Genesis of the Daleks

Dear Gary—

Genesis of the Daleks is arguably one of the most seminal serials in Doctor Who. The Daleks put Doctor Who on the map back in 1963 despite the fact that that first story was long, drawn out, and boring. The Daleks captured the imagination of a nation and struck fear into its young audience. Since then the Daleks have returned to the series multiple times, relentless and ruthless.

However, Doctor Who is more than the sum of its Daleks. Other aliens have come and gone; additional arch enemies have emerged to harass the Doctor. The Master, the Cybermen, and the Sontarans, to name a few, rival the Daleks for Doctor Who villainy. A story depicting the origins of the Daleks would not rise to classic stature in and of itself, although it does in and of itself contain the potential.

A story reuniting past Doctor generations has the same landmark potential; however none of those that have been attempted have quite delivered.

Genesis of the Daleks delivers.

That is not to say that Genesis of the Daleks is the best Doctor Who story ever written or even the most entertaining. It is a good story, well written and entertaining, yes, but it is a tad long just like that first long ago Dalek adventure. No, a solid script and outstanding concept alone will not elevate a story in such a way.

Time and again in Doctor Who we are told that “the Dalek menace always remains;” that they are evil; that they are the greatest threat to the universe. Genesis of the Daleks provides the meat for these bare bones statements. After watching Genesis of the Daleks we not only know this as fact, we believe it.

We believe it because of Davros. Davros, this one mutation of a man. Davros, this egomaniacal mad scientist. Davros, this creator of the Daleks. Davros.

Davros: “Evil? No, no, I will not accept that. They are conditioned simply to survive. They can survive only by becoming the dominant species. When all other life forms are suppressed, when the Daleks are the supreme rulers of the universe, then you will have peace; wars will end. They are the power not of evil but of good.”

Doctor: Davros, if you had created a virus in your laboratory, something contagious and infectious, that killed on contact, a virus that would destroy all other forms of life, would you allow its use?”

Davros: “It is an interesting conjecture.”

Doctor: “Would you do it?”

Davros: “The only living thing, a microscopic organism, reigning supreme. A fascinating idea.”

Doctor: “But would you do it?”

Davros: “Yes . . . yes. To hold in my hand a capsule that contains such power; to know that life and death on such a scale was my choice; to know that the tiny pressure of my thumb, enough to break the glass, would end everything. Yes . . . I would do it. That power would set me up above the gods. And through the Daleks I shall have that power.”

This is a truly chilling scene, brilliantly written, brilliantly acted. Davros in and of himself is a masterpiece.

Davros is not alone. The Doctor, too, rises above in Genesis of the Daleks. You know, Gary, that I already have a high opinion of Tom Baker’s Doctor. In Genesis of the Daleks he is superb.

The Doctor is on Skaro at the moment of the Daleks’ creation because the Time Lords have sent him there. The Time Lords, those galactic ticket takers, those champions of non-interference, have set the Doctor on a mission of interference. If there is one thing that Doctor Who has always preached it is that history should never be changed. That seems to be a rule inviolate with Time Lords. Yet here they are blatantly breaking that rule. And all it takes is one word, “Daleks,” and the Doctor agrees.

But that ancient pull of the Time Lords, that philosophy of detachment engrained in him as a boy and that he ran from in his stolen TARDIS, that fixed point mentality has shaped the Doctor in many ways. The Doctor has his own genesis to deal with.

“Have I that right?”

The Daleks, “the most evil creatures ever invented;” the Daleks, that devastating virus about to be unleashed on the world; the Daleks. And yet the Doctor asks, “Have I that right?”

“But the final responsibility is mine and mine alone,” the Doctor reasons. The Time Lords have sent him on this mission, Sarah is urging him to it, the Daleks are before him, “simply touch one wire against the other and that’s it.” And yet he asks, “Have I that right?” This is his decision to make; not the Time Lords’, not Sarah’s, not History’s. His and his alone. “Have I that right?”

The Doctor would not be the Doctor if he did not ask the question. If he did not agonize over the decision.

“Listen, if someone who knew the future pointed out a child to you and told you that that child would grow up totally evil, to be a ruthless dictator who would destroy millions of lives, could you then kill that child?”

Just touch the two wires and no more Daleks.  ‘Just do it, Doctor,’ every fiber in every being screams.

And yet . . . “But if I kill, wipe out a whole intelligent life form, then I become like them. I’d be no better than the Daleks.”

The Doctor must and does agonize over this decision. It is his decision, and his alone.

This is where the story gets in the way.

There is a story unfolding around these moral dilemmas and philosophical discussions. It’s a decent enough plot. Back in our first Dalek serial from 1963 we saw the results of the devastating war on Skaro leaving the Thals as scrounging nomads, mutations lurking in swamps, and Daleks holed up in their metal city. At that time we learned that the Daleks had evolved from a race called Dals. In this story we learn they are actually Kaleds. I don’t worry too much about this discrepancy though, Gary.  I figure that the nomadic Thals who had been carrying around their history for thousands of years after the ravages of war were bound to have inaccuracies.

Genesis of the Daleks takes place at the end of this war between the Thals and the Kaleds, and we have some interesting socio-political dynamics going on and several fascinating characters if we had the time to explore them, but as it is they serve merely as an enriching backdrop to the action. Although I do want to make special mention of Nyder. His fanatical devotion to Davros would make for some absorbing study.

The action consists of some straightforward combat, political intrigue, betrayals, plotting and counter plotting, captures and escapes, chases, and explosions. In the midst of all this Sarah gets conscripted into working on a rocket for the Thals and leads a failed escape attempt while Harry steps in a giant, mutated oyster (“Why is it always me that puts a foot in it?”).

Right when the Doctor is having his momentous battle of conscience the plot collides with him. He does not need to blow up the Daleks he is told. Kaled scientists and military elite have banded together against Davros and he has agreed to alter the genetic engineering of the Daleks to give them a sense of right and wrong. Easy out.

Of course Davros won’t give up that easily. This is merely a plot of his own to lull his detractors before turning on them: “Do you believe that I would let a lifetime’s work be ended by the wills of spineless fools like you?”

And so the Doctor must make his decision after all, only now he has no time to think. No more standing with the two wires almost touching, wondering about the right and the wrong of it. No more questions. No more hypotheticals. With Daleks patrolling the corridors and Thals prepared to blow up the tunnel, the Doctor must act. And he does (with a little help from a Dalek).

In the end, his act will only delay the Daleks, not defeat them. The Daleks are never defeated. But that doesn’t distress the Doctor: “Out of their evil must come something good.”

This is, after all, the genesis of the Daleks, not the demise. Born out of the chillingly maniacal brain of Davros, these creations set themselves, not Davros, above the gods: “Our programming does not permit us to acknowledge that any creature is superior to the Daleks.”

Genesis of the Daleks makes us believe, not just know, that the Daleks are evil. And when they turn on their creator; when they turn on one of the most unsettling villains in Doctor Who; when they turn on Davros with no compunction, we feel the icy terror in our veins.

“Pity. I have no understanding of the word. It is not registered in my vocabulary bank. EXTERMINATE!”

They might be pepper pots and “wee salt-shakers,” but these cold, pitiless words would make me cower behind a couch any day.

But like the Doctor I am not disappointed that the Daleks are only delayed and not defeated. Out of their evil comes much good Doctor Who viewing.

And so I am settling in for a nice long run of this fourth Doctor, hopefully with a Dalek or two, and I hope this finds you somewhere out there, dear Gary . . .