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episode guide

the war machines

story 27 : season 3 : serial BB : 4 episodes

Producer: Innes Lloyd
Director: Michael Ferguson
Writer: Ian Stuart Black
Writer: Kit Pedler
Writer: Pat Dunlap
Script Editor: Gerry Davis
Designer: Raymond London

cast information

William Hartnell (Dr. Who); Jackie Lane (Dodo Chaplet); Michael Craze (Ben Jackson); Anneke Wills (Polly Wright); Alan Curtis (Major Green); John Harvey (Professor Brett); Sandra Bryant (Kitty); Ewan Proctor (Flash); William Mervyn (Sir Charles Summer); John Cater (Professor Krimpton); Ric Felgate (American Journalist); John Doye (Interviewer); Desmond Cullum-Jones (Worker); Roy Godfrey (Tramp); Michael Rathbone (Taxi-driver); Gerald Taylor (Machine Operator); Eddie Davis (Worker); John Rolfe (Captain); John Boyd-Brent (Sergeant); Frank Jarvis (Corporal); Robin Dawson (Soldier); Kenneth Kendall (Television Newsreader); George Cross (The Minister); Edward Colliver (Garage Mechanic); John Slavid (Man in telephone box); Dwight Whylie (Radio Announcer); Carl Conway (US Correspondent); Gerald Taylor (WOTAN);

crew information

Lovett Bickford (Assistant Floor Manager); Margot Hayhoe (Assistant Floor Manager); Daphne Dare (Costumes); Barbara Lane (Costumes); Alan Jonas (Film Cameraman); Eric Mival (Film Editor); Sonia Markham (Make-Up); Snowy White (Production Assistant); Brian Hodgson (Special Sounds); George Summers (Studio Lighting); David Hughes (Studio Sound); Ron Grainer (Title Music); Delia Derbyshire (Theme Arrangement);

episode information

  Title First UK Transmission Duration Ratings Archive Status
1 Episode 1 25 June 1966 at 17:35 24'01" 5.4mil 16mm telerecording
2 Episode 2 2 July 1966 at 18:55 24'00" 4.7mil 16mm telerecording
3 Episode 3 9 July 1966 at 17:35 23'58" 5.3mil 16mm telerecording
4 Episode 4 16 July 1966 at 17:15 23'11" 5.5mil 16mm telerecording
  1. Episode 1
    » Print recovered in Nigeria c.1985
  2. Episode 2
    » Recovered from a private collector c.1978
    » Incomplete print recovered in Nigeria c.1985
    » Print exists complete on Digital Betacam
  3. Episode 3
    » Incomplete print recovered in Nigeria c.1985
    » Clips returned from ABC censors in Australia c.1996
    » Print exists nearly complete on Digital Betacam
  4. Episode 4
    » Incomplete print recovered in Nigeria c.1985
    » Clip returned from ABC censors in Australia c.1996
    » Print exists nearly complete on Digital Betacam

release information

In Print:
Novelised as: Doctor Who -- The War Machines
Written by: Ian Stuart Black
Number 136 in the Target Doctor Who Library

Versions
16 February 1989 Published by W. H. Allen, UK in paperback
With cover artwork by: Alister Pearson & Graeme Wey
ISBN: 0 426 20332 1
19 November 1992 Published by Virgin Publishing Ltd, UK in paperback
With cover artwork by: Alister Pearson & Graeme Wey
ISBN: 0 426 20332 1

plot synopsis

Finally arriving back in modern London, the Doctor is intrigued by the recently completed GPO Tower, and senses something is wrong. Investigating further, he finds that an artificial intelligence computer, called WOTAN, has been built within. Dodo is put under the machine's control, and after the Doctor has recovered from an attempt to take over his mind, he finds that WOTAN has unleashed a number of tanklike machines throughout central London. Helped by a sailor, Ben Jackson, and a secretary, Polly, the Doctor manages to defeat WOTAN, and sets off for the TARDIS alone, as Dodo has decided to stay behind, but Ben and Polly soon join him...

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