Genesis of the Daleks - Episode 4

As I approach the quatercentenary of Doctor Who episodes, today sees the whole of the country watching England lose (probably) to Italy at the World Cup in Brazil but I have decided to choose this moment to what the fourth episode of this Dalek renaissance. The episode doesn’t waste time in getting back into the action and within the first 90 seconds of the episode the dome is being attacked and the Doctor tries to stop the rocket. As the viewer knows that it was Davros that did the treachery it’s fun to see him blame Ronson. There is no time for a trial or any lasting speech but Daleks come in and do what they are famous for doing.

The death of Ronson is quite an important and interesting one. Chronologically speaking he the first person to be killed by a Dalek and also its quite interesting that its taken until part four before a Dalek kills someone. On another note its taken until episode four before we get another female character. Harriet Philpin plays Bettan and her first scene with the Doctor is quite a calm and controlled one. Someone that never gives a calm or controlled performance is Michael Wisher who continues to screech at anyone who can hear.

After what felt like a fast paced opening to the episode, the plot then seems to take a leisurely pace again. At least the story seems to be moving around a bit more. Apart from the opening reprise, there isn’t another scene in the rocket silo and that’s a good thing. It had some good moments but it has served its purpose and this episode needs to do what the story needs to do at this stage and that’s shift focus to keep the story going for another couple of episodes and Terry Nation seems to do it in a more subtle way that most writers have done in the past. The plot to try and overthrow Davros is what seems to take centre stage with Nyder being particularly impressive in this respect because he overhears a plot and then tries to pretend that he has turned against Davros when really he is trying to find out the exact names of people plotting against him. Nyder is strangely convincing of this. I think that Gharman (Dennis Chinnery) is a very good character and is played well.

The final five minutes of this episode makes this episode as far as I am concerned. From the moment that the Doctor is tied up it sets up a great scene between the Doctor and Davros. Davros is determined to find out how the Daleks lose their battles and forces the Doctor to try and tell him. If there is one thing that will make the Doctor cooperate it is the potential harm of his companions. It sets up a cliffhanger which matches episode two’s in terms of drama. It’s just Davros screeching and for me that’s a perfectly fine way to end. The thing about this episode is that it starts and finishes in quite a good way but it’s the middle part that doesn’t quite match it. It’s not terrible by any means and Terry Nation manages to make padding seem interesting but compared to the first and final acts of the episode its doesn’t quite stand up.