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 much-heralded arrival of the War Lord is announced with a rather ominous alarm bell, and judging from the way both the War Chief and Security Chief have been speaking of this fearsome fellow, he's not to be trifled with ("He's chosen a rather inconvenient time," understates the War Chief). When he does turn up - already standing to the side of the scene, quietly listening to the War Chief and Security Chief bicker - he doesn't disappoint. Philip Madoc is simply magnificent, dressed all in black like a Nazi commandant with his thick-lensed specs and topiary beard.

As with James Bree's Security Chief, it is Madoc's stillness which speaks loudest. This man knows he has power and respect and doesn't need to ask for or demonstrate it. He speaks calmly with a reassuring but slightly unsettling lilt, so when he does burst into a fit of anger, you know he means it. He threatens with words rather than force - "I've heard disquieting rumours of serious trouble here. Are they true?" - and does not suffer fools gladly.

The War Chief and Security Chief continue to argue like warring siblings, and the biggest spat yet between Edward Brayshaw and James Bree is a beautifully written and played scene:

War Chief: Have you looked for this space time machine of theirs?
Security Chief: What use is that to us?
War Chief: They will no doubt try to return to it. That's where we should be looking for them. It's a simple enough conclusion. You might even have reached it yourself.
Security Chief: I have reached a number of conclusions about you and about this man, the Doctor.
War Chief: Indeed? Then perhaps you'd like to share them with us?

The scene continues, but it's fantastically bitchy, and Bree and Brayshaw deliver it with Shakespearean precision, with brooding undercurrents that come magnificently to the fore when the Security Chief finally loses his cool and starts shouting. The combination of Brayshaw, Bree and Madoc is breath-taking, as the War Lord halts their arguing with a headmasterly: "I am tired of this eternal bickering." He really does have to crack down on workplace discipline, warning them both that if they refuse to cooperate with one another, they will be replaced. I could watch these three all day...

The Doctor, Jamie and Carstairs return to the 1917 zone in order to rally the resistance troops, taking the deprocessing machine with them to try and convert more humans to the cause. The scene where we're reunited with the oily General Smythe, and our heroes are brought before him at the chateau, is a frustrating moment, bringing us right back to the end of episode 1, all those weeks ago! "You've caused me a great deal of trouble," seethes Smythe. "Good! I'm very glad to hear it!" pipes up the Doctor! But all is not lost, as Zoe Heriot is here with Russell and the rebels, and it's great to have Zoe heading up this resistance force, putting me in mind of the sudden Che Guevara tendencies Vicki displayed in The Space Museum!

The assault on the chateau and the rebels' desperate defence of it is really well directed by David Maloney, with plenty of gunfire, grenade explosions and fisticuffs to make it believable as a war zone. The Doctor's ingenuity comes into play when he manages to place a misty time barrier around the chateau, thus blocking the processed soldiers from getting in, but allowing the deprocessed resistance fighters to come and go at will. Now all they need to do is deprocess more humans to recruit a larger army.

But that plan is well and truly scuppered by what is an impressively effective and business-like raid via SIDRAT by the Security Chief and his ray gun wielding gimp guards, who waste no time in grabbing the Doctor and the processing machine and making off with both back to base, leaving the resistance force reeling as the credits roll. It's probably the first time we've seen the Security Chief actually do his job well!

First broadcast: May 31st, 1969

Steve's Scoreboard

The Good: Philip Madoc as the War Lord is brooding, dangerous... and a little bit sexy!

The Bad: The return to the 1917 zone only serves to remind me that Lady Jennifer could, and should, still be in this story!

Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★★☆

NEXT TIME: Episode Eight...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode One; Episode Two; Episode Three; Episode Four; Episode Five; Episode Six; 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.