Tuesday, 14 January 2014

The War Games - Episode 1

Ah, I have been looking forward to this moment since I got into the Troughton era. It’s the final story of the Troughton era and it’s the longest story of his time. Due to problems with scripts that seem to have dogged this season badly, it’s seemed inevitable that something was going to have to be longer than intended. I have made my feelings very clear about six part episodes but ‘The Invasion’ was eight episodes long and I really enjoyed that so I hope that my enthusiasm for this ten part adventure would be as it always was. Like the last few stories this has a slightly different way of showing the titles. It should be clear that this is the beginning of the end for our favourite characters as the moment they exit the TARDIS and step in mud they laugh together and it’s about the happiest that they will be over the course of the next ten episodes.

The initial problem with Lady Jennifer is that she’s terribly clichéd. Even by 1969’s standards the character would have seemed outdated. Within a few minutes of appearing on screen she been captured by German soldiers before being rescued by Lt Carstairs. I think that Lady Jennifer and Carstairs are a good partnership and will see this in future episodes. General ‘The Butcher’ Smythe is one of the many baddies that appear in this story. It’s at this point that the seemingly ordinary setting of World War I takes an unusual turn. Soon after he hypnotises people which is something that’s not terrible original but like it as a character trait for Smythe as he is instantly unlikeable from the moment he appears on screen.
The court martial scene is the best moment of the story because of the injustice of it because two of the people on the panel encountered the Doctor and due to the hypnosis from Smythe is unable to intervene. It wasn’t much of a court martial and I like how Smythe bulldozes the guilty verdict even though others aren’t so sure of their guilt. This pretty much shows how screwed the regulars are and I think that they put in solid performances and I like in particular how the Doctor is quite naive that he will be able to explain the situation but its clear to everyone else that it might not be so easy.

I thought the kiss that the Doctor gives Zoe is lovely and very tender. It’s another sign to viewers that this isn’t going to be a normal adventure. At the end of the episode the Doctor is about to face a firing squad. I personally think that this is one of the grimmest ends to a Doctor Who episode ever. The fact that its suppose to be a First World War firing squad as opposed to a firing squad on Telos or Skaro or somewhere else makes it much grimmer and much more real than it normally would be. I thought that this was a really good cliffhanger for a really good episode. I don’t know whether it’s because I was so despondent from enduring/watching ‘The Space Pirates’ but I can’t believe how happy I am now I have got to this story.

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