Just recently, I was fortunate enough to watch what is I suppose regarded as one of the classic episodes of Doctor Who, namely Genesis of The Daleks, from 1975.
I must confess that Doctor Who has not really exercised my consciousness since the early 1980s, and for me, like many people of my generation, Tom Baker was the Doctor par excellence.
The storyline of Genesis of The Daleks was impressive, complex and fluctuating, and its vagaries and subtleties would probably have escaped me at the tender age I was when I first watched Doctor Who! Viewing this episode now, though, I can appreciate how well the story was constructed, with the suspense being steadily built, and occasionally decreased. The writers and producers definitely understood how to hold and maintain the attention of the viewers.
Even allowing for my generational bias, I still think that Tom Baker was a mightily impressive Doctor. As an actor, he projected some gravitas, whilst imbuing the character with a "Pied Piper" type of persona which has always been important. Again, some of these nuances were not absorbed when I was an impressionable child, and the sense of wonder over-rode most other considerations. But one of the strengths of Doctor Who in those days was that it worked on several levels, providing escapism for the young, and containing more weighty fare for the grown-ups.
Another strand which emerged during my recent viewing, but which I had not noticed much during my formative years, was the tendency for moral themes and dilemmas to be explored in the programme, usually revolving around the good/evil, or right/wrong paradigm. Whilst watching the show as a child in the Seventies, I had very little sense of being "preached" to, but admittedly would not have recognised the tell-tale signs at that age anyway. Perhaps I am too cynical and judgemental these days, detecting agendas and reading things into essentially innocent dialogue.
The settings for Genesis of The Daleks are bleak, dark, and ominous and give off a sense of foreboding. That is how I remember most of the episodes of that era. The sun rarely shone! The locations were often enclosed, claustrophobic and dimly lit. The aesthetic was less gaudy and ostentatious than the versions of Doctor Who which both preceded and followed it. Sober colours, designs and costumes were the order of the day, and that was something which appealed to me then, and still does now....
One thing which has not altered in the past three and a half decades is the capacity of Davros and the Daleks to disturb and instill fear. Indeed, they seem more chilling now because the innocence of childhood tends to mask the true gravity and meaning of some of their words and deeds.
The special effects in Doctor Who have been much mocked down the years, and Genesis of The Daleks was something of a curate's egg in this regard. The Davros creation, in terms of make-up and voice, was exceptional for its time, and was even more convincing than I had remembered it. However, I wonder whether this effort exhausted much of the budget, as the other effects were less spectacular and authentic. All part of the charm of the programme, I guess!
The fight or "struggle" scenes in Doctor Who at that time never seemed over-burdened with realism. Indeed, the exaggerated grimaces of the characters remain one of the clearest memories of my childhood...
In general, the quality of acting was of a good standard, even if the dialogue could occasionally appear stodgy, prolonged and repititive.
Doctor Who may have lacked the budget of many of its American counterpart programmes, but it had a certain power, coloured by British ingenuity and humour. The unusual, not to say unique, basic premise of the programme also helps explain its appeal.
Following this, I might even be persuaded to start watching the "modern" Doctor Who....
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