Season 6, Episode 7 | 10 parts | First broadcast: 19 April – 21 June 1969 | Writer: Malcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks | Director: David Maloney
Cast
- Patrick Troughton as the Doctor
- Frazer Hines as Jamie McCrimmon
- Wendy Padbury as Zoe Heriot
- Edward Brayshaw as the War Chief
- Philip Madoc as the War Lord
Summary
The TARDIS arrives amid what appears to be the First World War but proves to be one of many recreated battlefields on a distant alien planet, where soldiers abducted from across Earth’s history are brainwashed into fighting endless simulated wars for the amusement and strategic study of an alien War Lord. After exposing the scheme with the help of rebel soldiers who have broken their conditioning, the Doctor is finally forced to summon his own people, the Time Lords, for help.
Interesting Facts
- This serial is the first to name the Doctor’s people as Time Lords and to establish his home planet, laying the groundwork for the mythology of the entire franchise.
- At ten episodes, it was the longest Doctor Who story of the 1960s, made necessary in part by budget constraints that ruled out more expensive standalone serials.
- It marks the final regular appearance of Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury, ending with the Time Lords erasing Jamie and Zoe’s memories and forcibly regenerating the Doctor as punishment for his repeated interference.
- All ten episodes survive complete in the BBC archive, making it one of the best-preserved serials of the entire 1960s run.
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