Doctor Who Decades: The 1960s

Every time Doctor Who reaches the end of a decade, it seems to be an automatic point of change and renewal for the series. Here's the first in a series of blogs looking back over a decade of Doctor Who, starting with...

1960s

It all started out as a mild curiosity in the junkyard, and it turned out to be quite a great spirit of adventure!

When I embarked upon what is probably a most inadvisable odyssey to watch and review every single episode of TV Doctor Who for the Time Space Visualiser blog, I knew it would be a hefty task, and quite some commitment. My very first review - for An Unearthly Child - appeared on March 1st, 2017, at a time in my life when I needed some focus, something to occupy me, before the next big phase of my life came along. I was between eras!

I knew the reviews would take a long time to get through - years of my life - and I still have no idea whether I'll ever get to the end or not. But I'll persevere, I'll keep on watching and writing until something gives out, whether it's my patience, my sanity, or my health! But one thing is for sure, so far I've enjoyed every single moment of writing the blog. Why? Because Doctor Who is so much fun, that's why. I've never understood why every single person on the planet isn't a Doctor Who fan because it's got all the right ingredients to make life better. It gladdens, it cheers, it amuses, it impresses, it inspires and it shines. And it tries so very hard, all the time.

The War Games Episode Ten

The one where the Doctor is put on trial and exiled to Earth (with a new face)...

And so here we are, the last episode of the last Doctor Who story of the 1960s. The last Patrick Troughton episode, the last black and white episode, the last time we'll see a Quark! But the Second Doctor isn't going to give all these things up to the impending decade without a fight, and it's wonderful to share his determination to outrun the Time Lords, however fruitless it may be.

David Maloney directs this episode so well, from the beautiful dematerialisation of the TARDIS shot from low down, to the shots of the trial room from up above. He adds both grandeur and heart to the piece whenever it's needed. In the hands of a more workmanlike director, The War Games could never have been as successful.

The War Games Episode Nine

The one where the Doctor calls in the Time Lords...

I love how Patrick Troughton and Edward Brayshaw bounce off one another in their scenes together. The early scene where the Doctor asks how the War Chief has managed to overcome the limited lifespan of the SIDRAT machines is magical, with a twinkle in both actors' eyes as their characters continually try to wrest the upper hand. In fact, director David Maloney cast some of Doctor Who's very best guest players for the bigger character roles here, along with Philip Madoc and James Bree. It's one of Doctor Who's best guest casts ever.

As we rush headlong toward the long-awaited grand finale of not only this story, but also this season and this Doctor, there are plenty of twists left in writers Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke's armoury. The ongoing feud between the War Chief and the Security Chief comes to a juicy head when we discover that the latter has been bugging the former's conversations with the Doctor in order to capture evidence against him.

The War Games Episode Eight

The one where the Doctor seems to have betrayed his friends...

I don't know what material the alien guards' gimp suit costumes are made of, but they must be impregnable to bullets. In the cliffhanger reprise the guards seem impervious to the rebels' gunfire just feet away, and a little later, when the guards return to have another go, the rebel machine gun does no harm whatsoever.

The return raid makes me chuckle actually, because it just seems so silly! The SIDRAT arrives, a guard comes out, gets shot at by a machine gun but miraculously survives, and his Plan B is to poke his ray gun out of the SIDRAT door and zap the gunmen! And the crazy thing is, it works, although the two supporting actors need to brush up on their "reacting to being shot at" skills (especially the one on the right, who looks like he's sleepwalking through his scenes).

The War Games Episode Seven

The one where the War Lord arrives to take control...

Early in this episode - Doctor Who's 250th, no less - the War Chief refers to the travel capsules as SIDRATs ("side-rats"), and I think it's the only time this word is mentioned. SIDRATs were mentioned in scripts and stage directions throughout the story, but never in dialogue until now, but it does mean that the SIDRATs are undoubtedly of the same technology as the TARDIS (hence the semordnilap). What the SIDRAT acronym stands for is never confirmed in the story, but Malcolm Hulke's novelisation claims it stands for Space and Inter-Time Dimensional Robot All-purpose Transport (I wonder how long it took him to wangle that one?).

This makes a link between the Time Lords and the Doctor, as the War Chief is known to be a Time Lord, and it is the technology of his people which has constructed the SIDRATs/ TARDIS. It still doesn't conclusively prove that the Doctor is a Time Lord, because he could quite easily have stolen it from them, but seeing as we already know that he is a renegade from his own people, it's easy to connect the dots. We'll ignore anything that says the Doctor and/ or Susan built the TARDIS themselves, and stick to the evidence of our own eyes, as seen in The Name of the Doctor!

The War Games Episode Six

The one where the Time Lords are first mentioned...

The battle of wits between the War Chief and the Security Chief continues in this episode, in which we see that the Security Chief - who talks as if he's permanently constipated - colludes with the scientist to help him prove that his arch enemy is up to no good. The Security Chief does not trust the War Chief and believes he has brought the Doctor to the war planet as they are of the same race. This fact has only been heavily implied so far, so when the Time Lords are mentioned for the first time ever (2 mins 26 secs into the episode - see screencap below), it's easy to assume that we now know the name of the Doctor's people.

But not necessarily, because the scientist is naming the War Chief's people, and we do not know for sure that the Doctor and the War Chief are of the same race. It's assumed to be the case by the aliens because they both have knowledge of space/ time travel - and we already know that they recognise each other - but that in itself does not make them both Time Lords. So we continue to wait for the confirmation that the Doctor is a Time Lord...

The War Games Episode Five

The one where we meet the Security Chief...

We're halfway through this ten-part epic and only now do I detect a faltering in the pace as this episode feels a bit padded, although we still learn plenty from it. For instance, it's nice to know that the travel capsules are green!

As with the last episode, the most interesting developments take place in the alien control centre, and all of the material in the American Civil War zone is surplus to requirements. There's a particularly unnecessary and overlong sequence where Harper and Spencer have a brawl, and it's choreographed in that very rehearsed way that makes it look more like a piece of performance art than a genuine fight (even some of the supporting actors can't help smirking!). By the end of the episode, Jamie, Russell and the two smirking extras climb aboard the travel capsule to make way for the alien base, leaving poor Lady Jennifer behind to tend to hundreds of injured soldiers! Sadly, this is the last we'll see of Lady Jennifer Buckingham, which is a real shame as it would have been nice for her to make it to the alien base and be reunited with Carstairs, who she obviously has a thing for.

The War Games Episode Four

The one where the Doctor and Zoe infiltrate the alien control centre...

The alien travel capsules are TARDISes in all but name, so I wonder why designer Roger Cheveley chose to not have the interior like the Doctor's Ship? After all, the Meddling Monk's TARDIS was very similar to the Doctor's, and even the Dalek time machine reflected the architectural footprint of the Doctor's Ship. These capsules are obviously something slightly different, which we can tell by the rather flimsy interior design! Quite how the Doctor and Zoe are expected to hide from a passing garrison of Roman soldiers by hiding behind a see-through plastic shower curtain is baffling!

I love the weird controls these alien people have though, they're like little fridge magnets which are moved about into different formations to complete certain tasks/ circuits. We can all pretend to do that at home!

The War Games Episode Three

The one where we discover there are many time zones...

The Romans are coming! What's the best thing to do? Jump in this ridiculously slow ambulance and reverse (slowly) back into the war-torn 1917 zone, that's what! While it does appear to be the best of a poor bunch of options, it does afford us the glorious sight of seeing a Roman soldier extra stand open-mouthed, his gob well and truly smacked, as the ambulance disappears into nowhere while the episode caption fades up. Whoever that extra was deserves a Roman medal for giving that elusive 110%!

Actually, the gobsmacked Roman soldier kind of sums up how a first-time viewer might feel during, and after, watching this stunning episode, because it's packed full of cleverly placed mini-WTF moments. Remember, this is the programme that has recently churned out pretty standard (and sometimes sub-standard) cod teatime sci-fi like the woeful The Dominators and The Krotons, and the frustratingly dull runaround The Space Pirates. Suddenly, Doctor Who gives us The War Games, which is like a beautifully sculpted Russian doll - every time something is revealed, there's more intrigue just around the corner to reel you in.

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 War Games Episode One

The one where the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe are court martialed...

I'll be totally transparent from the off: The War Games is my joint favourite Doctor Who story of all time, so reviewing it for this blog is something of a poisoned chalice. I intend to stay as open-minded and impartial as possible because being a Doctor Who fan can sometimes mean watching things with rose-tinted spectacles. I'm going to leave the specs off and judge this epic ten-parter as I find it critically. And I cannot wait...!

The overwhelming feeling I have after watching the first episode is how unrelentingly grim it all is. After a lovely, inventive shot of the TARDIS materialising reflected in a puddle, David Maloney's direction starts full-pelt and barely lets up, and in the first four minutes alone we witness a barrage of bombs, acres of mud, an abduction, and the rat-a-tat-tat of machine gun fire. It's not long before our heroes find themselves holed up in a World War One trench close to enemy lines, apparently not far from Ypres. Writers Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke certainly get the story started with a literal bang!