The War Games - Episode 5

As we approach the half way point of the serial, its important that at this stage we start to get some serious development or something to help feel like we aren’t in the padding zone. It seems that Jamie has drawn the short straw  and doesn’t really get to do very much in this episode whereas Zoe who should be in a good position doesn’t seem to do much apart from being interrogated and running around with the Doctor.

We are introduced to another of the ‘aliens’ in this story in the form of James Bree who plays the Security Chief. He seems like the one who enjoys bureaucracy the most. He seems like the sort of person who isn’t very popular and is very good at his job. This is where the bickering between the ‘aliens’ seems to be getting out of hand as there is a power struggle between the War Chief and the Security Chief. It’s clear that the Doctor isn’t the only one hiding something as the War Chief seems to know more.

This is the last episode to feature Lady Jennifer. To be honest she served a purpose during the first few episodes but since the ‘aliens’ have been more introduced, she has become surplus to requirements and she was written out at just the right time. Jane Sherwin’s last scene was quite nice as it became clear that Lady Jennifer had formed a bond with Carstairs but they wouldn’t get a final scene as Carstairs is still being used well.

It’s Jamie’s turn to become the focus of the danger as he is shot at by the guards. There is a pattern emerging and it must be clear to the viewer of 1969 that nothing was going to happen to the regulars just yet. So out of four cliffhangers, each of the regulars have 1 each and it is Troughton’s who cliffhanger had the grimmest tone. I do think that the story does feel like its slowing down a bit, not too much but it doesn’t have the same pace to it. There is a problem with half the episode being set in a very confined barn and the Doctor and Zoe being stuck in the alien’s world where the rooms and corridors do look alike.