Synopsis:
Investigating the warehouse at Covent Garden, Ben witnesses the first of the War Machines in operation. He is soon detected, and watches helplessly as it moves towards him...
Ben is surprised to see Polly here - even more so when she locks the doors to prevent him escaping. He notices too late her emotionless expression.
He is captured by Major Green.
The Doctor argues with Sir Charles about what action should be taken next, the civil servant insisting that C-Day go ahead as planned and anything else should be a matter for the police.
Ben is about to be killed when Polly intervenes, stating that WOTAN has instructed that labour is needed for the completion of the War Machines. Ben is to be put to work.
At the Post Office Tower, Brett and Krimpton finalise WOTAN's plans. The War Machines must be ready to launch a coordinated assault on London at noon the following day. The order for the attack will come from WOTAN itself.
Ben makes an escape attempt whilst everyone is busy. He is spotted by Polly alone, but she is conflicted about what she should do. She fails to stop him, or to alert the others.
He arrives at the home of Sir Charles and tells the Doctor about what he has seen at the warehouse.
Polly, meanwhile, is questioned by Green, who orders her to report back to WOTAN for punishment.
Sir Charles refuses to believe Ben's story but when the Doctor begins to convince him, he once again decides that the issue should be dealt with by police. He then agrees to telephone his Minister, who elects to call in the army.
The Doctor, Ben and Sir Charles meet an army unit at Covent Garden. They set up a forward base outside the warehouse, and clear the area of civilians. Electronic activity is detected within the building, and Ben warns of a stock of explosives - as well as the War Machine.
Their presence is detected by Green, who puts everyone on alert.
The army move in and attack - only to discover that their weapons are useless. Guns fail to fire, and grenades will not detonate. The Sergeant reports back to his Captain what has happened, and the decision is made to retreat. The War Machine has left the warehouse and moves inexorably towards them.
Everyone dashes for cover - apart from the Doctor.
He stands his ground as the War Machine bears down on him...
Written by Ian Stuart Black
Recorded: Friday 24th June 1966 - Riverside Studio 1
First broadcast: 5:35pm, Saturday 9th July 1966
Ratings: 5.3 million / AI 44
Designer: Raymond London
Director: Michael Ferguson
Additional cast: John Rolfe (Captain), John Boyd-Brent (Sergeant), Frank Jarvis (Corporal), Robin Dawson (Soldier)
Fans always talk about the Quatermass serials when discussing the changes brought in by Derrick Sherwin in the late 1960's. This mainly concerned the contemporary setting, and the Doctor's interactions with the military.
Seen as a new direction for the series, it had actually been pioneered here in the third and fourth episodes of The War Machines.
Nigel Kneale's serials - The Quatermass Experiment (1953), Quatermass II (1955) and Quatermass and the Pit (1958) - saw the scientist hero contest alien threats, joining forces with the army at some point in each. Other British sci-fi movies had seen a similar set-up - even if the threat wasn't necessarily from outer space. These included The Giant Behemoth, X the Unknown, and The Strange World of Planet X.
American films of the genre had almost always combined scientist and military in neutralising the enemy. (Generally, in British films there is some conflict between the scientist hero and the military. Quatermass especially butts heads with authority figures. This is less so in US movies).
It was therefore inevitable that Doctor Who would tackle a story in a similar vein - especially as Innes Lloyd and Gerry Davis wanted to modernise the series with contemporary companions and more realistic science.
The original storyline for this episode had a somewhat different ending. Instead of the hero shot of the Doctor standing up to the War Machine, he actually told the army that they were helpless against it and should retreat.
Earlier, Rich - as Ben was then named - was put on trial by WOTAN itself, but saved by the hypnotised Dodo.
Sir Charles telephoning his Minister was a late addition, and the battle sequence was expanded.
The filming for Episode 3 took place at Ealing through the week commencing 23rd May, covering the main warehouse set, with sunken area, and its exterior. The outdoor scenes featuring the soldiers and the War Machine were filmed on the studio backlot.
Film trims exist of these scenes - overhead shots showing Gerald Taylor and his fellow operator hurriedly exiting the War Machine prop from the rear due to the proximity of fire effects.
Michael Craze and Anneke Wills took time out of rehearsals on Thursday 23rd June to pose for publicity shots around Riverside Studios. They were pictured in costume, and efforts were made to make the height difference between the pair less noticeable (Wills was five inches taller than her co-star).
The previous Sunday had seen the three regulars filming location work on The Smugglers in Cornwall.
A small section of the warehouse set was erected at Riverside, and the War Machine prop featured in the TV studio for the first time. The battle sequence had several film inserts which had to be edited in.
One recording break allowed Craze to move from the warehouse set to Sir Charles' study, and another allowed everyone to move to the warehouse exterior set.
The episode closed with the camera moving in for a close-up on Hartnell, with a spotlight trained on him - as it had done with Craze at the cliff-hanger to the previous instalment.
Having spent some time filming with Hartnell, Craze and Wills had come to realise that the star held political views and social attitudes which were quite incompatible with their own. He was also becoming increasingly dispirited by the frequent changes in companion co-stars, nostalgic for the early days when he had a stable group of fellow performers - as well as a stable production team.
Craze and Wills had hoped to develop their characters through discussion between themselves and with Hartnell, but he was uncomfortable with this style of acting - used to simply going off and learning his part in isolation and sticking rigidly to this. Craze in particular found Hartnell difficult to warm to.
Neither co-star was aware of Hartnell's worsening health issues.
- After a noticeable dip last week, the ratings bounce back to the same level as the first episode. The appreciation figure fails to mirror this rise, however, and will drop even further next week.
- This episode had an amended title sequence, with the text flashing up as white on a black background, instead of black on white.
- John Rolfe made a further two appearances in Doctor Who. In The Moonbase he was crewmember Sam Beckett, and he played Fell in The Green Death. He had acted opposite Hartnell on stage in the 1950's, and featured with Patrick Troughton in a BBC adaptation of The Old Curiosity Shop in 1962.
- Future light entertainment star Mike Yarwood, whose comedy impressions became a fixture of the BBC's Saturday evening schedules in the 1970's, was due to feature in this episode as a soldier. However, he was taken ill during the morning of studio recording and a taxi had to be booked to get him to hospital.
- William Hartnell's First Doctor is often depicted wearing his black Astrakhan hat. In reality, he only ever wore this on three occasions, this being one of them. (He wears a white version in The Web Planet due to the visual effects being used). The other two stories to feature this particular headgear just happen to be his very first story, and his last.
- Oliver Arkinstall-Jones' alternative retro movie-style poster for the story:
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