He's been mentioned earlier, but it's in episode seven that we actually meet the War Lord, the leader of this operation, and from his first moment Philip Madoc captivates in the role. He underplays everything, and delivers some lines with a smile, which therefore makes him incredibly menacing -- especially in contrast with Edward Brayshaw's War Chief, who's been playing everything a little large and is therefore just as entertaining to watch in a different way. Watching the two interact is marvelous.
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The War Chief, the War Lord, and the Security Chief discuss the
problematic Doctor. (The War Games Episode Seven) ©BBC |
So the Doctor manages to escape, along with his friends, via a smoke bomb which distracts the alien guards. Then it's off to help set up the resistance as a single, cohesive force. And what better place than the chateau in the 1917 zone? So once they're back there, it's only a matter of time before the resistance attacks the place and take it over, killing General Smythe in the process. And then the Doctor does something clever and puts a time zone mist barrier around the chateau, thus stopping the aliens from sending human troops to attack the resistance base. This obviously upsets the plans of the aliens, so we get even more entertaining War Chief/Security Chief fighting, which necessitates that the War Lord step in: "The Security Chief is right. You have failed," the War Lord tells the War Chief, before turning to the Security Chief. "And your leadership of the security forces has hardly been spectacularly successful. I will take charge of the whole situation." Maybe it's this action that leads to alien guards invading the chateau, grabbing the Doctor and the processing machine before disappearing back to their base.
Episode seven may have been an exciting installment, but episode eight is just as good. The Doctor has been captured, but the Security Chief's interrogations are getting nowhere. So the War Chief tries a different tack, trying to persuade the Doctor to join their side. "We are two of a kind... We were both Time Lords and we both decided to leave our race," the War Chief says, confirming that the Doctor is in fact from a race known as Time Lords. And we finally learn why the aliens have humans fighting each other in time zones across this planet: the strongest, those who survive, will be used to help create a huge army which will allow the aliens to conquer the galaxy. "We can bring peace to the galaxy, and you can help," the War Chief tells the Doctor. "You see, I'm not the cold-hearted villain you suppose me to be. My motives are purely peaceful."
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The leaders of the resistance prepare to enter one of the
travel capsules. (The War Games Episode Eight) ©BBC |
And in the resistance camp, they decide that the best way to help the Doctor is by carrying out his plan to unite all the various resistance factions. So once the message goes out to them all to head to the chateau, they start arriving. One in particular is named Arturo Villar, from the Mexican War of Independence, who insists on speaking to Russell, the leader of the resistance. "I tried [to explain the situation to Villar], but he wouldn't listen," Zoe tells Jamie. "He's got rather primitive ideas about women knowing their place." To which Jamie responds jovially: "Has he now? Oh, sounds a nice chap." But Villar still needs to talk to a leader, which leads to Jamie swaggering out, wearing an officer's cap and two bandoliers with grenades hanging off them, trying to convince Villar and his men to stay. I don't know if Jamie's tripping out the door was intentional or not, but either way it helps sell the idea of Jamie being uncomfortable in this assumed role.
Once all the resistance factions are on board, they start smashing the communication units in all the time zones -- in effect, taking the fight to the aliens. The plan is to force the aliens to send guards out to all the time zones, leaving the central control area unguarded. And then the Doctor pops up on one of the communications units, telling them to send the resistance leaders to the central control so he can discuss things with them. But, in one of the best cliffhangers yet, it turns out to be a trap: the Doctor has sold the resistance out to the aliens. "Thank you, Doctor," the War Chief says. "A nice, neat little package for us to dispose of."