The War Machines

4 episodes
Aired between 25th June 1966 and 6th July 1966

Written by: Ian Stuart Black
Produced by: Innes Lloyd
Directed by: Michael Ferguson


Synopsis

The Doctor and Dodo arrive in London 1966.  To avoid any complications, the Doctor places an out of order sign on the TARDIS.

As soon as he's done that, the Doctor picks up a funny tingly sensation that he reckons happened when he met the Daleks.  The sensation seems to be pulling him to the brand new Post Office Tower.

He sets off with Dodo to have a look.

When they get to the tower, the Doctor bluffs his way in as a computer specialist and he's taken to the top of the building by Major Green, and shown the latest in computer technology - Professor Brett's new sentient computer - WOTAN.

Brett briefly introduces his secretary, Polly to Dodo and the Doctor before boasting about the fact that WOTAN is the most advanced computer ever created.  He intends to connect it and network with other computer systems all across the globe.

Understandably, the Doctor is skeptical of the claim, but Brett is proven right when the computer can perform complex sums, and inexplicably knows what the word TARDIS stands for.

The Doctor is most intrigued and continues talking with Brett, asking Polly to look after Dodo.  Polly seems easy to get on with, and happily agrees to take Dodo to the hottest nightspot in town - the Inferno Club.

When Polly and Dodo arrive at the club (seemingly in the middle of the day), it's full of attractive, swinging party goers.  Polly knows the girl behind the bar - Kitty.  She asks Polly to do her a favour and cheer up a miserable sailor who's come in the bar every night for the past week to sulk.  Polly agrees and begins to pull the Sailor by a careful blend of joviality and sarcasm.  The Sailor introduces himself as Ben, and says he's got the hump because he's got a shore posting for the next six months.

Polly gives up on him when he makes it obvious he'd rather sulk, but as she goes to leave, another lad tries it on with her, ending up getting judo thrown by Ben.  After that, the threesome seem to get along better.

The Doctor gets a taxi to the Royal Scientific Club, where there's a press conference going on about WOTAN.  It's led by Sir Charles Summer, head of the club.  Sir Charles tells the assembled press of the plan to network WOTAN and assures everyone that nothing could possibly go wrong when they connect all other computers to the machine on 16th July.  As the conference continues, Sir Charles does get a bit nervous that Brett is running late.

Back at the Post Office Tower, Brett is finishing up his work and ends a call he's been tied up on.  As he prepares to leave for the conference, there's a strange buzzing sound, and he falls under the hypnotic control of his own machine's sentient will.  He immediately rushes out of the door to the conference.

Back at the Inferno Club, Dodo is showing signs of some kind of headache, but insists she's fine.

Professor Brett rushes into the press conference and rather than discussing WOTAN, he refuses to comment, hastily grabbing Professor Krimpton, an electronics expert, and insisting that he has a private meeting immediately.  The press rush off after the two scientists, leaving the Doctor to introduce himself briefly to Sir Charles.

Back at the Post Office Tower, Major Green does his routine security inspection, only to be hypnotised by WOTAN also.  He picks up the phone and calls the Inferno Club and asks to speak to Dodo.  When she answers the phone, he puts WOTAN in touch, hypnotising her too.  She leaves the club without saying a word.

Eventually, Brett and Krimpton get back to the tower.  Brett explains that WOTAN has decided that humans are too weak and fallible to rule the world, and that WOTAN has decided to take control.  Krimpton assumes that Brett has gone mad, and tries to get Major Green to do something, but soon realises they are both acting strange.  As he struggles, he is also taken over by the hypnotic control of the machine.

The Doctor turns up looking for Dodo, and finds that she has gone.  Polly introduces him to Ben who is also looking for her.

Dodo turns up at the tower, where WOTAN begins to speak, stating that "Doc Torrrr Whoooo is reee quired".

The machine also communicates telepathically with Brett to issue orders that London will be taken first, followed by Washington and Moscow.  The first step is to hypnotise a work force that will construct a bunch of War Machines to take control.  The men get to work whilst Dodo returns to the Inferno.

It's closing time when she gets back, and Ben, Polly and the Doctor were just about to begin ringing the hospitals.  She tells them that she's been to see some friends,  With the mystery solved, they all leave the club.  Ben offers to hail a cab for the Doctor and Dodo who have been given a room for the night by Sir Charles.  Dodo tries to steer the Doctor down the street, where some shifty warehouse workers are waiting with chloroform, but the taxi arrives, letting out a homeless man.

Dodo, the Doctor and Polly set off for Sir Charles' house, whilst Ben decides to go to a club around the corner for another drink.  Polly agrees to see him tomorrow for lunch.

As they leave, the homeless man takes shelter in a nearby warehouse which is exactly the place where one of the War Machines is being constructed.  He sees too much and is subsequently killed for it.

The next day, over breakfast, the Doctor see's the man's obituary in the paper and points it out to Sir Charles.  He is barely interested, being more concerned with the sudden resignation of two of his top scientists.

Polly enters and says that Professor Brett sent her down there as they knew Sir Charles was short of a secretary that day.  Sir Charles seems bemused at how they knew, but accepts her help.

Dodo also enters the room, and when she hears Sir Charles going on about the resignations, she hints that the Doctor should call Brett about it.  The Doctor agrees.

When he does, he's suddenly assaulted by WOTAN's hypnotic screech.  Dodo assumes he's under the machines' control and begins spouting out the plan, but soon discovers that the Doctor was only momentarily stunned.

Polly checks on the seemingly injured Doctor who says that it was something in Brett's office.

The Doctor places Dodo under a hypnotic trance and confirms that she isn't herself.  Sir Charles agrees to take Dodo and his wife to their cottage where she can rest.  As the Doctor turns, he finds that Polly has gone.

Elsewhere, Major Green arrives at the warehouse to test the destructive capabilities of the new War Machines.  Things seem to be going to plan.

Polly goes to the Post Office Tower and confronts Brett, getting taken over by WOTAN as she does so.

Ben turns up at Sir Charles' house, looking for Polly.  He says she stood him up for dinner.  The Doctor finds it too much of a coincidence and points out the homeless man's story.  He asks Ben to go to the warehouse area and snoop around for him, which Ben agrees.

When Ben gets down there, it's not long before he finds Major Green testing out the War Machine.

 Unfortunately for him, he's discovered and the huge tank-like soldier closes in on him.  Ben escapes behind the crates, and Major Green yells commands for the other slaves to begin searching for him.  He stealthily makes his way to the door, where he runs into Polly.  He frantically tries to convince her to run, but she's stood calm and still.

He doesn't seem to get the picture until she begins locking him in and calling for help, but by then, it's too late.  Ben is taken prisoner and brought before Major Green who orders that the boy is killed.  Polly instructs them that WOTAN has deemed him for use in a manual labour, and Major Green agrees, leaving Ben under the watch of Polly.

Back at Sir Charles' house, the Doctor is getting worried about Ben, now but is reluctant to call the Police as they might hinder more than help.

Ben and Polly are put to work, stockpiling bombs and explosives for the Machine revolution.  Many of the workers continue zombie-like, even though they are weak and ready to collapse.  Ben tries to convince Polly to stop, but she won't.

He then notices that the guard on the door is gone, because they need all hands on deck.  He decides to make another break for it.  Polly sees him, but she eventually returns to work without a fuss, allowing him to escape.

Ben rushes back to Sir Charles' house and tells the Doctor and Sir Charles what's happened.  Sir Charles is skeptical, which infuriates Ben, but the Doctor is quite willing to believe everything that the young sailor says.

Polly is brought before Major green when they discover Ben is missing.  She admits to letting him go, but cannot explain why she did.  She is sent back to WOTAN for punishment.

Meanwhile, Ben is anxious to take action.  Sir Charles proposes to call the Police once again, but the Doctor is adamant that there are more sites like the warehouse, and they won't be able to find them in time.  The best solution is to go to the source of the problem - WOTAN.  Sir Charles refuses to take action against Brett without proof, but does agree to go off and contact the Ministry of Defence, to send the Army in.

Sure enough, a company of soldiers is positioned around the warehouse, where they find lots of radio and electronic activity taking place.  They jam the transmissions and send in Orange Patrol to scope out the threat.   Orange Patrol enter the warehouse, and are set upon by the War Machine and the hypnotised workers.  They can handle the latter, but the War Machine's crazy extinguisher guns, and pounding mallet fists make mincemeat of the men.  They can't even fire back, as the machine is somehow disabling their guns and grenades. The soldiers have little option but to retreat.  Everyone falls back as the War Machine advances out of the warehouse....everyone except the Doctor.

The old man stands defiantly as the machine advances.

Everyone thinks he's a goner, but the machine inexplicably grinds to a halt before him.  It turns out it's because the machine's programming hasn't been completed.  This means that they must find the other machines before they can be.

Ben searches the warehouse again, but is unable to find Polly.  The Doctor dismisses his worrying, and tries to fiddle with the War Machine's programming before being interrupted by the Minister of Defence for an update.

The Doctor predicts up to another eleven machines could be out there, and will all attack at noon the next day.

Elsewhere, the second War Machine goes rogue in testing, killing its human creator and going on a rampage.  It even kills a man in a telephone box who reports the thing in.

It's not long before reports come in that the second machine is headed for Battersea Power Station.  This gives the Doctor an idea, meaning he hasn't time to listen to Ben's moaning about where Polly could be.

He comes up with a plan to close off certain streets, herding the War Machine into a dead end, where they aim to trap it in an electromagnetic field.  If the plan is a success, they should be able to use the operational machine to their advantage.

Polly goes back to the Post Office Tower as instructed, but her death is delayed as Brett says she is needed.

The Army put the Doctor's plan into action, and Ben helps trap the War Machine by connecting the wires once it has entered the field (a job that's more a young man's game by his reckoning).  The power is switched on, and it works.   The machine is immobilized.

The Doctor rushes against time, but manages to re-programme the War Machine, sending it back to the Post Office Tower to destroy WOTAN.  Ben thinks it's a bad idea seeing as that's where Polly must be, and he rushes off to save her.

Ben gets to the tower just in time. He rushes in, grabs Polly and takes her kicking and screaming off down the corridor, just as the War Machine arrives.

Brett and Krimpton try to stop the machine, but it's no good.  It kills Krimpton and uses it's extinguisher to destroy WOTAN.  Once the evil machine is destroyed, all the slaves return to normal, including Polly.

Some time later, the Doctor is stood outside the TARDIS, waiting for Dodo to show up. He's instead greeted by Polly and Ben who say that she's feeling better, but doesn't want to go with him.

The Doctor is a bit put out by the news, but thanks them and waves them off.

When he thinks they've gone, he enters the TARDIS, which seems odd to Ben and Polly who observe this as they look back.

Ben realises that he still holds Dodo's TARDIS key, and they go to give it him back.  They enter the TARDIS just as it takes off on another adventure.


Trivia

• The astute reader will notice that Ian Stuart Black wrote consecutive scripts for this and The Savages.  One can only assume it's because he was paid to write both Steven and Dodo out.

• Moving forward, Innes Lloyd wanted Doctor Who to be grounded in more hard science, and so he hired an actual scientist to be an adviser to the show.  This story came from an idea by the show's new "scientific adviser", Kit Pedlar, when he was asked what would happen if the newly built Post Office Tower was taken over.

• Annake Wills (Polly) had auditioned for the part of Susan before, and finally got her chance to act on the show here.  She was so excited and thrilled to have the part, that she barely knew Jackie Lane (Dodo) had gone!

What worked

• The sheer "sixties'-ness" of the piece made it feel very current at the time.  Now we're in 2015, it just makes it more fun, like it's set in the same universe as Austin Powers.

• Ben's reactions in the warehouse are quite realistic.  It reminds me of when Steven first showed up.  

• The helplessness of the good, old, British Army goes to show that there's not much to be done against this fantastic threat, which draws the tension up nicely

• The death of the tramp does the same job

What didn't work

• If it is true that Ian Stuart Black was hired to write out Steven and Dodo, he did a terrible job of the latter.  As jarring and awkward as she entered the show, Dodo leaves without even the chance to say goodbye.

• The computer writing for the episode titles were an experiment.  Thankfully, these would be short lived, but strange titles would make a resurgence (see Inferno and Doctor Who and the Silurians).

• If Kitty the barmaid is right and the Doctor IS that famous 60's disc jockey, then this story just took a whole new sinister turn!

• The War Machine itself doesn't particularly work.  It takes all the effort I have not to ask how it got in the lift at the Post Office Tower to start with!

• That swinging nightclub is pretty empty, but then again.. it is the middle of the day when Polly and Dodo go there.

Overall Feelings

I will start by saying that there's quite a few shoddy errors in this story, and things that just don't make sense. The fact that Wotan uses the name Doc Torrr Whooo for a start; the fact that a tramp is killed at 3am, and suddenly the story is in the paper by breakfast time; and of course, how does Wotan even know what TARDIS means?

But..... there's three main things that make this story just great fun!

The first is the fact that it's absolutely "sixties"-tastic.  From the swinging London nightclub, to the fact that the Doctor must pit his wits against a super baddie computer, everything about it just screams Walls'-Skyray-Ice-lolly-style Doctor Who in the exact same way that third Doctor stories make me think of Weetabix promotions.

In any modern day story, I would be jumping up and down, and yelling at the screen for the writers being so incompetent at calling him Doctor Who, or assuming that the computer knows about the TARDIS and it's not important why; but in The War Machines, it's all part of the fun.  You're meant to just accept that this computer is the s**t and it just knows everything, which is why it's such a big threat. This concept wasn't original, even in 1966, but it works, and you do get the feeling of a showdown between two great wills.  This is emphasised by the giant "W" in the background of the first episode's end credits, along with the machine getting a credit as if it were a human being.

The second thing that makes this story great is that it's a precursor to what comes after.  When Ian and Barbara were on board, it was inconceivable to do a story set in the modern day.  Now they're gone, that door has opened.  It showed us a foundation stone for future stories of its kind during the 1970's.  Indeed, this story would not be out of place in the middle of Jon Pertwee's run.

Finally, the story works because it shows how vulnerable we can be, like invasion of the body snatchers, or the Dalek Invasion of Earth, but closer to home,  It showed that modern day plots could work, and gave us something close and recognisable to get fearful over.

Rating

9 out of 10

Virtually no music, certainly some bad acting from the extra's, but some great moments and a demonstration of how scary and close to home the show could be.

Rewatchability Factor

9 out of 10

This is an underrated story, and should be watched by everyone who claim they like Doctor Who

Watch this if you liked...

• The Mind of Evil

• The Green Death

• The Faceless One's

• The Macra Terror

• The Bells of St John (Doctor Who Series 7)

• Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Consulting the Matrix

This story....or the Green Death?  Which one do you think was better, and why?

The Savages

4 episodes
Aired between 28th May 1966 and 18th June 1966

Written by Ian Stuart Black
Produced by Innes Lloyd
Directed by Christopher Barry

Synopsis

The Doctor leaves the TARDIS into the scrub land that he believes is in the middle of an age of prosperity.  He takes an instrument with him called a reacting vibrator, and goes off to get some readings, telling Steven and Dodo to stay near the TARDIS.

Steven and Dodo are unsure about the landscape and feel like they're being watched.

As Steven explores, Dodo sees a man in animal skins, who disappears as soon as Steven returns.  They come to believe that they're in the distant past, not a Utopian future.

As he explores, the Doctor soon comes across two guards who say they've come to greet the Doctor.

 They hail from a nearby Utopian city, in which the ruling elders had known the TARDIS had arrived, and indeed expected the Doctor to travel there.

As they discuss, two savages watch them from the cover of the trees: an ancient one called Chal and a younger man called Tor.

They are puzzled because the new arrivals are not savage, but yet do not carry guns like the city guards.  The younger man wanted to kill the new arrivals, but the arrival of the city guards: Edal and Exorse, means that he cannot reveal himself in the Doctor's clearing, and chooses to go after Dodo and Steven instead.

Indeed, Tor leads a number of savages in throwing spears at the pair, forcing themselves to hide behind the TARDIS until Exorse turns up and leads them away to the safety of the city.

Once inside the city walls, the Doctor is introduced to the council of elders, and specifically, their leader: Jano.  The elders fondly welcome the Doctor and say they've watched him for many years, travelling through time and space, and offer him elders robes as a gift.

When Steven and Dodo are finally reunited with the Doctor, they are granted gifts also, a dagger for Steven, and a bejeweled mirror for Dodo.  The pair are then whisked off on a tour of the city, whilst the Doctor converses with the elders on their magnificent leaps in science.

Steven and Dodo are shown around by a guy called Avon, and a girl called Flower.  It soon becomes obvious to them that the citizens have their every whim catered for inside the city via artificial means, and they never feel the need to venture outside of the walls.  They don't particularly know how the city is run, and never think to ask.  They just obey.  Dodo starts to question things like asking about the savages, but Flower and Avon begin to get annoyed that she just wont accept things as they way they are.

Outside the city, Chal sees Exorse and Edal begin to search the woodland, and fears that they are being hunted.  He orders a savage girl by his side, Nanina to run back to "the cave" and warn the others.

She is caught on her way by Exorse who subdues her with the use of some kind of "light gun" that puts her in a trance.

Back with the elders, the Doctor asks how they are so advanced, and Jano reveals it's because they can tap into the life essences of other beings, transferring that essence into people and increasing their vitality.  It makes strong people stronger, smart people smarter, and creative people are enabled to create masterpieces.

Dodo spots Exorse leading Nanina into the city, down a corridor.  She lags back from the tour, and slips into the corridor once Exorse exits it alone.  She is soon confronted by a zombie like savage who is wandering towards her.  She at first believes he's about to attack her, but he shuffles past wearily and collapses at a door to the outside.

Dodo decides to help him up, but when the door opens, she sees Chal and Tor waiting for her and runs off, panicked.

Soon enough, Dodo finds her way into a laboratory, where the energy transference takes place.  She sees a scientist called Senta performing the process on Nanina, despite the savage girls protests.

Meanwhile, the tour guides finally realise that Dodo is missing.  They take Steven back to the elders, where he reveals his concerns to the Doctor.  The old man is dismissive of the fact that she might be in trouble, but Jano looks concerned.  He orders Edal to go with Steven and search for her.

Back at the lab, some scientists discover Dodo is snooping around and believe her to be one of the savages.  It's only when Senta, the head scientist arrives, that they understand.

Steven and Edal search, and when Steven finds the corridor to the lab, Edal forbids him entering, but explores it himself, finding the distraught scientists pleading with Dodo not to smash the equipment.  Edal takes Dodo back to the elders with Steven, whilst the scientists are allowed to return back to their work, releasing a zombified Nanina back into the wild.  Edal is scathing to Avon and Flower, holding them responsible, and telling them to stay put until they are called for.

As soon as Steven and Dodo are lead back to the elders, Dodo begins asking questions about the transfer process, but the Doctor tries to (not so) subtly hush her up,  He laughs it off, and offers to share some information with the elders on the process of time travel, telling them simply that he is just popping back to the TARDIS with his companions and will be right back.  As they leave, Jano becomes extremely paranoid about what Dodo saw, and orders Edal to follow them.

Outside, the Doctor agrees that he doesn't trust the elders.  As they hurry back to the TARDIS however, they come across the zombie like savage, fallen in the woods.  The Doctor tells Steven and Dodo to rush off ahead and fetch some miracle pills from the TARDIS whilst he looks after the poor fellow.  As they rush off, the man slowly recovers.  Edal turns up and aggressively tells the savage to push off, and orders the Doctor back to the city at gunpoint.

Steven and Dodo return with the pills, but find the Doctor gone.  They give the savage the medicine and he recovers, telling them what happened.  Chal and Tor show up with a bunch more savages ready to kill the outsiders until their patient stops them, explaining that they are there to help.

Back in the city, the Doctor is brought once more before the elders.  Jano is sort of hurt that the Doctor cannot see the necessity to exploit the Savages to further their civilisation, believing them to be more like stock than humans.  The Doctor is angry and scathing in his response, saying that even one life is too much to pay for this progress.  Jano is left with no choice but to order that the Doctor is to be put under the energy transference and is led away.

Steven and Dodo try to get the savages on side and encourage them to lead a rebellion, but soon discover that they fear the light guns too much.

The savages aren't happy with the situation, but feel helpless, They do however, offer Steven and Dodo the chance to hide inside their cave.

Meanwhile, the Doctor is taken to the lab and has his life essence sucked out of him.  The scientists look on, as the readings go off the chart.

Jano is overjoyed at the results, and orders Edal to go out and bring back Steven and Dodo.  Once Edal leaves, he instructs Senta to prepare to transfer the Doctors essence directly to into him alone, saying that it's too much of a risk to give to others.

Steven and Dodo are taken to the savages cave, despite Tor's protests.  There, they see Nanina recovering from her trauma, among lots of beautiful cave paintings.  Sadly, Chal says, their talent has been taken from them by the life draining machine.  It's not long before Exorse turns up at the cave, and begins demanding that the outsiders are taken out to him.

Steven, and Dodo are led deeper inside by Chal whilst Exorse comes in and begins pushing everyone around.  He threatens to take one of the other men or women until they fearfully show him the direction the others ran off in.  The hunt is on, and soon Steven, Dodo and Chal reach a dead end.  Chal begins foretelling their doom and futility just as well as Marvin the paranoid android ever could.  As Exorse approaches, Steven comes up with a plan and manages to reflect his light beam with Dodo's mirror, hypnotising the guard instead.  They lead Exorse back to the main cave, where the other savages believe Steven and Dodo are gods for defeating the guard.

Back in the city, Jano undergoes the transference with the help of Senta.  It seems an overwhelming success until Jano begins ending his words with "my dear boy" and talking different.

Steven convinces Chal to help him get back to the city, where he and Dodo intend to rescue the Doctor.  He leaves Tor and Nanina to guard Exorse while they are gone.  As soon as they depart, the militant Tor decides it's better to just kill Exorse, but only gives him a bit of a knock on the head, after Nanina stops him.

Steven gets to the city and shoots a lone guard with his light gun.  He tells Chal to hide him, and wait outside whilst he and Dodo enter the strange corridor from the lab.  Unknown to them, Edal and Senta have spotted them on the security monitors and decide to set a trap for them, by placing the now Zombie-like Doctor in the corridor as bait.  As the pair enter, they close the doors and rush to the zone, ready to capture the intruders.

What they didn't count on however, was that Jano would be smiling and watching too, and secretly opens the door again, allowing Steven, Dodo and the Doctor just enough time to escape before he seals it again.

Edal is furious, and works out that Jano was the one who released them.  Jano acts innocent and says that he will go out with a patrol and find the others himself.

Once outside, Steven orders Chal and Dodo to help the Doctor back to the caves as quick as they can, whilst he holds the guards off with his light gun.

Jano sets off into the woods with the guards, and orders them to split up to cover more ground and to cover the Doctor's TARDIS.  Edal is suspicious and elects to stay with Jano himself as they move towards the valley of caves.  It's not long before Steven indeed begins to slow their advance, taking pot shots at them with his new gun.

As Chal, Dodo and the Doctor get back to the cave, they find Tor and Nanina ready to fight over Exorse's life.

They are joined shortly after by a panicking Steven who says that Edal and Jano are right behind him.  The Doctor is given some of the miracle pills and shortly recovers, just in time to stop Steven from firing at Jano.  He demands that the elder is not harmed.

Dodo is ready to high tail it off to the TARDIS and escape, but the Doctor is adamant that they will stay long enough to destroy the transference machine.  He chuckles knowingly and infers that Jano will help them to do it, suggesting that they will have a visitor at nightfall.

Sure enough, Jano orders a resentful Edal back to the city, saying that he will capture the outsiders himself and return after nightfall.  Edal does as he's told, but once at the city, he announces that Jano is a traitor, and declares an emergency, taking overall command.

That night, Jano does meet with the Doctor, unsure of how he's feeling, but knowing that what he's done has been wrong.  The Doctor explains that he knew Jano would take the life force himself, and along with it, he's also been given a big dose of conscience.  Now he's onside, they can use Jano to destroy the machine and find a way to live peacefully.

Exorse, still a prisoner, overhears the Doctor's plan and manages to loosen his bonds enough to make a run for it.  Nanina rushes after him and pleads for him to stop, saying that they're all the same and if he tells the elders, he will be condemning the savages to death.  Exorse cannot overcome his belief that the savages are inferior, and chooses to continue, leaving to tell the elders.  When he gets to the city, he reports in, but decides not to reveal the fact that Jano was in on the plan, relaying only that the Doctor plans to destroy the equipment.  Edal doesn't believe him, and plans to send him to the interrogation chamber until Jano turns up again, bringing prisoners with him, just as he claimed he would.

The elders turn on Edal and take him prisoner, leading him away, and leaving only Jano, Exorse, Chal, Tor, Nanina, Steven, Dodo and Senta in the room.  Jano orders Senta to lock the doors and proceeds to explain that they must destroy the equipment as the savages are their equals.  Senta argues against this but is powerless to stop the group from smashing the whole place up.

During the sabotage, Edal manages to get the doors open, but Steven ends up shooting him with a light gun.

With the machine destroyed, the old regime is dead.  Jano and Chal agree that they need to work together closely in the future, but they need someone to help mediate the new alliance, someone who thinks with their heart as well as their head.  They offer the role to the Doctor, but he believes Steven to be more ideal.  Steven doesn't really want the job, but reluctantly agrees to stay after the Doctor makes a fuss of his good traits.  Dodo is reduced to tears, but they all part on good terms, giving him a fond farewell.

Dodo asks if they will ever see Steven again and the Doctor comforts her, saying that they never know in this crazy world.  He leads an upset Dodo back to the TARDIS and they set off once again.

Trivia

• As soon as the new production team came in, they decided that the current companions had to go - Innes Lloyd wanted a fresh start and new direction with "hip" kids.  And so, Steven's departure was written into this story, and Dodo's in the next.

• This is the first story to feature an overall title with numbered episodes, rather than individual episodes in their own right. 

• It's also the First Doctor's final foray into an alien landscape until he returns to his home planet (see the Five Doctors).

What worked

• The orchestral score is fantastic - makes it feel more like a film than a TV show

• The zombie-like state the savages end up in gives a very sinister feel

• Although the light guns are a bit naff, I appreciate that they're trying something new here.  Nothing like that has been seen before, or to my recollection, since (discounting the Silurian's third eye).

• The bit where Exorse leaves Nanina gave me the impression that there was good character traits there, and a struggle that he had to overcome.

What didn't work

• The guard's costumes

• Dodo's stupidity at seeing the lab and totally disregarding most of it

• Although we can't see it.  The light gun's wouldn't have worked as well if the shooter moved away from all the dry ice they'd shot out

• Why don't any of the elders talk (except Jano)?

• After rescuing the Doctor, why did Steven shepherd them all back to the cave, knowing it was a dead end?

Overall Feelings

This story has a feel of The Dalek's to it - a strange world with two races that can't get along.  Even the destruction of the equipment at the end and the fire extinguisher guns look like the movie.

Despite this, apparently, it got a lot of stick during the eighties from fans, being cited as the one without the monster, but I fail to understand why this should be a big deal, especially with the existence of the Rescue, and of course, the great historical stories that have gone before.  Alright, the Rescue did have Sandy the Sand Beast, but it's hardly a major threat!

I defy those eighties fans, not only for the reason that their mullets lend credence to the fact that their opinions cannot be taken seriously, but because I had a lot of fun with this story.  The premise - Vampires in Utopia is brilliant!  The way that the savages are turned into zombie-like beings is used perfectly to hint at a monstrous society without taking the easy way out and moving the focus to actual monsters themselves.

Going back to the Dalek analogy, on the surface, this story is about a racial divide, but when you look closer, it says more about a class divide than anything the Dalek's ever did.  When you look at Avon and Flower, and the willingness for Jano to exploit the lower classes for the advancement of society, I find it hard not to draw parallels with our own surroundings and the media's influence over us.

The only downside of this story is that it suffers from a massive sag in episode three, and a far too quick resolution in episode four.  The former episode contains tons of exposition and filler scenes.  If you don't believe me, watch closely when Jano discusses the results of the Doctor's transference procedure.

Rating

8 out of 10

Amazing premise; some wasted opportunities, but innovative directing and fantastic music make this an overall enjoyable experience.

Rewatchability Factor

7 out of 10

Watch this if you liked...

• The Macra Terror

• The Invasion of Time

• State of Decay

• The Caves of Androzani

• Paradise Towers

• The feel of Mega City One (Judge Dredd)

Consulting the Matrix

What was your opinion on Steven's departure?  Did he go too soon, or was it the right time?

The Gunfighters

4 episodes
Aired between 30th April 1966 and 21st May 1966

Written by Donald Cotton
Produced by Innes Lloyd
Directed by Rex Tucker

Synopsis

The TARDIS arrives in Tombstone, Arizona during the 1800's.  The Doctor is in pain from the sweet he ate, and needs a tooth out.  When he finds out he's in the Wild West, he's a little bit apprehensive, but Steven and Dodo are really excited and rush off to change into cowboy outfits.

Over at the Last Chance Saloon, Seth Harper meets three brothers of the Clanton family:  Finneas, Billy and Ike.  They're in town looking for Doc Holliday to kill him in revenge for Holliday shooting their brother.  Seth's adamant that Holiday is a gambler and a drinker, so if they hang out in the saloon, then he'll show up eventually.

Back at the TARDIS, Steven and Dodo are messing about outside with their guns and concocting silly cliche wild west names.  It's not long before they encounter Wyatt Earp who warns them to not go looking for trouble.

Kate Fisher, a Saloon girl at the Last Chance nips out of the saloon to warn Doc Holliday that the Clantons are here.  Doc is just setting up his own business as a dentist and refuses to get out of town.

The Doctor, Steven and Dodo acquaint themselves with Wyatt and his deputy, Bat Masterson and pose as travelling entertainers: Doctor Calligeri, Steven Regret, and Dodo Dupont.  The group decide that that they can get rooms in the Last Chance Saloon, whilst the Doctor visits Holliday's dentist store.  The Doctor isn't amused at the primitive conditions of the dentist, and when he catches Holliday and Kate canoodling in the back room, he tries to use it as an excuse to leave.  Doc is very happy to have a customer however and pressures the Doctor into going through with it, despite the absence of anesthetic.

Dodo and Steven go to the Last Chance and sign in as entertainers.  Charlie the barman is over the moon and invites them to take jobs there as the last pianist was shot.  The pair kindly refuse and head upstairs, agreeing to leave a key at the bar for the Doctor.  As they leave, the Clantons hear them mention the Doctor's name, and assume they are friends of "Doc" Holliday.  They come up with a plan to get Steven and Dodo back downstairs whilst Seth checks out the dentist.

With the procedure complete, Doc Holliday takes the tooth away, whilst the Doctor stays and grumbles.  Whilst Doc is away, Seth comes in and asks him if he's Doc, which the bemused Doctor replies yes.  Seth then asks "Holliday?" which the Doctor gets the wrong end of the stick and replies "well, yes, I suppose I am."  Pleased with himself, Seth invites the Doctor over to the saloon, as there are some old friends who really want to meet him.

Doc Holliday overhears all this, and decides to use the Doctor, loaning him his gun and sending him packing to the saloon.

Back at the Last Chance, Steven and Dodo are brought downstairs and forced to play and sing at gunpoint, whilst the Clantons prepare to gun "Holliday" down as soon as he enters.

Unknown to the real Holliday, Kate decides to return to the Saloon and distracts the Clantons by forcing Dodo off the piano and making Steven play it whilst she sings.  Dodo storms off to her room in a huff.

Eventually, the Doctor turns up and the Clantons do mistake him for Holliday, making it all the more real by the fact that he's carrying a gun with Holliday's name engraved on it.

None of them see Doc Holliday sneak in the back way and go upstairs.  On his way up, he shoots a gun out of the Clanton's hand, making it look like the Doctor was the one who fired.  Kate takes the gun and holds the Clantons up, telling the Doctor to cover them with the guns.  Wyatt and Masterson turn up and see that the Doctor's holding the Clanton's to ransom.  He has no choice but to arrest the Doctor, leaving Steven alone to deal with the mean outlaws.

Kate meanwhile sneaks upstairs and joins Holliday who is holding Dodo hostage.  Holliday's plan is to simply wait for the Clanton's to leave.

Earp takes the Doctor to jail, and locks him up, suggesting that whilst ever the Clanton's think he's Holliday, it's best to stay in jail.  Earp sets off out to warn the real Holliday to get out of town.

Back in the saloon, poor Steven tries to convince the menacing Clanton's that the Doctor isn't Doc Holliday.  They manipulate him into suggesting a prison break and say they'll support him, obviously lying.  Steven leaves to implement the plan, but the outlaws send Finneas to follow him, in case he tries to make a break for it.

Upstairs, Holliday's drinking habit gets the better of him, and he's forced to sneak back to the dentist to pick up his bottle of whiskey.  Whilst there, he meets Earp, who tells him to leave as he'll be telling the Clanton's the truth about the Doctor in the morning.  Holliday reluctantly agrees and returns to Kate and Dodo, making them come with him.

Steven visits the jail, passing the Doctor a pistol through the window bars and saying he's got a plan.  The Doctor doesn't agree and tells Steven to go back to the TARDIS and wait there until morning, when Dodo and the Doctor will join him.  He then tells Masterson immediately of the intended prison break and hands the gun over.

Phinneas catches Steven going to the TARDIS and brings him back to the Clantons.  The outlaws incite a lynch mob to go and hang who they believe is Holliday, and if Wyatt Earp doesn't release him, then they'll hang Steven instead.  Seth Harper stays in the saloon.

As Doc, Kate and Dodo come downstairs to leave, they meet Seth, who overhears them calling him Doc.  He realises the mistake, but it's too late as Doc Holliday guns the man down,

The Doctor is visibly disturbed that Steven might be hanged and insists on going outside to clear up the misunderstanding.  Wyatt and Masterson refuse, and disperse the mob by keeping them occupied until Wyatt can circle round the back and knock Phinneas out with the butt of his gun.  Begrudgingly the townsfolk disperse, leaving only the Clanton's to deal with.  They're not happy with the situation, and even less so when Wyatt insists on arresting the unconscious Phinneas for inciting a riot.  They're only sated when Charlie the Barman runs over and tells them what happened with Seth Harper, and the fact that Holliday cut out of town with Kate and Dodo in tow.

The Clantons return with Charlie the Barman back to the Saloon, where they meet with their Pa, who says they're all incompetent to do the job, and he's looking to hire Johnny Ringo for $500.  They leave to go find him.

With the mistake cleared up, the Doctor is free to go.  He insists that he, Steven and Dodo will be gone by sun up and they return to the Saloon.

Whilst they're in their rooms, Johnny Ringo turns up at the Last Chance and tells Charlie the Barman that he's after Holliday too.  Charlie the Barman blabs about the Clanton's plan and irritates Ringo, who ends up killing him.

The following morning, Dodo confronts Doc Holliday in a saloon they stayed in overnight.  She holds him at gunpoint and demands that he takes her back to Tombstone.  Doc agrees, as he's no intention of leaving Wyatt Earp in the lurch to deal with the Clantons.  He orders Kate to stay in the town and he'll come back for her.

At the Last Chance, the Doctor and Steven come downstairs to find Charlie dead on the bar, and Johnny Ringo sat at a table.  They soon discover who he is, but unfortunately, in the process, they reveal that they're looking for Doc Holliday (to find Dodo).

Johnny suggests Steven rides with him to find them, but warns Steven that he wont hesitate to shoot him if he gets in the way.  Steven reluctantly agrees and goes off with Ringo.

Back at the jail, Wyatt is met by his younger brother, Warren.  He says that his other two brothers are too busy to answer Wyatts previous call for help against the Clantons.  When the Doctor arrives and informs them of Ringo, Wyatt and Masterson go out to find the gunfighter, hoping to convince him not to side with the Clanton's.  They leave Warren in charge of their prisoner, Phinneas.

Steven and Ringo arrive in a nearby town by sundown and split up to begin searching for Holliday. Ringo soon comes across Kate, who lies and says Holliday cheated on her with Dodo and they left for New Mexico.  Ringo takes her hostage and gets Steven to ride back to Tombstone.

At the jailhouse, Ike and Billy Clanton bust their brother, Phinneas out of jail, shooting Warren in the process.

Having not found Ringo, Earp and Masterson join the Doctor in the saloon and take care of Charlie's body.  They deputise the Doctor to help them deal with the Clantons, even though he is adamant he will not use violence.  Shortly afterwards, Virgil Earp turns up and says he's managed to make it after all.  The lawmen are now more confident and go back to the jail, finding Warren mortally wounded.  He tells them that it was the Clantons before he dies, which sends Wyatt into a rage.  Masterson says they can't go out and kill the Clantons because it's against the law, but Wyatt doesn't care.  He sends Virgil out to the Clanton's house to call them out to the OK corral at sun up for a showdown.

The Clantons meanwhile return to their home and tell their Pa what they've done.  They find Ringo there, who has taken Steven and Kate as hostages.  Pa Clanton is furious, as killing Warren has really started a war.

Virgil turns up to call them out, and Ringo hides, not wanting to show the lawmen their full hand.  Virgil is allowed to leave, and Ringo returns, coming up with a plan to keep the lawmen occupied whilst he shoots them in the back.  The Clanton's don't like the cowardly plan, but aren't about to argue with Ringo.

Back in the jail, the Doctor tries to make Wyatt see sense, but he's not interested.  Virgil returns and says he knows Ringo was there because he saw his horse.  He also tells them that Steven and Kate were hostage.  Things look pretty bad until Doc Holliday returns with Dodo and vows to help the Earps.

The Doctor returns his gun to Holliday and they begin to make their plans.

Later that night, Bat Masterson approaches the Doctor and asks him to go to the Clanton house, and insist the boys will get a fair trial if they give themselves up.  Begrudgingly, the Doctor agrees, but arrives at the home after the Clanton's and Ringo have set off, meeting only Pa Clanton, Steven and Kate.

The Doctor tries to appeal to Pa Clanton, but the man is confident his sons will win.

The Clantons and Ringo get to the corral, and set up.  The Earps and Holliday turn up too.  Wyatt and Virgil advance, whilst Holliday hangs back to see what Ringo is up to.  The shootout begins, and Ringo's plan is working, luring the lawmen into the trap whilst he circles behind them.

Just as Ringo is about to shoot Holliday in the back, Dodo runs out and warns the gunman, but in turn gets captured by Ringo.

Ringo demands Holliday throws his gun away, which he does.  Johnny thinks he's won, but Dodo manages to escape, throwing Ringo to the ground in the process.  This gives Holliday enough time to pull out a tiny derringer pistol and shoot Ringo dead.

Soon the tide turns and the Clanton's are all killed.  The gunfight is over.

Some time later, the Doctor, Steven and Dodo return to the TARDIS with Doc and Kate.  Doc tells them that he's a wanted man now, and Wyatt is no longer a Sheriff because of his involvement in the fighting.  Kate and Doc plan to leave town, quick, and give the TARDIS crew a wanted poster with his face on it as a souvenir.

With Kate and Doc gone, the group enter the TARDIS and set off again, dematerilising where the Doctor believes is the far future, somewhere in an age of absolute prosperity.

As they leave the TARDIS, a savage looking caveman is picked up on the scanner.

Trivia

• Lynda Barron, who played a pirate later on in Doctor Who (see Enlightenment), but is perhaps best known as her role of Nurse Gladys Emmanuel from Open All Hours, sang the narrating song in this story.

• This was the last Doctor Who story until 2005, to have individual chapter names.  From hereon in, only The proper story titles will be used on screen.  Now I've got here, it feels kind of like the end of an era :'( 

• Patrick Troughton was originally cast as Johnny Ringo, but he was too busy in the end

• Anthony Jacobs played Doc Holiday.  His son, Matthew, visited the set whilst it was being filmed, and would eventually go on to write the 1995 TV movie for the Eight Doctor.  

• Across the decades, fans have hated on this story, and the audience appreciation figures at the time seemed to back those arguments up.  Innes Lloyd took the opportunity to drag Doctor Who away from the historical / futuristic format, and so this was the last historical that didn't have some kind of alien involvement in it.  Indeed, until the mid 80's, any historical episodes would shy away from important historical figures altogether.

What worked

• The plot, although it's a bit convoluted, is not half bad

• On the odd occasion, some of the jokes work

What didn't work

• The accents

• Riverside studio is too small to do a western, although they do good with the size the have, it's still pretty cramped.  This is seen more than ever when the outlaws begin firing at the start of the battle, and they're probably ten feet away at the most, but don't hit anything!

• A lot of the acting makes it look like a stage play

• For the first episode, the narrating song is a fresh and unusual treat.  From episode 2 onwards, it gets really, really, really annoying! 

Overall Feelings

This is one of the very few times that Doctor Who tries to represent American history.  A whole lot of it is wrong, but that doesn't matter because we've moved well beyond Lucarotti's scripts now, with the intention to educate.  This story is here purely to entertain.  In fact, it was intended to be in a similar vein to the Roman's.

In part, the comedy works, and if like the Romans, the parts were played straight, without resorting to awful american accents, then the production team might have gotten away with it.  The fact is they didn't.  The sets, while good, are cramped, and the acting is more like a stage play, and quite wooden in parts.

This was an ambitious move by the new producer, and you only have to look at Steven and Dodo when they change into "western clothes" to clearly see that it sends up some of the Hollywood cliche's.  This was a state of the times in 1966, when tougher, grittier westerns were coming out, such as the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.  Perhaps it's unfair to liken the Gunfighters to these, but even up to the more "cheesy" westerns, this story just can't compete.

Despite this, as soon as Charlie the Barman dies (whom I curiously enough quite liked for his awful accent), things pick up quite quick and we make a Myth Makers style transition from comedy to all out death.  Ultimately, the set and the budget lets an otherwise half decent story down.  Well, that and that irritating narrative song.

Rating

5 out of 10

Lots of potential, nice sets if a little too small.  The music is innovative but waaay too overused

Rewatchability Factor

3 out of 10

Can't stand to watch this too often.  Why?  Yes, pard'ner, you guessed it.  The music is THAT irritating!

Watch this if you liked...

• Reign of Terror

• The Romans

• The Myth Makers

• A Town Called Mercy (Doctor Who Series 7)

Consulting the Matrix

Should Doctor Who have focused on more American history?  If so, what period would you have liked to see?

The Celestial Toymaker

4 episodes
Aired between 2nd April 1966 and 23rd April 1966

Written by Brian Hayles
Produced by Innes Lloyd
Directed by Bill Sellars


Synopsis

The Doctor, now both invisible and intangible, speculates that there's an evil force at work that has penetrated the TARDIS.  When they check the scanners for clues, nothing shows up, but the Doctor is instant that it's working correctly. Naturally curious, he users both Steven and Dodo outside to see what it is.

Once outside, the group encounter a life size childs robot with a TV screen in its chest.  It shows images of Steven on Kembel, and again in France, just before the Massacre.  These are supposedly the lowest times in his life.  The Doctor warns him to stop looking at the screen, as it's hypnotic.  He turns inexplicably visible again, and determines that they are in the realm of the Celestial Toymaker: and immortal and malevolent being.  The Toymaker wants nothing more than to mess with their heads and trap them in his realm, so they become his playthings forevermore.

Dodo's picture comes up too, showing her crying on the day her mother died, but again, the Doctor warns them to stop watching.  The Celestial Toymaker turns up and invites them to play some games with him,  The TARDIS crew are all for turning right back around and getting out of there, but they soon discover that the Toymaker has replicated the TARDIS many times, and mixed it up among the fakes.  The Toymaker laughs and disappears, along with the Doctor.

He takes him elsewhere and sends two of his clown toys to entertain Steven and Dodo whilst he pits his will against the Doctor.  He informs Steven and Dodo that the clowns are adversaries, who will play a game against the companions.

If Steven and Dodo want the TARDIS back, they have to win multiple games, at the end of each game, they will be given one of the TARDIS' to open.  If they lose, they will be forced to stay forever, as one of the Toymaker's dolls.

The Toymaker then turns his attention to the Doctor, explaining that he's incredibly bored, so he brought the time traveler here to play against a brilliant mind by the introduction of a Trilogic game.

The Trilogic game focuses on a pyramid of ten levels.  The pyramid must be transported from point A to point C.  The difficulty comes in only being able to move one piece at a time, and a larger piece can never be placed on top of a smaller piece.

Similar to the rules for Steven and Dodo, if the Doctor loses or refuses to play, he must stay forever.  If he wins, they will all be given freedom.    The Toymaker adds in an extra couple of twists however.  Because he's got a keen mind, he gives the Doctor only 1023 moves to complete the puzzle.  In addition, if the Doctor completes the Trilogic puzzle before Steven and Dodo finish their games, they lose.

The Doctor has little choice but to begin playing, but not without warning Steven and Dodo to watch out for the evil clowns first.  The Toymaker takes retribution by making the Doctor intangible again, with the exception of one hand that can be used to play the game.

Elsewhere, Steven and Dodo hear the Doctor's call, and are introduced to their first game.  It's an obstacle course that one player from each team must cross.  The problem is, they must do it blindfolded whilst the second player tells them where to go by use of an electronic control board that farts and whistles different noises for different commands.

The Clowns go first and storm over the various obstacles, leaving Steven to don his blindfold and give it a go.  As he progresses over the obstacles, one of the Clowns keeps cheating by making it harder for Steven, until he threatens to hit the Clown,  Dodo finds out that the clowns blindfold was see through, and so Steven forces them to do the course again, this time with the blindfold Steven had.  Sure enough, as they try, the clown falls off and loses the game.  The two dolls revert to doll size, and Steven and Dodo are presented with a TARDIS, which surprise, surprise, turns out to be a hollow cabinet.

Inside the cabinet, they find a riddle "Four legs, no feet; of arms no lack, carries no burden on its back.  Six deadly sisters, seven for choice; call the servants without voice".

Stepping through the TARDIS cabinet, Steven and Dodo find themselves in front of two adjoining rooms.  Inside the rooms there are seven chairs in various designs (this accounts for the first part of the riddle).

The Doctor watches Steven and Dodo's progress from the Toymakers monitor, and tries to shout out which chair they need to sit in, but is stopped by the Toymaker, who silences the Doctor's voice. He decides to send the pair some new adversaries in the shape of the royal hearts from a playing card deck.

Sure enough the King, Queen, and Knave (Jack) of hearts show up, followed by their Joker.

Steven simply ignores the bumbling playing cards as if they were figments of his imagination, and works out that the second half of the riddle means they must choose one of the seven chairs to sit in; the rest will be deadly.

Dodo and Steven find some TARDIS cabinets in the adjacent room where seven dolls are dumped inside.  Steven thinks these are the servants without voice, but they are unresponsive when he calls.  He decides to use them anyway and gets Dodo to agree to dump them in turn on the chairs.  The royal cards turn up again and see the dolls, demanding that they be shared.  Although (incredibly) Dodo disagrees with hiding three of them, Steven convinces her that it's a good idea and they do just that.  They share the rest of the dolls out between the two groups and begin.

The King's doll is shaken so violently by the first chair, that it's head falls off.

Dodo's doll is electrocuted.

Steven's gets its head chopped off.

The Queen's doll vanishes along with the chair.

Now believing they've run out of dolls, the King and Queen hatch a stupid plan to get their joker to sit in one, but the Joker is having none of it, and runs off.  The king turns to the Knave, who equally legs it.

Whilst all this is going off, Dodo seemingly gets fed up (probably of life) and just sits down on a chair.  Steven notices just in time as Dodo begins to freeze to death.  With great effort, he manages to pull her free.

The Doctor is now on move 690.

Left with no option, the King and Queen agree to sit on a chair together, and have it collapse on them.  This leaves one chair untried, and so Steven and Dodo have won.  They are again presented with a hollow TARDIS box, and a riddle:  "Hunt for the key to fit the door, that leads out on the dancing floor; then escape the rhythmic beat, or you'll forever trap your feet."

As Steven and Dodo leave the area, they see that the royals have become playing cards again, but they fail to notice the remaining three dolls coming after them until they are almost on top of them.

Luckily the next door opens inexplicably, and they are cast inside an old fashioned kitchen, where they meet their next adversaries:  Mrs Wiggs and Sergeant Rugg, accompanied by an obnoxious kitchen boy.  They all look very similar to the royal hearts.

Steven and Dodo ask the adversaries the direction of the dancing floor, and Mrs Wiggs cheerfully tells them that it's beyond a locked door.  They then spend the next fifteen minutes searching around the kitchen for the key, whilst periodically insulting and persuading their enemy to help them.  They eventually find the key in Mrs Wiggs' pie.

The Doctor's game is sped up by an annoyed Toymaker to move 813.

As Steven and Dodo escape onto the dancing floor, the Toymaker appears and threatens his toys with destruction unless they stop Steven and Dodo from finding the next TARDIS.

On the dancing floor, they encounter three ballerina dolls with the TARDIS at the far end of the room.  As soon as they try to make a move towards the ship, music starts and soon, they're all forced to dance, being trapped by the ballerina's.

 They all change partners until Steven ends up with Dodo, and they are able to jump off the dance floor to the TARDIS, leaving Mrs Wiggs and Sergeant Rugg to dance "forever".

Again, the TARDIS is a fake, and they receive another message: "Lady Luck will show the way, win the game or here you'll stay".

The Toymaker decides that the gloves are coming off and sends in his most ruthless and evil toy to face the final challenge - Cyril the schoolboy!

The Doctor is on move 903.

Sure enough, Steven and Dodo meet the obnoxious schoolboy who is exactly the same person as the Knave of Hearts, and the kitchen boy.  He announces that the final game will be TARDIS hopscotch.

 The game is to roll a dice and move along a track.  The first to square fourteen gets the TARDIS. The drawback is that the squares are raised, and if they step off them, they will be instantly electrocuted.

Steven thinks it's too easy, and it is, as Cyril "forgets" to tell them that if they land on the same square, or come out of their square for any reason, they must go back to the start.

The Doctor is pushed to move 1,000

As the game progresses, Cyril tricks Dodo and  Steven into returning to the start for various reasons, until he rolls a "5" and wins.  As he rushes over the squares, he slips on some of his own booby trapped powder, and is fried.

Steven and Dodo make it to the TARDIS, triumphant.

The Doctor gets to move 1,022 and is allowed to materialise again.  He can see that they've won and brooks no argument or persuasion from the Toymaker.  Triumphant, he meets back up with Dodo and Steven and enters the TARDIS.  They try to take off, but the ship refuses, alluding to the fact that the Toymaker is still holding them.

The Doctor rushes out and demands to be released, but the Toymaker says that the final move must be made, and thereby the realm will be destroyed and the TARDIS and crew will go with it (he's a very sore loser).

The Doctor asks if the Trilogic game can be moved inside the TARDIS, but the Toymaker refuses, as he knows the Doctor will preset the ship for take off and escape the realm as he makes the final move.

This inspires the Doctor, who does indeed preset the controls and calls out in the Toymakers voice to push the game forward past the final move.  The Trilogic game responds, believing it to be the voice of its master, and the TARDIS dematerialises, leaving the Celestial Toymaker alone and defeated.

As the TARDIS flies through time and space, Dodo offers the Doctor a sweet from a bag the obnoxious Cyril gave to her.  The Doctor does indeed take a sweet and immediately grabs his jaw in pain as he bites down.

Trivia

• The Trilogic game is real.  It's supposedly played with a hundred pieces by Buddhist monks who make one move every single day.  It's said that once they complete the game, the world will explode.  No, I don't know why they don't just stop either.

• Remember the plan John Wiles came up with to get rid of William Hartnel without cancelling the show?  Well, this is it.  Some sources however said that once Innes Lloyd took over, there was a change of heart and they signed him back on for a bit.  

• The more likely story that's speculated, is that they wanted to fire Hartnell, but the BBC admin automatically renewed his contract by accident, which left them having to finish the next block of recording.  He will be dropped like a hot potato as soon as that's up.

• The final episode had to have a disclaimer tagged on at the end, that stated Cyrill wasn't in any way meant to represent the popular children's character "Billy Bunter".

What worked

• The clowns were a bit sinister

• There's also a hint of the sinister about the childhood toys being murderous.

• At times, Steven offers the voice of sanity, and it's quite satisfying when he seems to be as fed up with this story as we are

What didn't work

• From the looks of it, the sets were really cheap and tacky (I think because of a massive overspend on The Ark)

• Showing people playing the games is totally boring

• What's even worse than that, is the stupid scene of "hunt the thimble" in the kitchen whilst a solider and a cook argue!

• Even then, Cyril is probably the most annoying character in the entire history of Doctor Who!

• The way that Steven has to reiterate the rules every five minutes is equally as bad as Dodo happily being friendly to the playing cards, thinking everyone is innocent and wanting to help their opponents.

Overall Feelings

From start to finish this story is painful to watch.  I can't even imagine young kids watching the stuff and retaining their attention.  I can see that the writers were aiming for a grudge match between two titans of power, whilst Steven and Dodo were thrown into a sinister world of childhood fears.  In that way, it hints of comic villains that have mastered the craft, e.g. DC's Joker, or Marvel's Arcade.

The problem is that the script was messed around with so much that it just ended up being executed with an appalling result.  The sets are cheap, the rules are re-iterated numerous times in a single episode, and Dodo hasn't even got the sense to not help her opponents, and there's no explanation for the Doctor's rematerialisation at the end.

Some sources try to hint that this story is something wider than it is, taking on metaphors for society's conformation to authoritarian rule, and maybe even glimpses of communism...but even if this is the case, it's still garbage, and I find it unbelievable that some great stories were made less than a year ago, and now we're receiving this.

Rating

2 out of 10

Stupid and repetitive

Rewatchability Factor

3 out of 10

In many way's, it's worse than the Crusade.

Watch this if you liked...

• The Mind Robber

• Amy's Choice (Doctor Who Series 5)

Consulting the Matrix

Are there any childhood toys / things that freak you out? If so, what?