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Sometimes, the best thing you can do when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds, once you’ve tried reasoning, confronting, and even running, is to align yourself with the most unlikely (if undesirable) cohorts. The safety of the many, in this case, outweighs the freedom of the few. Besides, who doesn’t want to know what those mysterious “Time Lords” are all about, anyway?

Closing the Troughton chapter of our Classic Who rewatch, we enjoy the ten-episode marathon that is ‘The War Games’. With more punches thrown, shots fired, strange accents attempted, weird headgear donned, and even weirder facial hair groomed, it’s a near free-for-all as the Second Doctor takes his last adventure with Jamie and Zoe, before being exiled to Earth, forced to regenerate, and unbeknownst at the time, seeing the end of the monochromatic world of Doctor Who as it had been experienced thus far.

Bonus Feature:

We enjoy a few minutes’ chat with none other than the Fifth Doctor (and newly published autobiographer) Peter Davison, from the events at L.I. Who 4!

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3 Thoughts on “Classic Rewatch: The War Games”

  • Re. whether or not they would have kept Zoe and Jamie after Troughton had left … my understanding was that Frazer Hines was actually the first to announce that he was leaving at the end of Season 6 (hence the rumored “Laird Of McCrimmon” story that would have been his departure story http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Laird_of_McCrimmon_(TV_story) ) , then it was Troughton’s decision after Hines had said he was going to go that led to the complete house cleaning at the end of Season 6. Whether or not the impending departure Hines impacted at all Troughton’s thought process in leaving (the two had been pretty much joined at the hip for most of the Second Doctor’s run) is speculation, but what I had read was that Jamie was the first to go.

  • Great insight, Rob. I recall (now, after rest and coffee) Frazer mentioning this at a con on at least one instance, but his jovial nature doesn’t often want to dwell on the ‘bittersweet’ moments, so he quickly switched to anecdotes about Pat and Wendy that we all adore. Appreciate the extra detail, cheers.

  • Oh, and while Yes were predominantly associated with the 1970s, there biggest hit, “Owner Of A Lonely Heart”, was released in the early 80s, not the 90s as you stated. I’d normally let that slide, but they were my first favorite band and the tour for that single and the album attendant thereto (90125) was the first concert I ever attended (in 1984). When you are incredibly old like I am, you get very sensitive about people mixing up decades. (“Oh, you saw the Cure in the 1980s? Did you used to jive to them?”)

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