Customer Reviews

Doctor Who: The War Games (Story 50)

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

There are so few Patrick Troughton episodes out there. His stories were ravaged by the BBC many years ago, and only a handful have been recovered. The first story is missing, important episodes like "The Highlanders" and "The Enemy of the World" are gone. Even episodes with popular villains such as the Daleks and Cybermen are missing.

Thankfully one of the few stories still intact is the last story. The ten part masterpiece, "The War Games", is the swansong for the Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe. It also introduces the Time Lords as a group, shows us a rival Time Lord to the Doctor in the form of the War Chief, and has a nice, epic feel to it that hasn't really been captured in too many other stories. It was also the last of the black and white stories.

There are certain problems with the story. For one, it's quite well-padded and redundant in parts. Truth be told, it could've been done as a four-part story and worked every bit as well, but that's a minor gripe.

Special features on this three-disc collection include such things as commentaries, features on the Target novels and the comic strip, and much more!

Overall this is a heck of a story and a great collection. Worth every penny!

Everyone remembers the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) as the jolly, happy little fellow who always looked frazzled but never defeated. His character always managed to escape the angst that seemed to afflict, say, the Fifth and Ninth Doctors on a regular basis, or the Tenth Doctor in every series finale.

However, even 40 years later, the ordeal to which the Second Doctor is subjected in his swan song is kind of shocking. "The War Games" opens with an iconic image, of the Doctor and his loyal companions Jamie and Zoe (well-played by Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury) standing giggling in a mud puddle in the middle of No-Man's Land. By the end of that week's episode, far from giggling in the mud, they've been captured, escaped, captured, court-martialed, and sentenced to death. The World War I firing squad which the Doctor faces in the story's first cliffhanger is one of the grimmest fates his incarnation ever had to face. While "The War Games" has been accused of being slow and padded, Episode One at least is nearly perfect in its pacing and increasingly downbeat tone.

The writers (Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke, two of "Doctor Who"'s best scribes) slowly reveal the mystery over the course of the first several episodes. In the opening act we see an anachronistic TV screen behind British lines. In Episode Two we see the Doctor abruptly drive from France into Ancient Rome, and in Episode Three he's captured by an out-of-place TARDIS. In Episode Four the Doctor is terrified to recognize one of the aliens responsible for manipulating the war zones, and by Episode Six we learn that the both the Doctor and the War Chief are members of the same race -- the Time Lords. While it's inevitable that in a "Doctor Who" story of such length there are bound to be dull spots (here, Episodes Five and Six seem to be the most padded), overall the progression of "The War Games" is fast and unflinching.

In the final two episodes, the Docttor learns that he can only defeat the War Chief and his allies by calling on the Time Lords for help -- but in so doing the audience learns, for the first time in the show's then six-year history, that the Doctor has been on the run from the Time Lords, and that to call them is to invite his own arrest. The entirety of Episode Ten is devoted to the Doctor's capture and trial. The inexorable nature of the Doctor's fate mirrors the grim World War I sequences, and the imposition of the Doctor's sentence in the closing moments is both terrifying and poignant.

"The War Games" is treated to one of the best jobs the Restoration Team has done in their near-decade on the job. This 3-disc set features not only a pristine video restoration, but also an informative text commentary track and a very busy audio commentary booth. The bonus disc is full of documentaries: a lengthy making-of feature, a historical piece on the various wars encountered in the story (although oddly no American professor is interviewed about the American Civil War), and a retrospective look at the Doctor's first nine regenerations (featuring side-splitting observations by various show writers). We also get installments in the ongoing set of features about "Doctor Who" novelizations and comic strips.

Take your time with "The War Games" DVD. Overall this story is "Doctor Who" at the height of its power to both entertain and frighten, and after 40 years may be the "Who" story that has aged better than any other.

Dr. Who was doing epic storylines befre they were en vogue. This was the most ambitious of the Who stories at the time, and was only eclipsed(not in quality mind you) by the Trial of a Timelord storyline. The story can get a bit repetitive at times, but it is a good yarn, well worth watching. You just knew watching the parts that something huge was going to happen! Troughton was so amazing in the role, and so many don't "know" him as well as the other actors who played the lead role because so many of his episodes, including some of the most famous episodes are lost for all time. This one is monumental in terms of what happemns.
One of the best parts of this story is the treatment of the timelords and Gallifrey(though neither term is sued here). Both were used sparingly to great effect. We are given morsels, tidbits of where the Doctor is from and the power of "his people." Though I loved the stories that followed about Gallifrey and the Timelords, it was nice not to know a lot about the Doctirs past or where he came from. The inclusion of backstory added a lot to the character, but in the process, removed some of the mystery and aura surrounding the character. This is really must see Who. Pity none of the characters introduced here, especially what seems to be another timelord(the Master anyone?!?) never returend. Perhaps with the popularity of the new sereis, that can be rectified. This really is monumental Who, but it is best viewed in chunks and not in one showing, or the repetitive parts will begin to annoy.

This 10 part episode is one of the longest in the very long history of the series. However as recient films such as THE LORD OF THE RINGS & HARRY POTTER have proven; long doesn't mean tedious.

The episode starts out as usual with the Doctor & company (Jamie & Zoe) finding themselves in the middle of World War I. What seems the normal confusion turns into puzzlement as they find themselves bouncing from WW I to The US Civil War to Ancient Rome.

Over the ten parts the focus shifts as if it were several different episodes, first on the humans caught in the games, then to the aliens supervising the games, then to the human resistance, and finally to the Time Lords and the Doctors attempt to escape from his past. Each part is pulled off and tied together well. The plotting and performances are first rate.

In the end the villians get their cumuppance but so does the Doctor leading to his exile and forced regeneration into his successor Jon Pertwee and several years of UNIT episodes.

We get to see all the different sides of Troughton from this one. If you had never seen him as the Doctor (As I hadden't at the time) you get a great sense of all you had missed. Troughton like all the doctors brought much to the role and did so in the worst of circumstances since he had to sell the idea of "regeneration". If he had failed Dr. Who would have just been another short lived science fiction series instead of the classic sci-fi phenom that still sells tapes 30 years later.

If you have no other Troughton in your collection this is the one to have.

Okay. So its 10 episodes long. So what! Watch the tapes in intervals. If you do, this serial is really enjoyable. Watch Doctor Who the way it was meant to be!

This is the only Troughton tape that I gave five stars to. It really was a wonderful farwell piece to the second doctor as well as his companions. This serial also marks the end of the black-and-white era for Doctor Who. It is a wonderful work and is by no means boring in any way. Any Doctor Who fan will love this story.

This is a long 10 part serial and the last of the episodes of the second Doctor. Although the second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, would appear in The 3 Doctors, The Five Doctors, and The Two Doctors, this serial ended the second Doctor's reign.

This episode is surprisingly good, and has an unexpected ending. The show is interesting even to non-Doctor Who fans because it is well acted, it is expertly produced, and it has an intriguing story line with many surprising turns including the arrival of the Time Lords and a trial for The Doctor.

Why is he on trial? The Doctor, years ago, was a bored citizen of Gallifrey the home world of the Time Lords. So being bored, he decided to steal a TARDIS or Time and Space machine. As in Star Trek, the Time Lords have a fundamental law that prohibits interference with other cultures and time lines. Time Lords are only to observe. However, the Doctor is sympathetic to those he encounters and always ends up using his power to help those in need. He is always getting involved and always getting into trouble even though he knows full well that one day he will have to answer for his actions. That day has arrived.

This set is a classic and also very rare considering that most of the Patrick Troughton episodes were lost (due to colossal stupidity.) This episode, War Games, is a must have for all Doctor Who fans. All ten parts of this final episode are included in this three DVD set as well as special features making it quite a bargain. I give it an A+. I highly recommend War Games.

There haven't been many "epic" Who stories, this is one of them, and boy, is it incredible. Troughton definetly goes out in style as the TARDIS and Crew suposedly land on Earth during World War I, but of course they aren't! Some fans might consider this one too long, but isn't. Every episode is needed to flesh out the characters. There are many speaking parts, lots of guests come and go, which really helps the story, giving it a vast production feeling. The soundtrac is absolutely fantastic. Although, the simplistic interriors of the "War aliens"' base is in major contrast to various war locations. Troughton is hilarious in Episode 2 as he impersonates a War Examiner. Phillip Madoc is chillingly cool, and James Bree has the most OTT monotone monologues:"No! What a stupid fool YOU are!" This story certainly changed a lot for Who, such as the Doctor's (not all) identity is made a little clearer, taking away a little of the mystery behind his character. But gives the series a fresh new focus. "The War Games" might be "The Deadly Assassin" of its time. Not to be missed!

1. Barring "Tenth Planet" resurfacing, "War Games" has to be the Holy Grail of at least the early Who stories. Can't wait to add this to my collection.

2. Well, this isn't EXACTLY Troughton's swan song as the Doctor. He DOES end up doing a few stories before nodding out. Of course, this is his last story as the star of the show.

3. I agree with the length of the story. They could have cut it down to at least half as long. Over doing the stories seemed to be a bad habit for both Hartnell's and Troughton's tenure. "Unearthly Child" and "The Daleks" could have been half as long as they were.

As the last Doctor Who story of the 1960's, "The War Games" seems to be encapsulating and then enlarging on all that was unique and wonderful about the series during its black & white decade, and it succeeds with flying colors. The story hits the ground running and draws the viewer in as it goes, disguising itself first as a good solid historical story for which the show was known but set in the midst of the First World War, then quietly introducing curiously anomalous elements leading the attentive observer to gradually assume that this is a pseudo-historical of a sort the show had innovated and developed, finally frustrating this expectation for something in a way even stranger yet--and much more sinister. Patrick Troughton's portrayal of the Doctor as clownishly bungling if only to disarm his opponents amuses here as always, but also serves to accentuate the bleak and grim fact that now for once the situation spins more out of his control with his every move, until his palpable panic when he's forced to involve his own people (the Time Lords, as revealed here for the first time) is positively electrifying. In the end, he is punished for saving the day, but not before articulating his reasons for doing so with classic eloquence indelibly defining this character forevermore.

At ten episodes long and in a pivotal position in the show's history, this rare masterpiece has so much that could be noted about it, and different things will stand out to different folks. Something that strikes me first is that here is a science fiction storyline that only the BBC could get away with without looking shoddy or half-baked; their experience and expertise in historical dramas, their attention to accurate detail in sets and costumes, allows "The War Games" to manage not just one realistically believable war zone but many, each one quite distinct. And the ragtag collection of renegades assembled from all different historical eras is a weird sight you'll only ever see in Doctor Who. Just as intriguing in a way is the story's attitude to war as a whole, touching on its horrors and absurdities in a responsible manner appropriate to the show's format and audience, generally taking a dim view of it but not in a gratingly preachy manner. On a different note, there is something clearly archetypal going on in the battle of wits between the Doctor and the War Chief, another renegade Time Lord who, like the Doctor, does "tend to get involved in things" but out of aggressive self-interest. Retrospectively speaking, it's hard not to see this one-off character as a prototype of the Master, but merely within the space of this story alone his rather bombastic mood swings nicely contrast with the smoothly calculating cruelty of the War Lord: a fine balance of complementary villainy, indeed.

Speaking of complementary pairs, Jamie with his brawn and Zoe with her brains really shine here as the Doctor's companions, and the chemistry and friendship between these three characters seems so natural that the nature of their separation at the end is all the more poignant. The bad guys are defeated, and yet the tale ends on a plaintive note of heartbreaking loss. Few shows have the guts to do this, and of those few can manage it with such a sure touch of subtlety. To be honest, Doctor Who itself has kind of dropped the ball on this score more than once, making it all the more precious that "The War Games" aims true and on target as it does. Still, it's odd that four incarnations later the Doctor was put on trial again on the same charges--perhaps Time Lord jurisprudence has no concept of double jeopardy?

The standard knock on this sprawling 10-part story is that it begins with a strong premise, shows the Time Lords and the Doctor's home planet of Gallifrey for the first time, and pads out the middle with a lot of chase scenes that don't do much to advance the story. Watching it 40 years on, I found most of the criticisms overstated.

"The War Games" indeed gets off to a rousing start: The Doctor and his companions land the TARDIS in No Man's Land during World War I and are rescued from an artillery barrage by a lady ambulance driver. As revealed in the commentary, the BBC promoted the story in advance as a straight-up time-travel adventure set on Earth. By the end of Episode One, however, viewers learn they're in for something more when the British general starts communicating with unseen aliens through a video screen behind his office portrait of George V!

It's gradually revealed that the Doctor and his friends are actually on an alien planet divided into war zones where soldiers have been transported from different time periods on Earth to fight out their respective conflicts and, if they survive, earn themselves a place in an alien super army. The politics are carefully understated, and the story follows a more or less logical course through the 10 episodes, which manage to sustain viewer interest remarkably well.

First, the Doctor and his allies must track down a map to the different war zones, then travel to an unmarked zone in the middle of the map which they reason must be the control center, and so on until they link up with soldiers from the various time periods who have thrown off the alien conditioning and formed a resistance movement. The cast includes multiple, nefarious villains who casually manipulate the human armies for their sport, led by the War Lord (Philip Madoc, who would go on to play Solon in "The Brain of Morbius" and numerous other BBC television roles).

The aliens' TARDIS-like technology for transporting soldiers through time and space breaks down, and the Doctor must ask the Time Lords of Gallifrey to intervene to return the soldiers to Earth and their respective time periods. This momentous plot development sets up the Time Lords' first trial of the Doctor for interfering with history, which leads to his second regeneration, the end of Jamie and Zoe's sojourn as companions, and the Doctor's exile to Earth as an agent of UNIT. "The War Games" marked a major turning point in the direction of Doctor Who as a series, as well as the end of the black-and-white era.