50: The War Games - A Multi-layered Historical, Sci-Fi Historical, Pure Sc-Fi, Teeming With Revelations Worthy Of Troughton's Departure

Written by: Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke

Companions: The Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon, Zoe Heriot.

Monsters/Villains: The War Lords. The War Chief.

Brief Synopsis: The TARDIS arrives in the middle of no man's land during WWI, or does it?

Rating: 10/10.

Well. I don't really have a clue where to start. What an excellent and epic story! I surpose the best compliment I can pay The War Games is that I don't know what or how to write about it. The real genius of this story is it's cleverly multi-layered plot. One can't ignore the massive revelations and their repercussions and also the truly excellent cameo and guest appearances. At ten episodes The War Games feels truly epic, but in a good way unlike say The Dalek's Master Plan. The story was lengthened to ten episodes when a planned story called The Impersonators was cancelled. Many label The War Games as over-long, but I believe that unlike other stories that were lengthened or replacements due to planned story's cancellations, like The Invasion or The Krotons, at ten episodes The War Games works. It doesn't get ponderous and tangential, it thunders along nicely. I am aware that there is much of note in this epic story but I promise I will try to make brevity my boon companion throughout.

Our honorary companions: Lady Jennifer and Lt. Carstairs.

The games begin when the TARDIS lands in the middle of no-man's land in France in WWI. The Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe are nearly killed by a softening barrage, but are aided by a british, female ambulance driver, Lady Jennifer Buckingham (played by then-producer Derrick Sherwin's wife: Jane) and british Lt. Jeremy Carstairs (played by David Savile, who certainly gets my award for best guest appearance). Carstairs and Lady Jennifer take the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe to the British HQ at a chateaux in the French countryside, where they are brought before General Smythe (played evilly by Noel Coleman), and court marshalled. At this point The War Games stands as an excellent, and well detailed WWI historical.

General Smythe.

But then things start to change. Smythe uses a pair of spectacles to influence his subordinate's minds and when he goes into his office, he moves a painting aside and behind it is a very anachronistic video screen. Lady Jennifer and Carstairs both express a concern for their shared memory loss; Buckingham can't remember where her hospital is and Carstairs can't remember names, dates, or how long he's been there. Is shell-shock the answer, or some kind of German gas that effects the mind? So what we once thought was a pure "historical" story has turned into a sci-fi/historical; with aliens or humans-with-a-greater-intelligence meddling with the history of WWI. What an excellent idea! But where will it go next?

The next clue we get it when Jamie forms a brief alliance with his cellmate, a man dressed as a Redcoat soldier who claims to be from 1745. We also get more anachronistic technology when General Smythe departs in a cupboard-like box which has materialised in his office. When Zoe shows them the hidden video screen in Smythe's office Carstairs and Lady Jennifer decide to go against orders and trust the Doctor, and his friends. Whilst escaping in Lady Jennifer's ambulance the group drive off, seem to disappear and then reappear elsewhere, only when the do, they turn to see a Roman charriot rushing towards them. And once again another layer of this intricate story is revealed.

The War Zone Map.

They quickly reverse and return to where they came from. Rather hilariously one extra playing a Roman is so shocked by the disappearance of the Ambulance that he seems to forget to close his mouth for quite some time. The Doctor deduces that they have driven through a barrier to another time zone. He uses a grenade to blow open a safe in Smythe's office and inside they find a map of the different time zones which appear to include: Roman, Greek, Crimean War, First World War, Peninsular War, American Civil War, Mexican Civil War, English Civil War, Thirty-Years War, Boer War, and Russo-Japanese War.

David Garfield as Major Von Weich.

Whilst escaping again they cross into German lines and are captured. The Doctor tries to persuade the German Lieutenant that they are not spies, and even demonstrates the Sonic Screwdriver by removing and replacing a screw from his revolver. In exactly the same way Smythe did, the German Major Von Weich uses a monocle to brainwash his Lieutenant. They manage to escape once more and head for the centre of the map, wherein we discover the next layer of this elaborate plot.

The War Lord Security Force. Mmm... Yes!

Central control is populated by technicians in neutral futuristic clothes (yes, leather, very futuristic) and strange glasses; which are also really silly. These items of clothing are my only two real criticisms of this story's generally superb psychedelic design.

The War Room as it would have appeared in colour.

Smythe is there too and welcomes the arrival of his superior, the mysterious War Chief. Smythe and Von Weich out themselves as aliens as they comment on humanity's nature of loyalty; their species don't ever get given a name on screen so let's call them the War Lords. It soon becomes apparent that they are involved in some sort of war game using models to plot real conflict between the rival armies. In the American Civil War zone, Carstairs attempts to sacrifice himself so the Doctor and his friends can escape into a barn to hide. Inside they witness a large group of soldiers arrive from a tiny craft that seems to work like a TARDIS. The Doctor and Zoe step inside, leaving Jamie and Lady Jennifer behind as it dematerialises.

The SIDRAT. Hmmm isn't that TARDIS backwards.

The Confederate South save Jamie and Lady Jennifer from the Union North, but Major von Weich appears dressed as a Confederate General and orders them to be restrained as spies. Harper, a member of the resistance tries to free Jamie and Lady Jennifer but fails. He seems to know what is really happening, and Von Weich's Monocle doesn't work on him.

The excellent Rudolph Walker as Harper.

Inside the ship, which is bigger on the inside (known as a SIDRAT) the Doctor and Zoe find dozens of soldiers from different periods just standing, entranced; another piece of the puzzle, we perhaps don't know where yet to fit. Eventually they arrive at the Central Control and don the War Lord's odd glasses to go incognito. They are ushered into a lecture, where the War Lords' Chief Scientist reveals that human specimens are removed from their time and placed in an environment that they believe to be their own, were they continue to fight what they believe to be their war. So... It isn't Earth at all. It's some unknown planet where human soldiers from different wars in different times are brought to fight. And it's not a sci-fi/historical after all it's pure science fiction.

They look like the glasses made popular by
Kanye West...

The Chief Scientist also explains that in some cases the specimen's conditioning wares off enabling them to pass through the barriers into the different zones and form resistance groups. The Chief Scientist demonstrates his new conditioning machine on the captured Carstairs. Back in the Barn the resistance (made up from soldiers from different times) arrives and captures Von Weich.

The mysterious War Chief played superbly by Edward Brayshaw.

In the lecture hall the War Chief arrives and the Doctor instantly recognises him, prompting him to run but Zoe is captured and taken for interrogation by the Security Chief, who uses a futuristic lie detector. The War Chief and the Security Chief clearly have a strong rivalry. The War Chief also reveals that he is not of the same species as the War Lords and that without his knowledge the War Games operation would not have been possible. I think it's really funny how the War Lords compartmentalise everything, with separate Chiefs of Science, Security and War. Also everyone seems to have these epic/ridiculous beards, I think the level of beard shows your rank. The more beard the higher up you are. The Chief Scientist even appears to grow a beard from episode to episode.

The Security Chief played creepily by James Bree.

Jamie and the leader of the resistance, Russell step into another SIDRAT capsule and we say goodbye to Lady Jennifer, who stays behind to help the resistances wounded. The SIDRAT arrives at central control but when they emerge, Jamie and Russell are shot down by War Lord Security troops.

Graham Weston as Resistance leader Russell.

In a scene between the Security Chief and the Chief Scientist, the former explains his theory that the War Chief brought the Doctor and his friends here and how his people have the secret of time travel, The Time Lords!!! That's the first time we've head that. Time Lords. It's amazing how many things that will go on to become synonymous with Doctor Who that started right here in The War Games. The Doctor tricks the Chief Scientist and de-processes Carstairs, together they rescue Jamie, who unsurprisingly was not killed and Zoe and Russell escape back to the American Civil War Zone.

A cameo by none other than Troughton's son
David as Private Moor.

Back in the barn, David Troughton... I mean, Private Moor is alone, guarding Von Weich. Moor gives Von Weich back his monocle which he uses to hypnotise Moor into freeing him. Just as he does Zoe, Russell and the other resistance members arrive. Russell fights the reconditioned Moor, and bests him but Von Weich wrestles Russell's gun from him. However Moor comes to Russell's rescue and shoots Von Weich dead.

The Doctor, Jamie and Carstairs try to make their escape in a SIDRAT but the dematerialisation is stopped from outside by the War Chief, who activates the dimensional controls, forcing the inside of the ship to shrink, much like what the Doctor did to the Monk's TARDIS in The Time Meddler. The Doctor emerges from the ship, apparently defeated, but quickly uses a gas valve to deal with his enemies, restores the ship's dimensional interior, locks the controls and departs for the war zone. They cross back to the 1917 zone but are recaptured by Smythe, who decides to kill the Doctor regardless of what his War Lord superiors may want. The Doctor is saved from the firing squad at the last minute once more; this time by the resistance, and Russell kills Smythe. There is a certainly a fair amount of repetition in this story but this works to show the futility and repetitiveness of War.

The War Lord played by Doctor Who Stalwart Phillip Madoc.

The War Lord arrives with the biggest, fullest beard of all, and the War Chief and Security Chief tell him what has happened. The War Lord is played superbly by Phillip Madoc, who portrays him with such calmness, making him so truly terrifying that he doesn't need to shout or get angry to exert his power. A SIDRAT arrives inside the Chateaux and security forces and the Security Chief emerge and recapture the Doctor.

Two time lords.

The Security Chief returns his prisoner and begins to interrogate the Doctor but the War Chief interrupts and reveals that the Doctor is from his same race and that he indeed knows him! We then get a glorious scene where the Doctor talks about stealing a TARDIS and his reasons to leave his home planet. The War Chief also reveals that the point of the War Games are as a testing ground to find the perfect army for a universal conquest by the War Lords, claiming, "man is the most vicious species of all!" I like this in theory but I'm not sure how true it is in the Doctor Who universe. The War Chief also explains that he wants to create a United Galactic Empire. The War Lord agrees to spare the Doctor, but make's the War Chief responsible for him. The War Chief also reveals to the Doctor his intentions to take over as Supreme Galactic Leader; something that he will regret saying later.

Michael Napier-Brown as the Mexican Arturo Villar.

Whilst everyone in the Chateaux is asleep, the Mexican resistance leader Arturo Villar and his bandits arrive and Jamie, and Zoe persuade him to join forces with them. The Resistance set about destroying the War Lords' command and communication units across the zones, to draw out and scatter the aliens security forces all over making them easy targets and diminishing their number. Realising what has happened the Security chief suggests use of the neutron bomb to deal with the situation. The Resistance leaders, Zoe and Jamie gather in the Barn where they are about to destroy another communicator when the Doctor comes up on the screen. He says he's sending a SIDRAT for them, which they enter, but when they arrive at central control the Doctor appears to have betrayed them all as they are surrounded by security forces. Troughton just get's given so much to do in this, he's allowed so many opportunities to flex his various acting muscles.

The Doctor believes the War Chief needs him for some reason, something to do with the SIDRATs. He learns that his concerns are not ill placed when the War Chief explains that the Dimensional flexibility, and remote control operation have only be achieved by shortening each crafts "life span." It's an interesting use of words, "life span," suggesting the machine is actually alive, a feature that will grow stronger and be revisited many times to come, most recently with Idris in the Matt Smith story The Doctor's Wife. The War Chief hasn't solved this problem, the units he brought with him will soon expire and he wants the Doctor's TARDIS.

The Doctor gets the War Lord to believe that he is on his side and can make the conditioning units work more effectively. The Security Chief leaves the Doctor alone with Zoe, Jamie and the resistance leaders and he pretends to reprocess them.

They really don't like each other...

Meanwhile the Security Chief listens to a voice recording of the War Chief telling the Doctor his true plans to take over, remember from earlier. The Security Chief plays the War Chief the recording of his betrayal and has him taken away. Climactically the Doctor, Jamie, Zoe, Carstairs and the rest of the resistance free the War Chief, get some weapons, enter the War Room and kill all the security guards. The War Chief settles the score when he kills the Security Chief.

The War Chief wants to flee but the Doctor won't go until the fighting is stopped and all the people are returned to their own times using the SIDRATs. The War Chief reveals that there are only two SIDRATs left with enough life in them to operate. The Doctor commands the War Chief to order all the fighting in the war zones to be stopped. Realising this is a task to big for him to accomplish alone the Doctor mentally forms a small cube containing all the information of what has happened and a request for help and sends it to his people, the Time Lords.

Writer, Neil Gaiman reused the psychic containers
in his recent story, The Doctor's Wife.

The War Chief tries to escape but is caught by the War Lord who has heard the recording of his betrayal and orders the security troops to kill him. Arturo Villar, Jamie, Russell and Carstairs take out the remaining security forces and hold the War Lord prisoner. The Doctor sends the psychic box to the Time Lords, and with Carstairs (who wants to find Lady Jennifer), Zoe and Jamie returns to the 1917 zone and the TARDIS. They say goodbye to Carstairs and he vanishes, presumably sent back to his own time. And it's here where you'd think this was going to be the end of this epic story but sadly there is one more chapter that cannot be avoided. Our three adventurers run for the TARDIS but are slowed down by the Time Lord's forcefield. What follows is almost as brutal and savage as everything we have just been through in the war zones.

They manage to break the forcefield, enter the TARDIS and dematerialise. The Doctor then tells his companions why he left his home; he ran away because he was bored. He discribes his people as an immensely civilised race, with the power to control their own environments. He explains that they can live forever, barring accidents. He also expresses his annoyance that his people have the secret of space time travel but hardly ever use their great powers; content simply to observe and gather knowledge. He left because he wanted to explore the galaxy and all of time.

The Time Lords.

They try to run but a Time Lord voice echoes inside the TARDIS, and orders the Doctor to return to home. He tries to run again, the controls move on their own and they arrive on the Doctor's home planet. There, they meet a Time Lord who takes them to the trial of the War Lord, where we learn that the survivors have indeed been returned to their time zones on earth. The War Lord refuses to defend himself so one of the Time Lords seems to use some mental power to harmfully force the War Lord to speak. The War Lord is found guilty but somehow a band of his security forces arrive in a SIDRAT and enter the trial. The War Lord threatens Jamie and Zoe and orders the Doctor to take them to their home planet in his TARDIS. The Doctor activates a bright light on the console and runs out with Jamie and Zoe. The Time Lords place a forcefield around the War Lord and his men, pronounce them guilty and cary out their fate, which is to be dematerialised; making it as though they were never alive.

The second Doctor and his most deadly foes.

It is now the Doctor's turn for a trial. The Doctor not only admits he is guilty of interference but that he is proud of it. The Time Lords give the Doctor a 'thought channel' and he shows them some of the beings he has faced, including Quarks, Yeti, Ice Warriors, Cybermen, and Daleks. The Doctor defiantly pleads "All these evils I have fought, while you have done nothing but observe! True, I am guilty of interference. Just as you are guilty of failing to use your great powers to help those in need!"

He is found guilty and Jamie and Zoe are to be returned to their own times. They are allowed to see the Doctor just one last time to say goodbye. There is a real sense that the Doctor is totally resigned to his fate that makes this whole scene even sadder. The departing companions enter a TARDIS and depart forever, with only the memory of their first adventure with the Doctor intact and the rest wiped from their minds. Zoe is back aboard the Wheel and it is so bitter sweet as says "I thought I'd forgotten something important, but it's nothing." She looks back as thought she has forgotten something then heads off, back to work. Jamie is back at Culloden and charges a redcoat, shouting once more "Creag an tuirc!" I've really grown to love the dynamic in the TARDIS at this point, even if Jamie has become less independent in the last few stories. I am sad to be loosing not just my Doctor, but his two closest friends as well.

"Goodbye Jamie. Goodbye Zoe."

The Time Lords accept that that their is evil in the universe that must be fought and that the Doctor still has a part to play in that battle and noting the Doctor's interest in the planet Earth decide to exile him there in the 20st century until they deem proper, and for that period the secret of the TARDIS will be taken from him. The final part of his sentence is that he must charge his appearance once more. They show him options for his new appearance. The Doctor protests and refuses the options as too old, too young, too fat, too thin. The Time Lords tell him the decision will be made for him, he is sent spinning away and we say a tearful farewell to the second Doctor and Patrick Troughton. 

What a way to go. Rescuing so many lives only to be condemned by your own people. Your friends taken away, their minds wiped and then being forced to change your form. Patrick Troughton certainly went out on a bang with this one. And there was me saying I'd try to keep it short. Sorry. I have thoroughly enjoyed The War Games. The excellent guest performances by David Savile, Phillip Madoc, Edward Brayshaw, Noel Coleman, and James Bree are unforgettable. There are so many massive revelations. We learn the name of the Doctor's race, we see his home planet for the first time, and although we don't actually get to see it, the Doctor's form changes once more. The future of the programme wasn't entirely determined at this point and the show runners really upped their game, so that the show would either continue on the back of a great season fanale or at least go out on a bang. Massive respect must go to writers: Malcolm Hulke and a young Terrance Dicks for this truly excellent story.

That is, of course, also the end of season six. It's been a Season with real highs and lows. We met the  rather unimpressive Dominators & their Quarks, the Krotons, and some Space Pirates. And more promisingly witnessed the return of the Ice Warriors, met the War Lords, and some characters in the Land of Fiction. We saw the Cybermen for the last time in a good while, and finally met the Doctor's race, the Time Lords. We said goodbye to two companions and didn't gain any. We saw 37 episodes out of 44, with just 7 missing ones. My favourite story for this season has to be this very adventure, The War Games. My Least favourite is The Krotons. Out of a possible 70 I scored season six 36.5/70. Giving it a rather low average of 52/100, the lowest for a season yet.

I am very sad to be saying goodbye to the man who has become my favourite Doctor, Patrick Troughton, fortunately I happen to know he might just drop back one or three more times in the future. It's like when Zoe asked if they'd ever meet again: "Now, you and I know that time is relative, isn't it?" said the Doctor with a wink in his eye.

Join me next time for Doctor Who in colour, exile, a new direction and a new body. Jon Pertwee is the Doctor in Spearhead From Space...

49: The Space Pirates - A Dull Space Opera Meets A Futuristic CopSit-Com

Written by: Robert Holmes

Companions: The Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon, Zoe Heriot.

Monsters/Villains: Caven, Dervish, Space Pirates.

Brief Synopsis: The International Space Corps are on the trail of a buch of Argonite Pirates.

Rating: 3/10.

Right, I have to start this one off with a confession: I have never seen/heard The Space Pirates ever before!! I know, how can I call myself a fan? I just haven't! There's only one episode out of six that exists to this day, and there is little to no visual representation of this story, it is also the last story that doesn't exist in it's entirety and I had heard I wasn't missing much (we shall see). Unfortunately where the previous story, The Seeds of Death, took the late-sixties obsession with space travel and gave it an ironic twist, The Space Pirates, ah... doesn't.

Space Beacon Alpha 1.

We see Caven, Dervish and the space pirates plant demolition charges on space beacon Alpha 1, detonate their explosives and steal the beacon's precious mineral: Argonite. Then we watch them do exactly the same thing to Beacon Alpha 7. I'm not sure why we need to see this twice. However, never fear the Earth International Space Corps ship V41-LO, General Hermack and Major Warne are on the case. Some people have referred to this story as 'The Bill in Space,' and for the most part I would have to agree. General Exposition... I mean General Hermack is played by Jack May of The Archers fame, but he's rubbish. I'm genuinely not sure what accent he's going for and he's just very dull. One could blame his poor, frequently expositional and technobabble-based dialogue, but he is also just rubbish. His colleague, Major Warne is played by the excellent, Donald Gee, he's definitely going for an american accent, but sadly he is nearly just as unstimulating as his commanding officer.

Hermack and Warne having a coffee break. Thrilling... not!

In order to stop any more beacons from befalling the same fate, Hermack decides to man the other beacons. They leave Lt. Sorba and some men at beacon Alpha 4, where the TARDIS and the space pirates also soon arrive. Once aboard Caven kills the space corp men, takes Lt. Sorba prisoner and seals the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe in to a fragment of the beacon.

Fragments of the Beacon blasting away for the third time!! Snore.

The Pirates set their explosive charges, detach from Alpha 4 and detonate (so that's three times we've seen this now. Why?). The beacon breaks up sending the Doctor and his companions sprawling.

Dervish and Caven.

Episode two actually exists! Yay! The titular Space Pirates don't make an appearance, but we do however get a visit from the old, outdated space ship, LIZ 79 and it's prospector captain, Milo Clancey played completely round-the-bend-insanely by Gordon Costelow. Where this character and Costelow's wild west style performance might annoy in any other story, here his liveliness is more than welcome. The only thing he can be held accountable for is pointing out how colourless and monotonous every one else is. 

Milo Clancey played box-of-frogs crazy by Gordon Costelow.

Clancey is brought aboard the Space Corp V ship and questioned. Hermack releases him but puts him under observation as he suspects that he is in league with the pirates. There is even the first Doctor Who reference to the dreaded mind probe, when Warne suggests this means of learning the truth from Clancey. The closest planet to the latest "Beacon-busting" is Ta, which is dominated by the Issigri Mining Corporation, whose leader is Madeleine Issigri (who has a rather interesting hair hat). The firm was founded by her father and our cowboy captain Clancey, and the latter is now suspected of Dom Issigri’s murder, although nothing has been proved.

Madeline Issigri and her... um... Golden hair hat.

Still trapped inside a fragment of the beacon, in an attempt to get back to the TARDIS the Doctor manages to launch them further away from the other parts of the beacon and towards their certain doom. It's fascinating to see Troughton really being quite serious here. He really shows the defeatism when he thinks that there is no hope for himself or his companions. After all this time, in his penultimate story Troughton is still trying new things with the character. Basically I love Troughton. Cowboy Clancey picks up the Doctor's part of the beacon, links up, comes aboard and shockingly shoots Jamie.

The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe think their number is up.

And we're back to just audio for the last 4 episodes. Fortunately, yet unsurprisingly, Jamie is just stunned. Clancey and the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe each think the other are the pirates, but quickly learn they are mistaken and team up.

Warne wearing what looks like the
Ice Lords Helmet from the previous story.

General Exposition... I mean Hermack goes to the planet Ta and proves himself to be the biggest idiot in the universe. Madeline Issigri has a model of a Beta Dart spaceship (like the one the pirates are using) and says her company has just bought two. Hermack can't seem to see what is patently obvious; that Clancey is clearly innocent and that this oddly hatted fem-fatal, is the one in league with the pirates. His dense detective work is clearly part of the fun. No one is trying to hide Madeline's guilt from us the audience which turns Jack May's Hermack's serious approach to hilarity. On the other hand you've got  Gordon Costelow giving us humorous bluster - but all to disguise the fact the Clancey is the most intelligent and independent character of the lot

The Pirates Beat Dart docked with a Beacon.

Caven who is hiding on Ta sends the argonite filled fragments of the beacon to the planet Lobos to place suspicion on Clancey, who owns the mining operation on that planet. The Doctor, Clancey, Zoe and Jamie are chased by pirates and fall into a mineshaft chasm where they find Lt. Sorba.

The Space Corp Ship V41-LO.

Once again Hermack shows his stupidity... I mean... beneficence, when he orders to abort an attack on the pirates ship when he recognises the Issigri logo on it's hull. He's so dumb! The Doctor, Jamie, Zoe, Sorba and Clancey escape and while killing some pirates on the way, they head to Madeline's office to warn her. When they arrive Caven enters, kills Sorba and reveals that Madeline is the one in cahoots with the pirates. Big surprise there!

This is what Lisa Daniely, who plays Madeline
Issigri looks like without the silly hair hat.
Umm.. WOW!

Caven imprisons the Doctor and co when Madeline protests his plan to kill them. They're locked in a study where they find Madeline's father Dom Issigri, who is not dead but has been held captive by Caven. Madeline tries to contact Hermack to get help with the Pirates but Caven disconnects the signal and gets her to keep quiet when he reveals to her that he is holding her father captive.

Rather hilariously the Doctor uses smeared candle wax and marbles placed in front of the door to trip over some guards, whilst Clancey and Jamie knock some out and Zoe smashes a vase on one guard's head. Weirdly, during the escape the Doctor gets separated from Jamie and Zoe (off screen) and makes it to the LIZ 79 only to be caught in the blast as Caven remotely forces the ship to take off with Clancey and Dom inside.

Clancey aboard the LIZ 79.

Jamie and Zoe find the Doctor but Clancey and Dom are trapped on the LIZ which is out of control, and to make matters worse Caven cuts their oxygen supply. Jamie rescues Madeline from the pirate Dervish, the Doctor returns the oxygen to the LIZ, and instructs Clancey how to deactivate the remote control.

The Minnow.

In a last ditch attempt to rid themselves of their problems Caven has Dervish plant demolition charges in the atomic fuel store of the Issigri base. Fortunately the Doctor manages to defuse the detonator before the pirates can activate it. Hermack contacts Madeline to let her know that they will attack the Pirates in 55 minutes? It's like they've gone out of their way to seem mundane. Eventually Warne is sent out in a Minnow (small fast ship) and destroys the Pirates and their ship. Madeline is taken to earth to stand trial for her part in the plot and Clancey agrees to take the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe to Lobos in the LIZ to find the beacon fragment containing the TARDIS.

So, there you have it. A story I had never seen before. I started off very excited to be seeing new, old Who but sadly I feel I wasn't particularly missing anything in this one. The Doctor and co hardly appear at all, (although more than I had heard) and although they do have a bearing on the story it doesn't feel much like Doctor Who. It's more like a rather dull space opera meets a futuristic cop sit-com. This is Robert Holmes second outing as writer and he still hasn't quite got it. I'm not sure if this is a step forward or a step back from The Krotons but it certainly isn't what we'll come to expect from one who would go on to be considered the best writer Doctor Who has ever had...

On the plus side I have reached the last missing episode. Things will be decidedly easier from here on in. I actually can't express how difficult it was at times to focus on what was happening in some of those audio-only episodes. I now feel a combination of depression and elation; sad that I am reaching the end of Troughton, who has really become my new favourite Doctor, and excited about moving on to Pertwee and colour. But I'm getting ahead of myself, I'm not there yet...

Join me next time for Troughton's final story, and a true epic, The War Games.

48: The Seeds of Death - Or "The White Balloons Filled With Talcum Powder Of Possible, Yet Unlikely, Death"

Written by: Brian Hayles.

Companions: The Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon, Zoe Heriot.

Monsters/Villains: Ice Warriors/Martians, Ice Lord.

Brief Synopsis: Some familiar alien invaders take control of T-Mat and hold the world hostage.

Rating: 5/10.

Hello faithful readers, apologies that I have been a tad on the absent side recently. I am now returned and excited to let you know about how I got on with The Seeds Of Death or as I have re-dubbed it: The White Balloons Filled With Talcum Powder Of Possible, Yet Unlikely, Death. I was thrilled to be unexpectedly joined for this one by my good friend Phil who happened to be staying with me last week.

T-Mat cubical. 

So here we are at some point in the 21st century. It's not quite a base-under-siege but more like the whole planet. Completely scrapping cars, trains, ships, planes and space rockets, the world's travel has been completely dominated by T-Mat: a matter transmitter that sends food, supplies and people anywhere on earth and to the moon in the blink of an eye. Sounds good huh, but what happens when control of that technology is seized on the moon by alien invaders?

Osgood, one of the technicians on the Moonbase (presumably the same base from The Moonbase at an earlier point in time) sacrifices himself but not before disabling T-Mat, halting the aliens' invasion plans.

Commander Radnor and Miss. Kelly.

Fortunately the TARDIS arrives in a Space Museum (not the same one from Hartnell's story) and the Doctor, Zoe and Jamie meet Professor Eldred, who just happens to be the one man on earth still interested in space rockets and he also happens to have been building one on the sly; convenient that! T-Mat is overseen by Commander Radnor but actually controlled and run by a woman, Miss. Kelly. Towards the end of the first episode one of the moonbase technicians manages to get a message to earth. He tells them of Osgood's death but unfortunately he gets iced before he can say more. I think if it had been me I'd have led with Alien invaders as apposed to one man's death.

Radnor persuades Eldred to let them use his rocket.
(The real one not this model)

Episode two is filled with some pretty flimsy, farfetched plot points. Phil and I both agree that it is totally ridiculous when the Doctor, Zoe and Jamie, whose presence there is totally unexplained, are chosen to man the rocket to the moon. If the whole world were in danger, would you send three complete strangers in the one and only rocket you have to get to the moon, without even knowing if they have the knowledge to pilot a rocket or to repair the damaged machinery in the base once they get there, if they get there? 

The irreplaceable Miss. Kelly.

As if that wasn't enough Radnor refuses to let Miss. Kelly go, because she is "the only one who understands T-Mat." Well that's a little irresponsible, isn't it?! Phil points out what, " what if she's hit by a car." (He then realises there aren't any cars due to T-Mat.) "Well what if she get's killed... somehow?"

Three rather unlikely rocket pilots.

Phil points out a hilarious moment when we see the weakness/ingenuity on the budget of Doctor Who in the 60's when the Doctor and his two companions simulate space weightlessness by waving their arms around; priceless. 

The Aliens are revealed to be non-other than the Ice Warriors, or Martians for the less xenophobic. To keep their return a surprise, Steve Peters was credited as Alien in the Radio Times for Episode 1. We are also introduced to the first Ice Lord. They are smaller and have different armour and helmets than their ice warrior brothers; they are also more intelligent and speak better. The Second episode climaxes as Phil describes it when Phipps, one of the moonbase technicians 'arranges some heat lamps and uses them to melt one of the Ice Warriors.'

Fortunately for Radnor, Miss. Kelly and everyone one else on earth, the Doctor, Zoe and Jamie make it to the moonbase, but they are captured by the Ice Warriors. The Doctor points out there are too few (Phil and I tried to work out how many there were, we recon about seven) of them to invade the earth and learn that they plan to send "seeds" down to earth to change the atmosphere making the planet uninhabitable for humans and perfect for Martian colonisation. 

Miss Kelly and Zoe fix the "heat lamps."

Miss Kelly manages to get to the Moonbase when T-Mat is briefly operational again and fix the damage. She soon learns of the Martians and meets up with the Doctor and Phipps. They want to use the same booby trap as before but it is broken. Fortunately Phipps changes the bulb in one of the "heat lamps" and miraculously the signal returns. Miss. Kelly then plugs in the "heat lamp" and another Ice Warrior is melted to nothingness! Meanwhile conditions on earth are worsening and major cities are suffering food shortages. "After one day," points out Phil! 

Fewsham.

Fewsham, the moonbase’s second in command, fears for his own life and continuously aides the Ice Warriors to save himself including T-Matting their "Seeds" down to earth. We then encounter the aforementioned and titular "Seeds" or "White balloons filled with talcum powder" of (possible, yet unlikely) Death. I think maybe they thought that if everyone in the story who sees one of these organic devices seems to think that they look like seedpods we as the audience will accept this and agree. I think they look like balloons. As if that wasn't bad enough they reclassify the "seeds" as fungus. Now it's been a while since I last did biology but seeds and fungus are different things. It seems to me if you're gonna name a story" The Seeds of Death," you should be pretty damn certain your main threat should definitely be a seed and not a fungus. The Fungus of Death doesn't have quite the same ring to it...

When the "seed" arrives it emits fumes that cause oxygen starvation. Phil points out that Radnor and Professor Eldred; the oldest guys there, are unaffected but the young, healthy, yet dispensable technician guy - dead! Oddly, one guy whom a coughing and spluttering Radnor orders to activate the air conditioning to rescue them seems entirely unaffected. 

Zoe and Phipps plan to literally turn up the heat in the Moonbase to take care of the Ice Warriors, rather hilariously the temperature control says 'cold' and 'full on.'  Zoe gets caught and is just about to be killed by one of the Martians when as Phil points out the huge cavernous space that is the moonbase control room is almost instantly filled with heat, immobilising the Ice Warrior. Meanwhile one of the Warriors is T-matted to earth with the important mission to sabotage the weather control centre.

The Doctor handles a ball or "seed."

The Doctor discovers that ordinary H2O destroys the fungus and runs really fast to the Weather control centre. I laughed as I realised that the rain and weather for London or possibly the whole county or even the world is all controlled from one console; again, seems a little irresponsible. The best/silliest cliff-hanger ever then takes place when the Doctor is obscured by foam as he tries to enter the Weather control centre.

As silly and farfetched yet undoubtedly enjoyable the majority of this story is, the plot takes an unfortunately dull turn for the worst towards the end that is sadly reminiscent of the Wheel in Space. Back on the moonbase the Ice Lord Commander Slaar speaks to Grand Marshal Sparkly Sequins who informs him that the Martian fleet is enroute. Slaar commands Fewsham to connect a homing beacon to guide the fleet to earth. 

Grand Marshal Sparkly Sequins.

In an act of redemption, Fewsham activates the video link so the Ice Warriors’ signal can be overheard on earth. The earth forces form a plan to send a false signal, which draws the Ice Warriors fleet off track and into the sun. It seems to me that with all this futuristic technology an alien fleet like the Cybermen or the Ice Warriors could find their way to earth from mars without a signal to guide them, and for that matter if they were following a signal that took them straight into the sun they would think: "hmmm, perhaps we ought not to follow this signal anymore, cause I don't know about you guys but I'm getting a little on the warm side."

In this largely futuristic story Zoe has really flourished but Jamie on the other hand seems a little surplus to requirements. They throw him a bone at the very end where he gets to razzle some Ice Warriors, but overall this scenario really exposes his character's weakness in 'future' based stories.

I ask phil for his overall thoughts and his main criticisms seems to centre around the programme's poor/flat direction and shoddy camera work. He says he liked the special effects, for the time, he likes Troughton and his credits but he seems most impressed with Zoe, which I can understand. Phil gives The Seeds of Death 6/10; just one point more than myself.

Phil and I agree we both love Zoe.

Regardless of it's often weak plot points I did really enjoy The Seeds of Death, even if they weren't technically seeds. One must bare in mind that in 1969 the world was obsessed by space travel. It's great to turn this on it's head and have a population entirely reliant on T-Mat and uninterested in space travel, which leads to all the problems in the first place. I'm not sure if this was meant to be a comment on space travel as a fad, but if so Brian Hayles was spot on as the worlds space programme is no longer breaking boundaries as it once did. As fun as this ironic premise is, it isn't always enough and the story often doesn't know how to get from A to B, however it still has much to offer.

Join me next time for Troughton's penultimate adventure, and the last of the incomplete stories The Space Pirates...