I think this story is a blast of fresh air for the series after three years of switching between historical and sci-fi fare. What I love about the modern day setting is that watching it now for me does make it still feel very modern even though it's over 40 years old. Take out the War Machines, Computers and the other 60's icons and it could almost have been made last week!

What I also like about it is that it is very Troughton-esque in nature, especially the bit at the end where The Doctor sneaks of without saying goodbye. And off course, it also a very early prototype of the Pertwee Era with all the soldiers etc.

Other things I like about it include the great introduction of Ben and Polly, the latter looking extremely gorgeous in this story and the role The Doctor has. With his eccentric dress sense, The Doctor stands out more than he has ever done before and he even gets to go to a Nightclub(like that would happen today!). Plus the often mentioned Hartnell stance at the end of Part Three as the War Machine approaches him is first class acting.

Plus the other mentioned feature of this story of Dodo just disappearing from the action halfway through without a proper goodbye. I'm not a fan of the character but even I think she could have been written out better. Not only that, the fact WOTAN keeps calling The Doctor, Dr Who, is a tad annoying as well.

Looking at the story overall, though, I think it is an enjoyable one. The fears man could one day be ruled by machine I think is as real today as it was back then, especially with all the gadgetry we now have. It was also the story where Lloyd and Davis really made their presence felt and I feel it sort of set the standard for a lot of the forthcoming Era.

I think this starts off very well and is a massive injection of new life in the show. Ben & Polly are like an updated Barbara & Ian - real modern day people getting involved with the Doctor after a run of out of time companions, Vicki, Steven, Katarina & Sara & the plain odd - Dodo! In fact they instantly show how childlike Dodo is in comparison though to be fair Jackie Lane does some of her best work when under mind control and doesn't deserve such a feeble exit.

However the story starts to falter in the last episode with a lot of running around by the military and it doesn't quite know how to fit Hartnell into that format - unlike years later when Pertwee's action man Doctor could be right in the thick of things. Hartnell fits right in as a scientific advisor even if the establishment man aspect is a new one for the series but doesn't look anywhere near as comfortable with the modern day 'youth' setting or military hardware as Troughton or Pertwee will.

In fact after the very Star Trek feel of the Savages this is many way a lot closer to the Avengers and there is a sense of the production team casting around for a new format for the series, This is another they don't quite follow through on and its not until they've exhausted the base under seige format that the next production team try this approach again with The Invasion.

Bloody marvellous story. My favourite Hartnell, and maybe my favourite B&W.

It's so unusual to see the first Doctor in "real" places. A nightclub! A market! Streets! Houses! Taxis! That's unique in itself, surely?

Ben and Polly are modern, fresh, fun, and exciting. I don't think a DW companion has ever been sexier than Ben in his little black tshirt.

News reports and radio broacasts are an idea that was reused in the C21st series.

Mike Reid gets to play a baddie and a goodie. Major Green is effortlessly cool. Kitty is fun, and brings a real sense of modernism: it's the Swinging Sixties and, even though the Young Perople seen here are still deferential and suit-wearing, it's the most "here and now" that C20th DW ever got (up until the mean streets and grim pubs of Survival).

I bloody love this story.

And I agree 100%

Of all the surviving Polly footage, I think she is the most appealing in the scenes from this story where she is 'evil'.

I think she was appealing from start to finish in this story and I loved Kitty as well. I think they should have dumped Ben and just had those two on board the TARDIS, now that would have been awesome!

I remember asking Andrew Pixley about this many years ago over on the old BBC Doctor Who message boards and I think he said the fault with that lay with either the writer or producer not understanding that Doctor Who was the name of the programm and not the character.

Don't know what it is but I've never really warmed to The War Machines, perhaps it's because they are a cheap imitation of the Daleks or it's because I don't like Ben, but The War Machines is certainly not a favorite of mine.

I love this story. It has a good mix of everything, and with the settings and introduction of Ben and Polly has a very modern and even trendy feel to it.
I think my favourite moment is when the Doctor, working with Ben and the army, is trying to trap one of the machines. Can't remember what Ben says, but he suggests that the Doctor is a bit too old to be running around to connect the cable and maybe he should do it instead. The way the Doctor grumpily says "I beg your pardon, young man!" always makes me laugh.


WOTAN must have really been a fan of the show, not only did he know what Tardis stood for, he must be the only character in Dr Who history that has acknowledged the show's title. (Is WOTAN a he? Errr who knows...)

It's a shame this is the only "Ben and Polly" that still exists in its entirety.

Still I suppose they do an "Invasion" on The Tenth Planet which only has one epsiode missing

Thing is, the 2nd Doctor did refer to himself as such in one of the later Season 4 stories, leaving a note signed Dr W. I personally think they shouldn't have let WOTAN call him as such; thing is, Professor Brett called him that as well, but as he was under WOTAN'S control, I suppose that was a natural thing. As for WOTAN, I think he was more likely an 'it'.

It would have been more fun if it'd been stumped by knowing what TARDIS actually is and logically it shouldn't really have known the answer to that really.

One other thing I forgot to mention was the titles to this story. I think they worked really well and it was good that some stories between now and the end of the 60's had a variation on the usual black background to the start/end credits. Certainly gave those stories some extra atmosphere.

I agree with your comments Daveyboy. Its a good 'un i think.As some-one who has only watched 2 or 3 Hartnells before, thiis story has so much going for it. Seems to consider issues still relevant today.Its the closest i'll ever get to seeing Swinging London and Polly and Ben are both equally gorgeous ( yes i can be shallow ).First time i've ever saw Dodo so interesting to see her non goodbye.

WOTAN : "Doctor Who is required" is quite funny now if you consider the whole current trend is about the identity of who the Doctor is. Some things maybe shouldn't change

A definite highlight The War Machines, I agree that it is a forerunner for the Troughton era, feels just like one doesn’t it. Also, with all the soldiers involved again a bit of a UNIT type story forerunner. Again, much like Planet of Giants it’s good to get a modern setting at the time. Love the Post Office Tower and the wandering around London. As pointed out when do you get to see the Doc out nightclubbing!
Big part of my recollection of this story are the newcomers Ben and Polly, do like the fact that they are just returning something to the Doctor and get whisked off at the end into Time and Space. Ben initially to me seemed a bit bawkward and tad annoying, but as the story progresses he grows on me and I like him more, particulary trying to rescue the hypnotised Polly in the warehouse. Polly is of course stunning in this one, her acting ain’t bad either. She is a bright and breezy addition to the companion ranks, and it is a shame we don’t see these two in more complete stories I must say.
The War Machines has a good pace to it, you get the intrigue of what is going on in at the start, the hypnotised people and there behaviour. Dodo nicely duped by the Doctor into revealing the WOTAN plan then the emergence of the War Machines and how to fight off the threat. Plenty to keep it going.
As for Dido, another example of a bit of a raw deal some of the companions get. She basically is carted off to some residence in the country and that’s it bye bye another companion, with a throwaway line at the end of the story. I read that her contract had expired during the making of The War Machines, yes well surely they knew that and could have done something better than what they did. Ben and Polly in their last story just get to wander off under some form of hypnotised state, I feel it’s a bit of an unsatisfactory for a send off. Overall a superb B&W Doctor Who serial.

Ben and Polly are all right at the end of The Faceless Ones and they get to say their goodbyes. Somewhat touching scene in fact, although it was pre-filmed.

It's actually quite similar to some of the New Who stuff in some respects. The use of the News to convey stuff to the audience(which RTD did far too excessively IMO), humans being hypnotised en masse, the London setting being used as a base for an Invasion(though The Daleks got there first) plus the use of advanced computerisation. Yes, I think this story is ahead of it's time in many ways and the fact it foreshadows a lot of stuff to come in the Series also adds to that.


CHJ is right, Ben and Polly did leave normally, so as to speak, though they did undergo some hypnosis in their final story. As far as this one goes, I agree Polly really is at the top of her game in this. She is the dream girl really, beautiful, funny, even witty at times, and not so much of the screamer she became later. I like the scene where Ben is first introduced and her reaction to try and cheer him up. Yes, he does start off a tad annoying but Polly soon cheers him up and improves as he spends more time with her and The Doctor.

Also agree the modern setting sets this story aside more than the other ones from this era. I'm glad they didn't do it too often, though, like in Pertwee's Era. It's what makes it so special.

I don't think the Pertwee stories are set in a recognisable "here and now" in the same way that War Machines / Invasion / etc are. So many Pertwee stories are set in military establishments, scientific bases or pretty villages. Off top of head, Invasion of the Dinosaurs is the only one that seems "real", with streets, shops, bus stops, etc.

I do sort of agree with what you're saying but the Pertwee settings are set in a near contemporary setting. If we're led to believe what Sarah says in Pyramid Of Mars is true, it would be around the 1980's which isn't too far off. Plus there were streets and shops seen right at the beginning of The Silurians.

Off course, Mawdryn Undead threw that all up in the air so it could well be the Pertwee settings were a bit more contemporary than we were led to believe!

Streets? Shops? Spearhead?

Excellent example!

Yes! V good example! Not many more examples though. The Pertwee Earth stories are generally set "somewhere else" rather than somewhere that seems real.

I was simply gobsmacked by parts of this story...
the Doctor and his companion marvel at the new post office tower... and not only is it a bright and shiny new london landmark, its actually a base of dodgy military operations slightly similar to torchwood in canary wharf...
There is some police phone boxey awareness, where the doctor points out that actually in this particular era, people might actually recognise the exterior for what it looks like.
(The only police box I ever saw in my life was falling apart on a roundabout somewhere near loughton,)
The swinging london stuff makes me grin, it looks so cheesy now. As others have pointed out, this story is seminal.
It brings in ideas that will be used throughout the series.

OMG I know. He's utterly utterly scrummy. Him and Noel Clarke.

Yeah now it has been pointed out, I can think of Invasion of the Dinosaurs set in London. But they were all set in fictional type places,

I'm watching this right now but I have to say it is far from my favourite Hartnell story. It took a long time for the main plot to actually develop and I think it could have been easily a 3 parter. However I really like Ben and Polly. The nightclub scene was a great introduction for Ben too

The Post Office ( or BT Tower) is an iconic building. Standing at 627 feet it relays 18,000 hours of television . Apparently there is a war room and it was built to withstand a nuclear attack.
And its the one building in London I would love to go inside so its with a genuine thrill I embrace watching the War Machines again. As quite a few posters have noted its a fresh start with the First Doctor in the modern day, in the decade of 'swinging' London and there's so much to love here.

My favourite scene is when WOTAN tries to hypnotise the Doctor and he physically recoils from the telephone, shocked and overcome and slowly realises Dodo has been hypnotised already. Nice use of his ring to make her sleep. I love that ring! The Doctor doesn't get much action until Episode 3 but I enjoy the pace of the story. Who knew the Doctor had powerful friends in government and he is quite commanding once he get to Covent Garden.

There is a bitter sweetness that we wont see Dodo again. I grew to like her and I honestly think the production team could have been less harsh and allowed her to film a goodbye whilst she was still under contract. Will I miss her. A little bit. Jackie Lane gets an interesting role to play of a companion trying to ensnare the Doctor.
.
Anneke Wiils and Micheal Craze do burst onto the screen here and they are a great double act together investigating in their own ways.I love Polly's attempts to cheer Ben up and Ben's passion to find Polly the 'bird who saved his life' when she disappears. Michael Craze is also very handsome.Polly is vibrant, cheeky and absolutely stunning lets be honest. Dodo is more shy, less reactive, a nice girl maybe not fitting in this new world. Anneke is very good as Polly when she is hypnotised ( she uses her eyes and face very well)

I really like the direction by Michael Ferguson.The scientists when controlled by WOTAN are very convincing and there is a great shot of the 2 scientists and the Major all standing very still and emotionless at one point. There is another brilliant moment in the scene when Ben escapes the warehouse and looks back to see a controlled Polly just staring at him. She knows he is escaping but doesn't raise the alarm.

The action scenes with the army are well done and I love all the location filming around London. Feels very fresh and iconic for the series at this point.. As others have said a precursor to the Troughton era.

The actual War Machine compares very favourably when I think of something similar in the 1980's those god awful awful cleaners in Paradise Towers. The war Machine looks positively high tech in comparison.

A great serial - I love it - have a great Sunday all

I think for me this is my favourite story to feature Polly, she has so much to do here rather than just scream and make coffee and though she worked better with the Second Doctor, this was the story I love her in the best.

As you say, I think the energetic, modern, funny and vibrant way she was introduced in the first episode emphasises the shortcomings of Dodo's character, she comes across as such a bore in comparison even though she was only in it two episodes. It seems to me this was a clash of what the Hartnell companions had been like upto this point and the newer type of companion Lloyd and Davies were trying to introduce at this time.

Absolutely agree she looked gorgeous in this story and I do like the scene where she's teasing Ben in the first episode.