THE WAR GAMES is an interesting and long story that ends the Second Doctor era with some new lore as we learn more about the Time Lords. It is the second story that Russell T. Davies chose to be re-edited and colorized. But this new edit takes out too much story from the original ten episode story to meet a 95 minute runtime. The climax is cut down too much and adding in a new regeneration sequence has its pros and cons as RTD chooses to include newer Doctor as choices for the doctor to regenerate into (that is the controversial part). I also don't like how the choice of music in one scene implies the War Chief is an earlier incarnation of The Master (when co-writer Terrance Dicks stated he was never meant to be the Master and he was just another rogue time lord like the Time Meddler was). The new colorized edit should have been at least 20 to 30 minutes longer. I give the edit a fail as I have seen the original version. Despite any multi part Doctor Who storyline that is six or more episodes longer having subplots that add padding for runtime, you should track down the original version in black and white which is available for streaming on Pluto TV, Tubi, and Brit Box. I do think people who have never seen the story before will be OK with this new cut, but classic Doctor Who fans will find issues with it.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
Audio commentary with Russell T Davies, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury, Benjamin Cook, Rich Tipple and Mark Ayres,

Model Shots featurette
Model-Making featurette
Chris Hayden Interview with Radio Free Skaro

Full Newly Discovered 16mm Film Footage
The War Games in Colour Trailer

Easter Egg: "What a stupid fool YOU are"
Colour Palettes,
Concept Art,
Photo Gallery

Sadly, the original black and white version of the story (which is out of print in North America) isn't included as an extra in this release. I wish they did take the time to include it as a single extra DVD or reprint the original release with all the original extras on extra discs. That is my only major complaint for the release itself excluding my issues with the re-edit of this classic serial.

FINAL ANALYSIS: DOCTOR WHO: THE WAR GAMES IN COLOUR looks great, but Classic DOCTOR WHO fans will have issues with the new edit. Whether you have seen the story before or not, you should give the original ten episode black and white serial a watch. The new extras are great, but it does get a minus for not including the original serial on a bonus disc.

This blu-ray review is ©7-26-2025 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com