PS Creativity > Reviews > The Classic Series > The War Games

The Second Doctor and his companions, Jamie and Zoe land on Earth in the centre of the thundering battlefield of the First World War. Amidst trying to survive the brutal conflict without a place of sanctuary, the Doctor and his companions come to realise that things are not quite what they seem, as though some alien intelligence is manipulating the hostilities of both sides. However the Doctor finds himself quickly overwhelmed by the powers that be, and ultimately the situation calls for the intervention of the all powerful Time Lords.

First of all to let you all know, in case it puts you off- "The War Games" is a black and white story, and it runs for ten episodes, which means it is four hours length in total. Personally I have no issue with that but some people do. Some Doctor Who fans can never stick the black and white era of the show, or any of its long serials that exceed the standard four or six parters. But I find it very easy indeed to watch this story in one go.

It has been a tradition as the series went on for its serials to get gradually shorter in length- whilst in the 1960's it was possible to get serials that ran as much as twelve episodes length, by 1970 the show had seen the last of its seven parters as six episodes became the maximum limit, by the 80's this had become four episodes (the 14 part "Trial of a Timelord" doesn't count as its divided into separate segments that don't exceed four parts each), and now in the current revival of the series we only occasionally get a two-parter as a special treat.

I must say I miss those long serials like Inferno, The Dalek's Masterplan and Evil of the Daleks that have now gone the way of the Dodo. Whilst the New Series has given us some excellent single and double episode stories, I still think it misses the best qualities of the longer stories, the cinematic feel and elongated scope, the opportunity to really explore its environment, and most importantly the room to develop a moral debate amidst the action, in the realms of the best pieces of Theatre

This story was the product of the writing team of Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke, both went on to become very familiar names in Doctor Who, especially since they both pursued a career in novelising the many TV stories for the popular Target Books range. This is one of Terrance Dicks' best scripts next to Horror of Fang Rock , and it is clear how his story idea of an alien controlled war zone was one that he recycled in The Five Doctors. Malcolm Hulke is also a significant writer of the series who has become known for his morality versus pragmatism tales of culture clashes and senseless war and 'no peace in our time' like "The Silurians", "The Sea Devils", "Colony in Space", "Frontier in Space" and "Invasion of the Dinosaurs"- stories that really cemented the Doctor's peace-loving nature and his ambivalence towards the military and defined the debate-driven kind of story. I'd recommend "Frontier in Space" of the bunch as the least depressing take on his themes.

"The War Games" isn't really a definitive example of Hulke's themes, or if it is, it's done far more subtlely than usual (after all this was not one of Malcolm Hulke's solo writings). But basically the image of bureaucracy of this story, of how authority is always to be obeyed in the army, and how that obedience of authority is considered from a military standpoint as being more important than human lives is well conveyed here. The image of common people killing other common people from other countries just because they are under orders is presented in clear cut form- whether these soldiers have been abducted by aliens or recruited by the government, whether they've been brainwashed by neurosurgery or duped by propaganda and lies makes little difference either way. The aliens even justify their actions based on how hypothetically these soldiers would still be killing each other whether they were abducted by them or not.

Whilst the heroes spend a lot of time involved in shootouts, defending themselves against both the aliens and their security forces, and the brainwashed armies that are under orders to hunt them down, amidst this there is also Malcolm Hulke's trademark action sequences which show our heroes as preferring to incapacitate their enemies without killing them if it can be helped- so not always, but often the heroes choose to render their enemies unconscious or hold them under their custody instead of shooting them, sometimes this humane behaviour proves to be the heroes' undoing however. I suppose this restraint of violence was important since the Doctor and his companions are up against humans who are just doing their job as well as aliens that are humanoid in appearance and it would be unacceptable to show the heroes being excessively violent and cavalier towards recognisable human figures. The show wouldn't be able to get away with that- If it were Ice Warriors, Zygons or other monstrous looking aliens that the Doctor was up against, that would be a different story, because then you can get away with any violence against them.

In terms of being debate driven, this story saves the debating for the final three episodes where the Doctor and the arch villain finally meet and dialog, and this is where the classic Malcolm Hulke tradition shows of dealing with characters who are shades of grey rather than straight heroes or villains. In the same way that some of the human resistance fighters the Doctor allies himself with are much more ruthless and savage than can be trusted, the head villain is the War Chief- another renegade Timelord who has allied himself with the aliens, sharing the time travel technology of his people to help them abduct human soldiers from the past, from times of war, hoping to use them as a servile army with which to conquer the galaxy. But his intentions are to bring about a unified peace through his conquest. Whilst this is clichéd material for a villain with noble aspirations in his rise to power, Edward Brayshaw's larger than life performace as the War Chief makes his character far more grand and noble than he has any right to be. Basically whilst it is not too profound, I do find myself warming to the character and wishing that there were more renegade Timelord villain characters in the series that were in his mould rather than those like the Master. In-fact the viewer finds themselves rather sympathising with The War Chief's dread when the Doctor calls in the vengeance of the Timelords, knowing they will show him no mercy.

That shades of grey aspect to the characters and the perseverance of their respective resolves is what makes this environment of interactions and conflicts feel very hands on in a rather real way that is rarely achieved elsewhere. The most memorable of characters -outside the War Chief- is the War Lord, the other head villain who is the leader of the alien people, and actor Philip Madoc clearly took a great deal of pride in his performance as the War Lord and put the utmost of class and dignity, and well measured delivery into it, making the villainous character endearing in his own way. There is also the uneasy hero's ally of Arturo Villar- the Spanish bandit from the Spanish Civil War zone with a dogged chauvinism and a love of guns and violence who brings a good degree of un-PC humour to the proceedings.

Russell: "You can't shoot him in the back! It's unmanly."
Arturo: "Ahh, The zback, the vfront, whah's the differance?"

He certainly always makes me laugh anyhow. Apart from this there is the British characters of the soldier Casters and his love interest Edwina, the medical officer, who both have the distinction of trusting the Doctor's story and leaving the illusion of their zone to help the heroes in the revolt against the controlling aliens. Some fans have described this love interest pair as a bland and twee exercise in characterisation, and truth be told they are hardly the most memorable of characters, however I certainly don't find them heavy handed or offensive, and for me they serve their purpose well at characterizing a prevailing good naturedness amidst times of war and a sense of following your heart rather than orders on high- they come off as heroes, no more, no less, and the script does well to cheat the audience of a happy ending to their love story (no I'm not going to tell you what happens).

The majority of the story though, is simply action orientated. It's actually got a great sense of drama and pacing and it's what I'd describe as a hyperactive episode- though it is hyperactive in an unforced and relaxed way, rather than a loud or in-your-face way, and that is unique to Doctor Who. There's an unpredictable and clever quality to the action that make it resoundingly fresh in repeated viewings. Truth be told there is a brief tenure in the middle of the story where I feel my interest waneing slightly, but that proved only to be incidental till it all turned interesting once more.

Fans have often criticised this episode as being one of the most padded stories ever in its continuous routine of our heroes being captured, escaping and being recaptured. I myself have often refuted fandom's frequent use of the 'padded' charge against longer stories, since I believe that actually every scene has a purpose in a Doctor Who story, and the escape and recapture tradition for me is an inventive way to characterize and test the resilience and determination of the heroes as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the tyranny they're up against and the extent of their reach, and in this case shows the Doctor and his companions running through various camps and locations, all the while being sought after by all sides, which really conveys the vastness of the threat and the chaos of the landscape. I've often loved the 'chaos' type of Doctor Who stories where violence and tyranny is omnipresent and sanctuary is nowhere to be found, such as "Inferno", "Genesis of the Daleks" and The Caves of Androzani .

I suppose I might give some credence to the fan argument that this is a six episode plot at best, which was then stretched into ten episodes by writers who are simply hungry for action and distractions to keep it fun and interesting -like I said, it's a hyperactive episode- , but even if I did accept that charge, I would say that in this story that element of yearning for fun and excitement isn't an empty one and in-fact it very much defines the story as one that is aware that the Troughton era has come to an end and that it's the end of something wonderful and that the good times are to be had now before they're all over, before the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe must part ways forever, and the Doctor must regenerate into a new man.

Yes this is the story that closes Patrick Troughton's run as the Second Doctor and says goodbye to its wonderful ensemble companion team dynamic. It's almost as if the writers of this episode knew in advance that most of the classic Patrick Troughton stories would have their film prints destroyed in the 70's (an ignorant act on the part of the BBC that we as Doctor Who fans will probably never learn to forgive), and so they intentionally made this story at ten episodes length to singlely convey the longevity and magic of the Doctor and his companions' time together in one story. It contains all the elements that made the Patrick Troughton years (1966-1969) the best era of the show of all time. I had previously laid that praise on the Tom Baker years, but stories like this, The Mind Robber, Evil of the Daleks , The Abominable Snowmen and Power of the Daleks (the latter three being audio only) have caused me to knock Tom Baker down to second place. Mind you I think in general the 1960's was a true golden age of Television, and probably Music and Cinema too.

In this story we are treated to the classic natural repartee between the Second Doctor and Jamie. A great sense of observational humour between them, a camaraderie between two adventurers and there was something often very poignant about that friendship. Infact if there's one thing that the Troughton years had over the Tom Baker era, it was a sense of emotional poignancy. The two had a magic and chemistry that's hard to put into words so I'll simply quote a few exchanges off.

Zoe: "He's got rather primitive ideas about women knowing their place."
Jamie: "Does he now? Ooh sounds a nice chap."

Doctor: "Goodbye Jamie"
Jamie: "I won't forget you Doctor"
Doctor: "I won't forget you. Now don't go running off into too much trouble now."
Jamie: "You're a fine one to talk, Doctor"

In any case the Second Doctor and Jamie had a rapport of the highest quality. The only other Doctor-companion pairing I can think of to compare to this level of greatness is the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith. I think the current team of the New Doctor and Rose Tyler potentially could have been up to that calibre if it were not for the script constantly overstating what a great team they think they are in a rather crass manner of saying "The Doctor keeps saying he thinks Rose is the best, so you must think it too". But this old dynamic was the kind of thing that you shouldn't force, it should come naturally, and that is what happens here.

There are other great representations of the Troughton era on display here too. We get to see the Doctor bluff his way through a security prison by impersonating a pompous examiner in a delightful piece of caricature acting that few other actors could pull off in such an entertaining way. Whilst a lot of the action and dilemmas involves shootouts and escaping through brute force, there are the occasional moments where the Doctor uses his wits and intelligence to get them out of a tight fix- the kind of moments that always elevated Doctor Who to a higher class of action adventure. There are also times where the Doctor is faced with a moral dilemma which forces him to be a bit more ruthless, and duplicitous in a very compelling and jaw dropping way. He also displays the character's strong man-child quality better than any other actor to play the Doctor, eager for adventure and spiteful at his own people for not letting him do as he pleases, like a rebellious teenager. In-fact experiencing the charm of this man-child characteristic certainly allows me to understand why fans get so offended by the notion or even the suggestion of the Doctor having sexual liasons with female companions in the current New Series and the 1996 American TV Movie and how this is an affront to the 'innocence' of his character. And in the closing scenes where the Doctor is put on trial by his own people and must defend himself against the charges of interference in other worlds, he gives one of his most defining speeches about the need for protecting the galaxy from the evils and tyrannies of the universe.

For me the one compelling and overriding theme that has resounded throughout Doctor Who is the theme of seeking a utopia. Throughout all the various mini-themes that have crept up in Doctor Who stories, from primitivism meeting higher technology, the flow of history, ethnic cleansing, pre-emptive strikes, peqace versus pragmatism, survival at all costs, and the nature of conflict- whether it be good versus evil or shades of grey, that theme of seeking a utopia has always been present. Whether utopia is treated as something to earn and wait for patiently as civilisation develops to its peak and sheds its old prejudices and savageries, or whether utopia is seen as something that must be forced into existence through drastic action and 'final solutions of elimination' against the percieved aggressors or undesireables that are threatening our way of life and the promise of peace.

In this story that is especially true, the soldiers of Earth always believe they were fighting for a better world by standing against belligerent countries or tyrannic rulers, even though they have been taken far away from their world- the specimens from different time zones give credence to the myth that as the centuries go by, our values system becomes more civilised and unprejudiced. The aliens and especially the War Chief have a dream that their tools of galactic conquest, in the process of subjugating the galaxy, will also pacify and unify its people. The Timelords' idea of preserving the utopia they already possess is to close the door to all other lesser races so that their insular peace and rigid laws of the land may never be disturbed- but to the Doctor this is no utpoia because those laws curtail their technological freedoms of time and space mobility, and their insularness allows evil to flourish elsewhere in the universe.

The Doctor: "Whilst you have been content merely to observe the evil in the galaxy, I have been fighting against it!"
Chancellor Goth: "It is not we who are on trial Doctor, it is you."
The Doctor (sarcastic): "No of course not. You're above criticism aren't you?"

The various evil threats that the Doctor talks of- the Cybermen and Daleks also have their own idea of utopia, the Cybermen believe in making all other races into Cybermen like them, and the Daleks' notion of utopia is to exterminate all non-Dalek life and have the universe to themselves in their ordered society. This story certainly uses contrasts of setting well to convey this search for utopia, going from the chaos of the warzones, to the relative peace of the command centres, to the ordered and secured setting of the alien control centre, and finally to the heavenly utopia of Gallifrey itself.

"The War Games" is probably the most important Doctor Who stories alongside Genesis of the Daleks in defining the show's mythology. It is the first story in which we see the Doctor's home planet of Gallifrey, and in which the mystery of the Doctor's origins is largely explained. It is also the story in which the Doctor's brief tenure of exile on 20th Century Earth is implemented- the story immediately preceeds Spearhead from Space - and as such it is highly essential ownership for any fan of the series- in-fact its high time this story was given a DVD release.

The story's director David Maloney has a fair amount of Doctor Who's finest stories under his belt, in certified classics such as The Mind Robber, Genesis of the Daleks, The Deadly Assassin and Talons of Weng Chiang. Here he largely brings his usual skill at controlled chaos to the fore, directing the action of the warzones with the same flair he would exhibit in "Genesis of the Daleks". I suppose it doesn't hurt that he's given the same locations to cover as those in Richard Attenborough's World War 1 film "Oh! What a Lovely War", and he certainly makes good use of them to establish us firmly in the warzone at ground level. He also conveys the frosty clinical feel of the alien control centre and then when the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe infiltrate this base, he makes good of the contrast of these vibrant and adventurous characters at such a sterile and ordered backdrop. David Maloney has often (particularly in Talons of Weng Chiang ) shown a greater skill at directing physical combat scenes than most other Who directors. He does mostly well here, but he also wisely keeps in a few very bad fight sequences that prove to be highly entertaining.

The violence in this story isn't as excessive as most other Doctor Who stories, however Maloney's visuals make the violence and horrific moments resonate long after the story's end. The sight of a firing squad duty officer clutching his bleeding breastbone immediately after being fatally shot really stayed with me in conveying the fragility of life in this episode, as did the climactic sequence where the formerly proud and dignified War Lord is brought to his knees when the Timelords subject him to their mental torture, and where finally the Timelords pronounce sentence on him and he protests in vain, his voice echoing the corridor eerily trying to reinforce his presence as his body slowly dissolves and he is erased from history- though on repeated viewings I've come to think that Maloney cut away from the horror of that moment perhaps a little sooner than he should have. This story actually does give Maloney a few momentary oppurtunities to indulge in his more surreal style that he exhibited more widely in The Mind Robber and The Deadly Assassin , there are several surreal moments such as where an army truck can disappear into a wall of mist and materialise in another era, where the Doctor contacts his people by telepathy in a rather hallucinagenic, trip-out sequence. The arrival of the Timelords really does turn reality sour in an inescapeable way as people vanish, and time slows down all whilst the sounds of a loud underworld aquarium of dolphins give the feel of the cogs of reality being manipulated, whilst the final episode's moments on Gallifrey have that unnervingly inhuman etherial quality that really works at conveying a cold world that is repulsively unfeeling and unwelcoming.

Since this is the earliest conception of Gallifrey, the Timelords are very much characterised as God- as all powerful, all seeing and immortal, and they behave in much the same ways as God has been described in the Bible. They are gentle and benevolent with Jamie and Zoe, they are vengeful with the culprits, they almost seem to treat the Doctor fondly like the prodical son when they welcome him back home after ensnaring his Tardis, and of course the Doctor's argument with them over the evils of the universe -namely the Quarks, Yeti, Ice Warriors, Cybermen and Daleks (who are all shown in moving images of the Doctor's mental projections, in a great rhythmic dramatic collage)- that the Timelords have failed to intervene against is a classic 'Why does God allow suffering?', 'God gave man free will' discourse. This religious metaphor would continue in the series with the various renegade Timelord villains like the Master or Omega being likened to the Devil or to fallen angels. Though I suppose it is little wonder that as society has become more secularist, the portrayal of the Timelords in the series has emphasised their more tainted and human imperfections and vices and corrupt elements.

"The War Games" shares various other qualities with the other Gallifreyan stories in its focus on mental powers, the powers of deception and the power of altering reality, which came to define Gallifreyan society's own self-delusions of purity and being incapable of corruption. This is characterised here by the significance of the aliens' ability to brainwash and condition their abductees to have no memory of their encounters with the aliens and continue to believe they are still on Earth fighting their wars. Though this power of changing the appearance of reality comes to mean something far more multileveled and unsettling when the Timelords arrive on the scene and begin erasing the villains from history whilst removing Jamie and Zoe's memories of their time with the Doctor before sending them back home. That is the climax of this story about altered perception, when larger than life villains with grand ambitions suddenly were never born at all, and when Jamie and Zoe, who have had the time of their life and so many fantastic experiences with the Doctor can now forget that any of it ever happened.

There's a wonderful poignancy to that goodbye scene between the Doctor and his companions, possibly a poignancy born of being a fan and knowing the long history of the show from this point on, and knowing that despite everything else that happens in the Doctor's adventures to come, he never does see Jamie or Zoe again. But it's also in the subtlety of the Doctor shaking his head in sadness and resignation, in the tragic irony of Jamie's parting words "I'll not forget you Doctor", knowing full well that he is completely wrong and doesn't even know it. In a way this is where the hyperactive nature of the story all boils down. After a few misleading moments where the Doctor and his companions looked just about to break out and escape, able to continue their travels together by the next season, the story finally confirms that there is no escape this time. This defiant determination of the characters that they exhibited throughout all the action sequences is finally worn down by the end and they are forced to sadly accept their fate by the higher powers, and that's what gives the story's ending such poignancy and makes everything come together so beautifully. Some fans have praised the New Series on exploring the consequences of the Doctor's actions, particularly in regards to what happens to his companions after he returns them home. Personally I'm one of the fans who preferred the early years of the series when the show would part ways with characters and locations, then we'd simply leave with the Doctor and never look back afterwards. I preferred it before the show gave us recurring menaces that frequently outstayed their welcome- such as The Master, Davros or Jackie Tyler. For me the issue of what will happen to the people and the worlds that the Doctor leaves behind is important, but then again I find it far more effective when its left as an imponderable for the audience to mull over for themselves, and that is true here when I see Jamie and Zoe returned to their own time, left with seemingly no memories of the adventures they've had, adjusting back to normal life, then we cut away, wondering if they'll ever remember the Doctor again, if they'll make it through the years ahead in their turbulent times with their inspiring experiences now forgotten, and so on.

For me this is the best of the Gallifreyan adventures in conveying the mystique of Gallifrey. The following two- "The Three Doctors" and "The Deadly Assassin" were also bone fide classics with a wonderful sense of Gallifreyan mythology, and together they made a superb indispensible trilogy- probably Doctor Who's most essential story arc alongside the five Davros stories (okay I'm contradicting my earlier point about unwelcome recurring characters, but sue me, the Davros story arc is more than the sum of its parts). However 1977's "The Invasion of Time" showed that Gallifreyan stories could be pretty dire. It started out very promisingly and you can see that some good ideas were within it, but alas it had no urgency at all, it was criminally apathetic, it had a complete lack of structure or direction, rhyme or reason and showcased some of the most cold blooded moments in the series. A real turn-off and definitely the worst Tom Baker story- and I used to think his time in the show was a period that could do no wrong.

The Fifth Doctor's Gallifreyan excursion in "Arc of Infinity" is a story I remember finding watchable at the time, but since then I've felt no desire whatsoever to watch it again, which confirms that it must have been pretty bland and toothless actually. Davison's second foray into Gallifrey in "The Five Doctors" is the only other Gallifreyan story to approach decent. Finally of course "Trial of a Timelord", the last Gallifrey story to date, was representative of the awfulness of the Colin Baker era. Despite what I said about enjoying the longer debate driven stories, I think that the Doctor being on trial, having his actions and consequences subjected to a boring, suspenseless, spirit crushing, anal retentive analysis and criticism for fourteen episodes is rather taking the piss.

It was stories like that that made me wish the Daleks would come along and just obliterate the whole planet so that we could never go there again for any more boring stories.

But enough of a rant, because "The War Games" to me is a fine representation of a grander era of the show, doing something very compelling and arresting with the Gallifreyan setting.

So there you go, it's one of my favourites of the Troughton era and still entertains and moves me today.

Originally posted by transvamp on March 30th 2006 at 3:09am.

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