Genesis of a Classic is a 62 minute long documentary focusing on the development & making of the Tom Baker Doctor Who adventure Genesis of the Daleks (1975) & is present on the 2 disc UK region 2 BBC DVD of Genesis of the Daleks, I usually like these things but I have to admit to being a bit disappointed with this.
There are filmed contributions from a number of the principal cast & crew including Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, the director David Maloney & producer at the time Philip Hinchcliffe. Most of what is discussed is pretty standard stuff, there's plenty of self congratulatory back patting which intensely irritates me in these things. I'm sorry but Doctor Who isn't high art that's going to change your life, it was a highly entertaining low budget sci-fi show in my opinion & hearing these people go on about how good, how deep & meaningful it actually is just doesn't ring true. The only person who seems to have any real perspective is the magnificent Tom Baker who seems more restrained in his comments & a bit more realistic in his appraisal of the show.
In fact Baker is the best thing in Genesis of a Classic, at one point he receives a call on his mobile phone & claims it's his first wife! Also during the commentary track on Genesis of the Daleks Tom says he never read the scripts for Doctor Who & only ever read his own lines as those were the only things he was interested in & he couldn't affect anything else anyway. Stick around during the end credits as the strangely underused Elisabeth Sladen swears in an amusing little sound bite blooper once they finish.
Genesis of a Classic is divided up into several sections, it has no behind-the-scenes footage & is just interview sound bites from people who seem to taking it all a little bit too seriously. I only saw it last night & I honestly can't remember that much about it.
As a free extra on a DVD it's excellent value & well worth a watch but, well I had hoped for a bit more information on the production of Genesis of the Daleks as opposed to various cast & crew members lavishing praise on it. Don't get me wrong this is good but not that memorable & considering the generous 62 minute duration you won't actually know that much more about anything than before you watched it.
There are filmed contributions from a number of the principal cast & crew including Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, the director David Maloney & producer at the time Philip Hinchcliffe. Most of what is discussed is pretty standard stuff, there's plenty of self congratulatory back patting which intensely irritates me in these things. I'm sorry but Doctor Who isn't high art that's going to change your life, it was a highly entertaining low budget sci-fi show in my opinion & hearing these people go on about how good, how deep & meaningful it actually is just doesn't ring true. The only person who seems to have any real perspective is the magnificent Tom Baker who seems more restrained in his comments & a bit more realistic in his appraisal of the show.
In fact Baker is the best thing in Genesis of a Classic, at one point he receives a call on his mobile phone & claims it's his first wife! Also during the commentary track on Genesis of the Daleks Tom says he never read the scripts for Doctor Who & only ever read his own lines as those were the only things he was interested in & he couldn't affect anything else anyway. Stick around during the end credits as the strangely underused Elisabeth Sladen swears in an amusing little sound bite blooper once they finish.
Genesis of a Classic is divided up into several sections, it has no behind-the-scenes footage & is just interview sound bites from people who seem to taking it all a little bit too seriously. I only saw it last night & I honestly can't remember that much about it.
As a free extra on a DVD it's excellent value & well worth a watch but, well I had hoped for a bit more information on the production of Genesis of the Daleks as opposed to various cast & crew members lavishing praise on it. Don't get me wrong this is good but not that memorable & considering the generous 62 minute duration you won't actually know that much more about anything than before you watched it.
