting you mention the Trickster as a Classic Who element. The Trickster never appeared in Classic Who – at least, not under that name, but there's a character in Classic Who who is very very similar.
The Dalek-Nazi comparison was absolutely intentional on the part of Terry Nation. He's said as much in interviews. They were created at a time when most kids' parents remembered the war. I mean, just look at this pic from "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" from 1964:
http://www.doctorwhoreviews.co.uk/K_files/The%20D…
RTD has mentioned a few times, and it's kind of become accepted in fandom, that Genesis of The Daleks marks the beginning of the Time War
Back in the days before home video, there was a special release of "Genesis of the Daleks" on LP, later re-released on cassette tape and then on CD.
(Quick show of hands: Who remembers cassettes tapes? LPs? The days before home video?)
It was a lot shorter: it had to fit on an LP, which had a running time of less than an hour, so they hacked out a lot of the repetitive running and hiding as well as a bunch of stuff that didn't really work if you couldn't see it, even with the Fourth Doctor narrating.
Did I mention it had the Fourth Doctor narrating? But all the dialogue was lifted directly from the soundtrack of the actual episodes, as was the incidental music.
I listened to it over and over when I was little, which made re-watching the TV version years later an odd experience: because of all the cuts, there'd be long stretches that I didn't remember at all, and then suddenly for a few minutes it would all be totally familiar, every background note and tone of voice.
I remember LPs! But that's because my parents had them when I was little and they were still listening to them (it took them a while to get hooked on cassette tapes and CDs)
* raises an aging hand *
I remember being absolutely devastated because we'd been out for the day and didn't get home in time for Doctor Who. It was in the middle of the Key to Time season arc and – video recorders being too expensive then for us to own one – I had absolutely no way of catching up with what I'd missed. I was a very unhappy eight year old indeed.
The Beeb showed a version of Genesis of the Daleks edited into two 45-minute episodes with a lot of cuts as part of a series of repeats under the banner Doctor Who and the Monsters in 1982. By then we did have a video recorder, they having become affordable in the preceding four years, and I watched it over and over again, etching it into my twelve year-old brain.
Of course this meant that when the Beeb finally released it in its original six-episode format I was entirely nonplussed by the extra scenes, as the 1982 'Monsters' version had entirely replaced the original transmission (I was only five when that aired) in my mind. I experienced exactly the same sort of disorientation you describe.
I remember lps seeing as I still buy them 🙂
I'm on the last part now, and wow, seeing this after the s4 finale totally puts it to shame. I went into the show hoping for something fun and cheezy and any incidence of it actually being good would be icing on the cake-but god the plots here are amazing. It's really too bad they have to keep bringing the Daleks back on nuwho only to do absolutely nothing with them. I need moar of this oldschool goodness.
Ah. I remember this. Once my mom and I discovered that the library has Doctor Who DVDs (I think there's more now) and she insisted that we watch this one. And for awhile, the one thing that stuck out in my mind when I think of 'Genesis of the Daleks' were the Giant Clams of Doom.
It was also this episode where I saw why the fourth Doctor was my mom's Doctor. So um, yeah.
In a lot of way's this episode is Classic who personified. It really showcases a lot of what is wrong with the show, silly monsters, cheap and nasty sets, un-special effects and poor pacing but it also shows a lot of what the show get's right; big idea's and one of the best main characters ever. The dialog between the Doctor and Davros is spectacular.
The Daleks finest hour? Almost but not quite… nothing will ever come close to their brief appearance, in liquid paper guise, in the Magic Portal (If you haven't seen the Magic Portal follow this link and have your mind blown [url ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jde4qHbCtSg[url])
[img ]http://www.rakrent.com/mp/pix/still_05.jpg[/img]
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Where the heck are the rogue classes in this?
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