Doctor Who - The War Games [DVD] [1969]

The best one he did

the final doctor who story of the 1960's. patrick troughtons final regular appearance in the role. and the final one to be made in black and white. presented here in a three disc dvd box set.It was a slightly troubled season for doctor who with the regulars about to move on, some rather average scripts, and some stories falling through. Faced with having to write ten episodes to round off the season and the era, the scriptwriters put the doctor and friends in the middle of world war one. Or so it seems. because as they escape trouble in the trenches they run into more soldiers from other eras.This whole planet contains human warriors from throughout history. brought together for a sinister purpose. And the problem may be too big for the doctor to solve on his own.Up to this point we knew nothing about his origins. but here the time lords are finally introduced. in rather spectacular fashion at the end of part nine, when they live up to their name.featuring some excellent direction and some very good acting, this is a real epic. It's a good story, but it's not quite a great story. becaue it is a bit too long. you may feel that in the middle when the story does, just for a moment, threaten to start going round in circles.And yet, with so much going on, in a quality production, you may not notice or care that much.the final episode introduces us to the doctor's homeworld, sees some touching goodbyes, and is a memorable end to the era.there are ten episodes in the story. there are five on each of the first two discs. these have the usual options for scene and episode selection, english language subtitles, language track, and audio captioning. and the picture for these episodes is of a quality significantly improved from the now rather old video release. they feature a commentary from cast members fraser hines and wendy padbury [doctors companions jamie and zoe] cast members philip madoc jane sherwin and graham weston, writer terrance dicks and producer derrick sherwin.dics one contains an easter egg. watch it on a computer and move the pointer over the doctor who logo in the top left. click when it lights up and this will play an audio recording made during the location filming for the story.disc three contains a big package of extras:war zone: a thirty five minute long documentary about the making of the story. well up to the usual standard of these it's well worth watching, especially for a lovely final shot of wendy padbury and fraser hines showing how friendship endures.shades of grey: running for roughly nineteen minutes it looks at black and white doctor who and other black and white tv of the 60's. and its an engrossing bit of history.now and then: runs for nine minutes and shows the locations used in the story as they were then and as they are now. some havent changed much, but it's nice to see them in colour and summer weather as opposed to the black and white winter filming of the story. mind you the rubbish dump used for the world war one scenes was filled in and is now an area of nice parkland, so seeing it as it now is quite a contrast.the doctor's composer: an eighteen minute long feature/interview on composer dudley simpson who wrote the vast majority of incidental music for doctor who for over a decade. he has good ancedotes to tell but they're interdispered with clips from the era showing the tunes he wrote, and this rather spoils the pacing of the whole thing. this is only part one of his story, and part two should be on another in this range in due course.sylia james in conversation: a nine minute long talk with a makeup designer from the era is a good watch, as she's an articulate lady and good talker with a few good tales to tell.talking about regeneratin runs for nineteen minutes and looks at all the times, in old and new doctor who, when a regeneration has happened. making some good points about how they came across on screen, this is entertaining stuff.stripped for action: looks at the second doctors life in comic strips. running for just thirteen minutes this is better paced than the longer one about the seventh doctor that was out recently in this range, and anyone who hasnt read them will have no trouble getting into this. and it makes them sound well worth reading. this has to be watched for the sight of a story showing skiing cybermen.on target: running for eighteen minutes approx and first in a series for this range about writers who novelised the stories, this looks at the work of the lake malcolm hulke, co writer of the war games and several novelisations. and a lot of other stuff. a nice tribute to the man it also contains some interesting writing tips, and so it's worth a watch.devious: this runs for twelve minutes and was a doctor who story made by a group of fans, featuring an alternate doctor taken out of time between the end of this story and the start of the third doctors era. famous for having it end with him regenerating into the third doctor, the original thing was six parts long. but here all you get is the opening, a brief compliation [and Imean brief] of the six parts, and then the regeneration. but since that features veteran actors peter tuddenham [the computers in blakes 7] hugh lloyd and then jon pertwee in his last appearance as the doctor, it's worth a look just for them. the whole thing does have some very flashy cgi that can be a bit distracting. the commentary from three of the people who made it is quite interesting and also contains a few audio extracts of jon pertwee.theres also a gallery of photos from the production of the story and the story itself.a trailer for the black guardian trilogy, the next release in this range.radio times listings, bbc publicity material, and design plans the SIDRAT craft seen in the story can be accessed as PDF files if you put the disc in a computer.there are production information subtitles on all the episodes that will give information about the story whilst you watch it should you switch them on.and for another easter egg click on the doctor who logo at the top of the main menu on disc three to see some hypnotic patterns that crop up on screen in the final episode. this lasts for a minute and watching it will possibly give you an epileptic fit. so I don't recommend it.But all in all a quality package, both story and extras wise. the bbc have done some great work with this one, and it's well worth getting

Same as previous

I understand a script had fallen through, leaving a gap, and that the solution was to write a ten episode long yarn to plug the breech.Ten episodes is a *lot* of story - 220 minutes of narrative - that's like a big feature film, about the same running time as Avatar - 3 ½ hours of continuous cause and effect, and if you've got a feature film budget, you're fine - the battles of the Somme and Gettysburg will occupy 20 minutes each, with another 20 mins for the final battle in the aliens' HQ... James Mason as the Security Chief, Anthony Quinn as the War Chief, Laurence Olivier as the War Lord... It might work - if you cut an hour off it. Episode Six is particularly pointless.There's the problem, the yarn often wears dangerously thin, and that's even with two writers doing their damnedest to work every possible bit of texture into it; the story is actually very good - even if there isn't quite enough of it - and it's very well acted; Noel Coleman is particularly chilling as General Smythe, and David Garfield little less so as his German opposite number - when he's not moonlighting in the War Between the States. There is an implicit analogy with boys playing with toy soldiers.It's with the `War is Hell' stuff that the story works best; once we get in among the oddly bespectacled aliens it all gets less sure of itself, partly because the design looks (mostly) cheap, and partly because new ideas get fewer and further between (though Vernon Dobtcheff is doing sterling service), the bitching between the Security and War Chiefs is badly realised (how badly can you say `What a stupid fool you are'?) James Bree is employing an acting style that must be all his own, and Edward Brayford is not very much better (...and now the award for the renegade Time Lord with the stupidest facial hair...) every so often we cut from the carnage of war to these two - Julian and Sandy's evil twins. The War Lord is Phillip Madoc, and beautifully understated evil; he lifts every scene he's in, sometimes against stiff competition from the other two.The Resistance does feel like `Oh goodness, we need another bit of padding just to get us through the next twenty five minutes', and Artauro Villar the comedy Mexican bandit is a fine substitute for meaningful content. The Resistance have just switched from fighting other humans to fighting aliens; at no point does any Resistance fighter stop and say `This war thing - it's *all* bollocks isn't it? Let's stop fighting'. Even the Dr, with his `We must get you all home' means `Back to the war you came from'. In terms of anti-war polemic, Blackadder Goes Forth does a much better job.That is the real problem with The War Games; it's not actually very interested in war - brainwashing, yes, just so long as it's thoroughly abstract - but the issues of war - why did all those men put on uniforms in the first place, how can the generals waste people with such godlike detachment, why (indeed) do the aliens want to take over the universe? Why did *their* guards join up? These questions never get considered, still less the practicalities of the `ultimate army' - how do you expect a British Tommy to fight alongside a Roman Legionary?In the end, instead of reason we get deus ex machina, albeit done with a certain style - the box trick is really very neat - though understated is still clearly the new magnificent - some re-dressed scenery, a little dry ice, and three blokes on a platform. They have force fields - obviously so powerful that they don't need spectacle. It's easy to wonder if the BBC were conserving money on a show they were about to cancel.The regeneration scene? `We're going to change your appearance so you won't get embarrassed on Earth?' No, come on, that's silly, and the series of ink drawings (I'm sure one of them is Louis Armstrong and another is Stan Laurel) is a bit silly too, and the problem with silliness is when you're being silly about a part of the story that in fact *is* quite silly but is meant to be taken seriously (you might as well make a joke about Daleks not being able to climb stairs).It is at least three episodes too long, and it needs more war, less nonsense, but ultimately it's a very good piece of Who. A milestone. Mentions in dispatches for Webb, Walker and Troughton (jnr).And that tall Time Lord has `dodgy' written all over him; bad lot, bet you.

The end of the 60s, Pat Troughton's run as the Doctor, black and white, Jamie and Zoe, the Docior not having an origin. This series changed the show forever. Supposedly the creative team had to come up with this at the last minute when other stories fell through. 10 episodes making it the 3rd longest ever but somehow it flows well and you don't feel the length. The Tardis seems to land in France in World War I but so realize there's more going on. A huge plot involving multiple Earth time periods and hypnosis. A plot so big, the Doctor will have to call on his own people for the first time to help. So the last episode has the Doctor dealing with his people after the main story is over. A classic story, yes some padding, some over acting, some poor looking sets or props. But over all, a great idea and execution.

Bellissima edizione che in 3 DVD propone tutte le 10 puntate di questa avventura del Dottore.E' l'ultima ad essere girata i bianco e nero. Ma sono gli speciali del terzo disco a fare davvero la differenza. Vivamente consigliato agli amanti del genere.

Une collection qui s'agrandit de plus en plus. Le prix était très raisonnable et j'ai pu continuer à remplir mon étagère pour un prix tout à fait raisonnable. Il m'en reste encore beaucoup à acheter.

Given that I'd never seen him in action before, and hadn't had previous stories to become emotionally attached, this serial was all I needed to feel the tug when this regeneration of the doctor came to his conclusion at the end of this story. 10 episodes which didn't drag and felt nice and doctory. Excellent special features too.

Great