History Recap / DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames

'''Production code:''' ZZ

Written by Creator/TerranceDicks and Creator/MalcolmHulke. This ten-episode serial first aired from April 19 to June 21, 1969.

During the break between seasons, the ''Doctor Who'' strip continued running as always in TV Comic. Since these strips were written before a third Doctor had been cast, they ran with the idea of the Doctor getting a stay of execution for a while and living on Earth, hiding out from the Time Lords and living in a posh hotel with the TARDIS out of action, and [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers becoming a game show panellist]], before finally being forced to regenerate by some walking scarecrows. This was the genesis of [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/season6b.shtml "Season 6B" ]], which many later writers would embrace. The Second Doctor's appearances in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E1TheThreeDoctors "The Three Doctors"]], [[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors "The Five Doctors"]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E4TheTwoDoctors "The Two Doctors"]] would most logically take place in this gap between "The War Games" and "Spearhead from Space" from Two's perspective (although there is no real reason "The Three Doctors" couldn't occur at any point after [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion "The Invasion"]]).

** As Jamie and Zoe are escorted back to their own time, they tell the Doctor they'll never forget him, which. tragically, the Doctor knows they will.

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: When Smythe recaptures the Doctor in a Episode Seven, he's so annoyed by the trouble the Doctor's put him to that he decides to have the Doctor shot despite having been ordered to take him alive, and then report to his superiors that the Doctor was shot trying to escape.

Once they manage to escape, (and get captured again, and escape ''again'', and...) they find out a couple of things are out of place: First off, they are not in World War I, but rather a facsimile of it, which is limited to a certain area. After reaching and crossing a strange barrier of fog, the Doctor and his companions suddenly find themselves being chased by Roman soldiers, and, after crossing the fog again, soldiers from the American Civil War. Wherever they are, apparently recreates many historical wars throughout human history for some strange purpose; and that is not all. The soldiers of the different wars don't seem to remember how they got to the front lines, and all of the generals from the different eras are apparently in on whatever scheme is going on, having futuristic communication devices hidden in their personal quarters and frequently using strange glasses to hypnotize their subordinates into forgetting and ignoring all of the many historical inconsistencies they come across.

->''"NO!!!! Stop! You're making me giddy! No, you can't do this to me! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No!"''

They arrive and the Doctor is instantly put on trial for violating one of the Time Lords' prime directives -- noninterference in other races' history. The Doctor argues that he may have meddled in a lot of affairs, but he has always done good. The Time Lords concedes that he has a point, but that he must still face punishment for breaking their laws. He is sentenced to exile on Earth, while Jamie and Zoe are returned to their own times, though with their memories altered so they only remember their first adventure with the Doctor. The Doctor is additionally informed that he must change his appearance again... and while at the time it seemed like a simple annoyance, once the rules of regeneration were later established[[note]]Such as Time Lords are typically restricted to only 12 regenerations before dying permanently[[/note]], this meant the Doctor was essentially executed. By his own race.

They arrive and the Doctor is instantly put on trial for violating one of the Time Lords' prime directives -- noninterference in other races' history. The Doctor argues that he may have meddled in a lot of affairs, but he always done good. The Time Lords concedes that he has a point, but that he must still face punishment for breaking their laws. He is sentenced to exile on Earth, while Jamie and Zoe are returned to their own times, though with their memories altered so they only remember their first adventure with the Doctor. The Doctor is additionally informed that he must change his appearance again... and while at the time it seemed like a simple annoyance, once the rules of regeneration were later established[[note]]Such as Time Lords are typically restricted to only 12 regenerations before dying permanently[[/note]], this meant the Doctor was essentially executed. By his own race.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/two_regeneration_3035.jpg]][[caption-width-right:350:This regeneration will not be pretty...]]

* OhCrap: The Doctor's reaction when the War Chief recognises him and again when he's left alone with the resistence who think he's betrayed them.

* WhiteFlag: The Doctor waves a large white handkerchief and claims it as a flag of truce when the War Chief catches him in the transport bay.

* EarlyBirdCameo: The Time Lords on the Doctor's tribunal will come back again - Clyde Pollit ("[[AllThereInTheManual Socra]]") has become Chancellor by [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E1TheThreeDoctors "The Three Doctors"]], and Bernard Horsfall ("Goth") will return as Chancellor [[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E3TheDeadlyAssassin many years (and two lives) later]]. According to the other media, the third Time Lord also reappears, as the Time Lord Messenger in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E1TerrorOfTheAutons "Terror Of The Autons"]] and again in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E4ColonyInSpace "Colony In Space"]], but in this case it's [[TheNthDoctor a different actor in the part each time]].