| GENESIS OF THE DALEKS by Terry Nation |
| Story 78 Synopsis: Thinking himself on the way back to Nerva Beacon, the Doctor is surprised to be facing a Time Lord in a grisly wartorn landscape. He gets a mission to affect the Daleks' creation, and goes along with it. He then finds he is already on Skaro, albeit with a Time Ring to return him to Nerva. Sarah & Harry are also there. They find their way to the Kaled bunker, but Sarah doesn't get in. She meets a Muto, Sevrin, and is taken to the Thals. The Doctor & Harry are interrogated by Ronson, who takes the Time Ring, and get to meet Davros. This scientist is about to demonstrate his Dalek creation. Armed, it wants to kill the Doctor and Harry, but Ronson intervenes. The Doctor & Harry escape, heading for the Thals. Sarah suffers radiation poisoning, but she escapes with Sevrin. Davros is being obstructed by the Kaleds, so he does a deal with the Thals, who launch a rocket to destroy the Kaled Dome. In return, Davros sends his Daleks to wipe out the Thals. The Doctor is captured and forced to recount his knowledge of all future Dalek defeats. Released, he determines to recapture or destroy the tape of his confession, and recover the Time Ring. A resistance movement opposed to the Daleks has sprung up, and they want to entomb Davros in his bunker. The Doctor has a go at destroying the Kaled birthing chamber, but cannot bring himself to do it. Ultimately, a wandering Dalek helps him out, inadvertently. Harry and Sarah are amongst those at the Bunker entrance, waiting valiantly for the Doctor to return, before the entrance is sealed. He makes it in the nick of time. Inside, the Daleks decide Davros is inferior, and he tries to destroy them. But he fails. The Bunker is sealed, but the Daleks determine that they will escape. The Doctor says they will escape, in 1,000 years. He uses the Time Ring, telling Sarah & Harry that it was better to let the Daleks survive, as they will unite many other races against them. |
| Review:- Voted the all-time #1 by DWM a few years back, and anyway very popular with fans, this just goes to show that Terry Nation wasn't just lucky to create the Daleks. He could come up with dramatic storylines. This is quite a straightforward tale, and could conceivably be adapted for stage, I think. Most of the action is back and forth. If the Kaleds are running out of steam, ship on the Thals. Then, the Daleks. Then, Davros. Rockets with viruses, radiation poisoning, mutants of all shapes and sizes, there's no shortage of colour. Nyder is arguably one of the finest second-in-commands in the whole series. Davros is unquestionably a fearsome and understandable creation. The suggestion that the Dalek story now has Nazi overtones (and undertones) is a bit of window dressing. It could be ANY genocidal maniac (Stalin, Mao, Saddam), it just compliments Hitler to single him out above the others. The debate about changing history is one of DW's greatest dead herrings, but there are some who say that the Doctor does succeed in the mission he is sent to do. The Discontinuity Guide argues (convincingly) that Davros' survival is the factor that weakens the Daleks. It's an intriguing idea. Harry is the likeable reliable stalwart that helps any story along. Sarah gets plenty of subplot, helps the story along, gets a cliffhanger, and is still up for being the voice of reason during the Doctor's great "Do I Have The Right?" dilemma. Sevrin and Bettan are the kind of incidental characters who are usually ignored or underdeveloped, but here seem like real people, with real pasts and real futures. The Doctor has loads to do, and rocks all the way, from stepping on a landmine in part 1, to submitting to Davros in part 5. The whole story seems to fit together well, and any padding is well hidden. 6 episodes with wall-to-wall storytelling. I like this story very much. |
| Disclaimer: I've read the book, seen the video, and the DVD. |