Story: The War Games
Written By: Malcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks
Length: 10 Episodes
Year: 1969
"The War Games" is one of the most important episodes of the entire series. It is the finale to Season 6, it is Doctor Who's 50th story, it is the final story to feature Jamie and Zoe as regulars, it is the last story of the 1960s, it finally reveals the Doctor as a Time Lord, and they make their first appearance here, and it is the story in which the Doctor is punished for his interference and exiled on Earth, setting up the arc that would continue for a good portion of Jon Pertwee's era.
The story really is the epic last hurrah for Patrick Troughton, who gets 10 fairly decent episodes to go out on. Luckily, the Space Pirates is the last Doctor Who serial to have any missing episodes, and we get to see and enjoy all of Troughton's goodbye.
The story is sort of 2 serials rolled into one great big serial. The first part is the Earth story, in which The TARDIS lands in the middle of battle, and soon discover that there is more than one war (from different time zones) in the same general area. Eventually the Doctor discovers that a member of his own race is orchestrating all of this. This is the second villain to appear as a member of the Doctor's own race, after the Meddling Monk in Hartnell's days.
The second story is a hard one for the Doctor. Realizing he cannot fix this problem on his own, he is forced to contact his own race, the Time Lords...and seek their help. Way back in the first Hartnell story the Doctor mentions that he is an exile and cut off from his own race (along with Susan). Here we find out that the Doctor stole his TARDIS and ran away from his home planet. He tries to get away again, but the Time Lords stop him.
He is forced to admit to Jamie and Zoe, that they won't be getting out of this scrape. Not this time. He is forced to say goodbye to them, and it is really sad, as like the 1/Steven/Vicki team in Hartnell's day, I really liked the 2/Jamie/Zoe team. After they are returned to their own homes and times, the Doctor asks the Time Lords if they are wiping their memory. Of course, they are, all but their first experience with the Doctor. The Doctor gets to see them safely returned on a view-screen. Then his trial begins.
The Time Lords find the doctor guilty of the crime of interference and stealing a TARDIS. Their punishment is that he gets to keep the TARDIS, but lose all memory of how to pilot or fix it, and he will be exiled to Earth until they see fit to free him. The Doctor is shocked, but then they do something even more powerful and frightening, they force him to regenerate. The lost shot of the story is the spinning and screaming Troughton disappear into the darkness.
"The War Games" doesn't feel like just an epic finale to Troughton's reign as the Doctor, but it feels like THE finale to both Troughton and Hartnell. While there was no intended arc to the show in the 60s, if you were to find one, it would clearly be the mystery of the Doctor, who he is, was and why he is an exile from his home world. We don't get everything answered, but we never should. If the show ended right here with Troughton floating in the darkness screaming no, it would be this creepy odd and mysterious end to this show, and I think it could've worked. It ties up some loose ends for fans of 60s Who. But as the show continued, it also set a new focus for the show with The Doctor exiled, knowing he is a Time Lord, and giving some fresh new direction for the show to head into.
So ends the Second Doctor.
NEXT TIME: Season 6 Recap
Written By: Malcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks
Length: 10 Episodes
Year: 1969
"The War Games" is one of the most important episodes of the entire series. It is the finale to Season 6, it is Doctor Who's 50th story, it is the final story to feature Jamie and Zoe as regulars, it is the last story of the 1960s, it finally reveals the Doctor as a Time Lord, and they make their first appearance here, and it is the story in which the Doctor is punished for his interference and exiled on Earth, setting up the arc that would continue for a good portion of Jon Pertwee's era.
The story is sort of 2 serials rolled into one great big serial. The first part is the Earth story, in which The TARDIS lands in the middle of battle, and soon discover that there is more than one war (from different time zones) in the same general area. Eventually the Doctor discovers that a member of his own race is orchestrating all of this. This is the second villain to appear as a member of the Doctor's own race, after the Meddling Monk in Hartnell's days.
The second story is a hard one for the Doctor. Realizing he cannot fix this problem on his own, he is forced to contact his own race, the Time Lords...and seek their help. Way back in the first Hartnell story the Doctor mentions that he is an exile and cut off from his own race (along with Susan). Here we find out that the Doctor stole his TARDIS and ran away from his home planet. He tries to get away again, but the Time Lords stop him.
He is forced to admit to Jamie and Zoe, that they won't be getting out of this scrape. Not this time. He is forced to say goodbye to them, and it is really sad, as like the 1/Steven/Vicki team in Hartnell's day, I really liked the 2/Jamie/Zoe team. After they are returned to their own homes and times, the Doctor asks the Time Lords if they are wiping their memory. Of course, they are, all but their first experience with the Doctor. The Doctor gets to see them safely returned on a view-screen. Then his trial begins.
The Time Lords find the doctor guilty of the crime of interference and stealing a TARDIS. Their punishment is that he gets to keep the TARDIS, but lose all memory of how to pilot or fix it, and he will be exiled to Earth until they see fit to free him. The Doctor is shocked, but then they do something even more powerful and frightening, they force him to regenerate. The lost shot of the story is the spinning and screaming Troughton disappear into the darkness.
"The War Games" doesn't feel like just an epic finale to Troughton's reign as the Doctor, but it feels like THE finale to both Troughton and Hartnell. While there was no intended arc to the show in the 60s, if you were to find one, it would clearly be the mystery of the Doctor, who he is, was and why he is an exile from his home world. We don't get everything answered, but we never should. If the show ended right here with Troughton floating in the darkness screaming no, it would be this creepy odd and mysterious end to this show, and I think it could've worked. It ties up some loose ends for fans of 60s Who. But as the show continued, it also set a new focus for the show with The Doctor exiled, knowing he is a Time Lord, and giving some fresh new direction for the show to head into.
So ends the Second Doctor.
NEXT TIME: Season 6 Recap
Comments
Post a Comment