Day 393: Genesis of the Daleks Part 2

This story, being set on Skaro the home planet of the Daleks, features both the Kaleds (the race that creates the Daleks) and the Thals (who we have previously seen in The Daleks and Planet of the Daleks). We expect the Kaleds to be ruthless and evil, ad they are the ones who will create the villainous Daleks. The script generally follows these expectations, although there is some revelation that there are moderates who only wish for war to end between the Thals and the Kaleds, giving us hope amongst the bleakness that there are people who are on the side of good in even the darkest of places.

It should also be noted that the treatment of the Thals is not in line with our expectations. Previous encounters with the Thals have shown them to be on the side of good, but here they are as ruthless as the Kaleds, using slave labour in roles that will kill them, gunning down people before our eyes, they are just as bad as their enemies. But this is actually to be expected. In their first appearance in The Daleks, the Thals speak of how they used to be more war-mongering, but they eventually settled into a more peaceful role in life. We now get to see what they used to be and we can see why they changed. These Thals are horrible, and show the corruption that war and fighting brings to a race, bringing the notion forward that there is no good side in a war, only people trying to ensure that their side wins.