There’s some colourised Doctor Who on the way this Christmas! The classic Second Doctor adventure ‘The War Games’ is the latest story to get the colourisation treatment… but why have the BBC chosen this particular serial?
‘The War Games‘ might not be the first story that comes to mind when someone fantasises about a colourised Doctor Who adventure. For a start, it’s 10 episodes long; that’s over four hours of time travelling entertainment, and one of the longest Doctor Who stories of all time. That’s an awful lot of frames to colourise.
But the BBC have made things simple with this particular colourised Doctor Who adventure by cutting the story down to a much more manageable 90 minutes. Here’s how the initial announcement described it: “For the first time, these original episodes have been meticulously colourised and enhanced with updated visual effects edited into a new, 90 minute feature-length experience to appeal to today’s modern audiences.”
This is great news for the sore-wristed Photoshoppers who have to hand-paint each frame of ‘The War Games,’ although there’s no denying that the story will change considerably with some two and a half hours being cast out into the Void.
The comment that a “90 minute feature-length experience” will “appeal to today’s modern audiences” is also interesting. This implies that the audience of 1969 was only too happy to sit down and watch a four hour Doctor Who epic which spanned some two and a half months, but the truth is that ‘The War Games’ didn’t appeal to many people on its original transmission. The viewing figures dropped to an (at the time) record low of 3.5 million for episode eight, and indeed this colourised Doctor Who story was nearly the last adventure of all time, as the BBC was on the cusp of axing the programme.
In fact, the only reason it ended up being a 10 part story was because of a script crisis and a massive gap that opened up at the end of the season. The writers Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke wrote like crazy just to ensure there was something ready to put before the cameras. They weren’t looking to break records with one of the longest Doctor Who stories ever written; they simply had to plug a gap, by whatever means necessary.
If all this sounds negative, then be assured; this colourised Doctor Who adventure is actually very good (or, at least, the original version of ‘The War Games‘ was very good – we haven’t seen the colourised version yet.) Traditionally, longer Doctor Who stories tended to get dull towards the middle, and tread water, but the remarkable thing about ‘The War Games’ is that it is actually quite gripping. Sure, four hours is a long time to sit (and you might need to take a couple of tea breaks) but it’s a solid, exciting story which serves as an excellent send-off for the Second Doctor Patrick Troughton.
And this is probably one of the reasons why the BBC has chosen it as the next colourised Doctor Who story. It’s integral to the show’s history, and introduces the Time Lords to the series’ lore. Moreover, it explains how and why the Doctor became separated from his own people, and how he came into possession of the TARDIS. It features the death of the Second Doctor, sentenced by his own people for breaking their law of non-interference in the affairs of other planets.
Interestingly, the Second Doctor’s regeneration scene was never actually shown in the original version of ‘The War Games,’ and this is something this colourised Doctor Who story wants to put right. For the feature-length version, the BBC has actually created a proper regeneration, which means that fans will – for the first time – see Patrick Troughton’s transition into Jon Pertwee.
(That being said, at this stage in Doctor Who history it wouldn’t be surprising if Troughton actually regenerated into Jo Martin, Philip Hinchcliffe or even Steven Mulhern… You’ll just have to roll with it. Blame the Toymaker.)
Even more interestingly, the BBC has promised that the regeneration scene in this colourised Doctor Who story will feature “recovered footage not seen since the original broadcast,” which is baffling, and exciting. So what did the original version contain that was excised from the copies sold overseas, which we have been watching on VHS and DVD for all these years? And how has this missing footage come to light? Will Jon Pertwee, Jo Martin or Steven Mulhern suddenly leap up into the frame shouting “kidneys!” or “still not ginger!” after the crucial moment in episode 10? Colour us intrigued.
Certainly, this colourised Doctor Who story promises to be exciting. Here’s how Russell T Davies introduced ‘The War Games’ in the press release: ““From the day I arrived back on Doctor Who, this was the plan. To colourise old stories and bring them back to life. And on Doctor Who Day itself, it’s great to announce this, celebrating the show’s wonderful heritage with an all-time-classic. It looks so vivid and new – and for fans of black-and-white, the story in its original form will stay on BBC iPlayer, so everyone wins!
“I actually watched this transmit in 1969, at six years old, terrified of the Roman soldiers, fascinated by villains with glinting spectacles, and in awe of the Doctor’s brand new origin. Now fans old and new can enjoy it all over again.”
It’s certainly reassuring to hear that this colourised Doctor Who story has been set in motion by a fan, and for those Whovians who cherish the original, there is the added reassurance that this isn’t a replacement for the 1969 version; it’s simply a new way of enjoying the story, as was the case with the colourised version of The Daleks in 2023. And with new CGI, new music and a fresh edit, this colourised Doctor Who adventure is certainly going to spark opinion – but hopefully not too many wars!
So how do you feel about the latest colourised Doctor Who story? And which one would you like them to colourise next? Let us know in the comments below.
Why isn’t roger Delgado mentioned in the colourised version of war games