Doctor Who and the War Games (novelisation)

 was a novelisation based on the 1969 television serial The War Games.

1979 edition
Mud, barbed wire, the smell of death… The year is 1917 and the TARDIS had materialised on the Western Front during the First World War.

Or had it? For very soon the Doctor found himself pursued by the soldiers of Ancient Rome; and then he and his companions were reliving the American Civil War of 1863. And was this really Earth, or just a mock-up created by the War Lords?

As Doctor Who solves the mystery, he has to admit he is faced with an evil of such magnitude that he cannot combat it on his own - he has to call for the help of his own people, the Time Lords.

So, for the first time, it is revealed who is Doctor Who - a maverick Time Lord who `borrowed’ the TARDIS without permission. By appealing to the Time Lords he gives away his position in Time and Space. Thus comes about the Trial of Doctor Who…

1990 edition
I think we have arrived in one of the most terrible times in the history of the Earth...

Mud. Barbed wire. The smell of death. The year is 1917 and the TARDIS has materialised on the Western Front during the First World War.

Or has it? Escaping from execution by firing squad, the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe meet charioteers from Ancient Rome, Georgian Redcoats, and Confederates from the American Civil War.

Someone - someone as knowledgeable as the Doctor himself - has created a simalcrum of Earth, and has gathered soldiers from every era of the planet's bloody history. And someone is playing war games.

This adventure was first broadcast on television in 1969. It marked the end of Patrick Troughton's tenure of the role of the Doctor, and it revealed for the first time something of the Doctor's past and of his fellow Time Lords. This novelization, first published in 1979, is by Malcolm Hulke, one of the writers of the original television script.

Doctor Who - The War Games is available as a BBC Video and will be broadcast on BSB television during 1990.

Book chapters

 * Prologue
 * 1) Sentence of Death
 * 2) Escape
 * 3) The Time Mist
 * 4) Back to the Chateau
 * 5) The War Room
 * 6) The Process
 * 7) The Security Chief
 * 8) Battle for the Chateau
 * 9) The Trap
 * 10) Fall of the War Chief
 * 11) The Trial of Doctor Who

Deviations from televised story

 * The crude space-time machines have a name: SIDRATs. This name was actually used in the production material for the serial (a blueprint identified as a SIDRAT is included as a DVD-ROM bonus feature on the DVD release) and even appeared in dialogue on one occasion. The novelisation reveals the word is an acronym for Space and Inter-time Directional Robot All-purpose Transporter.
 * The War Chief needs green crystals to power the SIDRATs.
 * Given that Hulke had only 144 pages to cover ten episodes, much of the original story has been condensed.
 * The original theft of the TARDIS becomes an additional charge at the Doctor's trial. In the original, although the subject was discussed in episode 8, no mention was made at the trial itself of the Doctor having stolen the TARDIS. The inclusion of theft of the TARDIS as a charge at the Doctor's trial agrees with the versions of the trial as depicted at the start of Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion and in the original edition of The Making of Doctor Who.)
 * Two deserters in the 1917 zone comment on events.
 * Jamie expresses a desire to return home, whereas he was resistant in the televised version.
 * Von Weich is brought with Jamie and Russell to the War Lord's base in their attempted attack. Von Weich is then accidentally shot and killed by a guard.
 * The Time Lords chase the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe to a paradise planet.
 * When captured by the Time Lords the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe consider stealing another TARDIS.
 * The Time Lords are ruled by an invisible judge who finds the Doctor endearing and wished he could have stayed on Gallifrey to "liven the place up no end".

Writing and publishing notes

 * This was the final novelisation written by Malcolm Hulke. It was not published until October 1979, three months after his death.
 * The soldier depicted on the cover of the original Target edition is often mistaken for the Brigadier, even though that character does not appear. This is likely due to the fact the original cover art for PROSE: Doctor Who and the Auton Invasion uses a similar image to depict the Brigadier.

Additional cover images
to be added

British publication history
First publication:
 * Hardback
 * W.H. Allen & Co. Ltd. UK


 * Paperback
 * Target

Re-issues:
 * 1990 Virgin Publishing with a new cover by Alistair Pearson priced £2.99 (UK)

Editions published outside Britain
To be added

Audiobook
This Target Book was released complete and unabridged by BBC Audio and read by David Troughton, Patrick Troughton's son.

The audio set of four CDs was released in February 2011 priced £13.99 (UK)