41 years ago seems like an eternity.

David Jones became David Bowie. In the UK, the infamous Moors Murderers are sentence to life imprisonment. Prime Minister, Harold Wilson flies to Moscow for peace talks, as USA B-52s continue bombing raids on Hanoi. Above the Earth, Gemini 9 orbits, whilst the space probe Verera 3 become the first human object to "land" on another planet (Venus).

On television, DOCTOR WHO concluded its third season with the TARDIS returning to modern-day Earth (which cleverly linked to the final episode's climax taking place on the precise day stated in the story; 16 July 1966) with the definitive Doctor, William Hartnell and travelling companion Dodo, Jackie Lane.

The third season had witnessed a marked change in the programme that would resonate theough its format for years to come. Three companions had departed (one of whom, Katarina, sacrificed her life for the Doctor), an experimental epic 12-part story had been recounted, and the momentous decision by Hartnell to leave the series.

THE WAR MACHINES was a "crossroads" story, much overlooked, frequently maligned & criticised but it heralded a new beginning.

Surprisingly, the release of this story in a BBC AUDIO format demonstrates that a number of DOCTOR WHO programmes are better suited to be enjoyed without "visual content" (which a modern audience may find theatrically staid or drab or pedestrian).

Energetically and confidently narrated by Anneke Wills (the story's and future TARDIS companion, Polly Wright), THE WAR MACHINES represents an adroit forecast of the future as it describes a worldwide network of wireless intercommunicating computers twenty years before the first commercial "internet" was launched. The DOCTOR WHO twist being that the "mainframe" computer (WOTAN) was self-aware, thinking & progressive with the ability to a control human mind. Science-fantasy at its very best.

The Doctor (at seeing the General Post Office Tower): There's something evil about it.

And the reliance on the computer, as it is today, is emphasised:

Crimpton: Has the computer broken down?
Brett: On the contrary. It is we that have broken down. We have failed.
Crimpton: We have failed?
Brett: We have reached a standstill. We cannot develop the Earth any further. Further progress is impossible. That is the conclusion reached by WOTAN.

It is theme that the Head Writer of the NEW SERIES, Russell T Davies would not hesitate to incorporate into his re-working of the programme. However, the vignettes of violence & murder would be toned down, surprisingly, for today's 7pm audience - in particular the unwarranted execution of the vagrant being in wrong place at the wrong time.

(Russell T Davies would enjoy the as-live BBC News report, read by Kenneth Kendall - a storytelling device that he later copied for ALIENS OF LONDON - describing the attack of the War Machines).

For a generation Hartnell is the Doctor. He crafted the role that his contemporaries merely have tweaked and layered upon, but, I think, it is essential that younger fans of the NEW SERIES must have the opportunity to see, if you excuse the phrase, "the master" as work. In the First Doctor they will see the darkness, the glee, the rapier wit & cunning that has been recently seen in both the Ninth (Christopher Eccleston) and Tenth (David Tennant) incarnations.

Hartnell is often harshly ridiculed for stumbling his dialogue, mispronunciations or mistiming but, for me, this is his charm and if the audience had not known that he was ill (the early onset of the symptoms we now know as "dementia") then his progressive character deterioration would be seen as planned & calculated (as he regenerates in a matter of two stories due to "this old body of mine is wearing a bit thin"). Here, he is effortlessly charming, authoritarian and mysteriously controlling.

The benefit of additional narration by Anneke Wills is evident during the military attack on the War Machine's stronghold in Covent Garden (later to be the scene of a similar offensive in Patrick Troughton's 1968 THE WEB OF FEAR, and a blueprint for the majority of the Earth-based stories theoughout the Jon Pertwee years).

The Corporal and his patrol are moving deeper into the building, Suddenly they come to an amazed halt as they see the war machine up head. As they drop for cover behind sacks of vegetables and ammunition crates the machine turns slowly round to face them.

The soldiers raise their rifles awaiting the Corporal's command. The War Machines weapons swing into action. The two nearest soldiers are driven back as their cover is blasted into flames. The Machine barges forward theough a wall of stacked crates. The soldiers take aim but something is wrong. Their rifles are locked and jammed solid affected by some invisible force.

THE WAR MACHINES is a genuinely entertaining and thought-provoking story that is enhanced by a directive & strident narration proving that, 41 years on, DOCTOR WHO has neither lost its science-fantasy magic or its ability to be at the forefront of family-orientated television drama.

Essential listening for both new and "older" fans alike.

The bonus material presents a fascinating & frank interview with Anneke Wills (in conversation with Mark Ayres) discussing her first DOCTOR WHO story, the sixties, and working with William Hartnell.

On her burgeoning career: 1966 was an amazing year for me. I'd done 3 "Play Of The Week", THE SAINT and THE AVENGERS. "The year of Anneke"!

On the character of Polly Wright: A sixties chick, and I came with my own clothes. And very short skirts.

On working on DOCTOR WHO: As actors we were 2nd class citizens really. Even when we switched Doctors we were the last to be told! We were lowly actors. I was aware of Bill Hartnell's irascibility because my hubby had played the Toymaker (see THE CELESTIAL TOYMAKER) before so I knew he was liable to go-off on one. So you had to watch him. So in rehearsals you had to be aware of the old man and treat him gently. So that made for a tense rehearsal. So rehearsals were not a fun as they were to become with Pat Troughton, I have to say.

On THE WAR MACHINES: 1966. This was way ahead of its time. The script is a little cumbersome. It was breaking ground. Pretty heavy stuff for 5:30PM.