For me the greatest achievement of this serial is that it is so watchable. Not once does it get boring, or dull. It's perfectly cast, paced, and directed. And this is all despite its length, and what's more, if you have the time, you can easily watch all ten episodes in one sitting. And I can't think of many TV serials that could make you want to do that.
I think the idea that The War Games is 'too long' likely arrises from the difference between how most people watch classic Doctor Who now than how it was intended. With the DVD releases and such leaning this way, I think most fans have a tendency to watch serials almost as feature films that happen to roll the credits every 25 minutes - i.e, in one sitting, and as if they were one long 'episode'. The War Games (and other very long stories, such as The Daleks Master Plan and some of the Pertwee seven parters) can seem to drag if you view them in that way. If, however, you watch it as a story played out over 10 episodes - the way one might watch a drama miniseries, say (which can be a binge, but might also be two or three episodes at a time over the course of a few days, even if its not one episode at a time) you are - to my mind - much less likely to feel it 'drag'. I've only marathoned through the classic series once, myself, but I also found that treating it as part of the ongoing series as a whole also helped with this. The long serial feels less like a big thing you have to get through when you are just watching through everything. On the whole, an absolute classic of a story where everything seems to be firing on all cylinders! Lastly, I've always felt the idea that The War Chief was The Master (to say nothing of the alternate idea that all three of them, along with The Rani, The Monk, Drax and seemingly every other Time Lord the authors can think of were a clique in school...) was a rather silly, but ultimately harmless, fan idea. I do think that such thinking does tend to make the universe of Doctor Who feel smaller and more limited, though.
The War Games doesn’t get enough kudos for pulling off 10 whole parts that balances mystery, story, character and lore without feeling slow. It’s terrific! I haven’t watched this in a long time. But I’m waiting for that inevitable Season 6 collection set.
Just perfect - excellent writing, direction, casting, and a behemoth of a story that begins with a terrible situation and gets progressively worse. One of the best stories of the 60s, if not the best. A perfect finale for Troughton - and one for the show as a whole if they'd chosen to end it here. Complaints are so minor they hardly feel worth mentioning. Doctor Who wouldn't be as good as this for a while!
Yep, absolutely fantastic send off for the Second Doctor. Whether Doctor Who wouldn't be this good again for a while... Once upon a time I'd have agreed wholeheartedly given my historic aversion to the Pertwee era. But these days...? Well wait and see I guess as we're nearly there... 👀
The poetic symmetry just hit me - Hartnell was forced out, but that’s not reflected in his regeneration story. Troughton chose to leave, and in the story he is forced out.
War Games is basically perfect to me. It uses its 10 episodes excellent to just continually build the tension and stakes. The whole mythos kind of gets turned on its head and it is the perfect wrap on the black and white era and sets up the rest of the show in a really clever way. Plus not only is the main cast excellent, but the entire guest cast is as well. Absolutely magnificent story and I can't wait to watch it again.
This is by far my favorite doctor who story. My favorite Tardis team pushed to the brink and forced to say goodbye in the end. Jamie's farewell will ALWAYS get me. And this is the only regeneration that gets me too. Maybe because its my favorite doctor? Maybe because it's practically a death sentence from the Timelords? Maybe its both! All I know is I've watched this from start to finish at least 10 times, and it never feels like it drags once. It makes 10 parts feel like 4. God tier story. (Side note, the War Chief will always be the "first" Master in my eyes. It just fits. Also, everyone who I've ever shown this story to always goes "oh that's the Master when he shows up)
I used to think The War Games was too long until I watched it and the whole story just flew by as I was so engrossed in the overall story. On rewatches I kept thinking what would Pertwee's first season be like if Zoe had stayed on.... We will never know. The War Chief as the Master I remember hearing that in the late 80s and was never convinced but an interesting theory. Plus he never regenerated well not on screen as it were. I often wonder if the War Chief is still out there causing Wars on other planets.
I used to be of the opinion that this story was much too long, but I was also 15 years old on first viewing so I didn’t exactly have the longest attention span. I have more patience for the story 37 years later, though I do feel this would be a phenomenal 6-parter. Even Terrance Dicks felt the story was too long. Having said that, it’s still enjoyable to see events unravel slowly over the course of the story. So it still is an enjoyable watch, especially if you don’t attempt to view it all in one sitting. (I break it up into 3-4 sittings most of the time.) Whether or not we assume the War Chief is the Master, it’s interesting to contemplate just how many Time Lords were renegades, exiles, or just bad eggs. There’s the Meddling Monk, the War Chief, the Master, Omega, Morbius, Chancellor Goth, Councillor Hedin, President Borusa, and the Rani. It makes one wonder if there are many “good” Time Lords other than the Doctor and Romana (who are also renegades).
This and the mind robber are my two favorite Patrick Troughten stories. Classic Doctor Who has always struggled with pacing issues with any story that goes beyond 4 episodes, but somehow this story managed to avoid this issue despite having 10 whole episodes! The pacing in this is so great and always keep me gripped from beginning to end despite it's length. Yes it does have a lot of the "captured, escape, recaptured" problem that many classic who episodes have, but in this story I did not seem to mind it as all the captures seemed natural to me
Sad to see the end of the black n’ white Who. What did you think of the colourised Daleks? Philip Madoc ALWAYS improves whatever he’s in. Occasionally I’ll see him in a random film or tv repeat and he never disappoints. Unsung legend of British screen.
@@lukethomas216 I kept meaning to do a video about The Daleks in Colour but then the moment passed... I thought it was weird and didn't much like it to be honest but, then, I don't think it was meant for me to be honest so I'm not holding anything against it.
One of my all-time favourite ‘Doctor Who’ stories. Utterly captivating from start to finish. Great video, Chris (as always!)
Thanks Ben - I'm glad this one is highly thought of these days!
For me the greatest achievement of this serial is that it is so watchable. Not once does it get boring, or dull. It's perfectly cast, paced, and directed. And this is all despite its length, and what's more, if you have the time, you can easily watch all ten episodes in one sitting. And I can't think of many TV serials that could make you want to do that.
I think the idea that The War Games is 'too long' likely arrises from the difference between how most people watch classic Doctor Who now than how it was intended. With the DVD releases and such leaning this way, I think most fans have a tendency to watch serials almost as feature films that happen to roll the credits every 25 minutes - i.e, in one sitting, and as if they were one long 'episode'.
The War Games (and other very long stories, such as The Daleks Master Plan and some of the Pertwee seven parters) can seem to drag if you view them in that way. If, however, you watch it as a story played out over 10 episodes - the way one might watch a drama miniseries, say (which can be a binge, but might also be two or three episodes at a time over the course of a few days, even if its not one episode at a time) you are - to my mind - much less likely to feel it 'drag'.
I've only marathoned through the classic series once, myself, but I also found that treating it as part of the ongoing series as a whole also helped with this. The long serial feels less like a big thing you have to get through when you are just watching through everything.
On the whole, an absolute classic of a story where everything seems to be firing on all cylinders!
Lastly, I've always felt the idea that The War Chief was The Master (to say nothing of the alternate idea that all three of them, along with The Rani, The Monk, Drax and seemingly every other Time Lord the authors can think of were a clique in school...) was a rather silly, but ultimately harmless, fan idea. I do think that such thinking does tend to make the universe of Doctor Who feel smaller and more limited, though.
This is my all time favourite doctor who story and I’m glad you gave it such a glowing review
I think it's slowly getting its dues these days, which is well deserved
The War Games doesn’t get enough kudos for pulling off 10 whole parts that balances mystery, story, character and lore without feeling slow. It’s terrific!
I haven’t watched this in a long time. But I’m waiting for that inevitable Season 6 collection set.
Couldn't agree more, one of the very best
And yes, I'm very happily in the camp War Chief is the Master. (Back when he used the name Vasek.)
It’s a wonderful synthesis of the previous 60’s stories and acts a really nice bookend to show up to this point.
This was the best Troughton. I was very young and upset when he left. Took me ages to get into Pertwee and hated he was stuck on Earth.
The War Games has to be one of my favourites so far. Its just amazing.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Update: I am now on Inferno
My watching is ahead of where these videos suggest, I need to catch up!
Just perfect - excellent writing, direction, casting, and a behemoth of a story that begins with a terrible situation and gets progressively worse. One of the best stories of the 60s, if not the best. A perfect finale for Troughton - and one for the show as a whole if they'd chosen to end it here. Complaints are so minor they hardly feel worth mentioning. Doctor Who wouldn't be as good as this for a while!
Yep, absolutely fantastic send off for the Second Doctor. Whether Doctor Who wouldn't be this good again for a while... Once upon a time I'd have agreed wholeheartedly given my historic aversion to the Pertwee era. But these days...? Well wait and see I guess as we're nearly there... 👀
@@chris_stokes I'm looking forward to it!
The poetic symmetry just hit me - Hartnell was forced out, but that’s not reflected in his regeneration story. Troughton chose to leave, and in the story he is forced out.
That's true, I hadn't really thought about that either
War Games is basically perfect to me. It uses its 10 episodes excellent to just continually build the tension and stakes. The whole mythos kind of gets turned on its head and it is the perfect wrap on the black and white era and sets up the rest of the show in a really clever way. Plus not only is the main cast excellent, but the entire guest cast is as well. Absolutely magnificent story and I can't wait to watch it again.
This is by far my favorite doctor who story. My favorite Tardis team pushed to the brink and forced to say goodbye in the end. Jamie's farewell will ALWAYS get me. And this is the only regeneration that gets me too. Maybe because its my favorite doctor? Maybe because it's practically a death sentence from the Timelords? Maybe its both! All I know is I've watched this from start to finish at least 10 times, and it never feels like it drags once. It makes 10 parts feel like 4. God tier story. (Side note, the War Chief will always be the "first" Master in my eyes. It just fits. Also, everyone who I've ever shown this story to always goes "oh that's the Master when he shows up)
The Ambulance was a genuine WW1 one🎩
I used to think The War Games was too long until I watched it and the whole story just flew by as I was so engrossed in the overall story. On rewatches I kept thinking what would Pertwee's first season be like if Zoe had stayed on.... We will never know.
The War Chief as the Master I remember hearing that in the late 80s and was never convinced but an interesting theory. Plus he never regenerated well not on screen as it were. I often wonder if the War Chief is still out there causing Wars on other planets.
I used to be of the opinion that this story was much too long, but I was also 15 years old on first viewing so I didn’t exactly have the longest attention span. I have more patience for the story 37 years later, though I do feel this would be a phenomenal 6-parter. Even Terrance Dicks felt the story was too long. Having said that, it’s still enjoyable to see events unravel slowly over the course of the story. So it still is an enjoyable watch, especially if you don’t attempt to view it all in one sitting. (I break it up into 3-4 sittings most of the time.)
Whether or not we assume the War Chief is the Master, it’s interesting to contemplate just how many Time Lords were renegades, exiles, or just bad eggs. There’s the Meddling Monk, the War Chief, the Master, Omega, Morbius, Chancellor Goth, Councillor Hedin, President Borusa, and the Rani. It makes one wonder if there are many “good” Time Lords other than the Doctor and Romana (who are also renegades).
This and the mind robber are my two favorite Patrick Troughten stories. Classic Doctor Who has always struggled with pacing issues with any story that goes beyond 4 episodes, but somehow this story managed to avoid this issue despite having 10 whole episodes! The pacing in this is so great and always keep me gripped from beginning to end despite it's length. Yes it does have a lot of the "captured, escape, recaptured" problem that many classic who episodes have, but in this story I did not seem to mind it as all the captures seemed natural to me
My 2 favourite Troughton stories as well!
@@chris_stokes I am excited to see your reviews of the 3rd Doctor era episodes aswell. I actually quite recently finished my 3rd Doctor marathon
RIP black and white era, we hardly knew ye
Sad to see the end of the black n’ white Who. What did you think of the colourised Daleks? Philip Madoc ALWAYS improves whatever he’s in. Occasionally I’ll see him in a random film or tv repeat and he never disappoints. Unsung legend of British screen.
I’ll amend that to Welsh actor (I’m half-Welsh and we can get funny about such things! 😁)
@@lukethomas216 I kept meaning to do a video about The Daleks in Colour but then the moment passed... I thought it was weird and didn't much like it to be honest but, then, I don't think it was meant for me to be honest so I'm not holding anything against it.