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The Doctor, Sarah and Harry materialise on Skaro at a point
in time before the Daleks evolved. The Time Lords have assigned
the Doctor to either curb the creatures' thirst for conquest
or destroy them utterly...
You
may wonder what is the point of re-releasing this abridged
audio version of Genesis of the Daleks yet again. After
all, the complete six-part story exists in visual form. However,
this 60-minute recording, originally released on LP in 1979
in order to boost audience anticipation of that year's Destiny
of the Daleks, is a very significant bit of Who
history. It was the BBC's first-ever commercial release of
recorded material from the TV series, and it paved the way
for future video and audio products.
In its abridged form, many scenes are glossed over with just
a few words of narration by Tom Baker, but the essence of
the classic tale still shines through. Great lines, usually
Baker's, include "Something's annoyed them!" which is spoken
while artillery fire rains down on the time-travellers. The
majority of the scenes featuring the wonderfully sinister
performances of Peter Miles as Nyder and Michael Wisher as
Davros are also preserved. I still wonder, however, how the
Doctor managed to win over any supporters by telling people
that he was from the future!
One
small story detail that is changed by the 1979 narration is
that the Doctor steps from the TARDIS at the beginning of
the story, as opposed to arriving by transmat beam as he did
on TV. This was presumably done for clarity, as the serial
originally followed on from The Sontaran Experiment,
but later dialogue is rendered nonsensical by this rewrite.
If the TARDIS had landed on Skaro, then the Time Ring given
to the Doctor by the Time Lords (a typical Terry Nation device,
this - ideal for mislaying at inconvenient moments!) would
not be the travellers' "only hope" of getting off the planet.
I
was a bit disappointed that the half-time cliffhanger, which
marked the end of side one of the LP, has been removed from
the CD. Why do this, when the ten-minute episode structure
of Slipback had been preserved for its recent CD release?
In other respects, however, this precious piece of merchandising
history remains intact.
The
Doctor shows Sarah various stages in the formation of the
Earth. But the travellers encounter a chaotic force that seeks
to undo the planet's stability...
Not
heard since 1976, Exploration Earth: The Time Machine
(to give its full title) is a special BBC schools radio programme.
As such the plot, in which the Doctor faces off Megron the
High Lord of Chaos (John Westbrook), plays second fiddle to
the educational nature of the 20-minute production. However,
the Doctor and Sarah (Elisabeth Sladen) remain in character.
Like
the audio version of Genesis, this is another little
bit of history: the first Doctor Who episode ever to
be broadcast on the radio. While the plot is no great shakes,
it's a good laugh to hear it at long last.
Richard
McGinlay
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