It was always going to be a huge challenge maintaining the brilliance of the opening episodes through such a long story. Part three is still very good, with lots going on. The dashing bearded figure is intriguing at this stage, you can't help but wonder who and what he is, whether he's a Time Lord etc. The plot is beginning to make sense, war generals playing games with real-life soldiers, it's a hugely imaginative bug idea. The expressions on the Roman Soldiers are quite something, and some of the German accents are quite poor, however none of that detracts from the overall quality. The quartet of characters has of course split, and the question is what awaits The Doctor and Zoe at the centre of the map. It's one of the darker stories in the shows early years, it's quite twisted when you think of it, very good.
3 Reviews
Padded but still entertaining story.
poolandrews13 May 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Doctor Who: The War Games: Episode Three starts as the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) realises that he, Jamie (Frazer Hines) & Zoe (Wendy Padbury) are trapped between time zones which depict famous historical Earth wars. Together with help from Lady Jennifer Buckingham (Jane Sherwin) & Lieutenatnt Carstairs (David Savile) they manage to find & steal a map of the various time zones in General Smythe's (Noel Coleman) personal quarters. The map shows various triangular zones that are connected to each other with a blank area in the middle, the Doctor says that they will find the answers they seek in that unidentified central zone. The group set out to get there but must get past the likes of the German army & American confederate soldiers who are all out to kill them...
Episode 37 from season 6 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during May 1969, despite the length of The War Games I must confess to actually rather enjoying it so far. Even though this is only Episode Three & there are another seven to go at the moment I am looking forward to seeing them. I don't want to keep mentioning this but I do have ten comments to fill & it's a very important point but The War Games doesn't half feel padded at times. Like in the previous two episodes here the Doctor, Jamie & Zoe are all captured as spies again & escape yet again, the only difference is this time it's by the German army. After not knowing quite what is going on or who is behind it here in Episode Three the first major plot elements are coming to light with the map of time zones surrounding a blank one where mysterious as yet unidentified people run them, make decisions & monitor what's going on. We still aren't totally sure who they are or for what purpose they are doing this though so the incentive to watch the next episode is still very much there. The little bits of information revealed so far have been bait really just to keep you hooked, the problem is with seven more episodes still to go I am not sure how long it can carry on like it before I get bored. During this episode the Doctor uses the alias Doctor John Smith again which he first used in The Wheel in Space (1968) at the end of the previous season in a similar situation.
This episode sees the Doctors & his companions first venture into the American Civil War zone, it looks a lot like the English countryside actually but I'll let it go. We also get several scenes set inside the German trenches where Zoe & Jamie put on some very unflattering German spiked helmets & the English actors who play the German soldiers speak in truly the worst German accents I've heard & are even worse than those heard in the BBC sitcom Allo 'Allo! (1982 - 1992). We also see the war games centre for the first time & the scientists inside wear some incredibly embarrassing futuristic cardboard glasses which really hurts the otherwise very impressive production values.
The War Games: Episode Three is another good episode in what has been so far a very enjoyable Doctor Who story & the problem is whether it can sustain itself over another seven whole episodes, keep reading my comments to find out if I think it does...
Episode 37 from season 6 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during May 1969, despite the length of The War Games I must confess to actually rather enjoying it so far. Even though this is only Episode Three & there are another seven to go at the moment I am looking forward to seeing them. I don't want to keep mentioning this but I do have ten comments to fill & it's a very important point but The War Games doesn't half feel padded at times. Like in the previous two episodes here the Doctor, Jamie & Zoe are all captured as spies again & escape yet again, the only difference is this time it's by the German army. After not knowing quite what is going on or who is behind it here in Episode Three the first major plot elements are coming to light with the map of time zones surrounding a blank one where mysterious as yet unidentified people run them, make decisions & monitor what's going on. We still aren't totally sure who they are or for what purpose they are doing this though so the incentive to watch the next episode is still very much there. The little bits of information revealed so far have been bait really just to keep you hooked, the problem is with seven more episodes still to go I am not sure how long it can carry on like it before I get bored. During this episode the Doctor uses the alias Doctor John Smith again which he first used in The Wheel in Space (1968) at the end of the previous season in a similar situation.
This episode sees the Doctors & his companions first venture into the American Civil War zone, it looks a lot like the English countryside actually but I'll let it go. We also get several scenes set inside the German trenches where Zoe & Jamie put on some very unflattering German spiked helmets & the English actors who play the German soldiers speak in truly the worst German accents I've heard & are even worse than those heard in the BBC sitcom Allo 'Allo! (1982 - 1992). We also see the war games centre for the first time & the scientists inside wear some incredibly embarrassing futuristic cardboard glasses which really hurts the otherwise very impressive production values.
The War Games: Episode Three is another good episode in what has been so far a very enjoyable Doctor Who story & the problem is whether it can sustain itself over another seven whole episodes, keep reading my comments to find out if I think it does...
Momentous, historic, fabulous epic which starts a lot of the series' mythology.
A_Kind_Of_CineMagic19 September 2014
Review for all 10 episodes:
This is an epic of a story as it spreads across a huge 10 episodes. Much more than that though, this has truly epic importance in the history of Doctor Who! There a number of reasons why this is one of the most important and pivotal stories in the whole series.
Firstly, it finally reveals that The Doctor's own people are called Time Lords and it introduces them as a society for the first time. This, after 6 whole series, finally removes a little of the mystery of the show by telling us something of The Doctor's origins. It also tells us that The Doctor has run away, stealing his TARDIS and that he is at complete odds with the way in which their society behaves. He is shown to be quite terrified of the Time Lords, in fact.
As well as these hugely important revelations it also has the major event of the end of Troughton's tenure as The Doctor with him being forced to regenerate. This is not only the second ever regeneration, it has the added impact of being done as a punishment for him refusing to conform to Time Lord rules and running away with the TARDIS. It changes the course of the series as well because they also exile The Doctor to late 20th Century Earth. This is done in order that the series can have a period of purely Earth based adventures with a team of regular 'helpers' (in the form of UNIT).
As if that isn't enough it features the emotional departure of Jamie and Zoe. This is done in a heartrendingly sad way which involves wiping all memories of their time with The Doctor apart from their first meeting.
Even though these massively pivotal aspects occur in this story the most striking thing of all about this story is the brilliance of it as entertainment. It involves a plot where the TARDIS arrives in what appears to be a purely historical setting of the First World War trenches but then has the twist of slowly introducing science fiction aspects leading you to believe it is a 'pseudo-historical' story with alien intervention in Earth history. It then twists again to show they are, in fact, surrounded by many historical periods of war going on at the same time. Soldiers have been removed unknowingly from various wars on Earth to take part in 'War Games' which are being manipulated by an alien force to create perfect soldiers.
The whole 10 episodes are thoroughly enjoyable, superbly written (by Malcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks), acted, directed (by David Maloney) and presented. Troughton is fantastic (although his finale where he has to pull faces to show the effects of his regeneration are a shame, I wish they had done that differently), Frazer Hines is at his absolute best as Jamie and Wendy Padbury has a good send off too. All the guest cast (including Patrick Troughton's son David) and especially Philip Madoc and Edward Brayshaw as a renegade Time Lord, excel in their roles. For its importance and its exceptional quality this is one of the best stories of all.
My Ratings: All 10 Episodes 10/10
Despite this and The Invasion both being all-time great stories, disappointing stories The Dominators, The Krotons and The Space Pirates dragged the Season down to just medium quality for the series overall.
Average Season 6 Rating: 8.01/10
This is an epic of a story as it spreads across a huge 10 episodes. Much more than that though, this has truly epic importance in the history of Doctor Who! There a number of reasons why this is one of the most important and pivotal stories in the whole series.
Firstly, it finally reveals that The Doctor's own people are called Time Lords and it introduces them as a society for the first time. This, after 6 whole series, finally removes a little of the mystery of the show by telling us something of The Doctor's origins. It also tells us that The Doctor has run away, stealing his TARDIS and that he is at complete odds with the way in which their society behaves. He is shown to be quite terrified of the Time Lords, in fact.
As well as these hugely important revelations it also has the major event of the end of Troughton's tenure as The Doctor with him being forced to regenerate. This is not only the second ever regeneration, it has the added impact of being done as a punishment for him refusing to conform to Time Lord rules and running away with the TARDIS. It changes the course of the series as well because they also exile The Doctor to late 20th Century Earth. This is done in order that the series can have a period of purely Earth based adventures with a team of regular 'helpers' (in the form of UNIT).
As if that isn't enough it features the emotional departure of Jamie and Zoe. This is done in a heartrendingly sad way which involves wiping all memories of their time with The Doctor apart from their first meeting.
Even though these massively pivotal aspects occur in this story the most striking thing of all about this story is the brilliance of it as entertainment. It involves a plot where the TARDIS arrives in what appears to be a purely historical setting of the First World War trenches but then has the twist of slowly introducing science fiction aspects leading you to believe it is a 'pseudo-historical' story with alien intervention in Earth history. It then twists again to show they are, in fact, surrounded by many historical periods of war going on at the same time. Soldiers have been removed unknowingly from various wars on Earth to take part in 'War Games' which are being manipulated by an alien force to create perfect soldiers.
The whole 10 episodes are thoroughly enjoyable, superbly written (by Malcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks), acted, directed (by David Maloney) and presented. Troughton is fantastic (although his finale where he has to pull faces to show the effects of his regeneration are a shame, I wish they had done that differently), Frazer Hines is at his absolute best as Jamie and Wendy Padbury has a good send off too. All the guest cast (including Patrick Troughton's son David) and especially Philip Madoc and Edward Brayshaw as a renegade Time Lord, excel in their roles. For its importance and its exceptional quality this is one of the best stories of all.
My Ratings: All 10 Episodes 10/10
Despite this and The Invasion both being all-time great stories, disappointing stories The Dominators, The Krotons and The Space Pirates dragged the Season down to just medium quality for the series overall.
Average Season 6 Rating: 8.01/10
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