Story: The War Machines
Written By: Ian Stuart Black
Length: 4 Episodes
Year: 1966
"The War Machines" is a one of the best Hartnell stories, and quite possibly an even better season ender than "The Time Meddler" the year before. The Doctor and good ol' Dodo land on contemporary earth, 1966. They end up meeting a Professor Brett, and the Doctor gets wrapped up with the WOTAN, a computer that can think.
Ever useful, Dodo does us the job of meeting Ben and Polly, the new companions, who ultimately get wrapped up in the WOTAN/War Machines storyline with the Doctor...as Dodo promptly goes off screen and never comes back ever again. Its weird how even her goodbye is useless, as the Doctor waits for her at the TARDIS, and the actress didn't show up to work or something because Ben and Polly come to the Doctor to tell him "Dodo says goodbye". How pointless was this character? She never got any development, rarely helped out in situations, and was somehow more forgettable than Katarina and Sara Kingdom, and they died after 2 or 3 episodes!
Anyhow there are some great elements to this story, and it moves pretty fast with very little padding. The fact that Dodo disappears doesn't hurt the story, obviously, but helps it, as Ben and Polly are far better characters, already developed more here than Dodo was in any of her stories. Hartnell has one of his most bad ass moments when the War Machine is heading straight towards him, and he stands his ground showing little to no fear at all. He looks sweet in that cape too.
The WOTAN yells at some point "Doctor Who must die" the only time he is ever referred to as such, and in the end Ben and Polly wander into the TARDIS uninvited, about 2 seconds before take off. All in all, ripping good fun.
NEXT TIME: Season 3 Recap
Written By: Ian Stuart Black
Length: 4 Episodes
Year: 1966
"The War Machines" is a one of the best Hartnell stories, and quite possibly an even better season ender than "The Time Meddler" the year before. The Doctor and good ol' Dodo land on contemporary earth, 1966. They end up meeting a Professor Brett, and the Doctor gets wrapped up with the WOTAN, a computer that can think.
Anyhow there are some great elements to this story, and it moves pretty fast with very little padding. The fact that Dodo disappears doesn't hurt the story, obviously, but helps it, as Ben and Polly are far better characters, already developed more here than Dodo was in any of her stories. Hartnell has one of his most bad ass moments when the War Machine is heading straight towards him, and he stands his ground showing little to no fear at all. He looks sweet in that cape too.
The WOTAN yells at some point "Doctor Who must die" the only time he is ever referred to as such, and in the end Ben and Polly wander into the TARDIS uninvited, about 2 seconds before take off. All in all, ripping good fun.
NEXT TIME: Season 3 Recap
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