Doctor Who:
The War Games
The War Games
By Terrance Dicks & Malcolm Hulke
“NO!!!! Stop! You're
making me giddy! No, you can't do this to me! No! No! No! No! No!”
The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe
land on what they think is Earth during World War One in the year 1917. What has The Doctor concerned is how the
General is able to convince everyone that they are German spies even though the
officers earlier proclaim that they are not. But everything isn’t what it seems as Zoe
finds a communications unit which shouldn’t be in 1917. After escaping a firing squad and many
recaptures after freeing Jamie from military prison The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe
with the aid of Lady Jennifer and Lt. Carstairs drive through a fog and appear to
have driven out of No Man’s Land. Where
they end is utterly impossible as they are attacked by Roman soldiers. The Doctor suspect that they are no longer on
Earth and that something strange is definitely going on. Thus begins the last adventure of The Second
Doctor and his companions Jamie and Zoe.
Patrick Troughton’s Doctor
gets a huge send off in what is the longetst last story to date. Well, you
could make the argument for Colin Baker’s Doctor with Trial of a Time Lord but
that was 4 separate stories contained in a theme season. So in my opinion The
War Games is the longest last story coming in at 10 episodes. Yes 10 episodes is a lot to watch in one
sitting but back then it was a weekly serial so it wasn’t that bad to watch
back then. But it is long and it does in
fact get the award for the longest get captured and escape and get captured
story in Doctor Who’s history.
But all that aside was The
War Games a fitting last story for The Second Doctor. It sure was pretty historical last story as
we get to see The Doctor’s home planet and find out he is a Time Lord and that
he stole his TARDIS. We ffind out he
left the planet to go out and help other races who are oppressed by evil beings
mainly the planet earth. The Doctor
stands trial for the first time and ends up getting exiled on earth with a new
appearance. So in fact The Second Doctor
doesn’t regenerate because of injury it’s because the Time Lords forced him
to.
I liked The War Games even
though it is a long story. Yes it is
pretty long and filled with lots of filler but so what I thought it was very
entertaining. I liked how the characters
were running around between time zones and then the addition of the resistance. I loved how The Doctor tries to get them to
unite against the War Lord and put an end to the games. I really did not mind that there was a lot of
getting captured and escaping as the overall story was pretty good. I
really did like the overall story of The War Games especially the bickering
with the War Chief and Security Chief.
It was good seeing them playing the cat and mouse game that the War
Chief eventually lost.
I liked the fact that the
War Chief was actually a Time Lord himself.
Making his own version of TARDIS called SIDRAT. The interaction between the two Time Lords was
pretty interesting as we find out more about The Doctor and his past. Finding out about his back story is the
important part of the story especially the last three episodes. The last three episodes is the high point of
The War Games and the best part of the story.
When you hear that organ
playing and the Timelord noise as the arrive on the planet to get the War
Lord it sends chills down your spine
especially the slow motion filming of The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe running to the
TARDIS. It is just a pretty cool scene
and you definitely get a feel of doom and gloom from The Doctor as he is trying
to leave. You know he will be in trouble
with his own people and you get a feeling it will be pretty bad. Just listening to that organ makes it seem ominous.
The trial scene was well done also. You have The Doctor defending his actions
after he testifies against the War Lord.
You see him showing evidence of old foes he fought during his era to
help justify his actions. It is such a classic
sequence and an important one in Doctor Who.
Patrick Troughton gave us
one last performance as The Doctor before his return in Doctors 3, 5,2 later on
to celebrate anniversaries and the like.
The War Games is truly a story a good send off for the 2nd
Doctor as he is exiled to earth and forced to regenerate. It is also the end of another era as both
companions are returned home also. It is
also the end of Doctor Who in Black and White and also the start of a new direction
for the show. Patrick Troughton was a
wonderful Doctor and also one that helped continue the legacy through the 60’s
and beyond.
Grade B
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