| 078 – Genesis of the Daleks | |||||
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| Doctor Who serial | |||||
Davros unveils the first ever Dalek, using remote control |
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| Cast | |||||
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Others
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| Production | |||||
| Writer | Terry Nation | ||||
| Director | David Maloney | ||||
| Script editor | Robert Holmes | ||||
| Producer | Philip Hinchcliffe | ||||
| Executive producer(s) | None | ||||
| Production code | 4E | ||||
| Series | Season 12 | ||||
| Length | 6 episodes, 25 minutes each | ||||
| Setting | Skaro | ||||
| Date started | 8 March 1975 | ||||
| Date ended | 12 April 1975 | ||||
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Genesis of the Daleks is the fourth serial of the twelfth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was originally broadcast in six weekly parts from 8 March to 12 April 1975. It marks the first appearance of Davros, the creator of the Daleks.
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The Fourth Doctor is intercepted while travelling from Earth to the Ark by the Time Lords. He is instructed by them to interfere in the creation of the Daleks on the planet Skaro in order to avert a future time where Daleks would dominate the universe. The Doctor is given a Time Ring to use to return to his own time and the TARDIS when the task is completed. The Doctor finds that he is already on Skaro, and joins with his companions Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan. They find that Skaro is a war-torn planet, a generational war of attrition between the Thals and the Kaleds for dominance of the planet. In the midst of a poison gas attack by the Thals, the Doctor and Harry are dragged inside the Kaled dome, while Sarah is left outside. Sarah eventually runs into the Mutos, the exiled descendants of those mutated by chemical weapons early in the war, but they are then captured by the Thals and used for the dangerous task of manually loading radioactive components into a missile they wish to launch at the Kaled dome. Sarah attempts to lead an escape plan by climbing out of the rocket silo, but the plan fails.
Meanwhile, the Doctor and Harry are brought before the Kaled elite, General Ravon, the leader of the Kaled army and Security Commander Nyder. The Doctor attempts to explain that they are aliens, but Nyder refuses to believe it as their greatest scientist, Davros has stated there is no life outside of Skaro. The two have their possessions, including the Time Ring, stripped from them, and are interrogated by another scientist, Ronson, who discovers they are truly alien. At that moment, Davros enters the laboratory, and demonstrates his new "Mark III travel machine", which he later dubs as a "Dalek". After Davros leaves, Ronson confides in the Doctor that he and other scientists believe Davros' research has become immoral and evil, using unethical mutations to create the Daleks, and seeks their help in stopping it. The Doctor promises to tell the Kaled leaders about Davros and the Daleks if Ronson helps them to escape. The Doctor meets with Mogran and other Kaled Councilors, and they agree to halt Davros' experiments, but this is overheard by Nyder's spies. Davros responds by preparing twenty Daleks under computer controller, and secretly meeting with the Thal leaders to give them a chemical that will weaken the Kaled dome and allow their rocket to penetrate it.
The Doctor and Harry mount a rescue attempt for Sarah at the Thal dome. They free Sarah, but as they escape, the Doctor is captured. He watches helplessly as the Thals launch their rocket and destroy the Kaled dome. At the Kaled bunker, Davros declares the Kaled race is dead, giving birth to the Daleks; he orders Ronson's death as a traitor that gave over the chemical secret, instructs the next scientist, Gharman, to remove compassion and pity from the new Dalek mutations, and send a troop of Daleks to the Thal dome to exterminate all those inside. In the confusion, the Doctor, Sarah, and Harry rejoin with the few Thal and Mutos survivors, and make their way back to the Kaled bunker. The Doctor instructs the Thals and Mutos to try to destroy the bunker, while he and his companions return inside. They are captured by Davros, who becomes aware of the Doctor's knowledge of the Daleks' future. The Doctor is forced to describe how the Daleks were defeated in the future to prevent the execution of Sarah or Harry. Davros records the information in order to prevent future Dalek defeats. The three are taken to a cell, where they realize they must also get the recording along with the Time Ring to prevent disaster to future time.
The Doctor, Sarah, and Harry are freed by another scientist, and told that Davros appears to have succumbed to the demands of the Kaled Councilors and will stop his research but wants to call a vote. While Davros pleads his case, the Doctor recovers their possessions including the Time Ring. On the vote, the remaining Kaled elite are split between Davros and Gharman, and fighting breaks out between them with Davros using the Daleks to kill those against him. The Doctor and his companions use the opportunity to rig explosives in the Kaled mutation room, but the Doctor is unable to bring himself detonating it. Instead, they turn their attention to destroying the recording by capturing Nyder who they force to take to where the recording has been stored. After destroying it, they learn that the Thals and Mutos have prepared to detonate explosives to seal the Daleks inside the bunker, and have little time to escape. The Doctor returns to destroy the Kaled mutants; a Dalek inadvertently completes the circuit and destroys the room. The Doctor, Sarah, and Harry escape just before the Thal explosives go off.
Meanwhile, the Daleks have exterminated everyone except Davros in the Kaled dome and started the production line against Davros' wishes. Davros, realizing that his creations have achieved sentience, attempts to destroy the dome, but he is shot by a Dalek, apparently killing him. The Daleks announce that they are the superior race and will dominate the universe.
The Doctor, Sarah, and Harry say goodbye to the surviving Thals and Mutos. While the Doctor did not stop the Daleks, he does believe he has hindered their development for some centuries, and thus successful in his mission. The three use the Time Ring to return to their own future.
| Episode | Broadcast date | Run time | Viewership (in millions) |
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| "Part One" | 8 March 1975 | 24:30 | 10.7 |
| "Part Two" | 15 March 1975 | 24:51 | 10.5 |
| "Part Three" | 22 March 1975 | 22:38 | 8.5 |
| "Part Four" | 29 March 1975 | 23:38 | 8.8 |
| "Part Five" | 5 April 1975 | 23:27 | 9.8 |
| "Part Six" | 12 April 1975 | 23:30 | 9.1 |
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The serial is described as "one of the most popular of all time" by the Outpost Gallifrey episode guide,[5] and as "a gem of a story" by David Howe and Stephen James Walker in their Doctor Who Television Companion,[6] and in a 1998 poll of readers by Doctor Who Magazine, over 2500 voters placed Genesis at the top of a poll to find the greatest Doctor Who stories of all time, and it has regularly featured in the top-tens of other similar polls down the years, such as in 2004 when it topped Doctor Who Magazine 's "greatest Doctor Who story ever" vote. However at the time of broadcast, there were some complaints about the level of violence portrayed. Mary Whitehouse's National Viewers' and Listeners' Association complained that Genesis contained "tea-time brutality for tots".[7]
A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in July 1976. From 1983 it was designated number 27 in the series, although it was not until 1991 that an edition was released bearing that number. According to the DVD Text commentary, the "Genesis of the Daleks" novelisation has the largest print run of any of the original series.
| Doctor Who book | |
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| Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks | |
| Series | Target novelisations |
| Release number | 27 |
| Writer | Terrance Dicks |
| Publisher | Target Books |
| Cover artist | Chris Achilleos |
| ISBN | 0-426-11260-1 |
| Release date | 22 July 1976 |
| Preceded by | ' |
| Followed by | ' |
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