The War Games Episode Two

The one where the Doctor impersonates a War Office examiner...

Ooh, clever! I might have my issues with the strength of the episode 1 cliffhanger, but fair's fair, writers Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke resolve it perfectly well without rewriting what we've already witnessed. Yes, a shot is fired, but the Doctor's face creases in anticipatory agony, because the bullet actually came from a rogue sniper in a nearby building, aiming at the firing squad! Who this man is remains a mystery right through to the end of the episode, but judging from the way he is dressed, he's not local...

Seeing the Doctor tied up before a firing squad, and then being hastily untied and scarpering with his companion, reminds me heavily of the same thing happening in The Curse of Fenric, and if I cast my mind back to my 13-year-old self watching that scene in 1989, I remember being quite nervous for the Doctor then too. Maybe I've got a thing about my heroes facing firing squads? Then again, who doesn't...?

The incarcerated Jamie comes face to face with a new prisoner when a bedraggled Redcoat is thrown into jail with him. The Redcoat believes the year is 1745, and remembers entering a strange mist before appearing in this new, unfamiliar place (ie, 1917!). It's a pity the writers don't give this character an actual name because the way he teams up with Jamie to affect a jailbreak, and subsequently gets shot in the leg (never to be seen again!) suggests he's more than just a passing extra. Tony McEwan does a nice job with what little he's given, and it's great to see the two pawns joining forces and working together (more echoes of The Curse of Fenric!).

Throughout the story there's the ever-present background noise of bombing in the distance, adding a subliminal feeling of danger and foreboding to events which is really effective.

Soon after we've met a Redcoat, we have the Doctor impersonating a War Office examiner in order to commandeer a car to the military jail, and both of these elements recall The Highlanders, in which the then still-cooking Second Doctor impersonated a number of different people, which I remember disliking quite a lot. It's not so bad here though, and Patrick Troughton's vociferous turn as the War Office examiner is great, taking no nonsense and standing for no questions ("HOW DARE YOU?!" he bellows when Commandant Gorton asks for his ID papers!). There's also the bit where Zoe smashes Gorton over the head with a vase of flowers to render him unconscious ("Well done, Zoe!") which also makes me smile.

There's more fun to be had when Jamie is brought before him and obviously starts to talk to him. "Doctor!" exclaims Jamie, who's quickly cut off with: "We'll see you get a doctor if you need one, my man!". It takes a little while for Jamie to click what's going on, but it's all a lovely reflection of the chemistry evident between both the actors and the characters.

The most startling aspect of the story happens less than two minutes in when, in Smythe's office, we hear the familiar sound of a TARDIS materialising, and a strange box appears from nowhere! Is it a TARDIS? It certainly sounds like one, but then when the entrance slides open it's with the familiar sound of a Dalek door! So is it the Daleks, in their time machine? It makes for very exciting and intriguing plotting, and while I'm pretty sure the Dalek door sound effect is unintentional, the TARDIS sound definitely is intended... so is there another Time Lord involved? Could it be the Monk? All these questions might have been crossing long-time viewers' minds back in 1969.

I like how Carstairs and Lady Jennifer begin to question recent events as their minds begin to unfog. Their memories are slowly returning to them, and they recall a strange mist which they guess might be a new gas developed by the Germans. They also call into question the legality of the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe's court martial, and they very soon become allies of our heroes when they realise that all is not well. When they finally see the alien telecommunication device behind Smythe's portrait it all begins to fall into place for them. It might not make sense yet, but they realise what's right and wrong and help the TARDIS crew to escape.

The little moment where they see the telecomms device, and then director David Maloney does a slow zoom in to the screen before switching to the other side, is magical. We see a seething General Smythe and a strange attendant glaring back through a map screen, but learn nothing about where they are. Another wonderful mini-reveal that sucks the viewer in bit by bit. Dicks and Hulke are masters of intrigue here.

I also feel really sorry for Captain Ransom, a man who is obviously trying very hard to be a good soldier and do as he's told but keeps falling victim to other people's plotting! He's not naive so much as easily led, and so falls for Lady Jennifer's lie that Smythe wants him at Command Post 17, and then falls for Carstairs' fib that the prisoners are wanted by Smythe at headquarters! Poor Ransom! The little scene where Jennifer distracts him with mock flattery about his workload adds so much to his character ("Not many women take an interest in the problems of supply...").

The cliffhanger scene, shot on location, is magnificent. The ambulance rolls into the mist and disappears, only to emerge on the other side in a place seemingly devoid of warfare. But as the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe climb a hill - and what a stunning panoramic shot Maloney achieves at this point - they notice a bunch of Roman soldiers on chariots charging toward them, swords in hand. It's one of those wonderful WTF moments that Doctor Who does so well every now and then, the juxtaposition of two unexpected elements. As I said in episode 1, after that, you can't help but tune in next week to see what's going on!

First broadcast: April 26th, 1969

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: The cliffhanger, with the charging Roman soldiers, is directed so well, and comes out of nowhere!
The Bad: Give the Redcoat a name, Terry!
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

NEXT TIME: Episode Three...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode One; Episode Three; Episode Four; Episode Five; Episode Six; Episode Seven; Episode Eight; Episode Nine; Episode Ten

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-war-games.html

The War Games is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-War-Games-DVD/dp/B002ATVD8W.