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

1969's The War Games is a 10 part British television masterpiece. This story marks the end of Patrick Troughton's tenure on Doctor Who, as well as the end of the 6 year B&W era of the programme. The events of this iconic serial lead to the Doctor's second regeneration and the beginning of a new era of British television. It cannot be overstated enough the importance of this story, we learn so much here that would shape the series for decades to come. Finally, in episode 6 {the 249th broadcast so far} we learn that the Doctor's people are called Time Lords, a piece of knowledge that would have a drastic effect on nearly every Doctor Who story henceforth. In The War Games, Patrick Troughton is looking decidedly tired, after 3 years of heavy production, the signs of a man who was utterly exhausted were beginning to surface. Yet still, he manages to put in an unbelievable performance as the doomed Doctor. Truly inspiring stuff.

Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury have a fantastic send-off here, as does Pat. They are pivotal to the events of this adventure and are the secondary main force for its success. At 10 episodes, some people could and will be put off, even I had my dubious suspicions about sitting down and watching a solid 4 hours of B&W television. However, to my delight, the story was brilliant and very compelling, it really was quite a pacy affair with a huge quest cast, some fantastic location work and truly emotional performances from all involved. Director David Maloney, who at this point has already directed two stories for Pat's final season, does a remarkable job here. At 10 episodes, this must have appeared extremely daunting, but as ever, David attacks the challenge with passion and vigor, and that for me is one of the reasons The War Games is so successful.

Standout performances here come from Noel Coleman's General Smythe {one of the alien villains}, David Savile's Lt Carstairs {a main member of the rebellion}, David Garfield's Von Weich {a fantastically played alien German / Confederate villain}, Philip Madoc's War Lord {the leader of the villains and the games}, Hubert Ree's Captain Ransom {a good man, mislead}, Edward Brayshaw's Villainous War Chief {the central villain}, Jane Sherwin's Lady Jennifer {a WWI ambulance driver / nurse / resistance fighter}, James Bree's OTT performance as the security chief and of course Bernard Horsfall's role as the leader of the Time Lords. With such a brilliant cast, its not hard to see why The War Games is held in such high esteem within fan circles and indeed casual viewers opinions.

I will admit however, that there is some serious padding in this story. The War Games only has a few minor defects and unfortunately although its length is partly why it is a success, it does pull the story down in some places. For instance, the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe must have been caught, then escaped and then been recaptured about 15 times in the 4 hours and it does wear a bit thin eventually. Not a big problem, but I find that it is like an itch you can't scratch.

Now then, the BBC DVD release is extraordinary, the effort that has been put into this release astounds me. Firstly, the Doctor Who Restoration Team have done an unbelievable job in cleaning up these stories for DVD, as well as the astonishing picture quality, we have Mark Ayres brand new and digitally remastered soundtrack of the serial. Truly high definition quality from this BBC DVD. Secondly, we have the daddy of special features here, the single greatest collection of bonus content that has ever graced any BBC DVD, or any DVD in fact. 4 hours of documentaries are packed into their own disc within this special 3 disc release. The documentaries are as follows.

1.War Zone - {a documentary on the making of The War Games}
2.Shades of Grey - {a feature documentary on Black and White television}
3.Now and Then - {the locations of The War Games, 40 years on}
4.The Doctor's Composer - {part 1 of Dudley Simpson's endless supply of incidental music for Doctor Who}
5.Sylvia James - In Conversation - {a feature on make-up designer Sylvia James work on Doctor Who}
6.Talking About Regeneration - {a very interesting doc about the Doctor's many regenerations}
7.Time Zones - {a look at the wars of The War Games}
8.Stripped for action - {a look at the Second Doctor's comic strips}
9.On Target - Malcolm Hulke - {a feature about the Target novelizations written by Mac Hulke}
10.Devious - {a fan made production that tries to bridge the events between War Games and Spearhead}

So there we have it, over 4 hours of Doctor Who and another 4 hours of special features that would exhaust any fan. This really is a classic Doctor Who serial and deserves its mantle as one of the very best stories Doctor Who ever got away with. The BBC DVD release has ensured that future generations as well as present ones will appreciate Patrick Troughton's grand departure from Doctor Who. Bring on the Pertwee years.

I really could not recommend this story enough, please go and grab yourself a copy now.

Many thanks to all of you who have taken the time to read my reviews, its truly appreciated.

Mr Ben.

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.