The War Games - Episode 10

I feel really sad as I start to watch this episode knowing what’s about to come. The early stages are just of the Doctor, Zoe and Jamie trying to evade the Timelords. Knowing that this would be their final episode it seems pointless in hindsight but in dramatic terms its good because watching it I wanted them to find a way of escaping even though I know that they wont be able to. It’s strange to think that it’s the first time since the first episode of ‘The Mind Robber’ that we’ve been inside the TARDIS. That was back in mid-December and it’s great to be back. With the events of the War Games almost dealt with we can move onto the matter of learning as much as we can about the Timelords.

We learn a lot about the Timelords such as they don’t approve of meddling in the events of other worlds. Basically their horrible people, they are quite happy to sit back and watch things happen but get a bit arsey when the Doctor gets involved. If they are as powerful as they seem, why haven’t they seen the Doctor’s actions before this. I quite like the courtroom set that is used against the War Lord and the Doctor. It’s a much better set than the one we would get in 1986. Partly because its atmospheric and quite contained and I suppose if it were in colour then it would lose something.

During the War Lord’s trial there is a fair amount of defiance from him and his punishment is quite fitting as killing him would be too good and it seems like his punishment is the most extreme that the Timelords could bestow on a non-gallifreyan. There is a great moment when his soldiers come via a SIDRAT and there’s a lovely curve-ball that suggest the War Lord might escape but it’s the power of the Timelords that show this wasn’t going to happen. Without raising a hand the timelords we do see in this story show how god-like they are and its amazing whats achieved in 25 minutes.

The Doctor’s defence does feel like it’s a bit of a useless exercise and its during his trial that the Timelords come across as rather nasty. They exile the Doctor on 20^th Century earth and change his appearance purely because they want to. Cant quite think that had Troughton not left the show whether they would have changed his appearance.

The goodbye scene between the Doctor, Zoe and Jamie is heart-breaking. Everytime I see it I can’t help but get really sad. I always forget until this point just how good these three have been together. What makes its even more heart-breaking is that they will forget all but their first adventure so for Jamie the last three years are wiped and for Zoe the last twelve months.

I feel like this was a lovely goodbye episode. They finished off the War Lord perfectly and the Timelords were introduced and our three favourite characters were sent off in great style. It’s a shame that we didn’t get to see Patrick Troughton regenerate into Jon Pertwee but that was due to the fact that Pertwee wasn’t contracted until after this episode was recorded. It was the perfect way to end what has been a rather inconsistent run at times. I think that all three of the regulars performed brilliantly and it was one of my favourite ever episodes of Doctor Who and as a ten part adventure it was solid from start to finish and easily in my top 10.

As a story it has continued to impress me and maintain my attention. Its worked a lot better than some six parters and it’s one of the best of stories of Troughtons era and of the sixth series. Overall I must say that the sixth season has been largely good. I really didn’t like ‘The Space Pirates’ which you might have guessed, the Dominators was boring but the rest were all enjoyable. Patrick Troughton made 117 appearances which is just twelve behind William Hartnell and after an initial bumpy ride with stories, he found his suede feet and ran with a fantastic version of the character. It must have been intimidating to take over from William Hartnell but he rose to the challenge well. Frazer Hines has been a fantastic addition to the show. He bowed out on his 112^th appearance and made 35 more appearances than William Russell. Hines has always given 100% playing Jamie and at times his double act with Patrick Troughton have been fun to watch. Wendy Padbury has had more of an impact than I expected during her 48 appearances. As a trio they have been the strongest combination since the First Doctor, Ian Barbara and Susan and that’s quite an achievement. They will all be missed and that was the Second Doctor era. Goodbye to Troughton, Goodbye to Hines, Goodbye to Padbury, Goodbye to the 1960’s and most importantly, goodbye to black and white television. Now I will get to enjoy a different style of Doctor Who and I am about to embark on what is my favourite season in Doctor Who history.