TV

Doctor Who
6x44 The War Games Episode Ten [season finale]

Endings a-go-go this episode: the end of Jamie and Zoe's time as companions; the end of Patrick Troughton's tenure as the Doctor; the end of the '60s; the end of the show's black-and-white era... And, unusually for this era of TV, it does actually feel like a season finale, with the Doctor and co captured by the Time Lords (in their first appearance) and forced to face their fate. It's also fantasic stuff; a great culmination to an all-round great serial.

Considering how many Who six-parters have pacing issues (heck, even plenty of four-parters don’t know what to do with episode three), it’s remarkable how well Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke keep this story flowing across ten instalments, with minimal pointless running around or repetition. I’d argue their only major misstep is completely writing Lady Jennifer out halfway through without any kind of resolution.

It helps that the cast are excellent across the board — to be expected of the regulars, of course (the 2nd Doctor, Jamie and Zoe are surely one of the finest TARDIS teams); but there are multiple fantastic supporting performances. Put one of them in almost any other serial and it would probably be remembered as a standout, but here they’re all running side by side, which perhaps makes it easy to overlook just how fantastic they all are.

[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]