ZZ. The War Games
Season Six - 1968/1969
Synopsis
The TARDIS appears to land in no mans land in the middle of the first world. The Doctor and his companions are captured and taken back to General Smythe's headquarters, where he orders them to be executed.
They manage to escape, and enter a strange fog. When they emerge they are in a different landscape, and in a different era where they come close to being attacked by a Roman legion.
After passing through different zones the Doctor finds the main headquarters, and finds that all the zones are in fact part of the war games, where people from different time periods are set down in a re-creation of their own landscape to fight.
The Doctor also finds out that the War Chief is in fact one of his own people - a Time Lord. The Doctor realises that he has not got the power to return all the people to their own times, and reluctantly calls on the Time Lords to intervene.
Having given his position away the Time Lords also catch up with the Doctor, something they have been trying to do since he left Gallifrey. The Doctor is put on trial: Jamie and Zoe are returned to their own times, with their memories of all but their first adventure erased. The Doctor is exiled to Earth, and he is forced to regenerate...
Regular Cast
- Jamie McCrimmon: Frazer Hines
- Zoe Heriot: Wendy Padbury
Guest Cast
- Lieutenant Carstairs: David Savile (1-9)
- Lady Jennifer Buckingham: Jane Sherwin (1-5)
- General Smythe: Noel Coleman (1-3,7)
- Captain Ransome: Hubert Rees (1-3)
- Sergeant Major Burns: Esmond Webb (1,7)
- Major Barrington: Terence Bayler (1)
- Sergeant Willis: Brian Forster (1)
- German Soldiers: John Livesey (1), Bernard Davies (3)
- Redcoat: Tony McEwan (2)
- Commandant Gorton: Richard Steele (2)
- Military Chauffer: Peter Stanton (2)
- Military Policeman: Pat Gorman (2)
- War Chief: Edward Brayshaw (3-9)
- Major Von Weich: David Garfield (3-6)
- Lieutenant Crane: David Valla (3)
- Lieutennant Lucke: Gregg Palmer (3)
- Scientist: Vernon Dobtcheff (4-6)
- Harper: Rudolph Walker (4-5)
- Sergeant Thompson: Bill Hutchinson (4)
- Corporal Riley: Terry Adams (4)
- Leroy: Leslie Schofield (4)
- Alien Guard: John Atterbury (4)
- Sergeant Russell: Graham Weston (5-9)
- Security Chief: James Bree (5-9)
- Spencer: Michael Lynch (5)
- Alien Technician: Charles Pemberton (5)
- Private Moor: David Troughton (6)
- War Lord: Philip Madoc (7-10)
- Du Pont: Peter Craze (7)
- Arture Villar: Michael Napier-Brown (8-9)
- Ivan Bertov: Stephen Hubay (8)
- First Time Lord: Bernard Horsfall (10)
- Second Time Lord: Trevor Martin (10)
- Third Time Lord: Clyde Pollit (10)
- Tanya Lernov: Clare Jenkins (10)
- Quark: Freddie Wilson (10)
- Yeti: John Levene (10)
- Ice Warrior: Tony Harwood (10)
- Cyberman: Roy Pearce (10)
- Dalek: Robert Jewell (10)
- Walk Ons: Chris Achilles, Andrew Andreas, Keith Ashley, Denis Balcombe, Leslie Bates, Louis Berkman, David Billan, Roy Brent, Derek Calder, David Cannon, Bud Castleman, Roger Charles, Les Conrad, Ron Conrad, Ray Cornell, Alf Coster, Derek Crick, Gary Dean; Jim Delaney, Jean de Marco, Reg Dent, Terence Denville, Steve Emerson, Eden Fox, Ken Fraser, Roger Graham, James Haswell, Emmet Hennessey, Alex Hood, Arthur Howell, George Howse, Roger Howton, Bill Hughes, Derek Hunt, Patrick Kaukus, Barry Kennington, Lee Kenton, Richard King, Tom Laird, Phil Lundgren, Martin Lyder, David Melbourne, Alistair Meldrum, Patrick Milner, Ian Munro, Terry Munro, Brian Nolan, Tom O'Leary, Paul Phillips, Steve Pokol, Bill Richards, Douglas Roe, Clive Rogers, Terry Sartain, Patrick Scott, Johnny Scripps, Stan Simons, Neville Simons, Raoul Skinner, John Spradbury, Tony Starr, Paul St Clair, Bill Strange, Harry Tierney, Allan Travell, Hein Viljoen, Cy Wallis, Bruce Wells, Bob Wilyman
- Stuntmen: Peter Diamond, Gerry Wain, Del Watson
Original broadcast on the BBC
| Channel | Title | Date | Viewers | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BBC 1 | 244. Episode 1 |
|
5.5M | 55% |
| BBC 1 | 245. Episode 2 |
|
6.3M | 54% |
| BBC 1 | 246. Episode 3 |
|
5.1M | 53% |
| BBC 1 | 247. Episode 4 |
|
5.7M | 50% |
| BBC 1 | 248. Episode 5 |
|
5.1M | 53% |
| BBC 1 | 249. Episode 6 |
|
4.2M | 53% |
| BBC 1 | 250. Episode 7 |
|
4.9M | 53% |
| BBC 1 | 251. Episode 8 |
|
3.5M | 53% |
| BBC 1 | 252. Episode 9 |
|
4.1M | 57% |
| BBC 1 | 253. Episode 10 |
|
5.0M | 58% |
Studios
- Ealing Television Film Studios
- Lime Grove Studio D
- Television Centre Studio 1
- Television Centre Studio 4
- Television Centre Studio 6
- Television Centre Studio 8
Outside Locations
- Sheepcote Tip, Brighton
- South Downs, West Sussex
- Westmeston Road, East Sussex
Notes
The story title and writer credits is interspersed with footage of gunfire and explosions. These credits use a different lettering to usual.
No script editor is credited for the duration of the story.
Episode Two includes clips from The Web of Fear 1 and Fury from the Deep 1, but not as flashbacks - they are incorporated into the narrative of the episode.
This story marked the end of an era, with the departures of all three regulars and the explanation of the Doctor's origin; the Time Lords are first mentioned in Episode Six (by Vernon Dobtcheff) but the name was revealed in the Radio Times preview that accompanied Episode One.