The latest Doctor Who colourisation of ‘The War Games’ has breathed new life into a classic story – and may have changed Doctor Who history forever…
The Second Doctor’s regeneration
One of the biggest gaps in Doctor Who history has always been the transition between the Second Doctor Patrick Troughton and the Third Doctor Jon Pertwee. Although Pertwee had already been cast when Troughton filmed his last scene, it was decided (for whatever reason) not to show the actual handover; the Second Doctor was simply seen tumbling into a vortex, screaming. The next time we see the eponymous Time Lord at the start of ‘Spearhead from Space,’ he’s staggering out of the TARDIS, and he has a new face.
But the colourised version of ‘The War Games’ plugs this gap in Doctor Who history. For the first time, fans can actually see the Second Doctor’s face morph into that of the Third. According to this new version of the story, the Doctor was beamed into the TARDIS after tumbling into the vortex, and he finds himself sitting on a chair in the console room. Now fully conscious, he grabs the arms of the chair as the TARDIS takes flight, and his skin starts to glow with regenerative energy.
And as the TARDIS tumbles towards the Earth, accompanied by a shower of suspicious-looking meteors, his face finally changes. And this is a key moment in Doctor Who history, finally ending the speculation as to how, exactly, the change took place, even quashing the rumours that there may have been a ‘forgotten’ incarnation that came between Troughton and Pertwee, maybe even Jo Martin’s Fugitive Doctor.
This new sequence is also an impressive technical achievement, incorporating colourised footage from an earlier Troughton story ‘The Mind Robber,’ as well as new shots of the TARDIS set that was built for An Adventure in Space and Time, plus footage of Jon Pertwee superimposed onto Troughton’s costume.
The War Chief is… the Master?
Another important part of Doctor Who history which the new version of ‘The War Games’ appears to rewrite concerns the character of the War Chief. In the adventure, this man is a renegade Time Lord, just like the Doctor, who is sharing his knowledge of time travel technology with a vicious band of aliens, who seek to pluck warring humans out of their time zones to pit them against each other in their own bespoke battleground, for their own amusement.
And originally, the War Chief was simply just another renegade Time Lord, but the newly-colourised ‘War Games’ seems to suggest that this character could, in fact, be the Master – another villainous member of the Doctor’s race, and one of his oldest enemies. Throughout ‘The War Games,’ the War Chief’s scenes are underscored with the Master’s iconic musical theme which was first used in ‘The Sound of Drums’ through to ‘The End of Time,’ composed by Murray Gold. This music has only ever been associated with the Master, and so for it to be used as the theme for the War Chief is significant.
So if the War Chief really is the Master, how does this impact Doctor Who history? Well, the colourised ‘War Games’ implies that this incarnation precedes the original version of the Master played by Roger Delgado; in fact, Delgado’s Master theme is also used to underscore some of the War Chief’s scenes, and when the War Chief is killed near the story’s conclusion, a new regeneration sound effect has also been added, suggesting that the Chief is in the process of regenerating into Delgado’s Master.
Are you keeping up? Of course, all of these changes to Doctor Who history are implicit; it is never specifically stated that the War Chief is the Master. And if your head is really spinning and you’re finding all these changes a bit much, then you can always write off this new version of ‘The War Games’ as non-canon. The original, unedited black and white version is still available on iPlayer, after all.
The Doctor’s future faces
There’s a scene towards the end of ‘The War Games’ where the Doctor is given the opportunity to choose his next appearance. Originally, these were pencil sketches of random people, but for the new version of ‘The War Games’ these pictures have been replaced with some more familiar faces from Doctor Who history – namely, the Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi, the Tenth Doctor David Tennant, the Thirteenth Doctor Jodie Whittaker, and the Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith. Certainly, Doctor Who history would have been very different if the Doctor had picked one of these faces for this third incarnation!
So does this new sequence rewrite Doctor Who history? Not really. Rather, it strengthens it, adding to the show’s overall continuity. But of course, these images didn’t appear in the original version of ‘The War Games,’ so fans of the 1969 version may baulk at their inclusion.
But as Russell T Davies said when the colourisation was first announced, this special edition isn’t intended as an all-out replacement. “From the day I arrived back on Doctor Who, this was the plan,” he said. “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!”
So if you’re really not a fan of the changes, you can always pretend the colour version never happened, and stick to the original. And why not? It’s an amazing Second Doctor adventure, and one of the longest in Doctor Who history at a meaty four hours. Certainly, if you’ve never seen the whole thing, it comes with our hearty recommendation. Go seek it out on BBC iPlayer!
In the meantime, how do you feel about all of the changes in the newly-colourised ‘War Games’? And do you think the War Chief really could be the Master? Let us know in the comments below.
It is not fair to show the doctor in colour. Because it was shown in black and white and it should be left ass it was originally as black and white.
It will be easier on the eyes. Plus it will be good to have the regeneration scene between the 2nd and 3rd Doctors. Linking the War Chief to the Master is good.