Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Patrick Troughton, Fraser Hines, Wendy Padbury, David Saville, Jane Sherwin, Noel Coleman, Richard Steele, Terence Bayler, Hubert Rees, David Valla, Esmond Webb, Brian Forster, Pat Gorman, Peter Stanton, David Garfield, Gregg Palmer, Philip Madoc, Edward Brayshaw, Bill Hutchinson, Bernard Horsfall, James Vree, Vernon Dobtcheff.

With a huge pool of stories in which to choose from, it is perhaps fitting that the second serial to find itself being scrutinised and digitally coloured after the offering for Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary of The Daleks, should be the lengthy ten-part story of The War Games.

As with The Daleks, the statement of intent is what drives the take down to film experience, a ninety minute feast instead of several hours in which to dine; and whilst the experience can be clunky in parts, the conversation as it were cut short and no explanation given for the quick disappearance or reappearance on screen, it doesn’t detract from the seismic undertaking completed, and the joy of retconning certain elements to be found within the story.

Patrick Troughton’s, at the time, final foray in the role of the second incarnation of the Doctor would envelope the idea of a kind of forever war, one in which another species could play with humanity across time on a planet as the most destructive of conflicts were shown and fought for amusement as one might sit down at the dinner table and spend several hours playing the board game Risk. The difference being in this lengthy battle driven by manipulation, the soldiers are nothing more than participants at the behest of a greater source of evil than can be thought of at hands of generals, politicians, and kings.

To trim an entire story down to a 90 minute special does perhaps seek solace in the arms of new fans who as has been noted in the past, don’t have the same attention span as previous generations, but it does also give resonance to the immediacy of engagement and resolve; and there are few moments in the history of the long running science fiction programme than seeing for the first time the completed regeneration scene between Patrick Troughton and his successor, the indomitable Jon Pertwee.

The measure of this act, and with the not so subtle nod to another much discussed character on the deeply engrossed forums and fan pages, now seemingly made cannon by the use of music, is one that highlights the efforts of the Doctor Who production team to tighten up the past, and one that gives a more meaningful appreciation to actors who may have got lost in the black and white presentation. Actors such as the magnificent Philip Madoc as The War Lord and Edward Brayshaw as The War Chief are rightly placed in a position of prominence more befitting their status in colour than in the lack of depth that television provided at the time.

An extraordinary endeavour and one that is fulfilled to best of all’s abilities given the scope and sheer depth of the story. The War Games is a worthy addition to the vault of Doctor Who’s glorious past.

Ian D. Hall