C06S07 The war games
Synopsis
The TARDIS has materialised in a world of trench warfare, barbed wire and poison gas: the Western Front, 1917. In the chaos and paranoia of the First World War, the Doctor and his companions are separated from their ship, captured and court-martialled. The death sentence is swiftly pronounced.
But all is not as it seems. As the Doctor finds himself increasingly out of his depth and facing impossible odds, the only solution is the truly unthinkable. He must seek help from those he most fears – his own people, the Time Lords...
Cover notes
The War Games (1969) is one of the most significant stories in the history of Doctor Who. It presented its writers, Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke, with a unique set of challenges. For the first time, the Doctor was apparently involved in a significant historical event within living memory, namely the First World War. This serious and potentially sensitive subject was treated with characteristic intelligence by the two script writers. The War Games stands out as a powerful and mature anti-war story, its sympathies resting firmly with the common soldier, regardless of nationality.
Of course, this wasn't the only issue Dicks and Hulke had to deal with. Production problems meant the serial had to last ten episodes. This was a long stretch even by the more leisurely-paced standards of sixties television. Moreover, the story needed to end with a lead-in to Doctor Who's new, Earth-bound format of the early seventies. Their solution – the capture, trial and exile of the Doctor – brought to an end the first phase of the Doctor Who saga. For the time being at least, the Doctor's travelling days were over...
Cast
| The Doctor | Patrick Troughton | listed as Dr. Who |
| Jamie McCrimmon | Frazer Hines | |
| Zoe Heriot | Wendy Padbury | |
| Lady Jennifer Buckingham | Jane Sherwin | ep. 1,2,3,4,5 |
| German soldier | John Livesey | ep. 1 |
| Lieutenant Carstairs | David Savile | ep. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 |
| Major Barrington | Terence Bayler | ep. 1 |
| Sergeant Willis | Brian Forster | ep. 1 |
| General Smythe | Noel Coleman | ep. 1,2,3,7 |
| Captain Ransom | Hubert Rees | ep. 1,2,3 |
| Sergeant Major Burns | Esmond Webb | ep. 1,7 |
| Redcoat | Tony McEwan | ep. 2 |
| Commandant Gorton | Richard Steele | ep. 2 |
| Military chauffeur | Peter Stanton | ep. 2 |
| Military policeman | Pat Gorman | ep, 2 |
| Lieutenant Crane | David Valla | ep. 3 |
| German soldier | Bernard Davies | ep. 3 |
| Lieutenant Lucke | Gregg Palmer | ep. 3 |
| von Weich | David Garfield | ep. 3,4,5,6 |
| War Chief | Edward Brayshaw | ep. 3,4,5,6,7,8,9 |
| Sergeant Thompson | Bill Hutchinson | ep. 4 |
| Corporal Riley | Terry Adams | ep. 4 |
| Leroy | Leslie Schofield | ep. 4 |
| Scientist | Vernon Dobtcheff | ep. 4,5,6 |
| Harper | Rudolph Walker | ep. 4,5 |
| Alien guard | John Atterbury | ep. 4 |
| Spencer | Michael Lynch | ep. 5 |
| Russell | Graham Weston | ep. 5,6,7,8,9 |
| Securty chief | James Bree | ep. 5,6,7,8,9 |
| Alien technician | Charles Pemberton | ep. 5 |
| Moor | David Troughton | ep. 6 |
| War Lord | Philip Madoc | ep. 7,8,9,10 |
| du Pont | Peter Craze | ep. 7 |
| Arturo Villar | Michael Napier-Brown | ep. 8,9 |
| Petrov | Stephen Hubay | ep. 8 |
| First Time Lord | Bernard Horsfall | ep. 10 |
| Second Time Lord | Trevor Martin | ep. 10 |
| Third Time Lord | Clyde Pollitt | ep. 10 |
| Tanya | Clare Jenkins | ep. 10 |
Crew
| Written by | Terrance Dicks | |
| Written by | Malcolm Hulke | |
| Title music | Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop | |
| Incidental music by | Dudley Simpson | ep. 1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10; probably all |
| Special sound by | Brian Hodgson and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop | ep. 1,10; probably all |
| Special effects designed by | Michaeljohn Harris | ep. 1,10; probably all |
| Fight arranger | Peter Diamond | ep. 10 |
| Costumes by | Nick Bullen | ep. 1,10; probably all [ep. 10 listed as Nicolas Bullen] |
| Make-up | Sylvia James | ep. 1,10; probably all |
| Lighting | Howard King | ep. 1,10; probably all |
| Sound | John Staple | ep. 1,10; probably all |
| Film Cameraman | Alan Jonas | ep. 1,10; probably all |
| Film Editor | Chris Hayden | ep. 1,10; probably all |
| Designer | Roger Cheveley | |
| Producer | Derrick Sherwin | |
| Director | David Maloney |
DVD Extras
| Frazer Hines Wendy Padbury Philip Madoc Jane Sherwin Graham Weston Terrance Dicks Derrick Sherwin |
commentary track | |
| War Zone: The end of an era [2009] | (Patrick Troughton) Derrick Sherwin Terrance Dicks (William Hartnell) Tom Spilsbury (Malcolm Hulke) James Moran David Maloney Paul Cornell Graham Weston Frazer Hines Wendy Padbury Bernard Horsfall Joseph Lidster David Savile Jane Sherwin (Vera Brittain) (Noel Coleman) (David Garfield) (Edward Brayshaw) (Philip Madoc) [The last of the Mohicans] Roger Cheveley [Brighton rubbish dump] [Oh! What a lovely war] (Michaeljohn Harris) (Viking; stunt horse) [Imperial War Museum, London] |
A new documentary about the making of The War Games. |
| Shades of Grey [2009] | (John Logie Baird) [Marconi EMI 405 line system] Terrance Dicks Roger Cheveley Derrick Sherwin [Lime Grove, Studio D] [Z Cars] Timothy Combe [Compact] Jane Sherwin Frazer Hines Wendy Padbury (Patrick Troughton) Bernard Lodge (David Rose) (John Schlesinger) (Ken Roach) [Star Trek] [BBC Special Effects] [BBC Radiophonic Workshop] Brian Hodgson (Verity Lambert) (Structure Sonoes) (Rob Grainer) (Desmond Briscoe) Delia Derbyshire |
the War Games saw the end of black-and-white Doctor Who. This documentary examines the artistic limitations – and advantages – of monochrome. Narrated by Gerard Murphy. |
| Now and Then | The locations of The War Games, forty years on. | |
| The Doctor's Composer | A unique insight – the popular and respected Doctor Who composer Dudley Simpson discusses his first five years on the programme. | |
| Sylvia James – In conversation [2009] | [Snowdonia] (Wollfe Maurice) sp? (Martin Bord) sp? (Patrick Troughton) (Jack Watling) (Deborah Watling) (Jack Woolgar) [Denham Airport] (Cerano d'Bergac) (D'artangion) (Alan Belion) sp? (Louise ...) sp? (Seeds of Death) [Brighton rubbish tip] [World War I] [American Civil War] (David Malone) |
Make-up designer Sylvia James talks about her work on Patrick Troughton's Doctor Who stories. |
| Talking about Regeneration [2009] | Kate O'Mara Rob Shearman (William Hartnell) Joseph Lidster (Derek Martinus) Gareth Roberts Clayton Hickman (Patrick Troughton) (Roger Delgardo) (Jon Pertwee) (Elizabeth Sladen) (Tom Baker) (Robert Holmes) Peter Davison (Percy Bysshe Shelley; poet) (Colin Baker) (Graeme Harper) (Nicola Briant) sp? [I, Claudius] (John Nathan-Turner) (Kamelion) (Antony Ainley) sp? [The Beatles; A day in the life] (Sylvester McCoy) [Teletubbies] (Pip and Jane Baker) (Mark Greenstreet) sp? (Paul McGann) (Frankenstien's monster) (Jesus) (Christopher Eccleston) |
Regeneration, the key to longevity for both the Doctor and the show, is explored in this new documentary. |
| Stripped for Action – The Second Doctor [2009] | Alan Barnes [The Eagle] [2000 A.D.] [TV Comic] [The Avengers] [Tom and Jerry] Jeremy Bentham [Adam Adament] [TV21] (Patrick Troughton) Gary Russell (Jon Pertwee) (John Canning) (Captain Robert Falcon Scott) (Roald Amundsen) [John and Jillian] John Ainsworth [Jamie McCrimmon] (Terrance Dicks) (Quarks) (The Dominators) |
The continuing series of features focussing on the Doctor's comic strip adventures looks at the Second Doctor. |
| On Target - Malcolm Hulke [2009] | Terrance Dicks (Malcolm Hulke) David Howe Gary Russell [The making of Doctor Who] Alan Barnes Chris Achilleos (David Whitaker) sp? (Eric Pace) |
Before home video and DVD, fans relived the Doctor's television adventures through the immersively popular Target books. The first in a series of features on the Target range looks at the work of writer Malcolm Hulke. |
| Devious | What exactly happened to the Doctor between The War Games and Spearhead from Space? One answer is provided by Devious, an amateur Doctor Who film that has been shooting for over a decade. The production team managed to secure an appearance by Jon Pertwee, in what was to become his last ever appearance as the Third Doctor. Featuring commentary from the production team. | |
| Time Zones | The facts behind the fiction – historians discuss the reality behind the various conflicts featured in The War Games. | |
| on location | (easter egg) | |
| visual effects reel | (easter egg) | |
| Trial of a Time Lord | (easter egg) The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre | |
| PDF materials | BBC Enterprises sales literature SIDRAT design plans |
|
| photo gallery | ||
| Radio Times listings |
Commentary
| serial code : | ZZ |
| episode count : | 10 |
| initial broadcast date : | 1969-04-19 |
| DVD release date : | |
| DVD SE release date : | |
| BluRay release date : | |