"The cover says this is the best story ever. While fans may disagree with statement, this is the story that most non fans will remember for being a classic.

It’s argued that Genesis of the Daleks isn’t a very typical story for the production team, but I would argue the opposite. Genesis of the Daleks has borrowed motifs from war films.

This is the closest that we will ever get to a war film in Doctor Who. The Kaleds being the ultimate form of Nazis is not the most original observation, but it doesn’t stop them been the perfect symbolism of the Nazis. Their hatred of the Thals borderlines on the irrational and have banished the rejects from their own species, the mutos. We even have them dressed in black and a clicking of the heels to make them seem like Nazi’s.

Looking at the script book, this seems to have been in Terry Nation’s slightly stereotypical script. When there’s sledgehammer subtlety in the script, it needs to be acted well to work. Guy Siner’s strong performance of his fascist rant about the total extermination of the Thals sets the tone and makes us believe in his character and the Kaleds.

The performances of the hierarchy of the Kaled race are perfectly pitched. Peter Miles is sinister without descending into a caricature, but it’s the performance of Michael Wisher as Davros which stands out. Lost behind prosthetics and make up, he gives the vocal performance of the century to make the most memorable villain. Watching Genesis of the Daleks make me feel sad that Wisher wasn’t available for any of the other performances as Davros.

It’s difficult to make any other original observations about the story. Tom Baker, Liz Sladen and Ian Marter give their excellent performances, particularly during the scene where the Doctor questions whether he has the right to wipe out the Daleks before they existed.

The production is of a very high standard, with David Maloney’s direction is probably the best for the series to date, while David Spode’s sets look exactly like a top secret bunker. know he gets praise in the making of documentary, but Duncan Brown’s lighting is some of the best that the series.

The extras have almost become as long as the main feature, with two big documentaries. The first is a straight forward making of documentary while the other looks back at all of the stories that the Daleks have featured in.

Genesis of a Classic suffers from having too many contributors, with producer Ian Levine seemingly struggling to fit them all in. They mostly seem to discuss the morality of the story, but every single contributor seem to make exactly the same point. This is repeated throughout the documentary, which could easily have been about twenty minutes shorter and would have been better as a result. The inclusion of the Roy Skelton ‘teach yourself Dalek’ segments would have been better as a series of Easter Eggs, while the inclusion of Sladen’s biting remark to a Levine’s question is a little unnecessary.

The Dalek Tapes is the better of the two documentaries, but is not without it’s problems. It’s comprehensive and arguably the sort of documentary which would have been better on The Beginning Box Set. For space reasons, it’s on this DVD instead and it’s a comprehensive package. It would have been nice to have had some longer sections on Planet of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks, but it doesn’t stop it being a good documentary.

It’s difficult to be critical of the commentary given that I wanted Tom Baker to do another. He enjoys the story so much that he barely speaks. David Maloney and Peter Miles are full of praise for the people that worked on the story, while Liz Sladen is a little more critical contributor, which makes for a better commentary.

Blue Peter showcases the talent of a junior model maker, which is of interest to those who want to know what it was like seeing the episode on transmission. The rest aren’t that interesting, with continuity announcements, PDF files from the Doctor Who annual from 1976 and the Radio Times billings for the story. The usual photo gallery and production subtitles also feature on the DVD.