The War Machines

Doctor Who is required. Bring him here!

WOTAN

Synopsis

In London in 1966, the Doctor and Dodo visit the new Post Office Tower and are introduced to the supercomputer, WOTAN.

Review

The War Machines sees the First Doctor return to contemporary Earth for one of the first times, and to the swinging 1960s. It is one of the most forward thinking stories of his era, with WOTAN being an artificial intelligence. It’s a story that would work if it was told again now.

It is a fast paced story that seldom pauses to draw breath, and that works to the story’s benefit. Part One is remarkably efficient, putting all the pieces into place and introducing the major players and putting Brett, Major Green, Professor Klimpton and Dodo under WOTAN’s control. This is a story that could play out today, capitalising on fears of computers and artificial intelligence. WOTAN wants to keep humanity around whilst they are useful but kill them when they have served their purpose. The sheer number of extras allow them to do this, whether that’s testing the War Machine’s weaponry, or in the battle scene with the military. It’s factors like this that make the story feel more expensive than it is; it’s not hard to see that there is only one War Machine prop! The battle is a little bit unclear, not helped by the smoke generated by the titular tank’s weaponry, and perhaps would be a bit more coherent if directed by someone like Douglas Canfield.

It’s not all great though. The story does an appalling job of being a departure for Dodo. Dodo is not the most memorable of companions, and I cannot say that I will miss her, but the show never really gave Jackie Lane a chance. Inconsistent characterisation, not to mention accent, meant that she never had the opportunity to make an impression, not helped by only being in a handful of stories. Dodo is only in the first two episodes of this story and is under the influence of WOTAN for the majority of those, before getting packed off to the country to recover. She doesn’t even get to say a proper farewell to the Doctor, with the story having her write a note stating that she wants to stay in London. It’s perhaps ironic that the message is delivered by Ben and Polly, who would have a very similar departure in The Faceless Ones.

Speaking of the Doctor’s new companions, they do feel like a breath of fresh air. Following up companions who have largely spoken with received pronunciation, Ben is much more rough and ready and speaks with a much more colloquial accent. It makes companions like Ian and Barbara seem almost ageless, whilst Ben and Polly feel much more like products of the 1960s. We also spend a lot of the first part of the story in the Inferno nightclub, another indication of that the decade was in full swing. I’ve never seen any stories with Ben and Polly and the First Doctor, and after finding them surplus to requirements in the early Second Doctor stories, they were a pleasant surprise here, and looking forward to seeing more of them in the remaining First Doctor stories.

Speaking of the First Doctor, this is one of the best First Doctor performances. It’s rather remarkable to think that he was only a few short months later, Hartnell would be leaving the role. I did not pick up on any of the infamous ‘Billy fluffs’ here, and he commands the screen, being at the centre of the narrative for a lot of the story. Companionless for the majority of the story, the Doctor has to take a lot of the heavy lifting, paired up with Sir Charles Summer.

Verdict: The War Machines is a great adventure, let down slightly by the poor departure of Dodo. 9/10

Cast: William Hartnell (The Doctor), Jackie Lane (Dodo Chaplet), Michael Craze (Ben Jackson), Anneke Wills (Polly), Alan Curtis (Major Green), John Harvey (Professor Brett), Sandra Bryant (Kitty), Ewan Proctor (Flash), William Mervyn (Sir Charles Summer), John Cater (Professor Krimpton), Ric Felgate (Roy Stone), John Doye (Interviewer), Desmond Cullum-Jones (Worker), Eddie Davis (Worker), Roy Godfrey (Tramp), Michael Rathbone (Taxi Driver), Gerald Taylor (Machine Operator), John Rolfe (Captain), John Boyd-Brent (Sergeant), Frank Jarvis (Corporal), Robin Dawson (Soldier), Kenneth Kendall (Television Newsreader), George Cross (The Minster), Edward Colliver (Garage Mechanic), John Slavid (Man in telephone box), Dwight Whylie (Radio Announcer), Carl Conway (US Correspondent), Gerald Taylor (Voice of WOTAN) & WOTAN.

Writer: Ian Stuart Black

Director: Michael Ferguson

Producer: Innes Lloyd

Parts: 4

Original UK Broadcast Dates: 25 June – 16 July 1966

Behind the Scenes

• This story had the working titles of Doctor Who and the Computers and Doctor Who and the War of the Machines.
• Due to budgetary constraints, this story has no incidental music.
• The idea for this story was based on an idea raised when Kit Pedler was interviewed for the role of science advisor.
• The Savages and The War Machines are the first two consecutive stories to be written by the same writer.
• WOTAN refers to the Doctor as Doctor Who. This is the only time in a televised story that the Doctor is referred to as such until World Enough and Time.
• The TARDIS prop was refurbished during production of the story, with the window frames being painted blue, the lock being relocated to the right-hand door and the St John’s Ambulance logo being painted over. A structural refurbishment meant that the walls were rectangular, and no longer fitted the square-based roof. This survived for the next decade, until the roof fell in on Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen during production of The Seeds of Doom.

Cast Notes

• John Harvey played Officia in The Macra Terror.
• Sandra Bryant played Chicki in The Macra Terror.
• Ric Felgate went on to play Brent in The Seeds of Death and Charles Van Lyden and an alien ambassador in The Ambassadors of Death.
• Gerald Taylor was a Dalek operator, and also played various roles in the Classic series.
• John Rolfe would go on to play Sam Becket in The Moonbase and Ralph Fell in The Green Death.
• Frank Jarvis played Ankh in Underworld and Skart in The Power of Kroll.
• John Slavid had previously played an officer in The Massacre.
• Carl Conway went on to play a control room operator in The Ambassadors of Death.

Best Moment

The cliffhangers in The War Machines feel particularly good, so it’s a toss-up between the one at the end of Episode 2 and Episode 3.

Best Quote

You know there’s something alien about that tower! I can sense it.

Smells okay to me. Good old London smoke…

I can feel it’s got something sort of powerful. It’s… Look at my skin. Look at that. I’ve got that pricking sensation again, the same. Just as I had when I saw the Daleks, those Daleks were near…

“Daleks”? Who are they?

Oh, er, yes, of course, you, er, you didn’t meet them, did you, child? No. No, and I pray that you never will.

The First Doctor and Dodo Chaplet

Previous First Doctor review: The Savages

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