FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: Doctor Who - Genesis of the Daleks (2 Disc Set) [1975] [DVD] [1963]

Doctor Who - Genesis of the Daleks (2 Disc Set) [1975] [DVD] [1963]
enlarge	Actors: Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, Ian Marter Studio: 2 Entertain Video Category: DVD List Price: ~~£19.99~~ Buy New: £4.78 as of 23/11/2009 04:33 GMT details You Save: £15.21 (76%) New (18) Used (6) Collectible (1) from £4.20 Seller: b68solutions Rating: 52 reviews Sales Rank: 4834 Format: PAL Languages: English (Subtitled), English (Original Language) Rating: Parental Guidance Region: 2 Number Of Discs: 2 Running Time: 150 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3 Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5014503181321 ASIN: B000EGCD5A Theatrical Release Date: March 12, 1989 Release Date: April 10, 2006 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Editorial Reviews: Amazon.co.uk Review One of the finest stories of the classic Doctor Who age, IGenesis Of The Daleks/I finds Tom Baker at his peak in the lead role, and ultimately facing one of the most significant moral dilemmas of his era as the Time Lord. That's alongside the small matter of his most infamous enemies. P This is the adventure that goes right back to the roots of the Daleks, from their humble beginnings to the point where they become the Doctor's most fearsome foes. Across the six episodes, we find that the Doctor has been sent to the planet Skaro, where he discovers the evil genius Davros, who is about to fully unleash his deadliest creations into the universe. Accompanied by Harry and Sarry, The Doctor also finds himself stuck in the middle of an ongoing war between the Thals and The Kaleds, in a story packed with danger and adventure. P It's also grounded in the kind of excellent storytelling that has frequently allowed classic Doctor Who to overcome its low budget roots. And IGenesis Of The Daleks/I is one of the finest examples of just how it manages it. Thanks to a tightly woven script, and a strong cast led by Tom Baker at his finest in the lead role, IGenesis Of The Daleks/I is rightly regarded as one of the best Doctor Who stories of all time. It really isn't hard to see why.--ISimon Brew/I

Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 52 1 2 3 4 5 6 ...11 Next » Much better... May 8, 2006 M. S. Patterson (Morpeth) 26 out of 28 found this review helpful I vaguely remember seeing this when it was first shown (I would have been 4 or 5 - middle age has now firmly grabbed me and won't let go). On its repeat in the 1980's I watched it again and remember being slightly disappointed at the apparent lack of Dalek action... ah the fickleness of youth. This is a great story, well worthy of the 'classic' status bestowed upon it and possibly Terry Nation's finest script for the programme. Great performances from all concerned, tightly directed, and unusually for a six-parter, it doesn't really sag too much. Special mention for Michael Wisher playing Davros - could have been such an over the top performance, but instead is reigned in and played with a subtle menace. This is not the ranting Davros of later stories (although to be fair, Terry Molloy did do a great job in 'Revelation'), but an icy, quietly spoken (at times) figure who truly believes that what he is doing is right... great stuff. br / br /I won't give away the plot, but recommend this for new fans converted by the new series. The extras or pretty good too, although I agree that the post - Genesis stories are sadly under-represented by 'The Dalek Tapes'. br / br /All in all, well worth the money. Buy it, or I'll set my Dalek on you (yes, I own a full size Dalek... middle aged crisis). those brilliant, unsentimental days... June 27, 2006 Graeme Testes (Australia) 17 out of 18 found this review helpful Sure, we're all agreed that 'Genesis' is a high water mark for the series, but I think what distinguishes it is its profound atmosphere of unease, which in turn is established by the unsparing, unsentimental and convincing presentation of cruelty. Both impart a grim urgency that is absolutely lacking in contemporary television. Davros is frightening, as he should be. The guard who torments Sarah by dangling her off the edge of the rocket is actually hateful, as he should be. And Nyder's inhuman coldness is perfectly believable. These impressions are NOT soley the result of great acting (although that, too!) The antagonists, and thus the plight of our heroes, are riverting because they occur in a convincing - not kitsch - atmosphere of urgency and dread. br /I think it is this atmosphere, behind the fantastic story and despite the shoddy production values, that makes 'Genesis' so unusually powerful. It doesn#x27;t get much better than this March 2, 2006 19 out of 21 found this review helpful Almost the archetypal Doctor Who story, Genesis really does deserve its reputation as one of the all-time classic stories, if not THE all-time classic. This was pretty grim stuff for a Saturday tea-time - what with its scarred and body-strewn landscapes, its talk of genetic purity and extermination, its casual brutality...indeed, the production team did get into trouble for some of the imagery (the opening sequence, for instance, in which a group of gas-masked soldiers is massacred). In some ways, depsite the similar approach used in one of the show's previous tales (Ark in Space), Genesis was a real turning point for the series, with a production team willing to move beyond the somewhat cosy family confines of the Pertwee era (still great stuff, in its own way)and into a much darker arena altogether. In Davros, the series was given perhaps its ultimate villain and it's just a pity that he was so overused in future stories. Here, he is superb, played to perfection by Michael Wisher. No other actor has come close to matching Wisher's truly terrifying performance. The key here is restraint. Future actors simply piled on the megalomania as the law of diminishing returns set in. One could be forgiven for thinking this isn't a Dalek serial at all, as they actually play very little part in the proceedings - but their creation is at the core of this tale and results in one of the few genuine moral dilemmas that the Doctor has had to face. In a sense, he's let off too easily, but that doesn't diminish the power of the scene in which he is forced to choose between the future deaths of millions and the genocide of an entire race. The story isn't without its silly moments (giant clams, anyone?) but they are very minor distractions from what still ranks as one of the most tense, exciting and intelligent stories that the classic series produced. DR WHO at it's best.. March 27, 2006 Mr P. D. Kinnear (Wirral, Cheshire United Kingdom) 5 out of 5 found this review helpful My favourite period of DR WHO is the Pertwee era, but irony demands that two of my top stories come from just after: PLANET OF EVIL is one, and GENESIS OF THE DALEKS is another. Anyone who says that the RTD update of DR WHO has matured the show is either a new viewer or has conveniently forgotten just how good stories from this period were. Here we have all the elements that make compelling drama - A rich intelligent script, ernest performances and interesting characterisation.brFor the entire six episodes the DOCTOR is cut off from the TARDIS (it isn't in this story at all) and we really do feel that he and companions SARAH HARRY are in genuine peril. The tension is sustained for the full running time and the sheer power of this tale serves to remind me just how rotten the new series is with it's camp soap-opera antics stapled-on politics (Sorry - HAD to slip that in!).pAlthough the Daleks themselves appear quite briefly in comparison to their other adventures, the Dalek/fascist parallel comes to an obvious conclusion as we see pre-Dalek Kaleds in psuedo-Nazi uniforms spouting their aryan ideology. Amazing stuff for a kid's show, and it led to the inevitable complaints from the National Viwers Listeners brigade (Who, once again, utterly missed the point!)pA highly recommended story of DR WHO, let down by the fact that the BBC should have included the directly linked SONTARAN EXPERIMENT as part of the package. With THE ARK IN SPACE already available, this means the Beeb plan on releasing THE SONTARAN EXPERIMENT on a measly 2-episode disc at some point in the future - They'll probably charge full whack too! They don't make 'em like this any more.. May 1, 2006 R. McDonald (Southampton) 10 out of 11 found this review helpful I missed out on the original Doctor Who completely through growing up abroad during the 80s, and although I managed to catch a few of the repeats in the very early 90s I hadn't seen an original episode since then. I bought Genesis of the Daleks because I was really curious to see what the series was actually like in its heyday. As it turns out, this actually proves to be quite a good place to start - it's the iconic Doctor (Tom Baker) against his iconic enemies (the Daleks) in what many consider to be a classic serial (a sticker on the box boasts that it's been voted the number one story ever by readers of Doctor Who magazine). br / br /As the name suggests, Genesis tells the story of the Daleks' creation on the planet Skaro. The Doctor arrives in the latter stages of a devastating war between the Thals and the Kaleds. Both races are mutating as a result of the radioactive weaponry that's been deployed, and the brilliant, ever-so-slightly unhinged Kaled scientist Davros, deducing that the Kaled mutation will be irreversible, has designed a Mk III travel machine to house and support his race's final mutational form.. br / br /As expected, the serial features wobbly sets, dodgy effects and RADA accents aplenty, but it also has a number of important things going for it. The main asset is the story, which is gripping, tense and really, really dark, and effectively transcends its own production and budgetary constraints. A lot of this is down to the actors, but in particular those cast as Kaleds. Davros is thoroughly nasty, his mutant makeup is pretty impressive even now, and he has a creepy tendency to sound exactly like a Dalek when he gets excited. But the more human-looking Kaleds also come over pretty well - initially they're portrayed as straightforward fascists, but most of them aren't immune to reason, and you start to empathise with their plight after a while - they know they face extinction, and that the Daleks are almost certainly their only hope of survival, and yet a few of them are still willing to take a stand. The fact that there is no clear morality in this story is a real strength: the Thals and Kaleds are portrayed as equally bad, and even the Doctor is hung up over the question of whether he has the right to exterminate the entire Dalek race at birth. The Daleks themselves are used quite sparingly, and when they do appear they're subservient, which only makes the scene near the end in which they finally come into their own all the more effective. The only thing I found slightly disappointing is that the Tardis doesn't feature at all - I gather the Doctor and his companions were separated from it in the course of wider events. br / br /The second disk contains the special features - principally an hour-long 'making of' documentary, which frankly I found a little dull, and a much more entertaining featurette that ran through each of the many appearances of the Daleks in the original series in chronological order. There's also a complete audio commentary featuring Tom Baker among others. Overall this is an extremely good, if bleak story, and a shining example of just how far you can go in TV drama even when your sets are held together with sticky tape. br / Showing reviews 1-5 of 52 1 2 3 4 5 6 ...11 Next »

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