The War Games (1969) Review

The War Games is easily one of the best Doctor Who stories ever produced. With an outstanding ten episode-length, it manages to be gripping, epic, fun, intelligent, entertaining and all the other good stuff you can think of. It's a fantastic adventure with a beautifully morbid ending.

PLOT

The TARDIS materializes in what appears to be 1917, the First World War only to discover layers upon layers of conspiracies and alien threats until it becomes just too much for them to handle...

Everything works. Just everything. The direction is the best the series has ever seen, ever. It's imaginative and fast-paced, just what this thing needed. The story has so much variety that despite its' looong length, it hardly gets boring because you constantly see new locations and discover new aspects of the overall scheme of the aliens.
Admittedly, it does lag during the American Civil War bit, but once it goes back in, man, it just never stops going. So awesome.

I might not have mentioned it before, but the whole idea of "war games" is one of my favorites in fiction because it just has so much potential to show how the characters respond to different crises. The "board" gives it claustrophobia/atmosphere and the viewer is almost given a sense of control over events. It works so well and adds so much to every story, including this one.

And of course, the cliffhangers. I, for one, believe that the cliffhanger to Episode 9(the arrival of the Time Lords) is the definitive best of the 1960s, at least. I would've loved to see the peoples' reaction back in the day.

Gallifrey looks kind of weird, but the legend has only just started and I'm cool with that. I really like the steamy set, it's just so alien it fits.
And finally... the regeneration from Troughton to Pertwee. Very odd, I must say, but not disappointing at all.

CHARACTERS

Oh, Patrick Troughton, you genius... he really nails it all. From the depressive feel throughout the story to the indignation towards the Time Lords and the Master(why would anyone question that??) to the odd moments where he still manages to charm our socks off with that giddy grin of his...

Jamie and Zoe don't really change, but did they ever? They still work together with the Doctor as a really lovable family unit and get their moments to shine(refusing to let him run away with them) and their end as companions is quite tragic. It's well written.

I love the way The War Games just stacks villains upon villains. First with the ruthless General Smythe, a monster of a military leader, secondly with the far more intelligent and insidious von Weich, thirdly with the Master(hell yeah!), fourthly with the creepy, slimy Security Chief(A guy I've known for years behaves exactly like he does, apart from the speech) and finally, with the calm, but ambitious War Lord.

They're all so different and so well characterised. But now we must flip the coin...

Although Carstairs and Lady Jennifer are both likably British, the others range from forgettable(Russell, the black "he was only there for an episode so don't call me racist" guy) to embarrassing(Villar). I thought Smythe's mustachioed assistant(the shouty one, not Ransom) was kind of funny.

Bernard Horsfall's a great Time Lord, aloof, but not robotic or heartless.

NOTES

*A final cameo from the recorder(used by the Doctor as a spyglass, just like in The Invasion). Why was it so subdued this season?

*The one real issue I have with the story is that Von Weich is inexplicably both the German commander in the 1917 Zone and the Southern commander in the American Civil War Zone. Couldn't they have gotten another actor for it, it would've made the story hang a lot better(and added even more variety. I told you the Civil War Zone part was boring).

*To be honest, I don't see why the sonic screwdriver became so popular. Operating things with sound... yay?

*How come none of the bad guys have any names whatsoever? We don't even know the name of their race! It's just "Security Chief", "home planet", "the scientist" etc.

*Some of the bad guys' tech is really funny, like the VCR-esque recording device.

*Also, what's with the psychedelic interior design? Doesn't look anything like the usual futuristic stuff. I don't have a problem with it, but what prompted this?

*The force-field used by the Time Lords looks identical to the one in the bad guys' lair.

*Speaking of the force-field, how come both an actual shield and something slowing the characters down AND the time zone barrier are all referred to by the same name?

*Are those Romans wearing T-shirts? Also, why are they randomly charging everything?

*Jamie really is spineless, isn't he? Even I could've done a better job negotiating with Villar!

*I just love that moment in Episode 7 when Smythe turns around and it plays the 1917 theme, it's like a shock return appereance within the same story.

*Nice little continuity references to Dr. John Smith(again, how the heck did the First Doctor inherit the name??) and the tuning fork escape from the last story.

*Troughton's hair is distractingly overgrown in this story.

*Who broke that dial on the TARDIS console in Episode 10? It was fine when the technicians left it.

*This is our first wide look at the TARDIS console room since, like The Web Planet or so. Why didn't we have more of them? I presume the full room is still around. During half of the era, I had the impression that they huddle around the console, surrounded only by fake walls and the door.

*I wonder who of the cast and crew got that planetary model that's been hanging around the TARDIS since the First Doctor days...

*"The controls are moving by themselves!" No, Doctor, it's just one that automatically goes up again. We've seen you use it before.

*How come the console is so dead? In the first episode of the show, it was all alive and lit up, in The Tenth Planet, the levers at least moved, but now it just looks so dead.

*The VidFIRE effect looks stunning. The whole story looks like it's just colored in black-and-white, there's no grain or anything.

*What's the story behind the Master's medallion?

*The Scottish Sock Falsetto Theater sketch on the DVD is hilarious. You have to see it.

*Did you know that the Second Doctor comics included Tenth Planet-era Cybermen on Skis and the Quarks as sentient main baddies, plus his grandchildren John and Gillian?

*The 1917 characters are bizarrely similar to characters from the WWI-set sitcom Blackadder Goes Forth. The Major=Blackadder, Carstairs=Lt. George, Smythe=General Melchett, Ransom=Captain Darling, Lady Jennifer=Bob. Or is it just me?

CONCLUSION

An undeniable classic and vital story in the overall canvas of Doctor Who as it introduces so many elements that later become increasingly important.