Elisabeth Sladen recalled that Tom Baker took The Doctor's decision as to whether or not wipe out the Daleks seriously, almost "agonising" over the dialogue.
Terry Nation had no intention of killing off Davros in this story, as the production team decided he was too good a character to last the one story. A deleted scene shows his life-supported system indicating that he survived being shot by the Dalek.
After Genesis of the Daleks was broadcast. The Daleks would not be seen again in Doctor Who for 4 years, until Destiny of the Daleks.
Fans have playfully noted that the subsequent appearances of the Daleks suggested that Doctor was more successful than he anticipated in the end of this story. Namely, since it was apparently his intervention that allowed Davros to survive when the Daleks turned on him, the mad scientist would later be a disruptive influence to the Daleks which led to the race to be divided into infighting factions and that much less a threat to the universe for the rest of the original series.
This episode was watched by 9.1 million viewers on its original transmission.