The War Games is the seventh and final serial of the sixth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in ten weekly parts from 19 April to 21 June 1969.
In the serial, an unnamed alien race led by the War Lord kidnap and brainwash soldiers from wars throughout Earth's history to fight in war games on another planet as part of the aliens' plot to conquer the galaxy. The time travelling Second Doctor and his travelling companions Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot form a resistance army to stop this plot and return the kidnapped soldiers to their correct times on Earth.
The War Games was the last regular appearance of Patrick Troughton as the Doctor and the last serial to be recorded in black and white. It also marks the last regular appearances of Wendy Padbury and Frazer Hines as companions Zoe and Jamie, and the first appearances of the Doctor's race, the Time Lords, and their home planet, Gallifrey. The latter was not named until The Time Warrior (1973).
Plot
On an alien planet, the Doctor uncovers a plot to conquer the Galaxy with brainwashed soldiers abducted from Earth and forced to fight in simulated "war games", representing the periods in history from which they were taken. The aliens' aim is to produce a super-army from the survivors; to this end, they have been aided by a renegade Time Lord, calling himself the War Chief.
Joining forces with rebel soldiers who have broken their conditioning, the Doctor and his companions foil the plot and end the fighting. The War Chief is apparently killed when the leader of the aliens, the War Lord, realises he has been plotting against him. The Doctor admits he needs the help to return the soldiers to their own timelines, and reveals that he is a member of the race of Time Lords. By calling on his own people for help, he risks capture for his own past crimes, including the theft of his TARDIS. After sending the message, he and his companions attempt to evade capture, but are caught.
Having returned the soldiers to Earth, the Time Lords place the War Lord on trial and dematerialise him. They erase Zoe and Jamie's memories of travelling with the Doctor, and return them to the respective point in time when each of them first entered the TARDIS. They then place the Doctor on trial for stealing a TARDIS and breaking the law of non-interference. The Doctor presents a spirited defence, citing his many battles against the evils of the universe. Accepting this defence, the Time Lords proclaim that his punishment is exile to Earth in the 20th century – a planet and period of which he is fond. The Doctor points out he is too well known on Earth, so the Time Lords tell him he will change his appearance, as he has before, and present him with images of five faces. He does not like any of them; impatient, the Time Lords inform him that a decision has been made for him. He cries out indignantly as the forced regeneration is triggered.
Production
As the TARDIS crew try to escape the Time Lords in Episode Ten, brief clips from The Web of Fear and Fury from the Deep are used to show the TARDIS in locations supposedly out of the Time Lords' reach. A model shot from Episode 1 of The Wheel in Space is used after Zoe is sent back to her own time and place by the Time Lords. Since this episode is missing, the shot sampled in The War Games is the only known surviving footage from this episode. Similarly, the shot of the TARDIS landing vertically on the sea is sampled from Fury from the Deep Episode 1, which is the only surviving footage from this episode.
Casting
Patrick Troughton's eldest son David made his second appearance in Doctor Who in Episode Six of this story as Private Moor, having first appeared in The Enemy of the World (1968). He subsequently appeared as King Peladon in The Curse of Peladon in 1972, and then as Professor Hobbes in "Midnight" in 2008.
Gregg Palmer previously played a Cyberman in The Tenth Planet in 1966.
Jane Sherwin who played Lady Jennifer Buckingham was producer Derrick Sherwin's wife.
Terence Bayler had previously played Yendom in The Ark (1966). Hubert Rees had previously appeared in Fury from the Deep (1968) and would return for The Seeds of Doom (1976). Edward Brayshaw had previously played Leon Colbert in The Reign of Terror (1964). James Bree later played Nefred in Full Circle (1980) and the Keeper of the Matrix in The Ultimate Foe (1986). Leslie Schofield later played Calib in The Face of Evil (1977). Peter Craze had previously played Dako in The Space Museum (1965) and would appear again as Costa in Nightmare of Eden (1979). David Savile would later appear as Winser in The Claws of Axos (1971) and as Colonel Crichton in "The Five Doctors" (1983). Clyde Pollitt returned as a Time Lord in The Three Doctors (1973).
Philip Madoc had previously appeared as Eelek in The Krotons (1969), and the film Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. (1966) as Dalek collaborator, Brockley. He would go on to play Doctor Solon in The Brain of Morbius (1976) and Fenner in The Power of Kroll (1979). Bernard Horsfall (First Time Lord) had previously appeared as Lemuel Gulliver in The Mind Robber (1968), and would subsequently play Taron in Planet of the Daleks (1973) and Chancellor Goth in The Deadly Assassin (1976). In 2003 he appeared in Davros, a Doctor Who audio drama produced by Big Finish Productions. David Garfield later played Neeva in The Face of Evil (1977) and Professor Stream in the Sixth Doctor audio drama The Hollows of Time. Vernon Dobtcheff later played Shamur in the Fifth Doctor audio drama The Children of Seth.