Day 392: Genesis of the Daleks Part 1

Doctor Who has been dark on occasion, particularly over the past few episodes. But it hasn't really been bleak, aside from a few exceptions (The Massacre, Inferno and select sections of The Daleks' Master Plan and The Myth Makers). This story is different. Despite being written by Terry Nation whose past few stories have been simple adventures, we get something which appears to be unrelentingly bleak. Death is everywhere, whether through old corpses or machine guns being fired with the intention of making some new ones. The bright corridors of Space Station Nerva seem light years away, as we are instead given shadows and black corridors, even the location of a traditional Doctor Who quarry comes across more as a wasteland than ever before, thanks to some well placed props and some excellent direction from David Maloney. All in all, this lets the audience know that we aren't going to be in for a fun sort of adventure, and that things are going to be different this time.