Doctor Who - The War Games [DVD] [1969]

This 3 disk set contains the entire ten part serial which sees Patrick Troughton bowing out as the Doctor (at least until the 10th anniversary story The Three Doctors). The sound and picture quality are superb having been remastered from the original recordings.

Disks one and two contain The War Games (5 episodes per disk). There is a facinating audio commentary on each episode by various members of the cast and crew including Fraser Hines and Terrance Dicks.

Disk three is packed with probable the best selection of special features to grace a Doctor Who dvd for quite a while. Included is a facinating making of doccumentary, a featurette about the Doctor's various regenerations and a short segment on Malcolm Hulke and the Target book.

The War Games is one of the longest Doctor Who stories and is also one of the best - this dvd is a fitting tribute to Patrick Troughton and well worth buying.

A very welcome release it being 2006, (yes 2006!) since the last Troughton release. Naturally it's a little overlong at 10 episodes and sags in the middle (well it is middle aged at 40) but good parts more than compensate. The story never forgets that war is a dirty business, explosions rarely far away
A very atmospheric opening (and special title sequence) as the gang apparently land in Earth's history. There are generals who even by wartime standards seem ruthless-a particularly fine turn by Noel Coleman as General Smythe. A great touch here is by donning eyeware (glasses, monocle) they are then able to hypnotise soldiers.
Soon they find they can step between different times. There is a great deal of movement (always a plus for a long story) but at times it's so back & forth, it's monotonous.
As the Warlords are properly introduced and we discover what's really going on, the story picks up. The main ones are Galactic Nazis ; James Bree is a slimy Goebbels/Himmler type Security Chief and Philip Madoc as a charismatic but scary warlord is a temporal Hitler.
The 2nd renegade Timelord the Doctor encounters, the war Chief is a wonderful creation. A brilliant performance by Rentaghost's Edward Brayshaw, he's a Galactic Arthur Daley who sells, makes or designs for the Warlords a joblot of ringer Tardises, which like fake Rolexes look the part but soon break down. (they also seem to be controlled by fridge magnets!) The cheeky beggar even calls them SIDRATs! (Space In Dimensions Relative And Time?)

Some young bloke called David Troughton plays a bewildered soldier.

Understandably for a man at the end of a tiring run, Patrick Troughton is occasionally on autopilot but remains watchable and where he gets some really good material; recognising the War Chief, playing the villain and defending himself in court, he's magical!
Jamie and Zoe carry welcome humour, Jamie being imprisoned with his mortal enemy (a redcoat) and then giving a stirring speech, prompted by Zoe. Fraser and Wendy are as good as ever.
The trial and events leading up to it ( e.g. a sequence where time seems to slow down) take the story up a gear for the end. Silly bit of cod dialogue as the Warlord says that when the Timelords catch the Doctor he'll wish he'd been shot (being exiled to Earth and becoming Jon Pertwee is better than being shot!). In the trial watch for stage Doctor Trevor Martin.

It's the renegeration that never was as Pertwee had not been cast yet.
If you're not a fan of old 60's shows, you may find it a bit long. If not, it's highly recommended.

2 entertain have made this a 3 disc release, laying on a creeping barrage of extras (sorry I couldn't resist). The Commentary is a pick n' mix commentary as various people drop in and out, occasionally there's repetition but not much. Lots of great moments e.g. Fraser & Wendy recall Mrs. Troughton as the driving force behind PT's departure and Wendy wishes she'd stayed long enough to snog David Tennant! Best of all Jane Sherwin calls Pat the best Doc until David T. and Terrance Dicks rebuts with "I put up a case for Jon & Tom!"

"War Zone" is an excellent and good length making of with many contributors including archive footage of director David Maloney. The genesis of the story, departure of the regular cast & all important aspects of WG are covered. It's well supplemented by a "Now & Then"
look at locations plus "Time Zone" on the historical background to the conflicts featured (don't be eating when they explain what "trenchfoot" is!).
"Shades of Grey" is a muddled but enjoyable look at black & white TV, if you like Z Cars & Compact there are clips to enjoy.

The 2nd Doctor's comic strip stories are covered well despite the short length in "Stripped for Action" e.g. Dalek and Quark stories plus stories set after War Games. "Devious" is a fan film also set after War Games with a new Doctor but we only get the opening and a trailer for the main story plus the entire Pertwee regeneration sequence, worth checking out the commentary, shame there isn't more of the film.

The welcome debut of an ongoing feature "On Target" covers the novelisations of War games co-author Malcom Hulke. A promising debut as Hulke's strengths are explored well.
Make up supremo Sylvia James and uber Composer Dudley Simpson both give charming interviews on their work on 60's Who.

"Talking 'bout Regeneration" does exactly what it says on the tin and sees the best use yet of celebrity fans giving a light hearted look at the regeneration sequences.

It's a shame there's no restoration feature as this is some of the best work yet, I doubt it looked better on 1st broadcast.

If I could rescore for the whole package it would now be a 5.

Who cares if it's too long? Anything that delays Patrick Troughton's departure is fine by me. Other reviewers have covered the major strengths and weaknesses of this turning-point in Doctor Who history. The one thing that stood out for me, however, was that sense of the 2nd doctor's impending doom. It isn't always successfully conveyed in Doctor Who regeneration stories (apart from this one, only Davison's and Eccleston's really got it right).

In all his 1966-69 adventures there was always a sense of innocent, madcap fun as Troughton fumbled his way out of trouble with Yeti, Ice Warriors, Krotons, Daleks and Cybermen. With 'The War Games', however, the 'Charlie Chaplin in space' days are over. There are no fun monsters or space stations in this story, just mud, guns and big, bad soldiers. Troughton's doctor seems a bit lost in the midst of all these grown-ups and is uncharacteristically serious most of the time. He escapes countless times through the ten episodes but is always recaptured, building up the viewers' sense that, this time, he just isn't going to make it.

Unusually, you don't see the doctor regenerate at the end, but this also seems fitting. Troughton was so great, he thoroughly deserved a good long send-off all to himself. As he swirls away into the dark, as if being washed down a giant plug-hole, a whole era of the show goes with him. When the series returns in 1970 with Jon Pertwee it is a totally different show - harder, more realistic, less innocent. And full of soldiers.