The War Games [4.8]

The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe appear to have landed in the middle of no man's land during the trench warfare of World War One. Arrested as spies, however, and sentenced to death, the crew notice all is not as it seems. Why are there so many anachronisms? Why does nobody remember arriving? And who is the hypnotic General Smythe.

As the plot unravels, the trio discover the truth. A race of hypnotic Aliens have kidnapped thousands of humans from different wars in different time periods and are training them as soldiers in a bid to overthrow the galaxy. They are aided in their quest by a mysterious member of the Doctor's own race: a Time Lord. Left with no alternative, the Doctor has to call on the help of his own people to undo the Aliens plans.

The Majesty

The War Games is one of these pivotal stories that form the spine of the Dr Who series. It's also an epic story in its own right. The opening episodes in the World War One zone are generally fantastic, with a brilliant cast of characters: Lady Jennifer and Lieutenant Carstairs are perfect companions for the story, but everyone from General Smythe's bumbling assistant (“It's the paperwork, you know”) to the Prison Commandant (“I knew there was something fishy all along”) comes fully formed, with plenty more story material in them.

The world is also huge, with a variety of war zones and a central control, even before we introduce the Alien Planet and Gallifrey. The plot is complex and the conflict between the War Lord, War Chief and Security Chief adds to the enjoyment. Philip Madoc is perfect as the War Lord, but the enigmatic War Chief gets the best scenes (and has the best facial hair). Perhaps it is the combination of scale and detail that means even at ten episodes the story feels not a minute too long.

The Misery

The design of the central control room is very flat after the highly textured aesthetic of the World War One zone. The costumes are generally laughable; the walls appear to be held together with sellotape; the SIDRATS are remarkably dull and functional affairs; some of the guards look decidedly podgy, and there only appear to be two field generals.

The Time Lord intervention sort of works, because we immediately up the stakes, but at the same time it feels a bit of a deus ex machina. Carstairs goes back to find Lady Jennifer, but doesn't and then simply disappears from the story. It's a bit of an anticlimax, except that we immediately get distracted by the Time Lords.

Magical Moments

• Smythe shouts at his aide for interrupting him, making him jump so much he spills tea all down his front.
• The end of the first episode is a perfect example of a Dr Who cliffhanger, as the Doctor appears to get shot by firing squad.
• The Doctor shouts at the prison commandant, making him jump so much he spills tea all down his front.
• The Doctor and party flee a detachment of Roman soldiers in an ambulance. One of the Romans has his mouth in a perfect O of astonishment.
• Frightened by a nearby bomb, Zoe jumps into Jamie's lap.
• The Doctor convinces a German officer he is from the future by showing him his famous sonic screwdriver.
• We meet the first resistance officer – a black American called Harper. “Sorry, Captain, but that stuff don't work on me any more”. Nice to get a black hero staring down the face of a white overlord. It's a shame his character gets killed off so soon.
• The Doctor and the War Chief look at each other smugly for a second before recognition dawns. Then horror and alarm! We never discover where they had met before but it's an electrifying moment.
• “I was born in the 21st century.” Tortured by the bizarrely acted Security Chief, Zoe has to repeat herself over and over again.
• Patrick Troughton's son David gets a cameo role as a minor resistance member in quite a nice little psychological scene.
• Hiding behind the tables, the Doctor suddenly sees some guards arriving. “OH MY WORD!” he bawls at the top of his voice. Good way to stay hidden...
• Episode Six has another nice cliffhanger, with the War Chief shrinking the SIDRAT around the Doctor.
• Arturo Villar's comment on Zoe: “For such a little woman, your mouth is too big.”
• It's a nice little montage scene of blowing up the radio transmitters across the zones, but why on earth don't the maps match up between the Central Control and the Zones.
• The War Chief and Security Chief's rivalry continues beyond the grave, as each tries to have the most dramatic death scene.
• Arturo arrives to save the day, yelling something that sounds like “Viva la Villar”. Grinning smugly he shoots his guns directly at the floor, at which point everybody falls over.
• The Time Lords are quite imposing – their “kind” torture of the War Lord is strangely alarming, especially as we haven't seen the War Lord being particularly brutal himself.
• Patrick Troughton's “All these evils I have fought” speech is splendid, and a reminder of what Doctor Who is all about.
• The Doctor's reaction to his choices for his next face is very funny - a reminder of why we love this Doctor so much.

In Summary

The War Games would score very high as a stand alone story. The villains are engaging and charismatic, and their evil scheme pretty unique, with only one gaping plot hole. (If all the best soldiers inevitable die in battle, where is their planet-conquering army actually going to come from?) The First World War zone, especially, is a great location for the Doctor to get into trouble, and the supporting characters are lots of fun. Added onto that, the pivotal position of this story in the history of Dr Who make it probably the most unforgettable story of Patrick Troughton's tenure.

I always find there's is something sad, however, about a person's memory being wiped. It's as if Jamie and Zoe are being permanently maimed in some fashion – part of them is being cut away, leaving them smaller. So I like to remind myself of the fan theories that say they were able to join the Doctor again with memories restored for more adventures in Space and Time in the mysterious Season 6B.

Overall: 4.8