Synopsis: A COMPUTER GOES CRAZY!
First things first. Stephen left during episode four of The Savages. We didn’t see it. It’s just The Doctor and Dodo, I hope he ditches her sometime soon1. They keep on trying to experiment. In The Chase was had ridiculous piano music. In The Gunfighters we had that terrible song. In this episode, The War Machines, we have a rather insane opening for each episode. I love-hate it so much, I had to upload it to YouTube.
The Doctor gets a strange feeling when looking at a building. He makes his way into a secret laboratory where the scientists have created a computer well ahead of its time, WOTAN. Dodo challenges WOTAN to tell her what TARDIS stands for, and *gasp* it’s able to. Dodo than chats with the scientist’s secretary, Polly. Polly invites Dodo out to a London night club where they meet a navy boy named Ben.
At the club, Dodo gets a phone call from WOTAN, as the supercomputer gathers its human pawns to prepare for battle. WOTAN’s plan is to create portable computers to help it conquer the world.
Wait, no… I think he meant these…
This feels like a prototype for what would eventually become the Jon Pertwee standard. It seems like the idea of an alien attack (in this case technology) leading to the military involvement was not something Doctor Who ever did before. It actually works quite well here. The Doctor holds back and only engages once the pawns have been destroyed and a victory can come about with words. This episode was completely original for Doctor Who and creates a very enjoyable episode.
Dodo left the story during episode two as she went to the country to recover. At the end of episode four, Ben and Polly relay to the Doctor that Dodo wishes to remain in London. Ben and Polly then remember to return the TARDIS key to The Doctor, the get in the TARDIS just as it is about to dematerialize.
Thus ends season 3. Next time… The Smugglers.
- Not much longer. [↩]