Oh, double-edged sword of the moving average. Today is the second day running where my daily weight is down from the day before, and yet the moving average is higher. But that's ok. At least I am not being mind-controlled by a super-computer (as far as I know). Today I started The War Machines, the final story of the third season of Doctor Who, and it's a good'n. In 1966 the notion of networked computers was definitely floating around out there, but even ARPANET would not actually be constructed for a few more years. It was very cutting edge for the show to do a story about a self-aware mainframe computer forging a global network. It seems like Innes Lloyd's production team has found it's stride, and the show is entering a new Golden Age.

Let's talk about that.

The War Machines - Episodes 1 & 2

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

The thrust of the story is pretty simple: A new super-computer named WOTAN (Will Operating Thought ANalogue) becomes self-aware, and comes to the obvious conclusion that humans have reached an evolutionary dead end and that they must be subjugated to machine control. WOTAN is able to use some kind of hypnotic sound wave in order to place humans under its direct control, and it sets about using its human slaves to build the titular War Machines in order to take over the world. Along the way the Doctor picks up a new pair of companions, Ben Jackson and Polly Wright. Dodo is a major player in this first half of the story, but by the end she has been hypnotized by WOTAN, re-hypnotized by the Doctor, and sent off to the country to rest and recover. By the mid-point climax, she has been fully sidelined and Ben & Polly are well in place.

There are some great sequences in this story, with WOTAN arranging shipments of supplies to secured locations where human slaves are constructing computerized tanks that will soon roll out into the streets to take over the world. Ok, so, maybe the sledgehammer arms on the War Machine tanks are a bit silly, but what can you do with a production budget of pocket lint? There are some big ideas going on here, particularly for the time, and presented with solid acting and storytelling. 

Best of all, the interplay between Ben and Polly is a true delight. Ben is a Cockney sailor, the necessary Man of Action for the show, whereas Polly is educated and charming. They meet cute at a trendy London nightclub called Inferno, and they manage a perfect balancing act between clashing and melding. It's no great surprise to say that they will eventually be married, but that's a long way off.

I am genuinely looking forward to the back half of the story tomorrow. After that we get a pirate story, and then it's finally Cybermen. Yay!

STATS:

Doctor(s): First
Companion(s): Dodo Chaplet, Ben Jackson, Polly Wright
Episode(s): The War Machines - Episodes 1 & 2
Steps Walked: 6,802 today, 426,307 total
Distance Walked:  3.39 miles today, 199.27 miles total
Weight: 288.32 lbs (five day moving average), net change -18.98 lbs