I just finished watching
Genesis of the Daleks, which I think is quite definitely the best Doctor Who story I've ever seen. The first episode in particular is just... chilling, both from a Whoniverse perspective (the Kaled General talking about the 'total extermination' of the Thals), and just generally (Nyder, who is essentially a man in a Nazi uniform (
best picture I could find), talks about 'keeping the Kaled race pure').
The main characters are trapped very early on (they're separated from the TARDIS, and then from the Time Key that'll take them back), then are all captured, and can't seem to manage to escape - none of their initial plans work. Sarah's failure is particularly shocking, as is the second cliffhanger, which shows her apparently falling to her death. I think if I didn't know for certain that she survives to get her own show, I'd have thought that she was doomed.
I think, though, that having already seen
The Daleks, the most shocking part was seeing the Thals - my first thought when Sarah was captured by them was 'all, she'll be alright now. The Thals are the good ones'. But the Thals actually come across as worse than the Kaleds for much of the story; I almost cried when they destroyed the Kaled city. And yet one can still see why they did it, but also why they were eventually persuaded to turn to pacifism.
The only character for which one has no sympathy for at all is Nyder. I'm not sure if I think that's a good thing or not - he does make a very effective villain.
My one criticism is that I think it should have ended a scene earlier, with the Daleks killing Davros, and proclaiming that they will become the ultimate power in the universe, rather than on the more optimistic note of the Doctor insisting that some good will come out of the evil of the Daleks. I think that would have fitted better with the rest of the story, in which their mission seems completely futile, but maybe I'm just a pessimist.
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cheerful
contemplative