81.17%

In between viewings of this story, I had concluded that it owed a lot to Robert Holmes. My opinion was based upon impressions of other Terry Nation stories - some that I had watched more recently. When the time finally came to watch Genesis of the Daleks again one thing became clear - this was very much a Terry Nation story and that any contribution that Robert Holmes did make was probably minimal.

As I have said in my reviews of other Davros stories, Genesis of the Daleks benefits from Michael Wisher's brilliant portrayal of the Kaled scientist who takes the mutation of his race into a new era. His portrayal is controlled and powerful, making Davris a much more believable and credible villain than he has ever been in subsequent stories. Although the Daleks are pushed into the background a little in this story, they are still a formidable presence and the final speech given by the lead Dalek is quite chilling. If all anyone thinks the Daleks are capable of is uttering "exterminate" - then watch the final scenes of this story. It just goes to show that good dialogue is a significant part of any good story.

I won't talk about some of the other aspects of this story - especially the Doctor's moment of indecision - as there has been enough said about them. This is definitely Terry Nation's best Doctor Who story and one of the series' best. From this story on, the Pertwee era had finally been left far behind.