March 20th, 2025
71 comments
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Doctor Who The War Games in Colour Steelbook
Available to order from www.amazon.co.uk, www.zavvi.com and www.rarewaves.com
Originally aired in 1969, The War Games marked the end of an era for the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton), following him and his companions Zoe and Jamie as they land in a battlefield that appears to be a World War I military zone-but all is not as it seems. They soon discover that soldiers from different historical periods have been abducted and are being manipulated in a cruel game. As they work to uncover the mystery behind the War Lord and his twisted experiments, the Doctor faces one of his most difficult challenges.
For the first time, these original episodes have been meticulously colourised and enhanced with updated visual effects edited into a new, feature-length experience. This particular release includes the extended 96-minute version, with updated sound and a new score, this version of The War Games offers both fans and newcomers even more ways to watch the much-loved classic story. In addition, the episode will also feature the Second Doctor’s never-before-seen regeneration into the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee), alongside recovered footage not seen since the original broadcast. This release also includes the original ten episodes in black & white as they were first broadcast, all special features from the previous release, plus brand new special features including;
- Audio commentary – 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
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Gordon
April 27th, 2025 - 10:42amWatched the blu ray in colour version blu ray version last night. It’s never going to be my default go to version but I enjoyed it for what it was. A 96 minute cut down colourised retelling of a 4 hour story that isn’t as big commitment if you don’t have 4 hours on hand. Found the sound mix far easier on the ears in the atmos and 5.1 mixes for the blu ray than the iPlayer version. I’m still not a fan of the whole war lord being the master but I’m not angry or anything. Russell says on the commentary that the master music motifs is just them being a bit cheeky and not to be taken seriously. He also went so far said it wasn’t cannon.
I do prefer the blu ray edit but it’s still not as good as the 4 hour version. I do wish they had done the whole thing. I get why they had to cut it down (time, money and wanting to make it more digestible for a 1 off sitting) but they could have done other stories that were around the 100 minute length and cut it down for a digestible broadcast then put out the dvd blu ray uncut.
A lot of the bonus features are 1-3 minutes long. Nice to view but not exactly full of substance. The commentary is by far the best bonus feature. Very informative and they actually do point out how choppy it is in the middle.
The new found film inserts look great. It’s only the opening scene and the execution scene at the end of part 1 but it’s a joy to watch. All the thanks to Chris Hayden for willingly donating the footage even if it’s just 3 mins.
Going forward I hope they pick stories that can be done fully. I don’t have any issue with cutting down stories as the original will always be the default canon version but if they have to don’t pick 3 -4 hour stories where it isn’t possible to do the whole things.
Bob
May 4th, 2025 - 11:06amI mean The War Games in Colour was 90 minutes long which is about the length of a 4 parter. Stories like The Aztecs or The Romans would look incredible in colour.
While I would prefer the story being left intact, I don’t mind a slight trim to improve pacing, it’s just they cut way too much out of these colour versions. I think reducing a story like The Sensorites or The Chase down to 90 would feel less jarring than The War Games.
I also think they should leave the soundtrack alone or at the very least make the new score toggleable in the menu like the updated effects on the DVDs/Blu-Rays. I admittedly did like The War Games’s new music for the most part, but there wasn’t anything wrong with the original either.
James
May 4th, 2025 - 11:45amLots of people commenting on the length only being 90mins. I found it digestible and will now go and watch the full 10 parts. Read somewhere the edition/creator said that this was the plan; newer audiences may find the 10 parts in black and white a bit daunting, so make a film style short version and the audience would then go back and enjoy these classic in full after to see the complete adventure.
With WG could they have done an extra 30 mins and had a cliffhanger making it a 2 part adventure {2 x 1 hour episodes}?
This would work perfectly for Dalek Invasion as this is 2.5 hours. Tomb would also look great and this is easily a one film version worthy as only its is already 100 mins so 10 mins off wouldn’t be to bad.
Craig F
April 26th, 2025 - 3:08pmWhen the War Games gets it’s season six release, I wondered if they could do a combined black & white / coloured version?
As in all the colourised elements from each episodes get re- inserted back into the original 10 part version.
Would be a bit of a hybrid I know but an interesting watch!
Is their a breakdown anywhere or anyone know of, the number of minutes per episode that were colourised?
Prof Horner
April 23rd, 2025 - 9:43amSo is this release worth buying? I have yet to get round to buying this. I still think it is a pity that they couldn’t make the effort on this and upscale the story with maybe with missing material added to episode 1.
As for the next season boxset , I think it will be the middle of July before we get it announced.
Finally, is there any news on possible new animations ?
Amypondfan
April 23rd, 2025 - 12:42pmThere isn’t any missing material. The 16mm film is the same as used in the original story but cleaned and upscaled for the colour version it doesn’t have missing bits. The six mins of extra footage just refers to six mins of the original story that has been added to the DVD edit. Is it worth buying? I’ve bought it for the extras (20 mins worth but nothing fascinating) and the cover. I’ve watched the colour version but won’t watch it a second time.
Matt L
April 23rd, 2025 - 12:48pmSo do you think the “teaser” from Lee binding might be in May for the next box set?
Rory
April 23rd, 2025 - 3:33pm@Amypondfan, it is worth it for the cover alone. Hope this the standard for steelbook covers going forward.
Gordon
April 23rd, 2025 - 9:30pmLet’s not forget there is a brand new commentary as well for this release. It would have been nice to have gotten newly remastered eps 1-10 but was never going to have the sort of budget to do it.
Very few shows that are newly broadcast like war games in colour was gets much if any sort of budget for bonus features in 2025.
Long gone are the days with hours of bonus features of recently broadcast releases. Unlike the collection sets where the hook is new features as most already own them the hook here is it’s the first opportunity to own war games in colour.
Look at season one last year. There was very little bonus features that wasn’t on YouTube or iplayer prior to release
Amypondfan
April 23rd, 2025 - 9:36pmSorry forgot about the commentary. It may sound like I’m being negative but I’m pleased I have this. The extras aren’t spectacular but they are fine. The commentary was interesting. And it’s nice to have the colour version it’s just not something I thought was great. I certainly wouldn’t say don’t buy this. It depends what you are buying it for.
Tom Williams
April 24th, 2025 - 11:56am@matt L i think tbh we wont get anything till more after season 2 sadly finishes at this stage i did say too gordan the other day that hopefully we can expect the actual announcement in july when season 25 was announced last year hopefully
Gordon
April 24th, 2025 - 1:24pmAs I’ve said I don’t think there is a guarantee of tease reveal. Lee does them off his own back. Plus there is no set date of a tease. The gaps have all varied in length. He only decided to tease one of them as it was his birthday.
As for the next animation it’s far too early on. They said back at the end of February that nothing was being worked on at that point and hopefully soon. Even if they have had the green light by now they will probably be still on pre production. I wouldn’t expect any sort of news on the next one till November at the absolute earliest outside of a mirror leak
Prof Horner
April 24th, 2025 - 1:47pmThanks for that Gordon. What I really ment is has the funding been agreed for more animations.
Gordon
April 24th, 2025 - 2:30pmI doubt we will hear anything officially until the next animation gets announced and that’s if they decide to reveal details on the new deal. I mean there was no official word when the bbc America funding stopped and changed for underwater menace. Obviously we willl know that an agreement had been
Gordon
April 24th, 2025 - 2:32pmagreed upon but nothing beyond that
Snowman
April 21st, 2025 - 2:35pmMine Came Today From Amazon. Not had Considering it’s a Bank Holiday. I thought it would be Delayed.
Deano
April 21st, 2025 - 2:58pmMine too although it said due yesterday but never got as far as out for delivery then changed to delayed but I should receive it by tomorrow only for it to arrive today so was surprised to get it today but very pleased I did
Rory
April 22nd, 2025 - 8:28amMine was dispatched this morning, so might get delivered today. Fingers crossed.
Amypondfan
April 19th, 2025 - 9:18pmDecided to watch the colour version again. It definitely isn’t as bad as the daleks but I still find it poor. The editing isn’t littered with flashbacks which is good but so much of the plot and so many characters are missing that it does spoil it for me. The music isn’t as jarring this time but I still don’t understand the insistence that the war chief is the master. The stories dialogue and the master stories of the pertwee era certainly don’t support that. Not every renegade time lord has to be the master! Terrance dicks was plain he wasn’t the master and he co-created both characters. This is a nice curio but next time I watch war games it will be the full original version. The new extras (the other three discs are the original ones) are very short coming in at around 20 mins and they aren’t spectacular. I don’t think I’ll be buying a third colourisation unless it’s a full story with no new music. I just don’t like these enough to keep getting butchered stories.
Gordon
April 20th, 2025 - 1:11pmApparently Russell says on the commentary that the whole Master cue is really just being a bit cheeky, and not to be taken seriously.
Amypondfan
April 20th, 2025 - 4:29pmI do look at this as a curio Gordon, something to have but not the version I will watch in future. Like I say I’m unsure if I will buy anymore. The colour is nice but I feel the editing is step in the wrong direction. These stories are 60’s TV and they are meant to be slower paced. I’d be much happier with straight full story colourisation and a simple release with maybe just the original disc or discs included. War games is definitely better than daleks which I thought was awful but I’d still rather just have the full story colourisation of the war games than have 2 and half hours missing and a few new (not particularly great) model shots.
Gordon
April 22nd, 2025 - 6:54amThe problem is of course it would take far too long to colourise the entirety of war games plus you got the additional cost that would occur. I mean it took them just over a year to do 90 minutes. They would need at least another year plus to do the remaining hour and a half. The budget isn’t there for that
Obviously the solution is to tackle stories that can be done in a year but as the aim is for newer fans and those that wouldn’t normally watch 60s shows it kind of defeats the purpose of not cutting them down for this supposed new audience. I mean I agree with you it would be better picking titles that don’t require huge chunks taken out but I get why they haven’t. A 4 parter would be ideal. Cut it down to 60-75 minutes for the supposed new audience for broadcast and keep the full version for the dvd/blu ray.
An unearthly child (yes I know the legal issues)
Edge of destruction
The aztecs
Planet of giants
The rescue
The romans
The space museum
The time meddler
The ark
The gunfighters
The war machines
Tomb of the cybermen
The mind robber
The Krotons
All fit the 100 minute time limit.
Amypondfan
April 22nd, 2025 - 9:32amActually Gordon I was thinking of the four episode or less stories. Although the mind robber would also be in there as it’s running time is close to a four episode rather than five due to the episode lengths. I appreciate they can’t colourise the full war games in the time frame or the budget but for me if that is the case then just don’t do the longer stories.
Amypondfan
April 22nd, 2025 - 9:33amSorry that should have read, although as you say Gordon, the mind robber…
Tom Williams
April 19th, 2025 - 10:15amMy copy came through the letter box 15 minx ago 🙂 super happy too add this too the collection
Gordon
April 19th, 2025 - 4:55pmI’ve just switched my order to Amazon as Zavvi was still processing my order and hadn’t even taken money
Tom Williams
April 20th, 2025 - 12:55amH M V never let me down tbh i used too use there ebay till i didn’t trust them but there official version is much better ss they dispatch quicker
Prowl 1701
April 20th, 2025 - 12:59amI just did the same, Gordon.
Amypondfan
April 20th, 2025 - 2:20amTom, the h m v Ebay store is legit. I have used it and never had a problem plus the packaging is the same as the online h m v orders come in and the items have the h m v stickers on them. I did preorder war games via their online store and it despatched on the 18th and arrived on the 19th so I was happy.
Tom Williams
April 20th, 2025 - 3:09am@Amypondfan i know its legit but sadly if ur in my shoes and brought season 20 and series 9 Blu-ray which both arrived damaged and took a while too receive it’s understandable they even when i ordered a steel book underwater meance sent it too the wrong location i have complained before too there ebay one but they didn’t really feel sorry about it so sadly went back on there website ever since
Tom Williams
April 15th, 2025 - 6:35amI wonder if anyone will get a email today i know myself the last one savages was dispatched last time on a Wednesday just have too wait and see i guess ?
Dean Wells
April 15th, 2025 - 12:53pmYou’d think it would be a little bit early dispatching this time round for sure, to allow for the Easter break.
Tom Williams
April 15th, 2025 - 3:36pmDoult it very much as Saturday wouldn’t be a bank holiday so people could receive it before the 21 or after the 21
Amypondfan
April 15th, 2025 - 4:02pmIt would be better to get it sent out early then there is a chance of getting it on Saturday but with Friday and Monday being bank holidays I expect it will be more likely Tuesday. Cant say I mind as I’m only watching the new extras and not the awful edit!
Tom Williams
April 15th, 2025 - 6:47pmI think normally zavvi people get it by Thursday if its sent out today im hoping tomoz too get a email from h m v fingers crossed
4th Doctor
April 16th, 2025 - 7:58pmNEXT BLU RAY SEASON ANNOUNCEMENT? HOPING FOR SEASON 13
Tom Williams
April 17th, 2025 - 3:47am@4th doctor i was hoping lee bidden would tease this month but wouldn’t be sure till may/June at this stage esp 13/21 would make sense
Tom Williams
April 17th, 2025 - 3:49amEsp season 2 only came back on last weekend so i suppose after its finished we could see the colour tease maybe
Gordon
April 17th, 2025 - 6:01amI doubt they will announce anything while the show is on. Not saying it’s because there is a ban or anything but they are full on promotion mode for the current season. Announcing the next set while that is going on would only muddy the waters in my opinion
As for lee’s teaser there is no fixed time to reveal ahead of schedule so that could potentially happen at any time
Tom Williams
April 17th, 2025 - 6:52amI did tbh mean before season 2 started airing but wouldnt be too short notice but in my opinion we did get season 25 round July announced so it would add up if we had the teaser after the season has finished maybe
Tom Williams
April 17th, 2025 - 1:02pmI was right just had my dispatch email means it will hopefully come before easter 🙂
Tom Williams
April 17th, 2025 - 4:30pmPlus it seems someone on ebay already has this as there is a actual stick picture been added anyone had this from zavi ?
Peter
April 10th, 2025 - 8:48amJust had a thought re: the retconning that War Chief is the Master (which I’ve never liked and didn’t appreciate being hammered home repeatedly throughout this reimagined version of the story). As we all know, the Doctor and the Master “were at school together” and are peers.
However, in the War Games the Doctor marvels that the SIDRAT alterations as carried out by the War Chief “in my day” couldn’t be done without shortening the lifespans of the travel capsules. The War Chief even tries to bluff “there have been many advancements since your day…”.
If the War Chief really was the Master, it would surely have been “our day”?
Missyrules
April 10th, 2025 - 9:13amTerrance dicks who created both the war chief and the master (alongside malcolm hulke and Barry letts respectively) confirmed the war chief was not the master in his novel timewyrm exodus. Not only that but he and Barry letts consistently referred to roger Delgado as the first master and terror of the autons as the first master story. For me retconning the war chief as the master is pointless and as you say isn’t really supported by the original dialogue.
daz
April 10th, 2025 - 12:02pmYes, they used music from 2007 Doctor Who which was the Masters Theme but to me it was just to represent another renegade but bad Timelord.
He’s definitely not The Master.
If people want him to be fair enough. I’ll never watch the colour version again anyway.
Amypondfan
April 10th, 2025 - 1:43pmI’m buying this but not bothered about watching it again. Buying it mainly for the new extras and the cover really
Rory
April 10th, 2025 - 3:52pm@amypondfan, it is a gorgeous cover. I’m hoping that they keep up this standard for all steelbooks going forward.
Amypondfan
April 10th, 2025 - 4:21pmI felt the same way with the daleks one, but I watched that and regretted it! I’d seen it but thought I might enjoy it more on a second watch. Unfortunately I found myself wondering what on earth they thinking with the editing and the music. I didn’t think this was much better so I might not inflict watching the edit on myself again. I have to admit I don’t know if I will bother buying a third one.
Bookcollector
April 9th, 2025 - 9:23amIn terms of it being an alternative take, an extra really it’s ok. The retconning is pointless and the editing is awful but as an extra to the original war games 10 episodes (which is the one that I will watch if I want to watch the war games) it’s fine.
As to the regeneration scene it’s an alternative for me as I have the first five episodes of devious on DVD (the sixth is out in April next year) and as far as I’m concerned its definitely good enough to be considered canon. It’s final scene features pertwee, its included on an official BBC DVD so its canon to me. Cant wait to see what they do with the final pertwee scene in the finished episode. The troughton into interim doctor scene is very different on the finished episodes compared to the 2009 DVD version so the effects on the pertwee scene should be good. Especially as it will be 31 years since it was filmed!
Timelord1944
April 8th, 2025 - 8:15pmOn the Amazon listing it says that the set contains 4 blurays. Does that mean the black and white original version is on Blu-ray?
James
April 8th, 2025 - 8:42pmThought it was the original 3 disc version plus new 1 disc of colour/making of
Amypondfan
April 8th, 2025 - 9:33pmListing is wrong it’s the original three discs
Gordon
April 8th, 2025 - 10:21pmIt’s not been confirmed discs 2-4 will be dvd or blu ray but based upon daleks in colour I’m fully expecting it to be dvd
Disc 1: war games in colour blu ray
Disc 2: war games 1-5 b and w
Disc 3: war games 6-10 b and w
Disc 4 bonus features
MDS
March 31st, 2025 - 10:43amJust received an email saying delivery is going to be 21st April. Hopefully it will not change again.
Tom Williams
March 31st, 2025 - 6:16pmWell as i was told as a reminder lol it fulls on easter monday when it comes out so might not be posted on that date and end up changing till the following week :/
Tom Williams
April 5th, 2025 - 11:09amLooks like i was right just had a email and could be now pushed back till the following week 28th instead
Welsh Doctor Who Fan
March 25th, 2025 - 2:20pmHi,
I was just wondering if anyone else has received an email or is aware that there may be a change to the release date of this steelbook.
I was under the impression that is was going to be released on the 21st April but I received an email as follows:-
We’ve just been advised by the manufacturers that the release date for the above item has changed to TBC and your order will therefore be processed and dispatched nearer to this date.
MDS
March 25th, 2025 - 3:31pmHi, yes I have received a similar email today. Hopefully it will only be a short delay.
Tom Williams
March 25th, 2025 - 6:55pmSame mine randomly came up and didnt know what happened until i found out it was for this one lets only hope its delayed till the following monday (28th)
ex15
March 25th, 2025 - 10:17pmBecause it’s Easter Monday..
(Depending on who is delivering it)
Tom Williams
March 25th, 2025 - 11:13pmObvs royal mail deliver it ? But everyone must know it fulls easter Monday anyway lol
rich
March 22nd, 2025 - 8:45pmWhat was the recovered footage?
Prowl 1701
March 23rd, 2025 - 12:17amThe location work film from episode 1 and the start of episode 2.
Fred
March 22nd, 2025 - 2:37pmI suspect that cover belongs in the “seemed like a good idea at the time” box. I see what they were trying to do. But it looks like a holiday brochure. The regular cover is much nicer, but I’m not sure I have enough reason to get this anyway. It was alright, better than The Daleks in Colour for sure, but I’d still rather watch the original, and will do so on the DVD or on the Collection Blu-ray when they get around to doing that one.
DPHill
March 20th, 2025 - 10:27pmI wonder if we will get the pdfs and if the discs will be new ones instead of reprints? The menus being exactly the same for Daleks felt a little cheeky, and no booklet neither – but we will get everything when the collection comes along
Gordon
March 20th, 2025 - 11:42pmI’m not expecting new discs outside of the in colour disc. Like the daleks in colour one. It’s 4 discs after all.
War Chief Master
March 20th, 2025 - 8:26pmLooking forward to this!!
James
March 20th, 2025 - 7:59pmWhats the extra 6 minutes?
Amypondfan
March 20th, 2025 - 8:53pmSix minutes of colourised footage from the original episodes that didn’t get used in the cut.
Pete X
March 20th, 2025 - 9:31pmProbably material from episodes 6 to 8 to explain who the characters (Russell, Villar, etc) are who, in the broadcast version, suddenly turn up in the central base to be processed by the Doctor without much indication of who they are or why they are important.
We are still getting proportionally less of War Games than we did of the Daleks.
Gareth Pugh
March 21st, 2025 - 1:46pmAccording to Ben Cook (who edited this) on Twitter / X yesterday, at least some of the restored 6 minutes includes where the Doctor demonstrates the Sonic on the revolver in the army dug-out.