We celebrate fifty years of one of the most important Doctor Who episodes ever, as we look back on the tenth and final episode of the Second Doctor’s final story, The War Games.
Today marks fifty years since viewers saw the final episode in Patrick Troughton’s run in Doctor Who. The War Games had been a truly epic story, one that had been spread across ten weeks. The serial had been a strong (if admittedly padded) serial, one filled with a huge sense of scale, great villains and fantastic cliffhangers.
But the last episode would turn out to be the most important one. Not just for the serial, but perhaps for Doctor Who itself. Because this was the episode when the Time Lords arrived.
Oh, they had been mentioned earlier in the story, at least. And they made their presence felt at the very end of the previous episode. But it was in The War Games‘s tenth episode that they finally appeared. And Doctor Who would never be the same again.
Major revelations
The Doctor’s origins have always been heavily shrouded in mystery. While we’ve learned a lot the past few years, there’s still very little that we know about his life on Gallifrey before he decided to run away with his granddaughter.
But this was far more true back in the Sixties. For the longest time, we didn’t know the name of the Doctor’s race, or even have a hint of motivation as to why he left his home planet.
The War Games changed that, in a big way. Suddenly, we not only knew that the Doctor was a Time Lord, but that he ran away because he was “bored”. It’s a bold explanation, but a somewhat fitting one. The Doctor was keen to see the universe, against his people’s wishes. He was able to help and save countless worlds and races on many occasions.
But this time, his efforts to stop the War Games lead to him sacrificing his very freedom. Because the Doctor had committed a crime by interfering in the affairs of other races. And there was no escaping punishment this time.
The end of an era
On top of finding out a lot more about the Doctor’s origins, part ten of The War Games gives us a brilliant ending to the Second Doctor’s era. We’re given an emotional goodbye to Jamie and Zoe – the former of which had been a companion to the Second Doctor since his second story – as the Time Lords send them back to their own times and places.
Worst of all, with the exception of their first adventure with the Doctor, all their memories of him were erased. It’s quite the gut-wrenching goodbye, especially to a companion that was as loyal as Jamie.
All of which leads to the story’s key moment: the Doctor’s punishment. Noticing that the Earth had been attacked regularly by alien invasions, the Time Lords decide to send the Doctor back there…in exile. Stranded in one time and place, the Doctor could hardly think of a worse punishment. Of course, the Time Lords then said that part of the sentence would be changing his appearance.
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That’s how it was described in the original story. “Change appearance”. It’s funny to think that, in retrospect, they actually execute the Second Doctor.
A new beginning
This ending not only gave us one of the greatest cliffhangers in history, with the Doctor starting to regenerate and being sent to Earth. It also lead to a major change in the series. For the next few years, there would be less focus on travelling in time and space. The Doctor really would be stuck on Earth (mostly), and his adventures would be a lot more colorful. Literally – the show moved from black and white to color with the arrival of the Third Doctor.
The War Games has long been a favorite of mine. It’s quite possibly one of the greatest regeneration stories ever made. The final episode of the story highlights why. It’s up there with An Unearthly Child as one of the most important Doctor Who episodes ever made. It features major revelations, shakes up the show’s format and removes all of the lead actors. Nothing would ever be the same again.
Are you a fan of The War Games? Do you agree that it’s one of the most important episodes of the series? Is it one of your favorites? Let us know in the comments below.