Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)

Genesis of the Daleks was the fourth story of Season 12 of Doctor Who. It was the first story in which Davros, creator of the Daleks, appeared.

Synopsis
Intercepted while travelling between Earth and the Ark, the Fourth Doctor and his companions are transported to the planet Skaro, thousands of years in the past, on a mission for the Time Lords — to prevent the creation of the Daleks.

Part One
On a foggy battlefield, men with painted gas masks and armed with archaic rifles advance out of a trench and are brutally cut down by machine gun fire. The enemy squad marches over their bodies.

The Doctor walks through the cold mist, wondering why he's not on Nerva. Suddenly, another Time Lord appears in front of him, and the Doctor realises who has intercepted the transmat beam he and his companions were riding to Nerva. The Time Lords have foreseen a time when the Daleks will exterminate the universe itself. They want the Doctor to travel back to the time of their creation to avert creation, make them less aggressive, or find some inherent weakness in their makeup. The Doctor agrees, and asks for the coordinates for Skaro, the Dalek homeworld. The Time Lord tells the Doctor that he is already there, and vanishes after giving him a Time Ring that will return him to the TARDIS when his mission is complete...

The Doctor finds Harry and Sarah, ducked behind a trench. As they explore the battlefield, they come across bodies equipped with a curious mix of ancient and modern equipment. The Doctor theorises that the war has been going on for over a thousand years, perhaps a thousand years, with technology regressing as resources get more scarce. In the distance, they see yet another sight — a protective dome large enough to cover an entire city.

The trio cross the lines into another trench, where the bodies of the fallen have been propped up to make the place appear more heavily guarded. Suddenly, gas shells drop as a squad of soldiers attacks. Another door bursts open, and black-uniformed soldiers emerge, counterattacking with submachine guns. Having dealt with the enemy, they drag Harry and the Doctor into their bunker, leaving an unconscious Sarah behind among the dead. The soldiers, all very young men, take the Doctor and Harry to see General Ravon, who is in his early twenties. These are the Kaleds, who are fighting a war with the Thals for dominance of Skaro. Soon, Ravon boasts, they will exterminate the Thals from the face of Skaro! The Doctor notices that "Kaled" is an anagram of something...

The Doctor and Harry manage to disarm Ravon, forcing him at gunpoint to take them back to the surface. However, they encounter Security Command Nyder, who becomes suspicious and orders his men to open fire. Releasing Ravon, Harry and the Doctor run for and reach the surface, but are soon captured by the Kaleds once more. Ravon thinks the two are Mutos, the descendants of those mutated by chemical weapons in the first century of the war and cast out into the wastelands to maintain Kaled racial purity. The Doctor tells Nyder they are aliens, but Nyder is sceptical, since the Kaleds' greatest scientist, Davros, has said there is no life on other planets. Nyder takes custody of the Doctor and Harry for interrogation.

Sarah has regained consciousness and, unable to enter the bunker, walks into the wastelands, where she is being followed by Mutos. She stumbles across a crumbling structure, and peeps through to see a old and crippled man — Davros — his lower body enclosed in what appears to be a sophisticated mobile chair that resembles the bottom half of a Dalek. The bald figure has a withered left arm, and his eyes are both closed over, with a third, electronic eye on his forehead blinking as he speaks. His assistant, Gharman, sets up several man-shaped targets, and Davros flicks a switch on his chair. To Sarah's horror, a Dalek is revealed in a dim glow of light. Davros gives it some simple commands in a grating, half-synthesized voice... "Exterminate!" The Dalek fires its deadly laser weapon, obliterating the targets. Davros is pleased. "Now we can begin...

Part Two
After Gharman and Davros lead the Dalek away, Sarah is taken prisoner by the Mutos. In the Kaled bunker, Nyder orders that the Doctor and Harry be scanned. The scan detects the Time Ring, which is confiscated despite the Doctor's protests. It is placed with their other belongings as they are taken to Senior Researcher Ronson for questioning.

Two Mutos argue over Sarah's unconscious body. Gerrill notes that she is a "Norm", and Norms are to be killed by Muto law. Sevrin, however, questions why the Mutos should always destroy beauty. The fight is interrupted by a squad of Thal soldiers, who shoot Gerill, but take Sevrin and Sarah to the Thal dome as slave labourers.

Ronson, a member of the Scientific Division, examines the results of the scan, and is startled to discover that the Doctor and Harry are indeed aliens. Before he can question them further, an alarm rings; Davros is arriving, bringing with him his "Mark III travel machine", which the Doctor identifies to Ronson as a Dalek. When Davros releases the primitive Dalek to independent control, it swivels around and pauses at the Doctor and Harry, detecting their non-Kaled physiology. It cries out that they are aliens and must be exterminated, but Ronson switches the Dalek off before it can fire.

Davros is furious that Ronson interceded when his creation showed a natural instinct to destroy. Ronson pleads with Davros that the prisoners might hold valuable information, and Davros relents. They will be used when the demonstration resumes, at first light, but Ronson may question them until then. The two are taken to the cells.

In the Thal dome, Sarah discovers that the Thals have placed all their remaining resources into a rocket that they hope will bring them victory in one decisive strike. The slaves are being used to pack the rocket's nose cone with distronic explosives. To reduce the weight, no shielding is provided, which means the slaves will get distronic toxaemia and die after a few hours' exposure.

The Doctor has learned that the bunker they are in is a few miles away from the Kaled dome. Years ago, the Kaled government decided to form a scientific elite for research, but over time the elite became more and more influential. Ronson tells them that Davros has just announced that the Mark III travel machine will now be known as a Dalek, and Ronson asks how the Doctor knew this in advance.

When the Doctor reveals that he is a time traveller, Ronson confides in him that he and a few others believe the direction of Davros' research has turned immoral and evil. The elite discovered that their race was already mutating. Davros believed that this mutation could not be reversed, and began experiments to determine the Kaleds' final mutated form, developing these "ultimate creatures" which he will put in travel machines. Ronson believes that if the government were told about the experiments they would shut Davros down, but he is unable to get out of the bunker. The Doctor offers to contact the right men if Ronson helps them escape.

The first load over, Sarah and the other slaves return to their cell, exhausted. She tells them they must act before they are too weak from distronic exposure to do anything. She proposes they try to escape through the dome's exit at the top of the rocket. Overpowering their guard, the slaves rush out to the silo and start climbing, as Thal troops fire up at them.

Part Three
Several are shot, falling to their deaths. Sarah and Sevrin make it to the nose cone of the rocket but are caught before they can escape. Meanwhile, Ronson has helped Harry and the Doctor escape, and they make their way to the Kaled dome. Back in the bunker, Davros orders further improvements to the Dalek shell's systems.

Another scientist, Kavell, tells Ronson that the Doctor and Harry have made contact with the Kaled leadership in the dome. There, the Doctor briefs the Kaled Councillors, including one named Mogran, on future events and how the name of the Daleks will terrorise the universe for generations to come.

Nyder tells Davros that his spies have reported a secret meeting with Mogran and some Councillors that oppose their work occurred in the dome with the two prisoners present. Davros tells Nyder to find out how they escaped and the details of the meeting; he will deal with Ronson in his own way. Mogran and his Councillors have decided that an independent inquiry will look into Davros's experiments, and until then, all work at the bunker will cease. If the Doctor's allegations are borne out, the project will be shut down. When they leave to tell Davros their decision, Ravon tells Harry and the Doctor that Kaled agents in the Thal dome have reported that a girl led an attempted breakout. The Kaleds know about the rocket but are unconcerned because Davros has reinforced their dome. Ravon agrees to show the Doctor and Harry how to get to the Thal dome.

Davros seems to take Mogran's announcement of the inquiry well, but after they leave, he orders twenty mutants to be placed within the Dalek shells. Nyder protests that they are still unstable, but Davros replies that he will place them under a degree of computer control. He and Nyder are going on a journey...

Harry and the Doctor reach the Thal dome, and while making their way through the corridors manage to spy on a meeting between some Thals and Davros, with Nyder by his side. The Kaled chief scientist tells the Thals that he is only interested in peace. He adds that the Kaled dome is currently impenetrable, but gives them a chemical formula that will weaken the dome enough for the rocket to work. All he asks is that he be allowed to help in the reconstruction of Skaro when the war is over.

Harry and the Doctor continue their search for Sarah. They overpower two guards and steal their radiation suits. Entering the silo, they take care of the guard there and free the slaves. Harry, Sarah and Sevrin leave for the Kaled dome to warn them and advise an immediate offensive while the Doctor attempts to sabotage the rocket. However, before he can do so, the guard in the silo revives, and activates an electric grid, sending an electric surge through the Doctor's body, shocking him into unconsciousness.

Part Four
The Doctor awakens in the control room of the Thal dome, where a screen shows the Thal chemical bombardment of the Kaled dome. The Thal leader gives the order to start the rocket countdown. In the bunker, the Kaled scientists watch the bombardment with disbelief; who could have given the Thals the right formula?

The Thal rocket fires, and blows up the Kaled dome. The Doctor ruefully observes that he sent Harry and Sarah in there. In the bunker, Davros vows "revenge" beginning with the "Thal spy" Ronson. With an order of "Exterminate!" from Davros, Ronson is shot down by the Daleks. Davros declares the Kaled race dead and the rise of the Daleks as the supreme being and ultimate conqueror of the universe.

The Thal leader is jubilant that the war has ended, and orders all prisoners to be freed, including the Doctor. The Doctor, however, is melancholy. A Thal woman, Bettan, asks him if he had friends in the dome and the Doctor replies yes. However, he intends to continue and try to stop the development of Davros's Daleks. Bettan says that Davros is a hero, despite the Doctor telling her that he only betrayed his people because they were about to stop his experiments.

In the bunker, Davros tells Gharman to implement new variations to the Dalek mutants' genetic structure. Gharman notices that this will produce mental defects, making them devoid of conscience, morality or pity. Davros calls them "improvements" and orders Gharman to carry out his orders without question, but Gharman is obviously disturbed by this development.

Under Davros's orders, Daleks enter the Thal dome and begin exterminating people. Bettan runs into the Doctor, and the two flee the dome. The Doctor tells her that she has to form what Thal survivors there are into a fighting force and destroy the Kaled bunker.

As the Doctor makes his way back to the bunker to retrieve the Time Ring, he is attacked by Mutos. However, he is saved by Harry, Sevrin and Sarah, who did not manage to reach the dome before it was destroyed. Before they return to the bunker, the Doctor asks Sevrin to join Bettan and help her organise the survivors.

In the bunker, Gharman quietly tries to convince Kavell that they have to stop the Daleks. However, they are overheard by Nyder. The Security Commander approaches Gharman and convinces him that he believes Davros has become a megalomaniac and has to be stopped. He arranges to meet Gharman in the detention rooms on the lower level where Davros never goes. There, Gharman gives Nyder the names of those who oppose Davros, which is all that he really wanted. Davros appears, and Nyder knocks Gharman unconscious. At that moment, Sarah, Harry and the Doctor emerge from the ventilation shaft right in front of the two, and are captured.

Davros interrogates the Doctor, who tells him why he is here. Davros asks him if the Daleks always win in the future, and the Doctor tells him that they have been occasionally been defeated. Davros demands to know what mistakes the Daleks make, intending to correct them, but the Doctor refuses. Davros hooks Sarah and Harry up to his machines, and tells the Doctor that if he does not answer his questions or lies, his friends will suffer.

Part Five
As Davros increases the power of the torture devices, the Doctor reluctantly answers Davros's questions. Over the course of the next few hours, he gives a litany of the Daleks' defeats and why they were defeated. The first session over, Sarah and Harry are taken to the detention area. Davros wants to speak to the Doctor, scientist to scientist.

The Doctor pleads with Davros to stop the development of the Daleks. The machines are not the problem — the evil creatures inside them are. Davros says that they are merely conditioned to survive, and to do so, they must become the dominant species. When all other life is suppressed, there will be universal peace.

The Doctor asks Davros a hypothetical question: if he had invented a virus that would destroy all other forms of life on contact, would he use it? Davros considers the question and observes that the power to make that choice would elevate him above the gods, and yes, he would do it. Convinced now that Davros is mad, the Doctor seizes his arm and threatens to turn off his life support chair unless he orders the Dalek mutants destroyed. However, Nyder enters and knocks the Doctor out before Davros can give the final order.

Nyder takes the Doctor back to the cells, but in the meantime, Kavell has managed to knock out a guard and free Sarah, Harry and Gharman. Harry, dressed as a guard, tries to stop Nyder, but he gets away. Gharman and Kavell go to organize the others against Davros, but the Doctor warns them to be careful: Davros knows what they are planning. The time travellers now have two things to retrieve: the Time Ring, and the tape recording with knowledge of the future.

The Daleks in the Thal dome eliminate the last of the Thals still inside and are ordered back to the bunker. Sevrin tells Bettan that there are no more survivors except those who managed to escape the city. In the bunker, fighting breaks out between Gharman's and Davros's supporters, with Gharman's side gaining the upper hand. To Nyder's surprise, Davros orders him to surrender. Gharman and the rebels meet Davros and deliver their ultimatum: to destroy the Daleks and cease work on the project. Davros agrees, but he wants a meeting of both the military and scientific elite in an hour and a vote to be taken on the issue.

Searching through the lockers, the Doctor finds a chunk of plastic explosive and detonators. There is one option left to him to stop the Daleks: genocide. He enters the incubator room to set up the explosives, intending to destroy the Daleks forever. As Sarah and Harry wait, the Doctor staggers out, with several embryonic Dalek mutants wrapped around his throat, strangling him.

Part Six
With Harry and Sarah's help, the Doctor manages to free himself and throw the mutants back into the room. All he has to do is touch two wires together and the Daleks are destroyed. However, the Doctor hesitates; does he have the right to commit genocide? He tells Sarah that many future worlds became allies because of their fear of the Daleks. If he wipes the Daleks out, he becomes no better than them.

Gharman approaches and tells them that Davros has agreed to the ultimatum, and the Doctor is grateful for not having to make the final decision. He disconnects the wires, and they go to the meeting. There, as Davros makes his case, the trio secretly pocket the Doctor's belongings that were confiscated earlier, including the Time Ring. Gharman proposes an alternative: to let the Daleks continue, not as Davros's genetically ruthless creatures, but with human strengths, weaknesses and emotions.

Meanwhile, the Daleks re-enter the bunker. Bettan's rebels follow them in unseen, and set up explosive charges to collapse the bunker and entomb the Daleks forever. She cannot afford to delay, and Sevrin goes deeper into the bunker to try and warn the Doctor and the others.

As the vote takes place, Nyder casually walks off. Suspicious, the TARDIS crew follow him. They grapple with him, and unknowingly drop the Time Ring in the corridor. The Doctor forces Nyder to bring them to where the tape recording is kept. The Doctor destroys the recording with a Dalek gun, but Nyder gets away again, locking them in the room. With the Time Ring gone, they can only watch on the monitor as Gharman and his rebels are exterminated by the Daleks.

Sevrin opens the door and warns them about the Thal explosives. The Doctor finds the Time Ring, and sends his friends with it to the main entrance, while he returns to the incubator room to finish what he started. The Doctor is unable to connect the wires due to a Dalek firing at him, but when the Dalek glides forward, its metal body forms a circuit with the wires and the incubator room explodes. Davros suddenly notices that the Dalek automated assembly line has started, although he gave no such order. One of the Daleks says it gave the order, and refuses when Davros tells it to shut the line down. The Daleks exterminate Nyder when he tries to do so, and advance on Davros.

The Doctor runs towards the main entrance, a squad of Daleks in pursuit, just as Bettan is about to give the order to detonate the charges. He makes it through the doors as they go off, sealing the bunker. Inside, the Daleks tell Davros that their programming does not allow them to acknowledge any creature as their superior. The crippled scientist begs them to have pity, but that word is not in the Daleks' vocabulary, and they exterminate him. The lead Dalek proclaims that, despite their entombment, this is only the beginning. The Daleks will prepare, grow stronger and when the time is right, they will emerge and become the supreme power in the universe.

The Doctor acknowledges that even with the incubator room gone, he has only managed to hold back the Daleks' progress by a thousand years or so. The travellers say their good-byes to Bettan and the others, and prepare to use the Time Ring. Sarah asks the Doctor why he does not seem disappointed that he failed; as they are whisked away through time and space, the Doctor tells Sarah that although the Daleks will create havoc and destruction for millions of years, he knows that out of their evil must come something good...

Cast

 * The Doctor - Tom Baker
 * Sarah Jane Smith - Elisabeth Sladen
 * Harry Sullivan - Ian Marter
 * Davros – Michael Wisher
 * Nyder – Peter Miles
 * Sevrin – Stephen Yardley
 * Bettan – Harriet Philpin
 * Gharman – Dennis Chinnery
 * Ronson – James Garbutt
 * Ravon – Guy Siner
 * Gerrill – Jeremy Chandler
 * Tane – Drew Wood
 * Kravos – Andrew Johns
 * Kavell – Tom Georgeson
 * Mogran – Ivor Roberts
 * Kaled Leader - Richard Reeves
 * Kaled Guard - Peter Mantle
 * Thal Politician – Michael Lynch
 * Thal Soldiers - Pat Gorman, Hilary Minster, John Gleeson
 * Thal Guard - Max Faulkner
 * Daleks – John Scott Martin, Cy Town, Keith Ashley
 * Dalek Voices – Roy Skelton
 * Time Lord - John Franklyn-Robbins

Crew

 * Writer - Terry Nation
 * Studio Lighting - Duncan Brown
 * Assistant Floor Manager - Karilyn Collier
 * Film Cameraman - Elmer Cossey
 * Production Assistant - Rosemary Crowson
 * Visual Effects - Peter Day
 * Davros Mask - John Friedlander
 * Production Unit Manager - George Gallaccio
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Make-Up - Sylvia James
 * Costumes - Barbara Kidd
 * Studio Sound - Tony Millier
 * Special Sounds - Dick Mills
 * Incidental Music - Dudley Simpson
 * Designer - David Spode
 * Film Editor - Larry Toft
 * Script Editor - Robert Holmes
 * Director - David Maloney
 * Producer - Philip Hinchcliffe

Story Notes

 * Working titles for this story included Genesis of Terror and Daleks: Genesis of Terror.
 * The freeze-frame cliffhanger at the end of Part Two represents the series' first use of this technique.
 * Some of the Thal guns were previously used by the Drahvins in Galaxy 4.
 * Part of an Ice Warrior costume is seen in one shot, representing one of the mutant creatures produced by Davros in his experiments.


 * The opening scene was rewritten by David Maloney. Terry Nation felt the rewritten scene was too violent for young children; Mary Whitehouse concurred after the story's first broadcast.


 * Genesis of the Daleks is the most-repeated Doctor Who story on BBC Television's analogue services, having been re-shown in edited form in 1975 and 1982 (on BBC1) and again in its full form in 1993 and 2000 (both on BBC2). It has also been regularly transmitted on satellite television station UK Gold. In a 1998 poll of readers by Doctor Who Magazine, over 2500 voters placed it 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.


 * The Dalek defeats that the Doctor mentions in his interrogation include an invasion in the year 2000 when the Daleks tried to mine the magnetic core of the Earth (a reference to The Dalek Invasion of Earth, although that took place in the 22nd century). The Doctor also mentions a Dalek invasion of Mars (noted in the Virgin New Adventures novel GodEngine by Craig Hinton) and an invasion of Venus that was halted in the "Space Year 17,000" by a fleet of ships from the planet Hyperion.
 * The Evil of the Daleks (novelisation) by John Peel suggests that the Dalek that exterminates Davros at the end of this story eventually becomes the Dalek Emperor seen in Evil. John Peel's later novel EDA: War of the Daleks also states this.


 * Guy Siner, who played Ravon, and Hilary Minster, who played a Thal soldier, both later became famous for leading roles in the situation comedy 'Allo 'Allo.


 * The Daleks and the Time Lords are later involved in a destructive Time War, alluded to in the 2005 series. Executive producer Russell T Davies commented in an episode of Doctor Who Confidential that the origins of the Time War date back to this story, where the Time Lords struck first. Davies also made reference to this attempted genocide as a root of the Time War in a text piece in the Doctor Who Annual 2006.


 * This is David Tennant's favourite Doctor Who story.


 * In some discussions it is argued that the Doctor was more successful in his mission than he realised. In addition to entombing the Daleks for what he believed to be a thousand years, his intervention led to Davros surviving the betrayal of his creations. When Davros was later revived, his presence created a schism within the Daleks' ranks and made them less effective as conquerors.

Ratings

 * Part 1 - 10.7 million viewers
 * Part 2 - 10.5 million viewers
 * Part 3 - 8.5 million viewers
 * Part 4 - 8.8 million viewers
 * Part 5 - 9.8 million viewers
 * Part 6 - 9.1 million viewers

Myths
to be added

Influences

 * Dalek creator, Terry Nation, supposedly based the Daleks on the Nazis, and this episode abounds with parallels. A madman leads his own race to its destruction. He is supported by security services that ride roughshod over the military and anybody else that gets in their way. They dress wholly in black, and salute each other by raising their hands and clicking the heels of their boots together. Their bespectacled leader, Nyder, is cold-hearted and ruthless, and even wears an Iron Cross in earlier episodes before the medal later disappears from his costume. Much of the action takes place in "the Bunker".


 * The idea of the Daleks being the creation of a scientist was first suggested in a TV 21 comic written by David Whitaker, but credited to Terry Nation. The scientist in that strip was named Yarvelling. Curiously, Yarvelling's people were also called "Daleks," although the term more properly describes the travel machines and not the creatures inhabiting them. The comic strip in question may be viewed here. In 1973 Terry Nation wrote a text story appearing in the Radio Times, entitled "We are the Daleks!," in which the Daleks were created on Ameron by scientists from Halldon, who had captured and accelerated the evolution of early humans.

Filming Locations

 * Betchworth Quarry, Pebblehill Road, Betchworth, Surrey
 * Ealing Television Film Studios (Stage 2), Ealing Green, Ealing
 * BBC Television Centre (TC1, TC6 & TC8), Shepherd's Bush, London

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * The Doctor gives the date of the events of The Dalek Invasion of Earth as happening in 2000, although all other sources give it as the 22nd century. The Doctor might not be telling the truth, but he is attached to a lie detector - although such detectors and mind probes do not always work reliably on the Doctor (Incidentally, the trailer for the Dalek invasion of Earth dated the story in 2000). He did not mention all Dalek defeats, this could be a separate attempt to take over earth as in 'Dalek invasion of earth'. Alternatively, he may simply have been using a different timescale, as Anno Domini dates would likely be meaningless to Davros.
 * Why does Harry say in Part 1, that it's "a war of attrition - but backwards"?
 * According to The Daleks, the ancestral race of the Daleks was called "Dals." However, they are identified as Kaleds in this and all future appearances. Among the theories to explain this apparent discrepancy include that "Dal" is the name for the Kaleds in the Thal language, or that the Dals were an earlier evolutionary form of the Kaleds themselves. They may even be another race allied with the Kaleds. More simply, the two terms most likely apply to the same people, much as terms like "British" and "English" refer to the same people. But British and English don't refer to the same people. Much like Eskimo and Inuit, all English people are British, but not all British people are English. (The fine distinction between various Earth ethnicities isn't really relevant here. Suffice it to say, there is nothing terribly inconsistent about the term "Kaleds" and term "Dals" being used interchangeably in regards to the same people.)
 * The Daleks implied that the Daleks evolved gradually into their mutated form over hundreds of years. This apparent discontinuity is usually explained by the Doctor's interference with their history in this story. Events set into motion by the Doctor's presence caused Davros to prematurely accelerate the development of the Daleks, creating unstable creatures which he could not control. History is not always recorded perfectly, and the characters in The Daleks were talking about events from at least 500 years previous.
 * How is it possible to have a Thousand Year War between two cities only miles apart? Perhaps these cities managed to keep out of the war until the final stages. Also, their proximity prevents the use of more destructive weapons, such as nuclear warheads and nerve gases, which would most likely destroy both cities.
 * If the Kaleds can get into the Thal dome so easily (right up to the door of the Thal cabinet room), then why the war of attrition? Perhaps both the Kaleds and Thals have honor and would not do a such a thing
 * At the end of Part 2, Sarah falls outside the gantry: in episode three's resolution, she falls onto a platform inside it. It was not an absolutely straight fall - perfectly reasonable, given that she did not jump straight down.
 * Will it really take the Daleks 1000 years to get through a blocked tunnel? The 1000 years refers to the time it will take to recreate Davros' work following the destruction of the incubators.
 * How is it that blowing up the incubator room will supposedly destroy the whole Dalek race right up until the Doctor actually does blow it up (just having said "I'm going to destroy the Daleks forever"). Then, as soon as it's blown up, it's just a 1000 year delay. Davros' plans had progressed in the interim. So far as the Doctor knew, all potential future Dalek genetic material was contained in the incubator room when he initially wired it to blow up. Later, the Daleks were clearly out and moving around and therefore destruction of the room only set them back. Also, when the announcement is made causing him to abort, he pulls the cord attached to the explosives, which he placed strategically to cause the most damage.  When he later sets them off, they've been pulled out of this position, therefore they cause less damage.
 * Why is everyone so scared of the completely motionless clams? You (or Harry) have to stick your foot right into them before they are the slightest menace, and even then they just nibble your trousers, judging by Harry's lack of so much as a limp after being "attacked". They were not completely motionless, as evidenced by their movement. When they grabbed you, their intention was to drag the victim off and attempt to devour them. Whether or not they would be successful, most people would not be interested in finding out first hand. Also, they probably rely on the cave's darkness, so that potential victims don't see them, and accidentally step into them, as Harry does, and when he does, it's the Doctor who frees him, which means someone wandering the caves alone would probably be helpless. 
 * The Daleks shown in this story are supposed to be the earliest and most primitive of the species however they are shown to be more advanced than those shown in The Daleks and The Dalek Invasion of Earth. They have the solar panels on their mid-sections that were first seen in The Chase and are able to travel off of metal, an ability that was only first shown to be possible in The Dalek Invasion of Earth. Since this story takes place, chronologically, before these earlier episodes, maybe since then the war on Skaro had had many changes to the Daleks, and lost them many resources, so when they made more Daleks and more casing, they couldn't access the specific material or technology to create the solar panels. Being entombed, solar panels would soon become useless and would be discarded as such. Needing an alternate form of power - and not traveling outside due to being confined to the bunker, static electricity emerged as an alternative energy source.
 * Why is there a switch which will effectively kill Davros located on his console in the most obvious of locations? Under what circumstances would he want his life support system to be so easily terminated? At the very least, the switch should have been concealed. Just in case he's been taken as prisoner of war. Also, it's possible the system needs to be reset occasionally, by switching it on and off quickly.
 * What would Davros have done if someone had actually pressed the Big Red Destruct Button (or put a box file or cup of tea down on it accidentally for that matter)? Judging by his own attempt to press it in the finale, it seems to be the real thing. In fact, why didn't someone press it when he offered it? As he has a Little Black Destruct Button on own his chair as well, as noted in the previous bullet-point, maybe that's what the little spheres all over the Daleks are, too.
 * Surely the creation of the Daleks would be a fixed point in history, meaning that the Doctor would have drastically changed history.The Doctor has the full backing of the Time Lords on this adventure. It's likely that the entire Time Lord government working together would be able to stabilize history after this. After all, the Time Lord in the beginning of the episode said that destroying them before they were ever created was acceptable.
 * Sarah-Jane loses her yellow trousers from The Sontaran Experiment and gained a dark colored skirt in the transmat beam. (Look again. She has on precisely the same out fit at the end of The Sontaran Experiment as she does at the beginning of Genesis of the Daleks. The only yellow piece of clothing is her coat, which she has in both stories.
 * There's no clear explanation for why Sarah-Jane changes outfit in the later episodes. It's been several days at least running around in the same clothes. The change of clothes she finds is undoubtedly very welcome.
 * The Doctor suddenly starts wearing his overcoat and hat again in Part 6 despite not having worn them for at least the three previous parts. He knows that they will be leaving shortly, so he clearly retrieved them from where the Kaleds had stowed them.
 * While the Doctor, Sarah and Harry are on Skaro, the TARDIS is elsewhere. How, then, are the three travelers able to understand the Kaleds and Thals without the TARDIS' translation circuits? Perhaps the Doctor somehow carries the translation ability in his mind and can telepathically translate in the TARDIS' place. Alternatively, they may be in the same time zone as the The Ark in Space era Nerva Beacon, and the TARDIS may not have a range limit on its translation circuits, so it could be translating from afar.
 * At minimum, one would expect that the Time Lords would have made provision for translation, either through the time ring or some other mechanism. In any case, no-one has said (at that time, anyway) that the TARDIS has anything to do with translation. Not many stories later the Doctor tells Sarah that "It's the Time Lords' gift, that I allow you to share" - which would make sense of the translations in the several stories with no TARDIS near, like the next couple.


 * How did Sevrin know where to find The Doctor and Sarah and Harry. Mutos have a highly developed sense of smell, necessary for surviving in the harsh conditions of the wasteland. (See above about why Sarah changed clothes near the end of the story. Maybe the Doctor and Harry should have, too.)
 * Just what is the difference between the Thals and the Kaleds anyway - they are both almost exactly the same. Only the hair color differs - is hair color really a big enough difference to warrant being two different species? It is never specified that they are two different races, they could just be two racist cultures, much like on Earth.
 * When Sarah first materializes at the start of episode one, she states "This isn't the beacon". Nerva station was called "The Ark" when she had been there and wasn't referred to as a beacon until the next story, so how did she know it had been a beacon? (Any of the Nerva sleepers or the humans from The Sontaran Experiment could have referred to it by its historical Nerva Beacon name in front of her.)

Continuity

 * NA: GodEngine features the initial stages of the Daleks' interest in Mars.
 * This serial forms part of a continuous series of adventures for the TARDIS crew, beginning from the end of Robot and continuing through to Terror of the Zygons. MA: A Device of Death takes place in a possible gap between Genesis of the Daleks and Revenge of the Cybermen, and PDA: Wolfsbane is set in another such gap between Revenge of the Cybermen and Terror of the Zygons.
 * This story established Davros as the creator of the Daleks, and all later Dalek stories in the original series feature him. Davros is not featured in the initial Daleks storylines in the 2005-present revival, but returns in DW: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End. Though apparently destroyed in this story, he returns in Destiny of the Daleks, having survived when his life-support systems placed him in a form of static hibernation.
 * The Ninth Doctor alludes to Davros, but does not name him, when explaining the Daleks' origins to Henry van Statten in DW: Dalek.
 * Time Rings, first introduced in this story, also figure prominently in MA: Who Killed Kennedy.
 * BFD: Guilt takes place a short time prior to this story. (BFD: Innocence, Purity, Corruption and Guilt trace Davros's life leading to this point).
 * Davros makes his speech ('"Yes. Yes. To hold in my hand a capsule that contained 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!") a reality in BFA: Terror Firma.
 * The Doctor has previously been sent on missions by the Time Lords in DW: Colony in Space, The Mutants, and CP: At the Beach (LifeDeath). It is also implied he is again sent on a mission in DW: The Brain of Morbius and WC: Scream of the Shalka.
 * The Time Lords foresee a time when the Daleks destroy all other forms of life in the universe. This almost happened in DW: Journey's End.
 * Sarah Jane and Davros would later refer to their meeting in DW: Journey's End

Timeline

 * This story occurs after DW: The Sontaran Experiment
 * This story occurs before MA: A Device of Death

DVD, Video and Other Releases
DVD Releases Released as Doctor Who: Genesis of the Daleks.

Released:
 * Region 2 10th April 2006


 * PAL - BBC DVD BBCDVD1813


 * Region 4 4th May 2006


 * PAL - BBC DVD ????


 * Region 1 6th June 2006


 * NTSC - Warner Video E2503

Contents:
 * Commentary by Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, Peter Miles and David Maloney.
 * Genesis of a Classic - A special 62-minute documentary, looking at the making of Genesis of the Daleks with contributions from many of the cast and crew of the story.
 * The Dalek Tapes - A 55-minute feature, which tells the story of the Doctor Whos most iconic villains, as well as providing a history of the 'classic series' Dalek stories.
 * Continuity Compilation - A selection of off-air continuity announcements.
 * Blue Peter - An item from 1975 looking at a collection of Doctor Who models built by a viewer.
 * Radio Times Billings - Illustrations, articles and listings from Radio Times (DVD-ROM PC/Mac).
 * Doctor Who Annual 1976 (DVD-ROM)
 * Photo Gallery
 * Production Subtitles

Notes:
 * 2-disc set.
 * This DVD is also available in Region 2 in a box set collection of Dalek stories. The set is exclusive to Amazon UK. The set was released on 27th January 2007.
 * The DVD was re-released with a special "O-ring" slipcover on 2nd July 2007.
 * It is also being released as part of the limited-edition Davros box set with Destiny of the Daleks, Resurrection of the Daleks, Revelation of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks on 26th November 2007 (Region 2) and 6th February 2008 (Region 4).
 * Editing for DVD release completed by Doctor Who Restoration Team.

VHS Releases
 * First Release: Released as Doctor Who: The Sontaran Experiment & The Genesis of the Daleks.

Released:
 * UK October 1991
 * PAL - BBC Video BBCV????
 * Australia/New Zealand ???
 * PAL - Polygram ????


 * Second Release: As part of the Davros box set in 2002.

Audio Releases
 * First Release: As an LP and cassette, Genesis of the Daleks, from the BBC, with narration by Tom Baker (mid-1970s). This was an edited down soundtrack from the televised episodes, with additional narration by Baker. This was the first release of its kind for Doctor Who; some 20 years later BBC Audio would return to the idea of releasing narrated soundtracks from old episodes by releasing episodes that did not (at the time) exist in video form anymore.


 * Second Release: As a cassette as Genesis of the Daleks & Slipback, from the BBC Radio Collection; and as Genesis of the Daleks/Exploration Earth, also from the BBC Radio Collection.


 * Excerpts from Dudley Simpson's score, arranged by Heathcliff Blair, were released by Silva Screen in the early 1990s on their compilation CD Pyramids of Mars: Classic Music from the Tom Baker Era (FILMCD 134)

Novelisation

 * Main article: Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks


 * Novelised as Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks by Terrance Dicks in 1976.