Genesis of the Daleks

[selenak]

Thanks to hmpf and long hours spent on the train, I was able to watch Genesis of the Daleks which of course I had heard about but had not seen. (My two Baker-era Who experiences were The Talons of Weng Chian and the story set in Paris with Romana.) Minor complaints aside, ‘twas a great experience. Terry Nation at the height of his powers and idiosyncracies. (He does have a thing for mutants and devolution of the species, does our Terry. Hello, Deliverance and Terminal.) And the quarry! One has to be a fan of British TV in the 70s and 80s to understand the warm feelings the sight of the hallowed quarry evokes.



Obviously, Genesis of the Daleks does the Space Nazi thing, but as opposed to many another attempt (looking at you, Star Trek except for the Cardassians, and at you, Tim Minear, and let’s not even mention other ignomies), it does so in an intelligent and not simplifying way. With the exception of Nyder the Himmler clone and Davros, all the gents dressed in black leather are portrayed as a mixed bunch, not uniformly evil or unable to spout anything but clichés. They question their leader and eventually turn on him, which, shame on us, not nearly enough of the real people did. Even the very first Space Nazi we get introduced to who seems to be a cliché right out of the book turns out to be a real person with a conscience. Meanwhile, the opposing side isn’t portrayed as morally superior but as using slave labour and a certain ultimate weapon of mass destruction, oh, and additional weaponry by Davros the Ubernazi scientist, thus dooming themselves as well, except for the ragtag band of survivors led by the woman who showed compassion to the Doctor earlier.

Some of the twists were too predictable – Davros intending to round up the opposing rebels for a massacre, for example, or the Daleks turning on Davros in the end. And while we’re talking about Davros, I’d have cast him with a kindly grandfather looking type, not as a semi-puppet, which would have made the monstrosity more effective, imo, but maybe Nation was stuck with a precedent? Or was that supposed to be the equivalent of Hitler not being the Aryan type?

Anyway. As for the Daleks. They were effectively merciless and the ultimate consequence of racism and genocidal megalomania here, but I couldn’t help feeling the tiniest bit sorry for them – it’s not like they ever had a choice; they were in effect designed without free will.

The Doctor’s moral dilemma, Terry Nation’s variety of the “would you kill Hitler as a child if you knew that child would become Hitler?” question multiplied into “would you wipe out a sentient species, if you knew…” felt a bit like a belated insert, plus he effectively got rescued from having to make a decision and go through with it twice – once by the fake good news, and once by the inadvertantly handy Dalek. At any event, this was the one point where the concentration of the story was on the Doctor – otherwise, he seemed to be in the background while we watch the entire saga unfold.

Sure sign you’re in a Terry Nation script: your heroic first attempt to lead your fellow prisoners to a breakout and safety fails miserably. Blake would have empathized with Sarah Jane. (With the Doctor, too, but Blake progressed from surrendering at the sight of seeing fellow prisoners executed to being willing to sacrifice lives for the revolution, which made him a good deal more realistic than the poor Gorman (spelling?).)

All in all: excellent, and makes me want to watch more Dalek stories.

Comments

[leia-naberrie.livejournal.com]

Gosh! I can't remember 'Genesis of the Daleks'. I must have been like 10 when I watched it on TV - maybe 11 when I read the book. Or was I younger? It's so great that the Dr Who series are being revived. BTW, which came first - the books or the TV? It's funny that I only just thought of asking...

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I think the TV, but I point to my pal kathyh who is the expert.

[kathyh]

OK, I tried to answer this and it turned up blank! How odd.

<lj user="londonkds" has answered the original question more fully than I could, but yes, definitely TV first. Glad you enjoyed the episode and I'd second <lj user="paratti" and say try some early Dalek episodes. I haven't seen them myself for years, but their impact on first transmission was huge.

[kathyh]

And now only half my answer is turning up. Your LJ doesn't love me any more ::pouts:: Lets try again.

londonkds has answered the original question more fully than I could, but yes, definitely TV first.

Glad you enjoyed the episode and I'd second paratti and say try some early Dalek episodes. I haven't seen them myself for years, but their impact on first transmission was huge.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I don't know what's up with my lj. A conspiracy, clearly.

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

The TV series came first. During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s almost all of the TV stories were novelised by various writers (often the TV scriptwriters themselves) in a series of books popularly known as the "Target novelisations" (after the publisher of most of them).

After Doctor Who was cancelled in 1989 a large number of entirely original spin-off novels were published by Virgin, divided into "New Adventures" continuing the story from the end of the TV series and "Missing Adventures" set in between TV stories with past versions of the Doctor.

After the abortive Paul McGann pilot Virgin lost their licence and the BBC started publishing spin-off novels themselves, again divided into "Eighth Doctor Adventures" featuring McGann's version of the Doctor after the end of the pilot and "Past Doctor Adventures" featuring earlier ones.

Among the many things that split Doctor Who fandom into factions is whether the spin-off novels count as canon (especially as they had far more heavy and rigid continuity as a canon in their own right than the TV series ever did).

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

they had far more heavy and rigid continuity as a canon in their own right than the TV series ever did

Speaking purely as an outsider to Who fandom, I see that as conclusive evidence that they're fanfic, because when did anyone but fans ever give a damn for continuity?

[leia-naberrie.livejournal.com]

Thanks. That was useful. As a child, I just assumed that the novels came first. It was just of a late with the renewed interest that I started realizing it was the other way around.

There was one particular writers whose name sticks: Terrance Dicks, right? He was the exec prod of a lot of BBC TV series esp. the Charles Dickens/old school stories category. Dicks also wrote a lot of the Dr Who books. I guess he was to BBC those days what Spielberg is to Hollywood.

I haven't watched the new Dr Who series yet though but if it's anything like the old, I'm sure it'll be brill.

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

Dicks wrote a lot of the TV stories, but not as many as he novelised. I hate to think how fast the guy must have been able to write.

[leia-naberrie.livejournal.com]

I hate to think how fast the guy must have been able to write.

Tell me about it! Back in the day, writers, especially Brit writers, really churned it out in volumes: aside from Terrance D, there was Enid B herself, Charles D, CS Lewis... Now JKR has spent 10 years writing 6 books. The shame!

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Oh, you must watch the new one. It's wonderful, I promise.

[paratti.livejournal.com]

Nation said he wanted Davros to be the half way point between man and Dalek, able speaking in longer sentences but already confined to a Dalek base, thus keeping the Daleks to short staccato sentences.

If you liked this one, I'd rec his 60's 1st Doctor materpiece, Dalek Invasion of Earth

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Oh, I got the intention alright, I just prefer my mad scientists to look as normal as possible. *g*

Will try to get my hands on it, thanks for the rec!

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

Dalek Invasion of Earth is one of the old series stories that is currently available on official DVD. I second Paratti, it's very good (second Dalek story ever, and some aspects look odd now in relation to later retcons). You may have a reaction to the scene where two Daleks greet each other by rapidly extending their suckers to the sky ;-) It's very definitely a 1960s "what if Operation Sealion had worked?" story.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

At any event, this was the one point where the concentration of the story was on the Doctor – otherwise, he seemed to be in the background while we watch the entire saga unfold.

I remember watching it at the time and thinking that it would have been a better drama without the Doctor; there was really nothing he and his companions did that random peace-supporting Kaleds or Thals couldn't have done, and it was obvious from the start he would have to do the moral dilemma thing at the end (it might have been more interesting if we'd seen him thinking about it throughout the story, swinging one way and then another). Because if he'd destroyed the Daleks, well, the BBC would probably have cancelled the show!

With you on Davros, though I thought this was his best story; it reached a perfect, tragic conclusion, and I hated the way he was revived to become an unavoidable fixture in future Dalek adventures. And any drama featuring the fabulous Peter Miles (Nyder/Rontane) has to be a Good Thing.

Wasn't there talk about how Terry Nation originally planned to reveal that the story was really set in Earth's future, and that we were the ancestors of the Daleks?

[selenak.livejournal.com]

it might have been more interesting if we'd seen him thinking about it throughout the story, swinging one way and then another).

Yes, that's what I meant with it feeling belatedly inserted. If he had considered it throughout, it really would have been his story.

Because if he'd destroyed the Daleks, well, the BBC would probably have cancelled the show!

They would have? Because the Doctor mustn't actively kill?

Secretary Rontane - so that's who Nyder reminded me of. I knew I had seen him in B7, but didn't know in which part exactly. Of course!

Haven't heard that, but it sounds like him.



Because if he'd destroyed the Daleks, well, the BBC would probably have cancelled the show!

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

They would have? Because the Doctor mustn't actively kill?

Because the Daleks are the most popular enemy!

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Of course. I should have known that.*g*

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

Wasn't there talk about how Terry Nation originally planned to reveal that the story was really set in Earth's future, and that we were the ancestors of the Daleks?

I remember reading that Skaro was revealed as a future Earth in a story written by Nation in the Radio Times (BBC official listings magazine).

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

Other Dalek stories - as kalypso_v pointed out negatively there were a string of further Davros stories follwing Genesis (he gets resurrected more times than Darla), which taken together are among the relatively few real uses of heavy continuity in Doctor Who. The next one, Destiny of the Daleks (with Baker) is the only one of these I haven't seen, it gets very mixed opinion among fans as it's from the very comedy-driven Season 17 (in which Douglas Adams was heavily involved) and people seem to think it takes the piss out of the Daleks too much. Resurrection of the Daleks (Peter Davison) and Revelation of the Daleks (Colin Baker), which continue Davros's personal saga, are Eric Saward stories with all the idiosyncrasies that implies (graphic violence, misanthropic tone, Doctor as fairly passive observer of events). Revelation is the better of the two with the best characterisation of Davros of any story except Genesis. The final Davros story, Remembrance of the Daleks (Sylvester McCoy), is the one you really need to see, as it's very, very good, acts as a sort of answer story to Genesis, and is then itself critiqued in the New Who Dalek episode.

Unfortunately, the pre-Davros story which everybody really loved, The Evil of the Daleks, is only 1/7 complete (the sole surviving episode is on the Lost In Time DVD box set). The Hartnell/Troughton Dalek stories suffered particularly badly from archive deletion.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Remembrance is one of my all-time favourites, and probably the only one post-Genesis where I can tolerate Davros.

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

They're not used very well in the Davison and CBaker eras. Remembrance is a wonderful Dalek story, returning to the classic '60s setup of Daleks presenting a threat right at home in London and the ethical questions you can spell out with them as the players. It's also, I think, one of the first in a theme of evolution that runs through S25 and S26. It's just a beautifully-done classic story.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I don't suppose Davros gets to have any prophecy kids with the Doctor, though?

Thanks for all the information. One of my friends over here is a big Who fan - I'll ask her which of these she possesses.

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

Just a quick extra comment - the portrayal of the Thals in Genesis is very interesting as in two previous Dalek stories by Nation (the very first Dalek story The Mutants and Planet of the Daleks) they'd been portrayed as unquestionable good guys and, in the first story at least, beautiful Nordic supermen. Genesis greys them a lot.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

So Nation first went the H.G. Wells route? Anyway, the Thals here as slave labour users are definitely presented as no better than the Kaleds.

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, the original The Mutants is very much out of The Time Machine (especially since the Thals are a bunch of pacifist hippies who have to be persuaded that the moral high ground isn't worth much if the other side are intent on genocide).

[cavendish.livejournal.com]

If you liked "Genesis of the Daleks", you may also be interested in the two very early Terry Nation Dalek episodes, "The Daleks" (Season 1, 1st Dalek Episode ever) and "The Dalek Invasion of earth" (Season 2). Both are quite interesting in contrast to "Genesis" (and, imho, good stories in their own right.

As for Tom Baker, I have the complete season 12 on offer ;-)

Frank

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

After cavendish commented, I'd better point out to say that his The Daleks and my The Mutants are the same story. There's a lot of confusion about the actual titles of some of the earliest stories.

[cavendish.livejournal.com]

sorry, Ive misses your comment. Happens sometimes with the ammount of comments selena gets ;-).

Anyhow, I do like the "Dalek Invasion of Earth": Daleks in Black and White London ;-).

Genesis of the Daleks

[bimo.livejournal.com]

Thanks to hmpf and long hours spent on the train, I was able to watch Genesis of the Daleks which of course I had heard about but had not seen.

The universe really seems to work in mysterious ways sometimes... *g*

When I read your entry I could hardly believe my eyes, as I'm currently watching Genesis of the Daleks myself (and probably even would have finished it before you if the CD hadn't been malfunctioning so I had to ask Cavendish for a replacement ;-))

Your use of spoiler tags couldn't have been wiser and is very much appreciated :-)


Hopefully I'll find the time to post a halfway eloquent Doctor Who entry myself this weekend. Tomorrow's the last day of my Filmmuseum internship, a reason to celebrate, even more so, since the museum's director has offered me a paid freelance job (two days per week), for the completion of the Harry Piel project.