The War Machines was one of the first William Hartnell adventures that I ever saw as a Doctor Who fan. It was a story that was set in the ‘modern day’. It saw the sudden departure of Dodo Chaplet (Jackie Lane) and the introduction of Ben (Michael Craze) and Polly (Anneke Wills). The story is how computers are connecting with each other which is something that might have sounded far fetched in 1966 but in 2010 it seems like the people involved in Doctor Who were very clever. In fact it was at this time that Dr Kit Pedler (co-creator of the Cybermen) was involved in the show and its stories like this that show how the science was actually making its presence felt in Doctor Who.
The character of Dodo was one that I never warmed to. Even when I first watched this story I found her to be slightly annoying (just watch her in the few episodes of The Celestial Toymaker). She's meant to be a woman who is suppose to embody the 1960's yet when she is in the scenes set in the club she seems like she isn’t use to that sort of environment. To be fair to the character and the actress, she did deserve a much better exit. Being whipped off to a country retreat to recuperate from the hypnotism is all well and good but a simple “Oh Dodo is staying in the country” line is hardly befitting any companion whether you like them or not. It a weird exit on par with the departure of Ben and Polly twelve months later. I thought that Ben and Polly were very good creations. They don’t really suit Hartnell’s Doctor as I think that the last thing he needed was a young and hip companion. The characters don’t seem to be the sort that would meet each other in any other circumstance that being in the same club. Anneke Wills and Michael Craze are very good and even when she was being hypnotised she was very enjoyable. Not believable but enjoyable.
All in all, The War Machines isnt a great Doctor Who story but its ok. The idea of computers linking up and taking over the world is a good one but unfortunatley the WOTAN creations are just rubbish. They too big and too slow. They have ridiculous arms and the smoke that shoots out of just looks silly. I think had they just left the WOTAN ‘robots’ out of the story it would have been a much better adventure. The story bumbles along at a nice pace and its always nice to have a story set in the modern day but it’s one of those stories that doesn’t quite hit the mark.
The character of Dodo was one that I never warmed to. Even when I first watched this story I found her to be slightly annoying (just watch her in the few episodes of The Celestial Toymaker). She's meant to be a woman who is suppose to embody the 1960's yet when she is in the scenes set in the club she seems like she isn’t use to that sort of environment. To be fair to the character and the actress, she did deserve a much better exit. Being whipped off to a country retreat to recuperate from the hypnotism is all well and good but a simple “Oh Dodo is staying in the country” line is hardly befitting any companion whether you like them or not. It a weird exit on par with the departure of Ben and Polly twelve months later. I thought that Ben and Polly were very good creations. They don’t really suit Hartnell’s Doctor as I think that the last thing he needed was a young and hip companion. The characters don’t seem to be the sort that would meet each other in any other circumstance that being in the same club. Anneke Wills and Michael Craze are very good and even when she was being hypnotised she was very enjoyable. Not believable but enjoyable.
All in all, The War Machines isnt a great Doctor Who story but its ok. The idea of computers linking up and taking over the world is a good one but unfortunatley the WOTAN creations are just rubbish. They too big and too slow. They have ridiculous arms and the smoke that shoots out of just looks silly. I think had they just left the WOTAN ‘robots’ out of the story it would have been a much better adventure. The story bumbles along at a nice pace and its always nice to have a story set in the modern day but it’s one of those stories that doesn’t quite hit the mark.
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