I dig this, man. A lot of groovy stuff and shows Who could be hip and happening, baby. Yeah. The cool cats and even the squares come together in a really 'Now' and happening adventure. It swings along nicely and is generally pretty fab.

Ahem. Cracking story and shows William was still delivering the goods as his era approaches the end. Said before on DS, that 'hero shot' as they didn't call it then, with the First Doctor in his hat and cloak putting himself between the threat and the humans he is protecting, lapels clasped and stare defiant, gives me goosebumps every time. Quintessential 'Doctor' and one of my favourite moments of a terrific era.

Poor old maligned Dodo, who I'm quite fond of, deserved better though, indeed.

Anneke says in the commentary that Bill Hartnell wasn't well at this point but you wouldn't know it. This is a strong story for him. I didn't see any of the 'fluffs' seen most during the Susan, Ian and Barbara era and you're right Michael that scene where he faces the War machine with that defiant stance is impressive ( and brave)

Jackie Lane actually is pretty good in her role as Dodo here and as you say deserved better


I read Anneke's mother was a model so I guess good looks run in the family Daveyboy . Its a very iconic look of the sixties that Polly has but she doesn't have any arrogance about it. which I quite like.

Love love love The War Machines. One of my top ten. It's just GLORIOUS.

I'm a bit in love with Michael Craze, especially in his black tshirt.

This is a smashing story and I could watch it time and again and again. Brilliant stuff.

EDIT: Looking back, I note that my crush on Michael Craze is undiminished from 2012! I wholeheartedly approve of a mention of Michael Craze and Noel Clarke in the same sentence.

always felt this was like a prototype unit story..
Hartnell was Fantastic this romp and seemed at ease in the modern day setting.
Ben and Polly had a great chemistry from the start shame they weren't around longer.
and Polly had great legs!!!

It,s odd that unit wasn't, around then,but they were for the yeti.

UNIT wasn't actually in The Web Of Fear either. Those were regular soldiers.
UNIT was formed as a result of incidents like that in Shoreditch in 1963, the WOTAN issue and the Yeti / Web incident. The first onscreen sign of UNIT was in The Invasion, which according to the Brig's dialogue apparently took place four years (if I remember rightly) after The Web Of Fear.

The War Machines is one of my favourite 1st Doctor stories.
Although the machines themselves were a bit naff, it was strong story & as others have mentioned, the blueprint for what followed for a lot of the earthbound stories involving the armed forces.
Plus, no other Doctor Who story typified the swinging 60's London better than this one. Especially with Anneke Wills in her first story (who looked absolutely gorgeous). Did you know she named her daughter "Polly"? I do hope that more season 4 episodes are found.

I think Anneke's daughter was born before she got the DW role, and the name is just a coincidence!

Reading this thread has got me watching more 60s DW. Moonbase last night. Ben's shirt is hideous, but he looks so sweet in his ickle spacesuit. Anneke Wills's huge eyes are so beautiful. There was never a prettier Tardis crew.

Wow, you are right, I just checked, who would have thought she was already a young mum when she took on the role? -not me anyway -I simply assumed

Okay, so this one probably has more substance as Anneke herself said this several times:
Apparently the producers just wanted to get rid of Ben (Michael Craze) as they thought the Tardis was too crowded & Jamie worked in better with the new Doctor -sorry Chuff. They asked her to stay on but she refused due to the treatment of her friend Michael, so they gave both the chop, (& rather unceremoniously too). You could say hmm maybe just rumours & she's just trying to save face now, but when you see that they replaced her with Victoria I think most would agree Polly was a better version of the traditional screaming female companion that typified this era of Who than Victoria, so I'm sure there's a strong element of truth to this story.