Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 132: The War Machines, Episode Four

Dear diary,

The notes for this story have only taken up a single side of paper in my notebook, because I've mostly been enjoying The War Machines too much to break away and write things. There's one note that keep reappearing, though. At the top of Episodes One, Three, and Four, I've scrawled 'Titles' (Actually, under today's episode, it's down as 'TITLES!!!!').

The War Machines is one of those rare 20th-century Who stories that breaks away from the usual format for its episode title. Here, we're given the title and the episode number in a 'computer' font (we all know which font that is, even if you've never seen the story), as they arrive on screen in what can only be described as a 'computerised' way. Right from the word 'go', we're being told that this is a story about computers and technology.

It's important to remember that this is only the second story to have one big title, as opposed to a name for each individual episode. There was a style guide for that, established right from the very start of the programme. The opening titles sequence dies away, and we're given an image over which the title - and then the writer's credit - will sit. For a time during Seasons One and Two, the action on screen would pause, and the actors would hold their pose, while the text appeared.

The same layout was used for The Savages, as confirmed by the tele snaps for Episodes Two and Three. It would appear that the episode number was simply added as an additional caption between the two standard ones. This, then, is the first opportunity for the programme to experiment with overall titles, and to start looking at a way to do them from now on.

I can't say I particularly like the titles for The War Machines any more or any less than the regular ones, and the same can be said for stories like The War Games which also employ different title styles. Equally, there's nothing wrong with doing them in this unusual manner, either. It just doesn't make all that much of a difference to me!

The other note that I've had scrawled at the top of several episodes over the last week is 'Ian Stuart Black'. The Savages and The War Machines is the first example in Doctor Who history of a writer being responsible for two consecutive stories (though Terry Nation came very close right at the start of the first season). In fairness, Black was only brought in to do a redraft of The War Machines, it having already gone through a version or two. As a fan of 1960s television in general, and not just Doctor Who, Black's name appears in the credits to several of the DVDs on my shelf, and I've alway been quite keen on his work. I'm pleased to see that my enjoyment has carried over to his Who writing, and I'm looking forward to The Macra Terror more now that I've realised it's Black's third script for the programme.

A couple of times over the last few days, I've compared Ben and Polly coming into the show as feeling like a new start, and I've linked it to the addition of Jenna-Louise Coleman to the current series of Who. I wasn't until today that I realised there were more similarities between the two eras than I'd ever thought about. Both get their breath of fresh air in a story that brings the Doctor back to modern-day London, and the enemy is based in the most modern building in the city (The Post Office Tower and the Shard aren't likely to be compared very often, but there's certainly a link here!).

On both occasions, the enemy is ultimately defeated when the Doctor reprogrammed their soldiers (he sends the War Machine to destroy WOTAN, and reprograms one of the 'Spoon Heads' to go confront Celia Imrie), and he picks up a new companion - or two, in Hartnell's case - along the way. All we need is to see the First Doctor ride an anti-grab motorbike up the side of the tower, and the comparison is complete!

It's strange, given how alien all of this story felt in the first couple of episodes, that the First Doctor looks so completely right as he strolls along a street to confront the War Machine. Shortly after, there's a shot of the Doctor in the back of a car and whereas before it seemed totally odd to see him in a taxi, now it just feels very natural. I think it has to be a success of the story that it all holds together so, so, well. And we've got the first real hint of something that we'll see far more later on in the programme - the Doctor slipping away as soon as things are complete, before he can be questioned or congratulated.

It's nice to see him waiting around outside the TARDIS for Dodo at the end, as I'd worried that having vanished mid-way though the story, she'd be instantly brushed under the carpet as we move on to the next set of companions. It's also interesting to see the Doctor feeling rather put out that Dodo simply 'sends her love' after everything that he's shown her through time and space. It's reminiscent of the departure of Ian and Barbara, in that the Doctor is a little hurt they would choose a normal life over one with him.

And Ben and Polly really do feel like such a breath of fresh air at the end. It's great the way that they get caught back up with the Doctor - 'Shh, watch him! I'm sure there's something strange about that police box…' - and it's very much in the style of that very first introduction to the ship right back in An Unearthly Child. I'm hoping that it's a sign (along with not showing their reaction upon entering the ship) that we'll be seeing the introduction of two new companions used to take stock and reintroduce the series again.

The Third Season has been something of a revolving door for companions (We've had Vicki, Steven, Katarina, Sara, Dodo, and now Ben and Polly since the start of Galaxy 4), so the way that they work within the series hasn't been as developed as it was in the first two years. Dodo serves as the best example, being introduced in the midsts of a massive info-dump.

Still, The War Machines has been a massive high for the series - the highest I've rated a story so far! - and a fantastic way to end this this run of adventures. I'm taking another slight side-step tomorrow (for one day only, though, promise!), and then we're down to the dying days of the First Doctor. An interesting time indeed!

8/10 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 131: The War Machines, Episode Three

Dear diary,

Five or six years ago, probably around the time that The War Machines was released on DVD, I remember creating a custom War machine figure, in scale with the Character Options figure range. It was before they'd made any of the classic Doctors, so I probably paired it up on the shelf with a Tenth Doctor toy. It wasn't very good, as customs go. I seem to recall that it was made from a Coco Pops box, coated in tin-foil.

The whole reason that I'd even bothered to make one is the same reason that I wonder fairly regularly when we're going to get an official War Machine figure from Character - they're freaking awesome!

The thing that often gets forgotten with the War Machines, or at least it's often forgotten by me, is the sheer size of the things. The Daleks at this point in the series' history are quite short. That has a charm of its own, but then you're faced up against one of these machines and it's huge! It's a good foot or so taller than many members of the cast, and that really helps to sell it as something of a threat.

The other thing of note with them is the amount of detail included. It's seen clearest on the segment of Blue Peter included on the DVD, in which Christopher Trace examines one of the machines up close. It's all fairly basic by today's standards, but it's still pretty impressive when immersed in this part of the programme's history. There's flashing banks of computers on the side of the creature, some kind of optical 'eye' built into the front, two guns coming out of the sides and the big metal 'fists', too, which get put to a fair bit of use in this episode.

The one thing that I'd always failed to notice, though, is the face. Oh yes, the War Machine has a face. It's right at the top of the thing, with the number on the machine forming the nose, and the long, dark box posing as the mouth. Once you've seen it, it's impossible to un-see. As if that wasn't enough, they then cut back to WOTAN, and he's got a face, too! Ah, I've ruined a great design for myself, now.

Seriously, though, Character Options. I'm waiting to give you my money. Make a War Machine! Give them little number stickers like you did with the Voc Robots! I'd form a little army of them on my shelf!

I can only imagine the impact that these things had on the viewers back in the day. A large chunk of the episode is given over to demonstrating just how powerful the machine is, first as it terrorises Ben again in a cliffhanger reprise, and then as it takes on the army by itself for the last third of the story. We've never seen a fight sequence quite like this in the show, so it really makes an impact.

The only downside to having such a long sequence is that we see several things over and over again. This is partly a result of the episode being patched back together to cover a few missing parts (though I'm not sure I'd have noticed them so much had I not foolishly watched a documentary on how it was done!), and partly the result of them jus twanging to show it off.

There's a great moment in the warehouse when the War Machine crashes through a pile of crates and sends them scattering as it just powers on. Unfortunately, by the time it's reached the street outside, it seems to go out of its way to knock over smaller piles of boxes almost to show that it can. It's the equivalent of a teen who's lost a fight kicking over a bin as he retreats. Y'know, just to prove that he's still 'hard'.

I think you can just about forgive it, though, because the fight really is fantastic in places. It also leads to one of the best cliffhangers that we've seen so far, when the army retreats to safety, and the Doctor stands tall, looking fantastic in his hat and cloak, squaring up to the machine. The camera pulls into a close-up on William Hartnell, and it's possibly the best he's ever looked. A shame that the picture seems a tad over-exposed, here, but it's still a great moment.

The War Machines is still very much Ben's story at this stage. Polly gets plenty to do in this episode, under the control of WOTAN, and Anneke Wills gets a chance to show us what she can do (The moment that she realises she's let Ben escape because he was her friend is lovely), but she's still only just involved. Ben's the one performing all of the companion role at this stage, and it's still fantastic to see. Just as Steven came along and washed Ian clean from my mind, I have a sneaking suspicion that Ben may do the same to our space pilot!

It's also nice to see Dodo getting a brief mention. It's only in passing, and it comes again as the Doctor worries about Ben and Polly, but it's nice to see that she's not been completely forgotten just yet.

8/10 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 130: The War Machines, Episode Two

Dear diary,

When you think of companion pairings with the Doctor, there are two which only exist as an 'and'. You've got Ian and Barbara, and now Ben and Polly. Now, I've seen plenty of Ian and Bab's adventures before I embarked on this marathon, so those two have always had quite distinct personalities in my mind. Ben and Polly though have always seemed fused together in my mind - you can't have one without the other.

If I did have to pick the one that's more prominent, though, I think I'd go for Polly. I think it's simply because unlike Michael Craze, who plays Ben, Anneke Wills (Polly) is still with us. She's quite prominent in the Doctor Who world, providing linking narration for some of the soundtracks, turning up in Big Finish plays (and not always as Polly - in the days before the Companion Chronicles range allowed us new adventures with the first few Doctors, Wills played Lady Louisa Pollard, mother of Eighth Doctor companion Charley), on DVD commentaries and on special features. She makes hundreds of appearances at Doctor Who conventions, and is all-round a lovely person.

I've only met her the once, when running a signing with Terry Molloy about five years ago. A woman arrived at the desk to ask if she could cut in and say hello to her 'old friend' Terry. Imagine our surprise when we realised that it was Polly Wright! Still, the fact that she's so ubiquitous within Who means that she's always felt like the half of the 'and' pairing that's stronger.

So it's surprising to watch today's episode, in which Polly has little to do but general secretary things, and it's Ben who fulfills the role of the Doctor's companion more actively. He's sent off to scour the part of the city where the tramp has been killed, and to see if he can find anything out that may help them discover what's really going on. He even gets to take centre stage for the cliffhanger, as a War Machine advances on him.

It's good, too, because Ben's actually great, isn't he? Craze's accent if fantastic and refreshing (Dodo's was a bit of a shock to begin with, but it was firmly RP by the end), and I'm hoping they don't tune it down. It's also interesting to see Ben treating the Doctor with respect simply because he's an older gentleman, and that's what Ben has always been taught to do. I'm really pleased that he's breaking himself out of the 'Ben and Polly' mould so early, with a great opportunity to shine.

It's following Ben out to the warehouse in Covent garden that gives us today's opportunity to see how strange this story is. Forget alien planets, or the Wild West, this is where the series is most alien to me. Right in the heart of central London in the swinging sixties. There's a scene early on in the episode when the Doctor gets into a taxi with his companions, and it's bizarre. It's not what the show does at this point, so I really don't know how to take it! It's looking great, though.

Oh, but Dodo. Poor, poor Dodo. I knew that this was her last episode, and that she ends up turfed from the story with little more than a cursory wave of the hand, but how desperate does the Doctor sound to get rid of her? When he tells Ben that Dodo is feeling 'a little under the weather', the sailor hopes that she'll be ok. The Doctor cuts him off, though, proclaiming that she'll be fine, and he's more worried about Polly, anyway. There we are, then. I guess he's made his decision!

Jackie Lane doesn't even get much of a chance to do much in her goodbye. Apart from trying to tempt the Doctor off in the wrong direction, and some general 'hypnotised' acting, that's her lot, and she's off to the country. A real shame. Dodo's only been a short-term companion by comparison to some of the other's we've has, but it's a pity not to see her given a proper send off.

But the city is under attack, and Doctor Who is still required (see? It is his name in this point of the programme! Doctor Who is required)!

8/10 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 129: The War Machines, Episode One

Dear diary,

The War Machines is one of those strange Doctor Who stories that I always think of being very fond of, but don't think I've actually ever watched all the way through. If I have seen it right to the end, then I doubt that I was paying proper attention to it. I was probably using it for background noise.

And yet, this one has always had an effect on me. Whenever I go to London, I always keep an eye out for the BT tower, and i think my fascination with it comes partly from this story. The rest of my interest comes from a general love of the 1960s as a decade. It's easy enough to look back on it with rose-tinted glasses, but there's a lot about that age that I really love, and it gets summed up perfectly by Tony Benn in a special feature about the tower on this DVD: 'confidence was so high, people really did believe that they could do anything'.

1960s London, in particular, is a magical place. People talk of 'Swinging London', and it's really an image that's stuck, fifty years on. It's a decade that's symbolised by freedom and fashion. I think that's why I've got a bit of an affinity towards this story, because The War Machines takes Doctor Who - another icon of the 60's, along with the Beatles - and places it right in the heart of the city, just as the decade is about to explode. England won the World Cup mere weeks after this story went out.

Right from the start, when the Doctor and Dodo step out of the TARDIS and onto a London street, it feels vibrant and new. I said yesterday that the arrival of Jenna-Louise Coleman to the new series had given it a new lease of life, and this story seems to be doing the same thing for Season Three. Steven has gone, and by the end of this story, Dodo will have departed, too. We're off onto a new phase of the programme.

Ben and Polly signify this perfectly - the pair of them light up the screen from the moment they start sharing it. It's telling that I'd forgotten Polly was ever Professor Brett's assistant in this story, I thought she came ready made as a companion pair with Ben at the nightclub. It adds something to it, though, seeing them meet for the first time, knowing that they're about to share a number of adventures in time and space.

Dodo doesn't fare quite so well, sadly. She's good fun to begin with, having a laugh with the Doctor (there's a really wonderful moment early on, when the Doctor has set off for the tower, and she chases after him up the street. As she catches up with him, they link arms and smile at each other. Never has the idea of Dodo as a replacement granddaughter felt more suitable), and being excited to be back in her own time and place.

There's an element of Rose Tyler to her, here. In The End of the World, having returned to Earth to be reassured by the Doctor that everything is ok, all Rose can think about is how much she wants some chips. It's nice! It's normal! All those adventures, out among the stars, they're fantastic. There's nothing like getting back home, though. It's that same feeling you get after a long holiday away. Dodo really did just stumble into the TARDIS the last time it landed here (is that why the Doctor made that 'out of order' sign?), and she's seen so much since then, but now she's back. Lovely.

In some ways, it feels obvious that she'll be leaving in this story. She's back home in her own time, her own city… There's a couple of obvious replacements hanging out with her down at the Inferno club. It's a shame I know she's not going to get the exit she deserves. And it looks like she's not going to get a chance to shine too much as a character before she goes, either. She spends parts of this episode complaining about a headache, before being taken under the control of Wotan, and sent off to do his bidding. A shame, yes, but it's good fun to watch. We've never had a companion hypnotised like this before, and Jackie Lane is making the most of it, doing it brilliantly.

…Hm? Sorry? What? Oh, no, it's ok. We don't have to talk about that bit of the story. It's fine.

Oh, all right, then. You know the bit. “Doctor Who is required”. It's a moment that causes a fair bit of controversy among fans who scream as loud as possible that his name isn't 'Doctor Who' (it doesn't half wind up my other half when I tell her that's his name). The thing is, at this point in the programme, it is his name! There's no getting away from it!

For as long as Gerry Davies is sitting in the script editor's chair, the lead character in this programme is called 'Doctor Who', and there's nothing we can do about it. I can't say it particularly bothers me, but I'm interested to know what others think. Leave a comment, or a tweet, or pop over to the 50 Year Diary Facebook page and let me know what you think.

Is it his name? At least for now? Does it drive you mad when people call him 'Doctor Who'? I'm genuinely interested to know!

Is it his name? At least for now? Does it drive you mad when people call him 'Doctor Who'? I'm genuinely interested to know!