Genesis of The Daleks - Reception

Reception

The serial is described as "one of the most popular of all time" by the Outpost Gallifrey episode guide, and as "a gem of a story" by David Howe and Stephen James Walker in their Doctor Who Television Companion, 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, of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association, complained that Genesis contained "tea-time brutality for tots". Scenes objected to included the depictions of war and Nyder hitting the Doctor. In 2008, The Daily Telegraph named Genesis of the Daleks one of the ten greatest episodes of Doctor Who. Charlie Jane Anders of io9 listed the cliffhanger of Episode Four — in which the Doctor is forced to tell Davros how the Daleks will be defeated in the future — as one of the greatest Doctor Who cliffhangers in a 2010 article.

Mark Braxton of Radio Times hailed the serial as "Terry Nation's finest hour for the series", especially praising the creation of Davros. He was also positive towards Dudley Simpson's score and Davros's allies who were "impeccably written and played" from Nyder to Gharman. However, he was disappointed that Harry did not have much to do. The A.V. Club reviewer Christopher Bahn noted that it contradicted some aspects of The Daleks but that it " the emotional target dead-on". He particularly praised Davros and Skaro. However, Bahn felt the "major problem" with the portrayal of the Daleks was that "we're not given any choice but to view them as psychopathic murderers", and the Doctor came across as a "catastrophically incompetent secret agent". DVD Talk's Stuart Galbraith gave Genesis of the Daleks four out of five stars, calling it as a "real fan-pleaser" and writing that Wisher was "superb" as Davros. While noting that the story "is mostly is concerned with action and suspense, which it does rather well", he felt it "isn't especially original" as it dealt with common time-travel issues, despite doing it in "intelligent ways". In 2009, SFX listed the scene where the Daleks receive their first blaster as the thirteenth scariest moment of Doctor Who. The magazine also named the scene where Harry is attacked by a giant clam as one of the silliest Doctor Who moments, noting "even the best Doctor Who stories have the occasional dropped stitch".