Doctor Who Classic Review - The War Games

[@scriptmonkeys123]

In a couple of your recent reviews, you mentioned that in the classic era they would often get too ambitious. That is, they would come up with scripts that called for things that the props department (and/or the special effects department) couldn't create. One of the things about this story that makes it work is that the writers are playing to the BBC's strengths: At the time it was made, historical drama was the BBC's bread and butter. If you went to the props department and told them you need a single spaceship, they'd balk; on the other hand, tell them you need an entire Viking village with 1000 extras in period attire and they'll tell you they've got one sitting in the back lot. Unrelated trivia: This was originally going to be a 6-parter, but one of the 4-parters for the season got cut, and rather than replace it, they just stretched this one out. The fact that they managed to do this without the results feeling like a bunch of filler is, in my opinion, kind of amazing.

[@CouncilofGeeks]

That makes a great deal of sense in terms of using what they knew they had access to. And doubly impressive for stretching it out with as little painful filler as there is.

[@jimmyjambhere]

Any idea what story was cut?

[@jeffgalus8454]

@@jimmyjambhere They were going to do a Yet story in 1745

[@jplegend98]

@@jimmyjambhere there was going to be a second yeti story with maybe the great intelligence. I think big finish made it into a audio play

[@tardisnet9487]

This is one of my favourite regeneration stories. Got a standout cast with very menacing villains. It also has a fantastic plot that has a justified ten parts as we understand the interesting details of their plans and I love the time zone aspect to it all. I also love the introduction of the Time Lords and it's tragic and heart breaking seeing the Doctor giving up everything he loves and face the consequences of running away.

[@diesenutss]

"face the consequences" I see what you did there

[@Jotari]

The War Lord totally looks like Steve Jobs.

[@christopheralthouse6378]

I noticed that also, although at this point, Steve Jobs was a lot younger and they DEFINITELY did not look the same back then but in any case...yeah, you see the War Lord back then and Steve Jobs before he died and OMG do they look like identical twins! 😂😂😂😂

[@tomdriver9968]

Oh my god you're right! The turtle neck, the glasses, the egomania, he IS Steve Jobs

[@christopheralthouse6378]

BEST. REGENERATION. EVERRRR!!!!! Srsly... I wish you'd said SOMETHING about that scene... It is SOOOOO well-written and SOOOO wonderfully executed... A TRUE work-of-art to bow out not only an incarnation of The Doctor, but to also bow out the '60s era of Doctor Who, ALMOST bowed-out the SERIES and to also bring to an end the Black-and-White episodes WHOLE HOG! Episode 10 of The War Games STANDS... after MUCH introspection... As my SOLID Number 1 FAVORITE single Classic Who episode for this VERY REASON... :)

[@highvoltage7797]

I don’t get the screaming companion stereotype. Barbara, Viki, Sara Kingdom, Polly (maybe), Zoe (I don’t see her as screaming companion at all. She’s an intelligent and well rounded character), Liz Shaw, Jo Grant (changed and adapted over time), Sarah Jane (obviously), Leela, Romana 1 and 2, Tegan (she can be annoying but she isn’t the stereotypical companion), Nysa (again intelligent and doesn’t fit the stereotype) and Ace is obviously a very strong companion. The companions you could call the screaming stereotype are Susan, Victoria, Katarina, Peri and Mel. Both The Krotons and the second half of The mind robber in particular show that Zoe is definitely not the stereotypical companion. In some cases Zoe is more intelligent than the Doctor.

[@SirWussiePants]

I think he mentions in another review that the mold was broken by Sarah Jane. Before here many of the female companions did do a lot of screaming.

[@ksaunders4362]

Oh, god, Mel. Mel could scream like no other companion. It was ear-splitting. And she was a Seventh Doctor companion! I don't know why they went so backwards with female companions.

[@christopheralthouse6378]

They were all over the place, tbh... To reference back to The Mind Robber, though...I actually find it kinda neat that in the one scene with The Karkus, the roles actually kinda flip and it's The Doctor doing a bunch of screaming while Zoe tries to remind him that the character's not real! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@franohmsford7548]

Zoe Heriott is easily in the Top 3 female Companions! Along with Sarah Jane Smith and Ace. It's such a pity that a) her stories are so mixed up with the missing tapes and b) Wendy Padbury didn't stay on to ease the transition into the Pertwee era {because Liz Shaw was a drastically inferior replacement!}. P.S. In 1987-89 I was 10-12 years old and I LOATHED Ace back then! I thought she was AWFUL! It was only years later when I was old enough to actually enjoy the likes of Ghost Light and Curse of Fenric that I realised how great a companion she became in that final season.

[@eclecticdog2k901]

I always feel like Mel gets unjustly hated for screaming...it happened a lot, because the actress was good at it, but the character was much stronger and deeper than that. Watch any serial with Mel in it-she’ll scream, but she will also be one of the most proactive, compassionate, and optimistic people in the story, always taking action to try and help the Doctor and others and doing a pretty decent job of it too! (Delta and the Bannermen is probably the least proactive of her stories, but also the least screamy.)

[@themastersmadface8241]

If you haven't yet, you should watch The Mind Robber. That's my favorite Troughton series next to this one.

[@CouncilofGeeks]

I have but it’s been a while.

[@Zug8415]

Nice profile pic

[@johnlumb2246]

It was Wendy Padburys favourite story

[@quinnsinclair7028]

I gotta agree with your thing about the time lords. When they came back in End of Time and you hear Ten talking about the horrors of the time war I was terrified of them. When they came back in the 50th I was like “so the almighty time war was timelords and dalek’s shooting at each other in a city, one planet disappears, one fleet gets destroyed and the entire thing is over? That’s dull. Then when they came back at the end of Clara’s run I just couldn’t believe how pathetic they were.

[@saskiamckenna2925]

Thank you! Jamie and second are my favourite doctor and companion duo

[@malvanlondon8683]

The plot repetitions are more obvious if one binges the serial. Back in the day, we just had one 20 minute episode (plus credits) to watch per week. That's a different experience (and the intended one).

[@Seussenshmirtz]

The War Games Title still gives me chills.

[@Highbrowser]

I loved how they used the geometric shapes for the control panels for moving it in and out of different dimensions.

[@andrewbowman4611]

My favourite Second Doctor story. He certainly went out on a high.

[@kickingroses8925]

"Captured and have to escape" is one of my biggest problems when watching Classic Who as it's in almost every other story, it's even lampshaded at one point in Frontier In Space which is basically just the Doctor, Jo and even the Master being swapped back and forth between prison cells! One of the best things about the new series is the invention of the Psychic Paper to avoid that because a lot of times it seems like it was just there to pad out the story. I love this story though, especially when they do start to figure out what's going on and meet the War Master. The Time Lords are actually rather terrifying in how powerful they are and it's sad they got turned into jokes as the show went on.

[@lucasdolding6924]

This is my favourite story from the Classics. Throughout all 10 episodes, it never gets boring but just more epic.

[@CrystalblueMage]

Doctor: "Maybe I should go home, back to my own planet! But I can't - I can't!" - This story we learn why! But he still does - to help those that can't help themselves.

[@bobdallas4860]

CrystalblueMage This is my favourite Doctor who arc, many don't even know it exists, but it all started with An Unearthly Child and ended with The War Games... That's why I love the 60s era so much, for me it's Doctor Who at its best

[@christopheralthouse6378]

Who would think you could ACTUALLY have subtle plot arcs in Doctor Who...and one's that span several years, across two different incarnations, multiple companions, several different production teams and yet wraps up in such a satisfying manner... HEY, NUWHO! ARE YOU SEEING THIS AND PAYING ATTENTION!? TAKE NOTES!!!! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@tardisnet9487]

Personally I find it more interesting having the Doctor not use a sonic screwdriver, it sees him as a scientist who has to figure out a solution for himself and now we're beginning to lose that in the modern run of the show.

[@Peel420]

Tardis Net I do agree with you and everybody else who says this to an extent, but with 1 single episode to tell a story it was necessary to change it up a bit. The Doctor has evolved over the 54 years we've known him. And let's not forget he's known us for many more years than that.

[@tardisnet9487]

Sheila Moore it needs to be changed to some extent but it does get rather silly in episodes like the Power of three when the Doctor just waves the sonic around and saves the day.

[@Peel420]

Tardis Net I agree with you a hundred percent on that one. I hated that. I mean REALLY hated it!! But things like getting out of rooms with the sonic, checking people's pulses and vital signs I'm fine with. Same with psychic paper for getting into places. That's actually a cool idea and a great shortcut. And it's good that there are some it doesn't work on too, like Shakespeare and Fenton.

[@tardisnet9487]

Sheila Moore I agree, the sonic should be a tool and not a weapon so scans and unlocking doors are fine but when it starts shooting lasers and stuff then it becomes too powerful and like a weapon and that's not what the sonic should be.

[@julieeverett7442]

this was still quite early in the piece he's only ever used the screwdriver a few times in this run

[@Yan_Alkovic]

Actually, the War Games is 10 parts long, not 12. Only the Daleks' Master Plan was 12 parts. Just sayin' ;) But, yeah, this is one epic AF piece of work. Certainly a pinnacle of 60's DW. Only the War Machines, the Invasion of the Cybermen and the 10th Planet could ever come close. And the Daleks' Master Plan, too, probably, if it wasn't missing. So much legitimately good action and intrigue and it's got that wonderful sense of an actual journey akin to the Chase. Obviously the Doctor's great, Jamie's wonderful, the supporting cast all do their job admirably (BTW one of the rebel soldiers was played by David Troughton, who later came back as the King of Peladon and the professor from Midnight). There's just so much to tell about this story, but you've summed it up pretty neatly in the video. Although, well, I personally really disagree with your opinion about Time Lords and how they're better when they're a mysterious force, but, hey, that's a small thing.

[@TheSandman03]

Yan Alkovic There is also The Trial of a Time Lord, which is and isn't counted as one 14 part story. It's iffy though in whether or not you count it as one long story or four stories bonded by one central theme, but it may be considered the longest Doctor Who story (TV) and also has The Doctor put on Trial.

[@Yan_Alkovic]

+A person Yeah, that is a grey area... I personally think of it as 4 distinct stories and nobody can convince me to think otherwise, cause, man, The Mysterious Planet and Mindwarp and Terror of The Vervoids and the Ultimate Foe are all such distinct stories that lumping them together into one story is just plain silly IMO.

[@TheSandman03]

Yan Alkovic I totally agree and respect that, because it also had 3 different writers (The final story uses Holmes and the Bakers from previous stories) and the stories had different production codes (except Vervoids and Foe) and were commissioned as such. However, at the end of the day it was still broadcasted under one title and all episodes still had The Doctor appear in court scenes with the stories being presented only through by means of evidence that had or hadn't been messed with by The Valeyard. I'm fine with either way you or someone else looks at it.

[@Yan_Alkovic]

+A person That's cool!

[@thenebulasystem8251]

Yan Alkovic Are you both a Doctor Who fan AND a Weird Al fan? (If so, that’s amazing! What’s your favorite Who era and what’s your favorite piece of media Al has created?)

[@candoentertainment9118]

Does anybody else come away from this story thinking that the Timelords "killed" the 2nd Doctor? Forcing him to regenerate kinda makes me think that. Troughton is amazing here, he is rapidly becoming one of my favorites. The Enemy of the World is a great 2nd Doctor story also.

[@jamesgray5790]

I don't think the intention at the time was that they were "killing" him necessarily, as the actual mechanics of regeneration that we all take as a given now weren't yet established; it's referred to as a "change of appearance" here, whilst the change from 1 to 2 was called a "renewal". Looking at it retrospectively with the defined tropes of regeneration that were established from "Planet of the Spiders" onwards though, then yeah, it basically looks less like them simply changing what he looks like and more like them straight-up executing him.

[@NormalFoot]

I've always thought it was an execution. Of course to Time Lords the idea of "execution" would be different to us because they can live up to 13 lives (or so we thought). He broke their main law so they they gave him a severe punishment ... maybe it's the equivalent of sentencing a human to 50 years in prison? You're not being completely killed, but you're still "loosing" a chunck of your life.

[@candoentertainment9118]

Well said.

[@markpostgate2551]

@@NormalFoot If you've watched the Arc of Infinity you'll know that the Gallifreyans still have the death penalty. Of course it is an inhumane and barbaric form of punishment... watching The Arc of Infinity that is! b'dum tish!

[@johnlumb2246]

Well they didnt execute him They exiled him to Earth in the twentieth century

[@Darren79]

This story was written in a state of panic. The production team lost a few scripts that became unusable so they had no option but to expand this script. It's only due to Malcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks being good storytellers that it isn't so much of a problem. Initially I went into it with a desire to just see the Time Lords - with that mindset it can only ever been an ordeal to get through but once you get over that and just enjoy the journey, there's a lot to enjoy. It's good simple fun. And Troughton is awesome!

[@borjankosarac3645]

Malcom Hulke is an unsung hero of the late 60s/early 70s era; his deep understanding of the human condition and the general complexity of conflict always blows me away when I watch stories he took part in writing. The classic Silurians are still one of my favourite "monster" species to this day... Had he not died so relatively young, I contend he could have been held on a similar pedestal to the legendary Robert Holmes. Meanwhile, Terrance Dicks was one of the show's greatest guides, shepherding the series into colour and later along into another Doctor's tenure (the best-regarded Doctor's tenure, at that). Both men deserve all the praise they've ever gotten and beyond.

[@Caspar_Stanley]

It really says a lot that when I think of the war games and planet of the spiders I don't even remember War games to be so much longer. And I do remember it being more intriguing. Loved the time Lords and laughed at magnet circuit boards. Good stuff!

[@TheGerkuman]

Thanks for not going into splot pacifics from the beginning

[@Jotari]

I might sound stupid for only recently realizing this and thinking it's news, but one of the Time Lords in this serial returns as the president elect in The Deadly Assassin. I thought that was really cool. During the exchange between the Second and Third Doctor, basically no actor came back as the same character outside of the Brigader himself.

[@MekQuarrie]

floooooooooooooooood Great point. I'll look that up. I think Segeant Benton starts out as a corporal in the Troughton era. Again, would need to check... 😉

[@borjankosarac3645]

Didn't one of them also return in "The Three Doctors"? I'm not wholly sure, but fairly confident I heard that an actor from the end of this serial also returned (however briefly) in that one.

[@DivergingClear]

That would be the actor Bernard Horsfall (spelling?). He also appeared as Gulliver in The Mind Robber.

[@julieeverett7442]

@@MekQuarrie benton was with 2nd and 3rd, but only the brig worked with 2nd 3rd AND 4th and had adventures will all the other classic era doctors

[@julieeverett7442]

@@DivergingClear not the same character though

[@bazzzzz6175]

Glad you enjoyed it. Definitely a long time favourite of mine, going way back to reading the Target book as a 7 yr old. They basically get captured and escape repeatedly but it's just SO MUCH FUN! And then: Timelords!! Wonderful. I'm far too old for listing favourites nowadays but Jamie was always my top companion. ( I am Scottish though, so ever so slightly biased) Really enjoy your classic Who and Big Finish reviews :) Lovely stuff.

[@manis1551]

I wish they put Classic Who on Netflix. I can't watch it on BritBox because I live in the UK smh.

[@thomaskirkness-little5809]

I love this story. It really shows that the Doctor is a good person, willing to sacrifice his freedom to get people home. It shows how heartless the Time Lords are. It's a very enjoyable story, with a very sad ending.

[@lizzie8561]

One of the things I don't care for with present day Doctor Who is that the Doctor can now pilot the TARDIS almost effortlessly and almost always goes wherever he wants to. I don't know if this will continue with the new Doctor, but I liked that the Doctor seldom knew where or when he and his companions would end up. That's how they got involved in their adventures in the first place. In "The Doctor's Wife" the 11th Doctor tells Idris/TARDIS that she never took him where he wanted to go, to which she responded that she always took him where he NEEDED to go.

[@gunlovingliberal1706]

I liked the way they tied that up in new Who with "The Doctor's Wife." In that episode the Tardis is put into a human body where she can talk to the Doctor. She explains that she always took him where he needed to go. Since she lives outside time and space she could see where the need was greatest. Nice twist to the apparently random jumps.

[@EmeralBookwise]

It's not just being in black and white that does these classic episodes good. It's also the simple fact that even when we reach the colorized era, this was still long before the age of large HD screens. Classic Doctor Who, or really most any other classic sci-fi, simply was never meant to be viewed modern hardware. So many of the special effects trickery is actually reliant on the fact that older TVs had much blurry images and lacked the resolution to see the finer details.

[@Yan_Alkovic]

Oh! One thing I forgot to mention in my other comment: The War Lord totally looks like Steve Jobs!!! (incidentally, the actor who played him later played the mad scientist in the Brain of Morbius and he also played a few minor parts in DW here and there)

[@TheZodiacz]

his name was Philip Madoc, and he had appeared in the Krotons only a few months earlier.

[@JoyfulSorrows]

This story has arguably the best companion exit in the history of Doctor Who. I kind of expected you to mention it in the review, but I understand that you wanted to avoid too many spoilers.

[@trevorsowerby3060]

Hi! Nathaniel, I have to agree with you. It was great to see Patrick's son in Midnight episode! Keep up with the excellent work my friend....

[@borjankosarac3645]

Did you know that Harry Melling, who played Dudley Dursley in the "Harry Potter" films, is Patrick Troughton's grandson? Blew my mind at the time I found out!

[@gunlovingliberal1706]

This was the first reference to Time Lords. However, Galifrey as the home planet was invented later.

[@julieeverett7442]

we dont hear Gallifrey til 3rd

[@Prowl1701]

I've always loved this one. Patrick was such a fun Doctor.

[@DivergingClear]

Keep in mind that the sonic screwdriver was eliminated during the Peter Davison story "The Visitation." The reason for this was to get rid of the magic wand, if you will, and force the Doctor to make due without an easy cheat. Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy did without during their time as the Doctor, as did Paul McGann in the TV movie. It was only with the revival that the sonic made its reappearance, and the psychic paper was introduced. I suspect this was done because they needed a "cheat" since the stories were to be more compressed. You could hardly spend five minutes of a 45 minute episode with the Doctor figuring out how to open a door and then talk his/her way into the room. In these early appearances of the sonic, it was indeed just a screwdriver. It was only with Jon Pertwee's Doctor Gadget that it became more of a magic wand... for example using it to set off a mine field to make it safe to pass through. Until it was gotten rid of by Jon Nathan-Turner, you'd get Tom Baker saying "not even the sonic screwdriver will of THIS door..." whenever it was convenient to the story. Gee... hadn't planned this to be an essay!

[@Enzo012]

I could be wrong but I think the sonic screwdriver literally was just a screwdriver that used sound waves to unscrew things when Troughton first had it. I think it was Pertwee who made it do various other things then for Baker it was a tool that could be used to get out of any situation. In Invasion of Time there was a forth wall break when he told the viewers directly that not even the sonic screwdriver would help him. Peter Davison had his destroyed because it was a bit too useful and it never showed up again. Until the modern era when Eccleston had it, must have found a new one during the Time War. They can't be a common item you can just buy from their equivalent of Amazon.

[@bigbadbaron8416]

The first Classic Who episode I watched episodes 3-8 do suffer being filler in parts however can’t really pinpoint to which scenes in part. The story really stands out in episode 9&10 when the time lords get mentioned and then appear, completely dwarfing the power of the war lord and causing the doctor to loose his 2 best friends. One of my favorite scenes is in episode 4- when the doctor does realize the time lords may be behind what’s going on and the look on his face shows he is terrified and in denial

[@DivergingClear]

The thing that has to be pointed out is that it's amazing this story came to be considered a classic considering what was going on behind the scenes: this was created in a rush to fill ten episode slots when other scripts failed to work at the last minute. They actually threw this thing together on the fly at the last minute! The repeated capture/escape scenarios were simply because they had to fill the time. That they created a classic is a credit to the creativity of the production staff who were scrambling just to get something to get on the air!

[@M-E_123]

I like the pushing round of magnets on a metal sheet - if it's going to look crap anyway just have fun with it. Dr Who was always best when it embraced its limitations on instead of trying to cover it up.

[@BBGirl555]

War Games was 10 episode long. I love your reviews.

[@robinstorey9081]

You said it would probably look awful in colour. I've seen high grade colour photos of the command centre sets and they look fantastic. I would love to have seen this story in colour. I think it would have worked.

[@ksaunders4362]

The magnets as circuits was hilarious. I loved it the first time I watched this story. I actually recent re-watched it - last month some time - and when people talk about the sonic screwdriver I think about how the Second Doctor used it to take the screw out of the butt of the gun. I also really like Jamie. It's a pity that The Highlanders, the episode where he meets the Doctor, is one of the lost ones and only exists as a reconstruction. Zoe didn't do too much screaming in this story and she did work a lot behind the scenes, so to speak, to help bring all the various rebel groups together to attack the main control centre. She does better in other episodes, like The Invasion, where her eidetic memory and mathematical skills really come to the fore. You're right about black & white hiding a lot of sins. I liked the Time Lord in this one too. They're genuinely scary and I really wanted the Doctor to escape. Sadly, his trial went ahead - though it was nowhere near as extensive as poor Colin Baker's!

[@samuelbarber6177]

10 parts. It was this long because two stories planned to end the series fell through at the last minute. It is the second longest Doctor Who stories. The longest is Hartnell's Daleks' Master Plan from season 3, which is 12 parts. The third longest is the Invasion, a Cybermen story from the same season as War Games which is 8 parts.

[@Reprodestruxion]

Jacobite rebellion which alarmed Jamie as he met a Campbell redcoat. >.>

[@yorkiebuck]

As a kid at the time I'm afraid it was way too long and I got bored with it. Just like the cyberman story of the invasion of London. Both stories had their high points but should have been shorter. Patrick Troughton was a fine actor but overall I dont think he got the character quite right and some of the stories were well below par. He was at his best in the Tomb of the Cybermen which is a really good story. Fraser Hines was a decent actor and Jamie is definitely one of the best if not the best companion.

[@theshadowdirector]

Do you know of the whole 'Season 6b' thing? A whole series of events set during or after his story? The lengths fan theory has to go to cover big continuity errors down he line is amazing.

[@CouncilofGeeks]

I'm familiar with the concept but not the details, since I'm not really a continuity hound.

[@DaveTravelsthroughTime]

It basically states that he stayed in his troughton incarnation after war games and works for the time lord CIA .

[@NormalFoot]

Season 6B is necessary because later in the 1980s "The Two Doctors" sort of undermines the greatness of "War Games." (That will probably make more sense after you see "Two Doctors"!) In a nutshell the "Two Doctors" shows both the Troughton Doctor and Jamie not only knowing about the Time Lords, they are WORKING for them. And -- they're actually flippant in their attitude to the Time Lords. (wtf?) And since "Two Doctors" is said to take place BEFORE the events of "The War Games", it makes zero sense that the Troughton Doctor would be terrified of the Time Lords in the "War Games". In essence it undercuts the amazing drama you see in Troughton being actually scared of them. So season 6B makes the case that "Two Doctors" happens after the "War Games." It's a little convoluted, of course! But without 6B, it really pulls the rug out of the drama we get in "War Games" concerning Time Lords.

[@markpostgate2551]

@@NormalFoot Season 6B also explains how Troughton's Doctor in The Five Doctors already knows that Jamie and Zoe were sent back to Earth with their memories wiped, so his visit to see the Brigadier must take place after the War Games too. But did you also know that TV Comic in 1970 had it's own version of Season 6B in that their Patrick Troughton stories of that year take place after the War Games and in the last Troughton comic strip he is caught by Scarecrows sent by the Time Lords to enforce the regeneration that he managed to escape - they drag him into the TARDIS where he regenerated into Jon Pertwee.

[@TimLeeSongs]

Really nice review, it’s always exciting to see people getting into more classic who, especially when they see and articulate things that I didn’t/couldn’t when I first saw them. There are a few cliches that are unfairly targeted at the classic era, such as the ‘rubbish sets’ and the ‘screaming companions.’ I think just like with new who, all eras of the classic era have their ups and downs. I tend to defend the sets and effects because of the era they were made in and the lack of money they had, and once you get into the classics and surrender your disbelief in these things, there’s a certain charm to these limitations and incredible ways they got around them. Yes, there are screaming companions (Victoria from the second doctor’s era and Mel from the seventh are the worst!) but there are also some really strong and interesting female companions, such as Vicki (not to be confused with Victoria), Barbara (who I love!) and Liz Shaw, all of whom are really progressive for their times and when compared with Star Trek etc.. The only thing I don’t like about the War Games is how Troughton ‘hams it up’ during the regeneration, which is surprising after such a heartbreaking and poignant scene where his companions have to forget him (makes me well up every time!). I’m really excited and interested to see what you think of other classic stories, thanks again for another superb video!

[@TheZodiacz]

I like to think the hamming it up was the second Doctor's way of snubbing his nose at the Time Lords. They could force a regeneration but they couldn't make him respect them!

[@theknightsofawesomeness2701]

If you like that the time lords are more mysterious in this story then you should check out the latter half of the seventh doctor's era, the new adventures book Lunbarrow (though, be warned; its not for the less continuity savvy in the Who community) and the big finish audio, Neverland. All those stories are extremely clever and are very enjoyable plus they take risks with Doctor Who cannon and that alone you applaud them for doing.

[@dangerhunter8161]

I agree Jamie is amazing

[@robvegas9354]

i love this story and i watch it quite a bit on dvd(same with The Invasion, Mind Robber, etc) - there is something about the late sixties and dr who that i find most compelling - Jamie and Zoe are really great - a really real top shelf Doctor and companions team - but yeah The War Games goes all out like a magician leading you one way way with a distraction and then comes out of nowhere to kick your ass completely hardcore with how much of a great story it is in the last episodes - this is Classic Dr Who Greatness at its best - i say this gets a ten out of ten - they did good!

[@barry1369]

IMO this is the greatest Doctor Who story of all time.

[@saskruffriders8234]

This regeneration made me sad. Patrick Troughton sold me on the regeneraiton. He didn't want to go and he was fighting it, screaming no until it was over. That's how regeneraitons should be: sad, quick, painful. 11 turning to 12 was one of the worst regenerations I've seen...

[@deanstructor]

A good story and certainly one that can be binge-watched in the modern sense due to its length. All the main cast do a good job, the 2nd Doctor and Jamie relationship is just brilliant and the War Chief is a great role. The security chief grates on me a little with that voice but the War Lord is played by the superb Philip Madoc who always shines in any Doctor Who he's in. It's the first time anyone has referred to the Doctor "McGuyvering" to get out of trouble and I like that shorthand :).

[@andrewbowman4611]

Even more brilliant when you remember that Terry Nation, creator of the Daleks, also created McGuyver.

[@rosco31100]

Possible the best regeneration story I've seen so far (Out of; The Tenth Planet, the Doctor Who Movie, Bad Wolf / Parting of the Ways, The End of Time, The Time of the Doctor and Twice Upon a Time). The actual regeneration I'm not too sure on where I'd rank that but it's an incredible final episode in the story and full of heart breaking moments for me. I'm hoping that once you've done reviewed all the regeneration stories you'll do a top ten for regeneration stories, though I suspect that might be a ways of. Or possible a top ten regeneration scene, ignoring the rest of the story?

[@CouncilofGeeks]

I'm unlikely to rank just the regeneration scenes, but I will do regeneration stories at some point. Really the only one I have left to see is The Tenth Planet.

[@nomadiccedric2751]

9:42 For some reason, that sounded to me like a very effeminate Mondasian Cyberman.

[@maxeyre2024]

Great review for a great story!

[@nathanyou1899]

Best regeneration story ever!

[@nickbrough8335]

It was 10 parts because it replaced two other stories which were unfilmable (not sure why) so Terrence Dicks recruited Malcolm Hulke to help him fill in the gap.

[@Nige031077]

The War Games is a ten parter, but there is not many that are exactly the same length but yeah there are some stories that are 7's, 14's and if you join Frontier in Space with Planet of the Daleks, you end up with the same length of The Daleks Master plan. ☺

[@julieeverett7442]

the 14 part trial runs for an entire season this is ONE story, only masterplan beats it!

[@michaelstacey7613]

Actually a newsman Gallifreyan makes a lot more sense then in modern who we're almost all gallifreyans look like farmers. And there appears to be barely any technology on the planet. And here they are supposed to be the most sophisticated mofos ever

[@Jotari]

That modern depiction is true to Classic Who (The Invasion of Time specifically). There's a large population of non Timelords on Gallifrey that live outside the cities and are basically an opressed class.

[@maurinetritch4901]

Wow! I've suspected that not all Gallifreyans are Time Lords and there's actually a fairly rigid caste system at work on Gallifrey. At least that's the impression I get through Moffat's tenure. Glad to know there was evidence in Classic to back it up.

[@TheZodiacz]

I think it was K-9 in possibly his first story, who states that the Time Lords are 'oligarchic rulers of the planet Gallifrey."

[@MekQuarrie]

Any thoughts on the regeneration? (Anyone.) Probably the only time the Doctor didn't directly change into the next actor...

[@samuelbarber6177]

I really like this story. It's strange, but whenever I watch it, it doesn't drag. It goes by quite fast. Like, I'm just putting the disc in and before I know it, I'm already on Part Five. It's a great concept for a story, not to mention the great performance from Phillip Madoc, the War-Lord, and his wonderful henchman, the War Chief. It's really when everything starts going downhill for the villains when it gets great. When the Do tor must call on the Time-Lords. I will admit, it does drag in the middle, around episodes 5 and 6, but Episode 7 comes roaring back in. At first, you think it's just WW1, maybe with an alien threat coming in, but that's until Episode Three, when we find ourselves in the midst of a Roman Invasion. This story feels like the Season finale to Black and White Doctor Who.

[@ItsTheRealMusicMan]

Do you post about which Who episodes you're doing reviews on before you watch? Because it would be fun to watch them before you post, like a book club for Doctor Who episodes. It could get more people familiar with the classic era

[@CouncilofGeeks]

I put up a monthly docket on my Patreon, but it's a Patron perk (at any support level.) The Patrons actually also vote to help me determine what classic or big finish story to do next.

[@matwells3222]

Try The Trial of a Timelord or Key to Time next. They're also pretty long, given they are entire seasons, but are worth it

[@julieeverett7442]

theres a difference between one story in ten parts, than a 6 stories of 4-6 chapters each, and 4 stories of 3-4 chapters each! And yes they are! The real monster was dalek masterplan of 12 chapters, 13 if you count mission to the unknown.

[@julieeverett7442]

um no. War games is one single story, key to time is six SEPERATE stories with an over arcing theme, trial is actually FOUR seperate stories

[@TheSirSpence]

Douglas Adams said exactly the same about Black and White doctor who, specifically 'An Unearthly Child', in that it covererd a multitude of sins and cheap looking sets.

[@franohmsford7548]

Talking about how Black + White hides a multiple sins - You should check out Pertwee's Planet of the Daleks.

[@mortdewerewolfe691]

This has probably the best, most utterly biting line in the whole show; ''The General's not even a human being''.

[@Reprodestruxion]

Ps how did you rate the American civil war reenactors esp the failure to communicate Confederate general?

[@spluff5]

I watched this all in one sitting on twitched. I couldn't walk away.

[@desperatemohammedantheworl5833]

it's 10 (not 12) episodes long because the previous 4 parter got cancelled at the eleventh hour. I think they do a pretty good job filling it out.

[@robertrattray7567]

Hey it's 10 episodes not 12 the only 12 parter is the daleks masterplan

[@maurinetritch4901]

Russell T Davies said in one of the Confidentials that use of the psychic paper cut something like 8 minutes per episode. And boring minutes, because not much would happen while the Doctor was locked up.

[@CouncilofGeeks]

And with the new show doing single 45-50 minute episodes, 8 minutes is valuable real estate. In the classic era when stories ran 90 minutes to 3 hours there was room for that.

[@yogisie]

I don’t know how familiar you are with the Robert Holmes stories during the classic era. He was NOTORIOUS for demystifying Time Lord culture. He was the one who gave us the concepts of the Doctor having 2 hearts and Time Lords having thirteen lives (12 regenerations) and other ideas. I hope this helps.

[@martinmowbray6448]

He was only 400 years old at this time. So he needed time to think things out.

[@markpostgate2551]

Hadn't even completed his first 500 Year Diary.

[@julieeverett7442]

he stated 450 in the tomb of the cybermen, so he would be getting close to 500 at this point. But yes, this doctor was VERY young by time lord standards

[@slimcash6990]

i WATCHED THiS RECENTLY FOR THE FiRST TiME SiNCE i WAS A KiD AND iT WAS AS AWESOME AS i REMEMBERED. iMAGiNE THEY BROUGHT THE WAR CHiEF BACK. i THiNK THAT'D BE AWESOME. GUESS HE WAS ON HiS LAST REGENERATiON THOU?

[@steventalbot5244]

I love, love, love your reviews and your accent too! Plus you're a handsome chap, you've got it all going on!

[@picklesparkerreviews]

Great review, I also recently watched this for the first time :)

[@theamazingbladegaming]

I love this episode. A great send off to a great doctor.

[@mrdoctorgilmore]

Funny thing is this isn't the 2nd Doctor's regeneration story, he has several more adventures with Jamie doing missions for the time lords before he tries to escape his final judgement, only to be dragged to his tardis by reanimated scarecrows which force him to regenerate.

[@andrewbowman4611]

In the novel World Game, which takes place immediately after this story, we discover how the Doctor acquired the psychic paper.

[@vanwest8939]

How do you watch Classic Who? I don't know where to go to watch Classic Who.

[@CouncilofGeeks]

BritBox

[@michaelstacey7613]

Where could I watch The mentioned classic episode?

[@maxeyre2024]

Dailymotion

[@candoentertainment9118]

Britbox has most Classic Who streaming

[@jandoor2068]

?!? 12 parts? Last time I watched The War Games it was 10 parts! Has the BBC filmed two new episodes and jammed them in there somewhere?

[@Reprodestruxion]

Seems like chancellor Goth was the one that sentenced the Doctor. Chancellor Goth will confirm himself as a dick in The deadly assassin >.>

[@matthewwilliams2093]

Not only have I seen it, but I have seen every episode since. Which makes me really wish I could see some of those missing episodes/stories.

[@julieeverett7442]

me too, we can at least HEAR it!

[@jimmyjambhere]

love this story

[@susandolan1188]

Remember the (Proto) Master makes his debut in this episode.

[@andrewbowman4611]

Is the War Chief really the Master? I know it's a popular fan theory but it doesn't really stand to close scrutiny, especially when you consider the novel ranges, which explicitly presents them as two separate characters.

[@highvoltage7797]

Andrew Bowman I think Terrance Dicks confirmed he’s a different character. Also the Deca a group that the Doctor was in, when he was in the academy, separates them into two different characters.

[@andrewbowman4611]

Wasn't the Monk part of the Deca as well? If so, also quells the other fan theory (although it does seem to contradict The Time Meddler). The Rani was also a member, I believe.

[@highvoltage7797]

Andrew Bowman Yes they are all members. Any renegade time lord in classic Doctor Who was part of the Deca, including Drax from The key to time.

[@nathanyou1899]

Trial of a time lord is 14 parts but it is broken up a bit.

[@julieeverett7442]

trial was over a whole season, this was STORY 21 of a 21 story run! this was one single story!

[@chazzaproductions2254]

Next please do Tomb of The Cybermen

[@jeffgalus8454]

The War Games was a ten part story.

[@craydogdog1530]

I wonder what new who could do to make Gallifrey better again?

[@CouncilofGeeks]

Nothing. All it can do is stop making worse by never going there again.

[@craydogdog1530]

They should introduce a new villain or a new set of villains that are as threatening as the Daleks and use them to take over Gallifrey, then let the new villains reinvent the planet. They should also bring back the warlords. Although, you could argue that while they weren't as scary as the time lords, why not make them more terrifying by overpowering them somewhat. The writers could give them an intriguing backstory on top of that and wallah, the new viewers would love them. There are a lot of things Chibs could do to make the show fresh but I reckon he will play it too safe because everything he has done so far is just meh. I can assure you that he will be different from Moffat but he's too similar to RTD so we might be potentially witnessing a caricature of RTD's era. Since I'm very self-critical, the main problem with my idea is that the time lords will be less threatening now then like ever and we're back to square one again. However, to compensate that, the new villains would give more life to the show and make more Gallifrey mysterious again.

[@brandonshiel6633]

This was a 10 part story not a 12 part story.

[@paulking9476]

I haven't watched this episode in years

[@obiwankenobi5845]

I thought there were 10 episodes in the war games

[@julieeverett7442]

there are, only master plan has 12 (or 13, most people regard mission to the unknown as the prolog)

[@mattt2197]

I liked it the first time I saw it, though I think if I watch it again too soon it would start getting boring.

[@jeffgalus8454]

Ten part story

[@Reprodestruxion]

Should have spinned the camera around >.>

[@Reprodestruxion]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4eqdoJsg9Z7pZo

[@MrRjhyt]

I was so glad to see the psychic paper when Who returned. It was one of my abiding memories from watching as a kid. The Doctor being captured during a tense situation, and marched to the HQ/Command Deck.... etc. Convince them he's not the source of their problems, that he can help... and lose half an episode with that on what felt like every other story.... Hell, it was so blatant even Douglas Adams was taking the mickey in Hitchhikers...

[@rocklobsterjwt]

It was made longer because a story was scrapped. I'd love to rewatch it, but it's so long.

[@julieeverett7442]

so dont watch it in one take, in classic era we watched one episode a week. A classic era episode was one 20/30 minutes long, 2 were the same as a modern episode. So watch 2 or 3 at a time over several days!

[@simonshurville612]

Nice ✊ !!!

[@willimations277]

0:01 I'm going to have to ask that you never do a British accent again. Never ever.

[@daveh6125]

Trail of a timelord favourite story with the timelords

[@nathanyou1899]

Could you get a worse second doctor impression?