Serial BB, in four parts:
- Part One - 6/25/66, 5.4m viewers
- Part Two - 7/2/66, 4.7m
- Part Three - 7/9/66, 5.3m
- Part Four - 7/16/66, 5.5m
Sound Bytes:
"What the production team were trying to do, I believe, was to find a middle path between pure fantasy and a kind of realistic projection of future technology -- and of course they had brought in the scientist Kit Pedler to advise them. The story revolved around computers, and the feeling was that this gave it a basis in reality [...] The question was, what would happen if computers had so much power that they were able to take over? At the time, I remember, this wasn't seen as a fanciful idea; it was quite a common fear." - Michael Ferguson, director, quoted in The Handbook: The First Doctor by Howe, Stammers and Walker (Virgin, 1994)
"This is Doctor Who's first shaky step into the here and now, and as such it deserves our indulgence." - review from The Discontinuity Guide by Cornell, Day and Topping (MonkeyBrain Books, 2004)
Comments:
I have never been a big fan of Doctor Who stories set on contemporary Earth. I watch the series to escape from the tedium of everyday life -- you know what I mean? Therefore, I am not particularly excited about The War Machines, the second Doctor Who story to take place entirely in the "here and now" (this serial is often incorrectly referred to as the first Doctor Who story set wholly on present-day Earth, but John Kenneth Muir notes in his A Critical History of Doctor Who on Television that the earlier Planet of Giants also took place during the 1960s).
I cannot deny, though, that The War Machines is fairly well done. The production is unusually polished; there are some convincing sets, and plenty of extras are on hand. On the whole, this looks like an installment of a bigger-budget TV series like The Avengers. I was not too surprised to learn that the production team overspent on this serial -- episode one was budgeted at £3,205, but they spent £5,098 on it. That's a small fortune for the BBC of the 1960s, I imagine!
Michael Ferguson's direction is another highlight (at least, from a technical point-of-view; I'm not sure that he was so great with actors). He frequently uses low angles and close-ups when shooting Hartnell, lending the old boy a mysterious and powerful aura.
But Ferguson's presentation of the war machines themselves is less successful. There are supposed to be twelve of these killer tanks wreaking havoc throughout London, but only one of them is ever seen on screen at any given time. It's painfully obvious that the prop boys only had enough dough to build a single robot suit. Ferguson tries hard to make the machine look impressive by showing it crash through a variety of flimsy wooden structures, but it simply doesn't work. The Daleks may have been smaller and cuter, but their design was far more imaginative.
The main villain behind the war machines, WOTAN, is a super-computer, complete with an early version of the Internet. It's a potentially interesting foe, but it has an annoying voice and it takes a back seat to its own minions. Doctor Who would later explore much the same concept, more effectively, in The Green Death (the supercomputer in that story, BOSS, has WOTAN beat because it's got a distinct personality and a great, mocking voice).
Thankfully, the introduction of new companions Ben and Polly is handed well. In a strange example of social realism in Doctor Who, they meet in a nightclub. Flirting ensues, and Ben beats up an obnoxious guy who starts moving in on Polly. Who says sex in Doctor Who never existed before 2005?
Outgoing companion Dodo is given an unceremonious boot from the series; to call her departure "sloppily written" would be the understatement of the year. But, before she leaves, Jackie Lane gives one of her more accomplished performances, as her character is possessed by WOTAN and forced to act against the Doctor. Hartnell, meanwhile, clearly struggles with his performance, particularly during scenes that involve technical dialog. He's still charming, though.
I find myself with little else to say about this serial. It looks nice, and generally holds my attention during episodes one and two. But, once the war machines start clunking down the streets of London, the whole thing devolves into B-level science fiction. I much prefer fanciful Doctor Who stories to "realistic" ones, and I'm not happy at all that the Doctor's history-based adventures were phased out of the series in favor of this kind of macho, militaristic, technology-oriented tale.
Grade: B-