Line #10 YMMV/DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames


1	* CommonKnowledge: The War Chief is the Master. Except for the fact that this has never been confirmed in any media, and it wasn’t the intention of the latter’s creators (one of whom also created the War Chief). The only thing people have to go on is the War Chief saying that he knows who the Doctor is, even though he immediately clarifies he means in terms of species rather than in terms of who he is as a person.
2	* FightSceneFailure:
3	** Episode Six has an absolutely laughable sequence. Jamie swings obviously wide of the mark blows vaguely at the bad guy's face, over and over and over, while a guard in the background of a fight sequence tries to escape, with a crummy slow-motion GirlyRun, before one of the heroes pulls him off a slope and onto a bed onto which he harmlessly bounces.
4	** When the resistance leader shoots Smythe in Episode Seven, he clearly misses him by at least a metre and a half.
5	* HarsherInHindsight:
6	** At the time, the concept of Regeneration really wasn't as fleshed out as it is now. At the time, the Time Lords were just making the Doctor 'change his appearance' in preparation for his exile. Now, it's more or less the Time Lords ''summarily executing the Doctor'' (in the sense of forcing him to regenerate) before they exile him.
7	*** "[[Recap/DoctorWho2022CENThePowerOfTheDoctor The Power of the Doctor]]" makes this AscendedFridgeHorror, with the Master stating that a forced regeneration was considered the "ultimate sanction" for breaking the laws of the Time Lords and confirming that this regeneration was one such case. Also knowing from this episode that regenerating is represented by a Time Lord crossing into a ravine, the ending where the Second Doctor falls into darkness makes this regeneration more ominous.
8	** Likewise, Jamie and Zoe's fates (being mindwiped and sent back to their own time with no memory of their adventures or one another) seemed to have left a lasting scar on The Doctor, causing him to be a lot more distant to his Companions for a long time to come. But come 40-something years later and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E13JourneysEnd Journey's End]]" where ''he'' has to be the one carrying out that fate to a Companion, despite her begging him not to? ''Ouch!''
9	*** He tried it again later in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E12HellBent Hell Bent]]". The result is just as heartbreaking.
10	* HilariousInHindsight:
11	** One of the faces the Doctor is asked to choose from bears a striking resemblance to Creator/DavidTennant.
12	** In what seems to be a bit of EarlyInstalmentWeirdness, the Doctor implies in the final episode that Time Lords have an unlimited number of regenerations, just so long as their body isn't too badly damaged. Following the revelations about the Doctor's true past in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E10TheTimelessChildren The Timeless Children]]" many years later, one has to wonder if he might have subconsciously started to remember his true nature. Though crosses over with HarsherInHindsight, as what really happened to the Timeless Child wasn't pleasant.
13	** The main motif on the soundtrack resembles a minor [[{{Tonality}} key]] version of "[[Franchise/StarWars Binary Sunset]]".
14	** The first time the War Lord's security guards assemble and stand in formation, with their latex hoods, sunglasses and long, slim rifles, it rather looks like Music/{{Devo}} has taken the stage.
15	** The odd floral decorations on the panels of the War Lord's base look rather like the [[https://i.postimg.cc/FscnGTH6/62eae8d5f027a2001e1c7f1e.jpg set decor]] for ''[[Main/TalkShow The Mike Douglas Show]]''.
16	* ItWasHisSled: The Doctor and the War Chief being of the same race might have come as an surprise back when the story first aired, but not so much nowadays when his status as a ''Time Lord'' is common knowledge.
17	* {{Narm}}: The slo-mo stutter in the cliffhanger to Episode Nine:
18	-->'''Doctor''': Ccccoommmee onnnn!!!!\
19	'''Zoe''': Wwhaatt iiss ittt??\
20	'''Doctor''':Ttttiimmmmeee Llllloooordddss!!!
21	* {{Padding}}: The story just goes on, and on, and on, as it had to take up the space of a six-part serial ''and'' a four-part serial and its writers were [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants pretty much writing as they were going along]]. Every time they start wrapping up plots, they add in another bunch of historical soldiers to incorporate. And, since the very end of the story is [[OutsideContextProblem the Time Lords showing up and breaking the plot]], a lot of it is a ShaggyDogStory.
22	* RetroactiveRecognition: Harper is played by Creator/RudolphWalker, who would later be best known for playing Bill Reynolds in ''Series/LoveThyNeighbour'' and Constable Gladstone in ''Series/TheThinBlueLine''.
23	* SacredCow: Even with the {{Padding}}, the general consensus is that this serial is one of the best in the Classic series and, along with "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E6TheCavesOfAndrozani The Caves of Androzani]]", one of the best regeneration serials in the series. This is mainly due to the performances of the main trio and the War Chief, the twists, the introduction of the Time Lords and, of course, the tragic farewell to Jamie, Zoe and the Second Doctor.
24	* ValuesDissonance: [[InUniverse In-story]], between the soldiers from each different time zone.
25	* VindicatedByHistory: At the time of its broadcast, this serial got record low viewing figures. Today, it is regarded as one of the greatest ''Doctor Who'' stories of all time.
26	* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical
27	** The Time Lords ask the Doctor to choose his own face from a bunch of drawings projected on a screen. One (the one dismissed by the Doctor as 'too old') appears to be Creator/KarlMarx. Draw your own conclusions.
28	** Though on a less silly note, it doesn't take much effort to decode the implications of a story where entire generations of lower-class soldiers throughout history are being systematically lied to, exploited, and murdered by aristocratic overseers and generals colluding and coordinating the most appropriate war spectacle they can manage. Especially when you know the story was co-written by Creator/MalcolmHulke, who was a communist and one of ''Who'''s most politically engaged writers.

Context YMMV / DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames