Genesis of Terror
Do you ever feel like your head’s going to explode, because you’ve got too much stuff you just want to say? But perhaps you don’t need to say it. And perhaps it is just stuff, not stuff worth worrying about.
But Genesis of the Daleks, let me just say, really is a story so good they had to wait five years before they could make another Dalek story. Doctor Who fans are a foolish mob, obsessed with Star Wars and Terrance Dicks novelisations—David Maloney really should be recognised as the author of this story. And it’s a funny story: e.g. everyone goes around claiming how different they are (as a race), but no one can successfully identify another’s “race”. Harry and Sarah completely disprove everything fandom “knows” about companions… But are the Daleks really Nazis? Also: Dick Mills good, Dudley Simpson bad.
Anyone care to discuss? Or just jump in with anything about Doctor Who. This is just one of those posts.
By Geoff Klock, 15 hours, 3 minutes after the fact
I have nothing to say about Dr. Who except for the fact that David Tennant is absurdly good looking. And I am straight, so that is saying something.
By David Golding, 18 hours, 4 minutes after the fact
He is cute and fun, but it’s hard for me to look at him objectively. My heart will always belong to the series Doctor with the least airtime: Chris Eccleston.
By Robzie, 1 day, 2 hours after the fact
And I have nothing good to say about David Tennant or Doctor Who Season 2. Oh, yes I do … it’s over. And Chris spoiled me. What a man … what a man. I’m going to watch Heroes just because he’s joining it … and I haven’t heard good things about that
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By Polly, 2 days, 19 hours after the fact
I’m still catching up on Season 2, but I personally think Billie Piper is way hotter than David Tennant, but that’s just me, I guess.
As for Genesis of the Daleks - what a great story. Olav was watching it recently (although we did have to have a giggle at Guy Siner as Raven - we’ve both watched too much Allo Allo), and I caught a few episodes. That whole season is great (except for Robot - which is still watchable even though it’s completely awful). Genesis probably could have been a bit shorter, but what I really like about it was how it dealt with racism, and how much more balanced it was in the treatment of Kaleds vs Thals than earlier Who stories on the same topic. In earlier Who stories, the Thals are often portrayed as physically beautiful, innocent pacifists who were mercilessly slaughtered by the Daleks, whereas in Genesis, they are no better than the Kaleds, although no one is (of course) as bad as Davros (who is so bad he’s prepared to not only kill the enemy, but his own people when he can no longer control them).
By David Golding, 4 days, 18 hours after the fact
I like how Genesis establishes a visual hierarchy of evil: the Thals and Kaleds are bog standard DW baddies in green pullovers and white smocks; the failed mutants—fake-looking giant clams—are probably good enough to be a primary threat in some stories. Compare the former to Nyder and his goons, done up like the SS; and the latter to the visual iconicity of the Daleks, who are always placed in the best environment to show them off, i.e. flat studio floors. In this scheme, the end of episode 5 has extra significance as a blob of rubber fights the Doctor for the right to become a Dalek.
And then there’s Davros, part Dalek, part Nazi, the ultimate villain. Terry Nation specified the “half Dalek” part, but it’s surely David Maloney who asked for the black leather and influenced John Friedlander’s horror mask. Michael Wisher’s body language is fantastic, but definitely only exists under Maloney’s direction.
(But I shouldn’t short change Wisher’s superb vocal performance, expertly mixed by Dick Mills. This was suggested by Nation, but could he possibly have foreseen how good it would turn out?)
Notably, we are given the Daleks’ origin in Davros, but we aren’t given Davros’s origin!
By Christopher Miles, 3 months, 1 week after the fact
I bought the DVD release last year and was stunned at what a strong piece of TV it is.
There’s hardly an element out of place (unfortunately, one of the elements that lets it down — hint: it chomps on Harry’s foot and rhymes with “spam” — really lets it down).
That aside, I love Genesis for its grimness, its sadism, its desperation, its aesthetic retconning. It’s a taproot text of Who mythology.
It’s one of the stories I’d confidently show a Who noob.
Then I’d show them The Happiness Patrol, and look for the steam coming out of their ears as their brain totally fails to compute that these are episodes from the same television program.