As someone who thought The Ultimate Evil was the lowest point of the Lost Stories range, I'm glad to see that something else has finally dethroned it. Daleks! Genesis of Terror is without question the most pointless release Big Finish has ever crafted, this isn't even worth a listen for curiosity's sake when we already have a perfected version in the form of the final televised story. A story which had essentially been rewritten from the ground up by the production team due to Terry Nation's inability to expand on 5 basic story ideas.

Genesis of Terror reeks of a rush job, the first episode is near enough identical to that of Genesis of the Daleks just without the polish afforded by the additions of Robert Holmes and David Maloney. It's a release you'd be stupid to spend full price on, hell it should have just been a downloadable extra on The Ark's release for, at most a couple of pounds. This isn't the same full-cast treatment that was given to Lucarotti's The Ark or the stupendous adaptation of Gerry Davis' Return of the Cybermen, it's by and large mainly just a summary of events that would have happened in a proper adaptation of this story. The cast of the story is otherwise completely wasted, seriously you tease me with Terry Molloy's Davros only for him to show up at the very end and just recite Michael Whisher's dialogue? Poor showing.

Granted, I'm sure there are people out there who loved the experimental return of Big Finish but when there are so many other options for unmade serials that could have been given the spotlight e.g. The Sea of Fear, The Eyes of Nemesis or Fires of the Starmind you'd be hard pressed to understand why Genesis of the Daleks, of all stories, was in need of a Lost Story adaptation. At most, I'd say the interview with Hinchcliffe on the second disc would warrant a listen but even then it doesn't cover any new ground or enlighten us on anything we didn't already know. Daleks! Genesis of Terror is a huge missed opportunity that only really exists to showcase the gulf between a writer's vision and a final production which you could get the same experience with by reading the PDFs on The Collection Season 12. Despite what many reviewers may try and debunk, this feels nothing more than a cash-in and one you should desperately avoid at all costs.