The Doctor and Dodo return to Earth, in London in 1966. Dodo is happy to be home but the Doctor is drawn towards the newly completed Post Office Tower, suspecting something going on. Upon their arrival there they meet Professor Brett and his invention, the supercomputer called WOTAN, as well as his secretary Polly. WOTAN is being set up to link up computers all over the world and become a thinking entity, but WOTAN has already decided that it alone should be in charge of the planet and begins taking control of those around it, including Brett and Dodo, and then Polly. The Doctor's investigations are aided by a young sailor named Ben who befriended Polly and Dodo at a night club, and it is revealed that WOTAN is creating massive War Machines using an army of human slaves, and the plan is to take over the world by force.
The War Machines has a lot going for it, starting with being written by Ian Stuart Black in his redemption of his work following the drab Savages. The setting of contemporary London puts the production back on the streets so the Doctor and company can be seen walking about various locations in the city, as well as making use of the new Post Office Tower as a plot device and the most modern (at the time) location available (this would be like shooting in the CN Tower when it first opened, or the Shard building in 2013's The Bells of St John). Visually the War Machines themselves are impressive as well. Um. Well the War Machine anyways, singular, as we only see one at a time and it's obvious the machine just has the number on the front changed. Size doesn't make up for practicality once one gets a closer look; it has these big club-like arms used for smashing things but it doesn't have much of a reach to it so to get clubbed down you'd have probably been run over first. It also has weapons which fire smoke very much like the Daleks did in their theatrical films, but its aim is dreadful.
How about that cast? Polly and Ben form a pretty mismatched duo with Ben starting a bar fight at the Inferno nightclub when a patron gets fresh with Polly. Dodo is kind of hanging out in the background once Polly comes on scene and after she is taken over by WOTAN she is pretty much done; it's got to be the least subtle shove out the door in the series, and after episode two there's no Dodo anymore (more on that later). Somehow the Doctor is recognized as an expert in computer technology upon his arrival at Brett's lab but there is no clear reason why this happens at all; the novelized version of the story suggests that the Doctor comes up with an introductory letter penned by none other than Ian Chesterton which somehow gains him the credibility he needs to walk right into WOTAN's headquarters. And then there's WOTAN itself, a machine which already knows what the TARDIS is, which suggests that it may have already tapped databases ahead of its scheduled date. WOTAN also refers to the Doctor as "Doctor Who" in its attempt to acquire him for its missions. This may be because wherever it found reference to the TARDIS it may have come across linking information about the Doctor himself, with the name "Doctor Who" being used as code and mistaken as his actual name. The Doctor is also accepted immediately by the local politicians as an expert and a resource, being offered lodging at Sir Charles' home and eventually being onsite while the army combats the rampaging War Machines in much the same way the third Doctor in the future will work with a military organization to protect the Earth from similar threats. Its interesting to note that the entire premise of the novel The Time Travellers is set in a time where WOTAN succeeds in taking over, and in that novel the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan are left to deal with the fallout.Companions come and go over the series and we should all be used to it by now. With Steven having already made his departure in somewhat unlikely circumstances it was just a matter of time until Dodo was also gone, with her character having had little to no development in her five story run (yeah that's it just five televised stories). The expanded universe of the series, though, lends a bit more credibility to her departure as it did with Steven's; whereas Big Finish and the two novel publishers focussed on Steven's sense of outrage over not being able to help people, the background information on Dodo - scant as it is because Jackie Lane has not been in any of it yet - suggests that she was not at all happy to travel in the TARDIS and took the first opportunity to get out that she could. She freely admits throughout her time that she has had to over-write herself to be a more acceptable person in her aunt's social circles ever since her parents died, and as evidenced in The Man in the Velvet Mask once she is away from the Doctor she lets it all drop and becomes a deeply troubled young woman craving affection and belonging. After her mind is briefly taken over by WOTAN it's no wonder she's had enough and decides not to carry on. There's complaining that she doesn't get a departure scene, just a hurried message passed on by Polly, but really that's nothing new at all when it comes to interpersonal relations. How many times have people complained about people they meet just vanishing and never coming back into their lives? Usually this is after a date or two, but the reasoning is the same; they just want out and they just go.
And as the TARDIS leaves London at the finale with Ben and Polly having come aboard via a spare key the Doctor dropped, a couple walking down the street witness the police box dematerializing and exchange bemused glances before carrying on. According to some things I have read (all on the internet so it's all true of course) that couple was supposed to be a cameo by William Russell and Jacqueline Hill as Ian and Barbara, supposedly pushing a baby pram. That would have been just too awesome for words.
NEXT EPISODE: THE SMUGGLERS
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