DOCTOR WHO THE WAR GAMES IN COLOUR - REVIEWED AND RATED!

[@AngeloMicciche-k7x]

Whilst I admired the programme’s ambition, and it is always good to see Patrick and Co, some of the editing was jarring and reminiscent of a clips show.

[@ianwoodward1127]

Excellent review Paul. I watched it and enjoyed it immensely. I thought that the colourisation process was really well done and elevated the experience. It was fantastic to see Patrick Troughton in colour. There were a couple of caveats as you mentioned. I actually quite liked the regeneration and thought it was well done. I also liked the fact that they included the initial scene from Spearhead. It worked for me. So overall for me as for you a triumph! Well done BBC! Thanks for the great content. I look forward to your review of Joy to the World. Have a great Christmas Day!

[@farfromallover]

Thoughtful review, thank you :)

[@thecelticdruid7707]

I absolutely loved it, watched with my 20 year old son, it held his interest. I like how it implies the war chief is the Master. I'll be getting this on dvd . I enjoyed this better than the Daleks.

[@darrynwalker6270]

At least there was one good Doctor Who episode this Christmas. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

[@CardiffOneOne]

You haven't seen the second one yet...

[@kyletaylor3255]

I thought it was great visually for the most part, and exciting. The new music was very well done, and I liked the clever rearrangement of scenes, so the view switches between one scene and the other happening at the same time, to add to the sense of drama and urgency. So I really think it is a good thing. However, it is a bit of a shame that characters now just pop into the story to perform key points in the plot without being introduced or the viewers getting to have a sense of who they are. The new viewer is left in the dark as to who this slow-witted Mexican is who didn't cotton on straight away to the fact that the Doctor was only pretending to help the aliens. And the continual jumping forward to new scenes in the central base meant I sometimes found it hard to process what was going on. And I've seen the War Games serial, it's got to be hard for those who haven't. The regeneration scene itself was nicely done. I'm racking my brains to think of where they had got the footage of Troughton in the chair in the Tardis, or of Pertwee in the chair in the Tardis. But I think it was let down by what followed. A dodgy-looking 3D computer generated animation of Pertwee, which of course doesn't look like him, as such things never do capture the likeness, did not gel with the rest of the film. And I am actually quite irritated by RTD's continual jokey references to the show's inconsistency on what time period the Doctor's adventures with UNIT occur in. Here it's right in your face, with the Tardis showing the 'Local Time Zone' fluctuating between 1970 and 1980. I get that it's for a laugh, but it's clumsy and does blow apart the suspension of disbelief that is needed for episodes/stories/adventures to work for the viewer. Better to just be vague about the time period or not reference it at all. I have no other gripes, I otherwise liked the whole idea and execution of the project. The opening scenes with the trio having come out of the Tardis into no man's land were especially good and looked stunning. I assume these must have used the newly recovered original location film (16mm) which would give a better quality picture than we previously had. I loved the images of the Tardis moving through space, people looking at screens and other additions.

[@mattiow9664]

I really enjoyed seeing this Doctor's episode in colour ,so crisp and beautifully done wow ! I'm in my late 50's now and when I was a kid would try and imagine thie era in colour ,and would be thrilled enough to come across a colour still photo ....no complaints from me ! The music hinting at a Master origin story arch, I loved ...it made perfect sense when listening to the dialogue between him and the doctor .I was impressed with the regeneration scene ,for a modern audience its more satisfying.... The inner kid in me was left thirsty for more ...thank you to everyone who made an old Dr Who fan feel like a young one again ....best Christmas present (trust me on that !) 😂

[@akshaytrayner1960]

Good review

[@AnotherScifiGuy]

A lot of the pertwee footage post-regeneration is sourced from inferno.

[@eagleal]

Haven’t seen it yet, saving my viewing for Christmas Day, and looking forward to it. There does seem to be some ridiculously over the top criticism already on line though, but I have no problem with these new colourisations myself and always enjoy new takes on old material

[@CardiffOneOne]

Some of the criticism is ludicrous but sadly that's fairly typical of an angry and entitled portion of Dr Who fandom these days. I try to let them get on with it as they seem happy with their misery.

[@nicknewton7384]

I liked the addition of the alien city and the Nestene meteorites at the end.

[@tsmith7146]

Negatives: The CGI of the War Lords' base looked ridiculous and was laughably bad. Music - loved the subtlety of Dudley Simpson's original score but this was too much; over the top and in places worked against the actors' lines. The CGI/AI closeup shot of Jon Pertwee's face post regeneration should have been left out. The shots of him talking in the chair after this CGI/AI shot were great and were enough. The images of Capaldi, Tennant etc.. when picking a new face didn't work for me. Perhaps rough pencil drawn images of the actors would have been better, akin to the original images. I wish a montage of Season 7 (by far my favourite season) had been included to showcase the forthcoming S7 Blu Ray release. Positives: I thought the edit (to my surprise) was good, managing to condense well over 4 hours down to 1.5 hours. The biggest positive, though, is Patrick Troughton. He just shines through, as always; what a wonderful doctor.

[@garyturner5739]

Have they colourised the first Doctor Who episode?

[@CardiffOneOne]

Not yet

[@pauljazzman408]

I have watched the first part so far. The exterior view of the alien base looks amazing, so that was recreated, I liked it. I recognised the exterior shots of Cuckmere haven in Sussex. Anyway it was all beautifully re coloured.

[@garytwinem5275]

A fun curio, but I still prefer the original. I remember my friend and I making our way through this epic over two evenings on VHS 🙂

[@mikec32001]

I agree, much more successful than the Daleks.

[@anthonygreen7063]

Loved it, with the same caveats as Paul. I thought Troughton's silence on Whittaker was interesting.

[@bowds7]

The regeneration was a fan film who was approach by the BBC to include it into the War Games as he did a great job considering he didn’t have the tools and the budget behind him and is more plausible that what was originally given, Well done to fan for his efforts.

[@RichardFraser-mn5pe]

I was extremely impressed with the new regeneration. Wow!

[@happyman050]

A well balanced and fair review. It was fine for me. I just view it as an alternate way to watch The War Games the same way I can watch the 2 Cushing films in place of The Daleks or Dalek invasion of Earth if I feel in the mood.

[@CardiffOneOne]

Good comparison

[@decadentdave]

After the abomination of The Daleks I didn’t bother pre-ordering this. RTD butchered it unforgivably. I just can’t put myself through the pain again. I’ve no issue with them being colourized but leave them preserved without the retconned alterations, edits, modernized special effects and music.

[@CardiffOneOne]

But they ARE "preserved"...they've not been damaged or replaced, the originals still exist, this is just an update done to give old shows a new life for a new audience. As for "pain" watching, well ...a bit of perspective, please!!! It's really just a bit of vintage TV! It seems to have gone down extremely well generally, and rightly so.

[@stark_harshly]

RTD bashing and he didn't even direct it 🙄

[@CardiffOneOne]

Any excuse unfortunately... 🙄

[@necroscope5064]

I did really enjoy it, but just like The Daleks, it felt rushed. Still a good alternative for future viewing.

[@lukethomas216]

Well I enjoyed it. It was a pleasure to see my favourite TARDIS team in colour and whilst I don’t agree with all the changes I’m not bothered, my DVD is still on my shelf. I wouldn’t want to see complete originals colourised-that would be disrespectful to the glory of black’n white 😁

[@bondbug73]

Nothing but admiration for work gone into it. But I felt I was watching a VHS tape in fast forward. I don't remember much of it, except for the fine performances from the War Lord and War Chief. Probably would have better over two 90 minute episodes? The new music again killed the tension, except for the early 70's Master's theme during the Doctor and War Chief meeting.

[@emeraldscorpio]

I'm sure the footage with Pertwee is Pertwee as he did a fan film of the regeneration before he died.

[@CardiffOneOne]

He must have been de-aged then.

[@stark_harshly]

I think the regeneration was "borrowed" from a fan project, so be kind! I think it would have worked better if film-ised a bit, and I wish the "suggested faces" weren't publicity shots of Capaldi, Tennant, etc, it looks a bit tacky. I wouldn't have mind if they'd used the same sort of effect they used in Rogue. Feels like budget may have been limited.

[@CardiffOneOne]

I am always kind...that's the ethos of this channel! 😀

[@philarthur2777]

I watched it the colourised repeat, having watched the programme when it was first shown. A complex plot, a story that took several episodes, violence (mild) - how good Dr Who was, back in the day. In a time when the BBC was worth watching.

[@CardiffOneOne]

The BBC is still worth watching. 🙄 The UK would be a poorer place without it.

[@Eltonlaleham]

I do say Paul I hope this version is released on dvd, and also perhaps they could later do Tomb of the Cybermen like they have done with this story and the first Dalek serial which I have on dvd.

[@CardiffOneOne]

War Games is already available to pre-order on DVD and Blu-ray 👍

[@nathanthomas5133]

Agree that the only real jarring issues for me came in the last few minutes - with the pasting in of Capaldi/Tennant etc, the Troughton stand-in & the waxy Pertwee - but this was more about the way it was done (uncanny valley) than the fact that they did it. I’ve always avoided the original as who has time to watch a fuzzy 10 part story from 55 years ago - but this version was brisk trot through the story for anyone who is a casual viewer & may actually encourage some to visit the originals if they want to fill out the story.

[@walters720]

Would have been a lot better if there weren't any music.

[@delboy3k1]

I always have thought of the first 2 doctors stories as having lots of padding possibly a 1/3rd or extreme a 1/2 and after watching war games i think it would be better as 120mins rather than 90. It was still jarring, but I think they got away with it. The new footage looks too modern....should have been dirtied a little to look like spearhead 1970 rather than 2024. Again, all my opinion, but as said.....just about got away with it imho. Excelsior

[@TiswasTerry]

I simply loved it, thanks to all those who worked on it

[@awsom50]

Sorry, I thought this was an absolute mess. It's basically a glorified "official" fanedit, that has no concerns for telling a coherent, well paced story. I mean, the jump cuts were terrible, laughable really. My wife, who had never seen the story before, but does like Who a lot, just turned to me and said this is dreadful, can we just watch the original? Thankfully, yes...yes we can. The only positive for me was the picture quality looked great for the most part...but that was it.

[@CardiffOneOne]

Fair enough. I think it did a good job of telling a coherent, if hectic story. It can't work for everyone though.

[@awsom50]

@@CardiffOneOne True Paul... glad you enjoyed it!

[@trevormstone]

Totally agree with you. Loved the master references but especially the Roger Delgado musical motif. Also, was that a bit of "regeneration" music I heard on the last shot with the war chief's body?

[@CardiffOneOne]

I believe it was!

[@AirwolfCrazy]

I see no reason to have edited it down to 90min. The complete 10 part story is just fine as it was. As for color, when I have purchased the other animated shows they have come in color and B/W. I have only watched the B/W version.

[@CardiffOneOne]

The reason has been freely discussed for ages and has been stated again and again in these comments. But I'm sure you already know that...

[@ZoahLord]

For me, the positives: Suspension of disbelief where it felt like an early 70s story visually. The hint of Nu-Who regeneration audio when the War Chief's body is being moved off-screen. Mixing footage of some scenes over the audio of another to aid exposition and save time. The re-colourisation of clips of Quarks, Ice Warriors, Yetis, Cybermen and Daleks. The regeneration - not perfect but since I've seen the clip online long before it was appropriated for this project, it looked better than I remember. The UNIT-era confusing the TARDIS' dating circuits. The end Credits - Pertwee style. The could-have been better bits: The break-neck pace was almost relentless with some footage feeling like it was sped-up compared to the original. Too many musical queues to hammer in the potential link between War Chief and The Master - just the one will do! The inclusion of Peter and Jodie as next incarnation options - love them to bits but they're the next regeneration cycle, so it felt somewhat out of place - perhaps John Hurt as the one who's too old? (RIP sir!)

[@burnsybaby1987]

You'd be irritated if you were Rudolph Walker wouldn't you!

[@CardiffOneOne]

😅

[@hunterharmak]

So true, I agree with most of your thoughts other than I found the regeneration choice amusing and the new regeneration footage awesome. I think considering the ambition this was probably as good as we were going to get. Like the only other classic who colourisation as ambitious would be remaking the Dalek's Master Plan, in my opinion. Nice to hear your thoughts.

[@CardiffOneOne]

Cheers, thank you!

[@dongle1975]

It was good except for the modern effects. The worst part was using the 2005 doctors near the end. This was just cringe of the highest order.

[@AdamRichards-us3ju]

A game of two halves - first half jumped too much and made little sense in some places. Second half - brilliant and works really well at the story. Still, good overall. The regeneration at the end was a disappointment - seen it ages ago. And why did they not do a more obvious regen of the Mawster? It would have made so much more sense of the cannon of DW3.

[@gazsmith7105]

I agree about the Music also The inclusion of the other doctors as illustrations similar to before would have been better and less jarring, and I wish some of the new scenes had of made them look abit more grainy to fit in with the time period but other than that i really enjoyed it

[@BillSilver-kg8hs]

It's official, the War Chief IS the Master. Despite what the co writer of the story, the late Terrance Dicks is on record as saying, that he wasn't.

[@CardiffOneOne]

You don't have to agree with it, this is just one version of the story.

[@seanalexander9687]

Loved the new version. Gorgeous to look at and with an incredible pace you’d scarce have expected from what has inevitably been a bloated story despite its quality. The War Chief revisionism was my favourite element, and makes perfect sense in my head canon, but I’m sure there’s many more already shrieking with horror at yet another piece of revisionism; and one easily ignored by the new audience for whom this cutdown colourisation was surely meant for.

[@rumbers]

The new incidental score was jarring and it relentlessly whined on and on over the dialogue - so much that it became muffled and indecipherable. The whistle-stop fast cutting killed all pathos and suspense that was so much part of the original. The mistakes they made in the colourised version of 'The Daleks' have obviously not been learned in this one.

[@CardiffOneOne]

Well they clearly CLEARLY have but of course you're entitled to your opinion.

[@htershane]

As with “The Daleks” the music let it down for me, I just felt I was watching a montage sequence like those bits in “Confidential” whenever they were illustrating some moments from the classic era to music except this went on for 90 minutes! Less would definitely have been more IMO. It wasn’t a total disaster, i liked the regen epilogue, the colourisation was better than the last effort and the story held together quite well considering nearly 2/3 of it was chopped. An interesting curio but I’ll be sticking to the original for future rewatches. Oh and the “Master” retcon, meh, but again the music was far too OTT, subtle it wasn’t, they should have just kept it to that little motif from Dudley’s original theme when the Doctor and War Chief have their little chat and left it there.

[@Meglos552]

I thought it was an absolutely dreadful parody of an all time classic story. The colouring was off, I could still see patches of black and white like on some of the early Pertwee stories. The music was obnoxious and ruined most of the dialogue. The cgi looked like it was from the 90s and the pace and atmosphere was completely gone. They say they are trying to retell these stories for a modern audience. But the “modern audience” watch Netflix and binge hour after hour of long format series, so why is a 4 hour doctor Who story such struggle to get through? I don’t think it’s got anything to do with revamping old stories for the modern audience, it’s just Russel T Davies and his massive ego not being content with just ruining nu who so he has to go back and ruin the old show by reinventing it in his own image. It’s almost like saying the original production is rubbish. Classics are classics, stop meddling with them.

[@CardiffOneOne]

Once again, the original still exists, what don't you understand about that?? There is NO WAY a modern audience would tolerate the original ten stodgy episodes, you are deluding yourself if you think otherwise. The pace was terrific, the CGI sympathetic and the colourisation is remarkable. Maybe your TV settings need looking at? Unfortunately I suspect you'll never come around to this sort of clever and adventurous revisioning of vintage TV (and your silly, tiresome comments about RTD and your use of the ridiculous " nu who" expression made your positioning quite clear) so I can only suggest that you avoid them and stick to the originals....WHICH STILL EXIST.

[@Meglos552]

@ It’s not about the originals still existing. It’s about disrespecting other people’s work who did remarkable things with the resources they had. They should funnel their budget into making something that is actually needed like some of the animations that haven’t been done yet. And if you think a modern audience can’t sit through 4 hours of TV then you’re deluded. Shows like game of thrones and breaking bad wouldn’t have been a success if the modern audience didn’t like long format story telling. I think what you really mean by modern audience is children, who can’t focus for more than ten seconds before moving on to the next TikTok clip. TV in general isn’t made with them in mind because that’s just not how they consume their media, they do it through short clips. The modern teenage and adult audience do like long format stories, just take one look at any streaming service and you’ll see that their full of long format series and serials that people will happily binge on their day off.

[@CardiffOneOne]

@Meglos552 The shows you are talking about are modern shows with modern production values. The War Games is in black-and-white with the production values associated with the era. That's what I'm referring to but you chose to ignore it. No-one but hardcore fans could tolerate something like The War Games now and YOU are deluded if you persist in thinking otherwise. Anyway, thanks for your comments, I'm keen to avoid comments devolving into "I'm right, you're wrong" so we will have to agree to differ on this one.

[@Meglos552]

@ We certainly will, enjoy the rest of your day.

[@CardiffOneOne]

@Meglos552 You too. Have a good Christmas!

[@stephencooke401]

It was great.