A story set on contemporary Earth - London to be more specific - is something of a rarity for the William Hartnell era. Broadcast in the summer of 1966, "The War Machines" took the TARDIS to modern-day London for the first time since "Planet of Giants" back in 1964.

The new Post Office Tower is the home of a super-computer called WOTAN ("Will Operating Thought Analogue") which has a mind of its own and instigates a plan to conquer the Earth using huge, computerised robots called "war machines". With the enforced aid of some of the country's leading scientists, WOTAN prepares a plan to take over first London then Washington and Moscow.

Thankfully the Doctor is on hand to defeat the machinations of WOTAN and its servants.

Here is another very fine performance by William Hartnell demonstrating once again his spellbinding screen presence. From the opening scenes where the Doctor is gripped by a sense of danger to the sequence in episode two where WOTAN attempts to enslave the Doctor over a telephone call, the audience is drawn to Hartnell's magical portrayal of the mysterious grandfather figure.

"The War Machines" is a significant story in terms of Doctor Who folklore for many reasons. It is the last complete story from the Hartnell era to survive. Hartnell's remaining two serials are incomplete in the BBC archives.

It is the first story to feature companions Ben and Polly and is the only surviving full story with them in.

The newsreader Kenneth Kendall is the first person to appear in Doctor Who as himself.

"The War Machines" is the first of only three occasions in Doctor Who history where two consecutive stories have been penned by the same writer. Ian Stuart Black had written the previous serial, "The Savages" in which Peter Purves was written out.

A well-written script and virtually flawless production, "The War Machines" has always been one of my all-time favourite Doctor Who stories and an excellent end to the highly successful third season of "Doctor Who".

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