Doctor Who (TV Series) The War Machines: Episode 3 (1966) User Reviews

The only thing missing is Jon Pertwee

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 20 April 2018]

The first two episodes are a little on the slow side I think it's fair to say, good, stylish, great concepts, but lack any real action. The third part changes all that, and is definitely the best episode so far. It defies its age, and certainly stands out from every serial in the Hartnell years, when you watch it you could easily be forgiven for thinking the team behind the Jon Pertwee years watched it and took the concept forward. The Earth under attack, The Doctor and Army standing in a way, a suited bureaucrat making things awkward, incredible.

One very definite thing you're aware of is Ben and Polly, the pair are dynamic, attractive, fun, watchable, a truly new breed of companion, you just knew they were going to be special. A fantastic pair shared between the pair, when Ben plans his escape, a hypnotised Polly looking onward. Excellent.

Very good, 8/10

Contemporary Earth setting with military backup, this adventure is a preview of the Third Doctor style of the 70s

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 6/10 · 19 August 2014]

Review of all 4 episodes:

This is the first time a whole story was set on a contemporary Earth. It really foreshadows the later style of Doctor Who in 2nd Doctor stories The Invasion, The Faceless Ones and The Web of Fear which became the regular style of the Jon Pertwee era. For that reason this is a notable adventure.

The story involves a revolutionary new computer called WOTAN which can think for itself being unveiled by Professor Brett (John Harvey) at London's Post Office Tower. This is intended to be linked up with other such computers to be installed around the world. Of course the computer actually decides to take over the world.

The 1966 setting and the story itself are very much designed to allow producer Innes Lloyd and story editor Gerry Davis put their stamp on the show making it more action-orientated, gutsy and trendy. One companion of the Doctor exits in part 2 (Jackie Lane as Dodo) and he acquires two new young, swinging sixties companions Polly and Ben who are introduced for the youth of the day to have someone they really relate to alongside the Doctor. Both of them work very well, having good banter together and carrying out their roles in the plot convincingly. Dodo was never that great as a companion so this is a definite improvement in that respect but previous companion Steven, who left in the previous story, was better in my opinion. William Hartnell as the Doctor continues as strongly as ever. These central performances and a lot of good dialogue are the strengths of this story adding a lot of quality. The first episode is strong and interesting but the second episode is rather silly and the rest of the adventure is not great.

The plot itself is not very well thought through at all in many aspects and has a general lack of logic. For example in episode 2 a tramp is killed late at night and his picture appears in the next mornings paper which would be impossible of course. WOTAN also is shown in episode 2 to recruit a workforce, acquire premises, manufacture parts, print WOTANS 'W' logo onto hundreds of boxes then pack, ship and construct new machines all in the space of about 12 hours, which again is clearly impossible. An additional small gripe for many is that the Doctor gets referred to as "Doctor Who" throughout this story which all fans know was never meant to be the actual name of the character only the title of the show but this was later somewhat retconned by Steven Moffatt so it now is not really a mistake.

In addition to the lack of logic, 'WOTAN' and the war machines are also not that impressively realised. They look a bit silly and are not a believable enough threat. WOTAN is entirely unconvincing in most respects. The battle scenes are not enacted well enough for my liking either. All these issues detract quite a lot from the quality of the story. To be fair taken as a whole it is still entertaining at times and explores issues of machines taking over which were very prominent at the time. It has some strong dialogue, some fun scenes and good acting. So it is not bad overall, it is a reasonable run-of-the-mill 1960s sci-fi story but below average for Doctor Who standards.

My Ratings: Episode 1 - 8/10, Episode 2 - 4/10, Episodes 3 & 4 - 6/10

Overall: 6/10

Season 3 is in my opinion stronger than Season 2 but due, probably, to the changes in production team the quality is not consistent across the whole season. It does not reach the standards of Season 1 or the best seasons of the show but it is a fairly average quality season overall.

Overall Season 3 average rating - 8.06/10