Doctor Who And The War Games

By: Malcolm Hulke

Narrated by: David Troughton

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? For very soon the Doctor finds himself pursued by the soldiers of Ancient Rome; and then he and his companions are reliving the American Civil War of 1863. And is 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... David Troughton reads Malcolm Hulke's complete and unabridged novelisation, first published by Target Books in 1979.

Critic reviews

one of the most enjoyable Who stories from the Second Doctor’s era, and a worthy addition to the range of novelisation audios

First Doctor Who where ending isn't soon enough

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, I wouldn't recommend it. The story just will not die... it goes on and on and on even though you *know* exactly how it's going to end before the book is halfway read.

Has Doctor Who and the War Games turned you off from other books in this genre?

Not a chance. One bad apple and all that

Which character – as performed by David Troughton – was your favorite?

He does Jon Pertwee *perfectly*

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Maybe. Some visual distraction might make the story better.

Any additional comments?

I've never watched, listened to, or read a Doctor Who episode where so many humans get killed, particularly by firearms, and most of them get at least two lines worth of description of their death. It makes the characters "throwaway" since you know they're all equally likely to take a bullet or get shot by a "stun gun" that is "set to kill mode" (Doesn't that just make the thing an ordinary gun that can be set to "stun" mode?)

I'm a huge fan of Doctor Who but this was the very first story where I could not wait for it to end after I had listened to the first half.

I forced myself to listen to the end just on the off chance there was a very clever plot twist that I was too thick to anticipate. Alas, if only I were that thick. The plot simply splattered on the ground exactly the way one expects of any other falling cow patty.