Doctor Who – Genesis of the Daleks (2 Disc Set) [DVD] [1975] Reviews
Doctor Who – Genesis of the Daleks (2 Disc Set) [DVD] [1975]
One of the finest stories of the classic Doctor Who age, Genesis Of The Daleks finds Tom Baker at his peak in the lead role, and ultimately facing one of the most significant moral dilemmas of his era as the Time Lord. That’s alongside the small matter of his most infamous enemies. This is the adventure that goes right back to the roots of the Daleks, from their humble beginnings to the point where they become the Doctor’s most fearsome foes. Across the six episodes, we find that the Docto
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those brilliant, unsentimental days…,
Sure, we’re all agreed that ‘Genesis’ is a high water mark for the series, but I think what distinguishes it is its profound atmosphere of unease, which in turn is established by the unsparing, unsentimental and convincing presentation of cruelty. Both impart a grim urgency that is absolutely lacking in contemporary television. Davros is frightening, as he should be. The guard who torments Sarah by dangling her off the edge of the rocket is actually hateful, as he should be. And Nyder’s inhuman coldness is perfectly believable. These impressions are NOT soley the result of great acting (although that, too!) The antagonists, and thus the plight of our heroes, are riverting because they occur in a convincing – not kitsch – atmosphere of urgency and dread.
I think it is this atmosphere, behind the fantastic story and despite the shoddy production values, that makes ‘Genesis’ so unusually powerful.
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|Much better…,
I vaguely remember seeing this when it was first shown (I would have been 4 or 5 – middle age has now firmly grabbed me and won’t let go). On its repeat in the 1980′s I watched it again and remember being slightly disappointed at the apparent lack of Dalek action… ah the fickleness of youth. This is a great story, well worthy of the ‘classic’ status bestowed upon it and possibly Terry Nation’s finest script for the programme. Great performances from all concerned, tightly directed, and unusually for a six-parter, it doesn’t really sag too much. Special mention for Michael Wisher playing Davros – could have been such an over the top performance, but instead is reigned in and played with a subtle menace. This is not the ranting Davros of later stories (although to be fair, Terry Molloy did do a great job in ‘Revelation’), but an icy, quietly spoken (at times) figure who truly believes that what he is doing is right… great stuff.
I won’t give away the plot, but recommend this for new fans converted by the new series. The extras or pretty good too, although I agree that the post – Genesis stories are sadly under-represented by ‘The Dalek Tapes’.
All in all, well worth the money. Buy it, or I’ll set my Dalek on you (yes, I own a full size Dalek… middle aged crisis).
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|Probably the best classic Doctor Who story ever made,
There’s little point in preaching to the unconverted here. If you’re not a Doctor Who fan at all, then you probably never will be. If you are reading this review then you probably at least think you MIGHT be – perhaps you’ve only seen the recent Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant stuff on TV at the moment and have a deep urge to see how it all began and get a better appreciation of the earlier actors to play the role.
Most fan surveys always seem to involve 1975′s “Genesis of The Daleks” as their ALL-TIME FAVOURITE story. It’s been repeated on TV often enough since it’s first broadcast, was one of the few stories to ever arrive on LaserDisc, and now is finally available to own on DVD. There’s not much point dissecting the story too much, save to say that some of the plot points are a little bizarre – the fact that the Kaled’s and the Thal’s seem to rather improbably have built their respective capital cities right on top of each other, and the fact that it seems so easy for everyone to convieniently flit between the two as the story demands. Sarah’s fall from the scaffolding at the end of part two is a particularly poor cliff-hanger to an episode, and the ending to part five is equally silly as Tom Baker wrestles with a flying omlette for no particular reason other than the end of the episode is near. Harry’s encounter with the giant clam monster is similiarly stupid.
The reason this episode is so fondly remembered is not for the Daleks (they are very much secondary characters), but for their leader, Davros. There is very much a WWII air among proceedings – events take place in “the bunker”, and Davros and his quazi-Nazi henchman Nyder (the brilliant Peter Miles) could easily be substituted for Hitler and Martin Bormann. Once again, the Dalek’s are associated with ethnic cleansing and other fascist idealogists – not necessarily a bad thing.
There are two discs to this DVD set – the huge six-part ‘main event’ on the first disc (plus a commentary which actually features Tom Baker on it!!) and two substational documentaries on the second disc, both 60 minutes in length, a ‘making of’ documentary, and ‘The Dalek Tapes’, narrated by the most recent Davros actor, Terry Molloy, which brings us a complete history of the Daleks on TV from 1963s “The Daleks” up to 1988s “Remembrance” with Sylvester McCoy – look carefully, as some of the clips from the Hartnell/Troughton era have been COLOURISED!! Overall, a pretty essential purchase for any “Who” fan and a fine release from the BBC. If only they didn’t put that “2Entertain” logo on the new DVD cases and make my DVD collection look out of sync on my shelf, I’d probably give this release full marks:-) Highly recommended.
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