Doctor Who Retro Review: ‘The War Games’ Episode 1
By James Aggas
The Second Doctor and his friends arrive in the horror of World War I, as their final adventure begins…
*** This review contains spoilers. ***
I learned earlier that 47 years ago, on the 21st of June 1969, the final episode of ‘The War Games’ was broadcast. This has always been a favourite story of mine. It’s a rather significant one, as it’s not only the final story of Patrick Troughton’s Doctor, but also the last story in black and white, too. When the series returned the next year, it was with a new Doctor, and in living colour!
‘The War Games’ also introduced some major mythology into the series, of which I’ll go into more detail later. Suffice it to say that there are many reasons for this story being one of my favourites. This anniversary is, frankly, the perfect excuse to start an ep-by-ep rewatch.
The opening episode begins with the Second Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe landing in the middle of No Man’s Land during World War I. While the story will become a more full-on science fiction epic as it unfolds, the first episode is great at focusing on the horror and endlessness of the war — with the companions almost immediately hiding from machine gun fire and bomb blasts as soon as they arrive.
What I really like is Jamie’s reaction to it. He’s seen a battle or two in his time. And as a highlander from the 18th century, he usually knows there’s a reason for it, such as, in his time, fighting against tyranny. But when he asks what everyone’s fighting for in the First World War, the Doctor’s only answer is that it’s “the war to end wars.” It seems as alien and strange to Jamie as any other world to which he’s been, perhaps stranger still when it’s a war from his own world.
Of course, the story doesn’t entirely focus on the horrors of the War, and gradually, it starts to hint that not everything is as it seems. This is mainly depicted with the sinister General Smythe.
Smythe is a fantastic villain for the story. He’s just so very loathsome, with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Barely does he look at the Doctor and his friends before giving them a mockery of a trial and sentencing the Doctor to death for the crime of espionage. There’s so little actual evidence that no one else would quite believe it. Fortunately for Smythe (and unfortunately for the Doctor), the General seems rather good at hypnosis whenever he puts his glasses on.
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We then get to the first of many memorable cliffhangers, as the Doctor faces a firing squad, with the last sound of the episode being gunshots. The Classic
Doctor Who
is full of many great cliffhangers, but I have to say that a lot of my favourites are from this story specifically. On my first viewing of ‘The War Games’ — more than a decade ago — I watched the ten-episode long story in one sitting, partly because of how great, tense, and shocking the cliffhangers were.
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