Doctor Who: The War Games

This is it. Here we are, at the final story of the 2nd Doctor era. It's a good one, but it's ten parts. That's a long time to tell a story. I didn't watch it all in one sitting. It starts with the TARDIS arriving in what appears to be No Man's Land in World War I.

Just because there's a war on doesn't mean you can't have some tea.

The Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe are picked up by the British and separated from the TARDIS. They're to be sent to the general for questioning. But if this is WWI, why is the general communicating with a mystery someone via video chat? And why can't the British remember how long they've been there or where things are? Then a Redcoat shows up! Hm...

Lady Jennifer, the Doctor, and Lieutenant Carstairs

Two of the Brits, Lady Jennifer and Lieutenant Carstairs, start to figure out that something is wrong and help the TARDIS crew escape. They travel through some mist, and on the other side there's no sign of the war. There are, however, Roman warriors. They head back to the WWI headquarters to the general's office and break into his safe. The Doctor finds what he's looking for- a map of all the war time zones.

They decide to make for the blank space in the middle of the map and get ambushed in the American Civil War zone. Keep in mind, they're driving around in a WWI ambulance. They run out of gas and continue on foot. Carstairs gets captured, and the Doctor and Zoe jump into a traveling box that is bigger on the inside. That sounds familiar. It disappears, and Jamie and Lady Jennifer are left in the Civil War zone. The Doctor and Zoe watch as the box delivers soldiers to each zone and returns to its home base.

The War Chief just looks evil.

We also learn from evil-looking dude at the main headquarters that 5% of the fighters are resistant to the mental programming and are forming resistance groups. The Doctor and Zoe wander around headquarters, noting that it's like a university. They also put on these glasses...

Meanwhile, Jamie and Lady Jennifer keep getting captured and escaping, finally falling in with the resistance. At HQ, the Doctor, Zoe, and Carstairs discuss organizing the resistance. The Security Chief and the head scientist talk about how the War Chief isn't one of their people. The WC came to them and gave them the secret of time travel, and they found out from Zoe that the Doctor has the secret of time travel. The Security Chief says that only the War Chief's people have the secret of time travel. Interesting...Jamie and his resistance friends arrive at HQ, only to be ambushed.

Oh noooooooo!

And now we have reached the halfway point in the story. That's right! Five episodes down, five episodes to go. The Doctor rescues everyone and sends Zoe with the resistance fighters to organize the resistance across all the war zones.

The Doctor, Jamie, and Carstairs follow later. There are more hints about the Doctor having a connection to the War Chief. The Doctor knows how to operate the time machines. He says that they're impregnable from the outside, to which Jamie adds, "Just like the TARDIS!" Now the War Lord arrives, and he is PISSED.

the War Lord

Things aren't going well with their war games, but the baddies do recapture the Doctor. When the Doctor is questioned, the Security Chief mentions the Time Lords! That's the first mention of the Doctor's people in Doctor Who. The War Chief interrupts and then he and the Doctor have a great conversation.

the War Chief and the Doctor

The War Chief says that although the Doctor changed his appearance, he knows who the Doctor is and that he stole the TARDIS. The Doctor responds that he had every right to leave. When the War Chief says that they are two of a kind, the Doctor replies, "We most certainly are not!" The War Chief reveals that the War Lord is staging the war games as a prelude to conquering the galaxy. The War Lord interrupts the conversation, and the War Chief tells him that the Doctor is a fugitive from the Time Lords and dare not contact them. Meanwhile, Jamie, Zoe, and Carstairs are bringing the resistance groups together to fight back.

Lady Jennifer was jettisoned earlier in the story and hasn't been seen since. The Doctor brings the resistance leaders to the main headquarters, they take over, and the fighting is stopped. However, it turns out that the War Chief's time machines are defective and only two are functional now. The Doctor has to call the Time Lords to help take everyone back to their own times. The War Chief begs him not to and says the Doctor knows what will happen- that they will show no mercy.

Recognize that box?

The Doctor contacts the Time Lords to ask for help. He uses a special box, a method that shows up in the new series episode The Doctor's Wife. He tells Jamie and Zoe to stay because he has to flee, but they insist on going with him. At this point in the episode I'm starting to get sad because I know what's going to happen. They run to the TARDIS, ending up in slow motion because the Time Lords have put up a force field. They manage to get inside and dematerialize.

They have a conversation about the Time Lords and the Doctor's relationship with them:

JAMIE: Why did you run away from them in the first place?
THE DOCTOR: What? Well, I was bored.
ZOE: What do you mean, you were bored?
THE DOCTOR: Well, the Time Lords are an immensely civilised race. We can control our own environment, we can live forever, barring accidents, and we have the secret of space time travel.
JAMIE: Well, what's so wrong in all that?
THE DOCTOR: Well we hardly ever use our great powers. We consent simply to observe and to gather knowledge.
ZOE: And that wasn't enough for you?
THE DOCTOR: No, of course not. With a whole galaxy to explore? Millions of planets, eons of time, countless civilizations to meet?
JAMIE: Well, why do they object to you doing all that?
THE DOCTOR: Well, it is a fact, Jamie, that I, I do tend to get involved with things.
JAMIE: Aye, you can say that again. Whenever there's any trouble, he's in it right up to his neck.
ZOE: But you've helped people, Doctor.
THE DOCTOR: Yes, yes, but that's no excuse in their eyes.

He says they're going to run away, but the TARDIS starts to materialize. The Doctor keeps trying to escape, but in the end, the Time Lords bring them to Gallifrey. Not that it's called Gallifrey yet. The Doctor just calls it his home planet. Jamie still wants to fight, but the Doctor acts defeated.

 

Time Lords!

The Time Lords return everyone to their own times and put the War Lord on trial. Then it's the Doctor's turn.

The Doctor defends his interference. He uses a thought channel to show them the evil he has been fighting: the Quarks, the Yeti, the Ice Warriors, the Cybermen, and the Daleks. While he awaits the verdict, he says goodbye to Jamie and Zoe after one last attempt at escape.

The Time Lords tell the Doctor that they'll be returned to a point just before they left with him, and they'll remember their first adventure with him but nothing more. This utterly breaks my heart. The Time Lords rob Jamie and Zoe of their friendship with the Doctor and each other, they rob them of the growth they've experienced as people since they've met him, and they rob them of a significant chunk of their lives. I think this hurts more because Jamie and Zoe are two of my favorites. I'm really going to miss them. I'm not going to lie- there were tears. The Doctor is so sad when he says, "They won't remember me, will they?" It's not really a question. He knows the answer.

The Time Lords show the Doctor that Zoe and Jamie are safely back in their old lives and then get to business. They agree there is evil and that the Doctor has a part to play in fighting it. They also noticed his fondness for the planet Earth. He is to be exiled to 20th century Earth for as long as the Time Lords "deem proper," and how to work the TARDIS will be erased from his mind for the period of his exile. They will change his appearance as part of the sentence, and he'll be able to choose. That doesn't go well when he doesn't like any of the choices! So they decide for him. 

regeneration

And there it ends. We don't see the 3rd Doctor until the next story. The War Games is a great story, but don't watch it all at once. It's just too long for that. It's significant in the history of Doctor Who in that we meet the Time Lords for the first time and learn something of the Doctor's people. And it's the end of an era. We say goodbye to the 2nd Doctor and to black and white. The next story is in color.

THE RUNDOWN

Doctor: Second
Companions: Jamie, Zoe
Episode: #50, "The War Games," ten parts
Adversary: the War Lord and his people

Classic Lines: the Doctor, to the Time Lords, about his actions of interference: "...I'm proud of them! While you have been content to merely observe the evil in the galaxy, I have been fighting against it."

Tuck This Away to Impress Your Friends: This is the first appearance of the Time Lords.
Next Up: "Spearhead from Space"