The War Machines

Story Title: The War Machines
Series: 3 Story No: 10 Episode Count: 4
Doctor: 1st Companions: Dodo, Ben & Polly
Date(s) Watched: Wednesday 1st July 2009

One of my all time favourites & the story that really got me into the First Doctor’s stories (along with The Time Meddler). This story is just superb from start to finish and although it has one or two little issues in it I always look past them & enjoy this story for what it is, a wonderful snap shot of 60’s London. The Doctor & Dodo land in London in 1966, just after the completion of the GPO Tower (now known as the BT Tower) of which the Doctor senses there is something rather alien about it.

They end up in the tower where they meet Professor Brett, Major Green, Polly and of course Wotan who knows what TARDIS stands for (something which is never explained in the story). An unintentionally humorous scene follows in The Inferno which is “the hottest spot in town” according to Polly, which it probably was back in 1966 but in 2009 obviously has dated. It’s here we meet Ben, who is the first companion to have a rather rough accent (the others being rather posh, Dodo did have a Northern accent but that only really appears at the end of The Massacre).

However whilst this is all going on Professor Brett, Major Green & Professor Krimpton all get taken over by Wotan & are soon joined by Dodo who almost betrays the Doctor on several occasions. Polly also gets taken over later on in the story & Anneke Wills gives some rather haunting facial expressions when under the influence.

The War Machines get set in motion & the Doctor manages to capture a couple, before reprogramming one of them & sending it back to the GPO Tower to destroy Wotan, which finally rids Professor Brett, Major Green, Polly & the rest of Wotan’s influences. Unfortunately during Wotan’s destruction Professor Krimpton is accidently killed, when, under the influence of Wotan, he tries to defend the said computer & is killed by the reprogrammed War Machine.

The cast throughout are spot on with great performances from all, especially those under the influence of Wotan. Wotan’s voice itself if wonderfully alien & creepy with it’s slow hissing voice, it does however call the Doctor “Doctor Who” in error, something of which is repeated by several of the cast, who are under Wotan’s influence, several times throughout the story.

Ben & Polly are an instantly likeable pair of companions for me & both Craze & Wills have wonderful chemistry between each other with Ben often referring to Polly as Duchess in a friendly way. They also work very well with The First Doctor during this story as well & give clear indications that they could possibly be the next companions (of which they ultimately are by the end of this story.

However although Ben & Polly get a great introduction Dodo has a terrible departure, she ends up being hypnotised by Wotan and then gets sent to the country to stay with Sir Charles’ wife to recover, never to return to the series again. The Doctor rather oddly doesn’t pay tribute to Dodo at all, and seems more interested in rushing away than about Dodo’s departure. However thankfully Ben & Polly are on hand to fill the void although there is no reference to Dodo at all in the next story, which kind of suggests that the Doctor didn’t care that much for her at all!

The sets were again spot on and the sound effects are wonderfully futuristic, for the 1960’s. Wotan is rather dated, it a nice, nostalgic way and the War Machines look great, if yet again look dated. The support cast is spot on as well, with great performances as well. There’s also a “blink and you’ll miss it” appearance by a very young Mike Reid (aka Frank Butcher) in the capture scene in Episode 4. I also rather liked the title cards for this story, which form up to a rather nice, dramatic little tune & make a nice change from the usual fade up of the titles over the opening moments of the story.

There are one or two plot holes & the handling of Dodo’s departure was badly handled, however I never get tired of this story & always enjoy watching it, plus we get the introduction of two rather under rated companions

Overall Rating: 5/5 – A few plot holes here & there but the story is so great that I really don’t notice them, one of my all time favourite Hartnell stories, which gives a wonderful snap shot of 60’s London.