“The War Games” is one of my favorite regeneration stories. While it’s a little long, it’s also epic in several ways, and it’s a massive game-changer for Doctor Who. Along with the regeneration, it also introduces the Time Lords, who sentence the Doctor to death as well as exile his new self on 20th-century Earth. Unsurprisingly, after the success of “The Daleks in Color”, this was the next story to get the colorization treatment.
But this new version did more than add color to a previously black-and-white story. "The War Games in Color" was a brand-new edit, with added music and effects. Not only did it heavily lean into a very divisive fan theory regarding the War Chief, a key villain of the story. But it also included a brand-new regeneration scene for the Second Doctor.
If you’ve never seen “The War Games”, changing a regeneration scene might almost sound like blasphemy. But the regeneration depicted in “The War Games” was always a little bit different compared to others. Mainly because, due to the Third Doctor not being cast at the time it was made, you don’t actually see the regeneration in full. Instead, you see the Second Doctor sent screaming into darkness, as he’s sent to Earth to begin his exile.
It's not surprising that, over the years, fans have created their own takes on this regeneration, ones where you see the change from Troughton to Pertwee in full. And some of these have worked extremely well. But one take was so good, it was incorporated into “The War Games In Color”.
The original video
Back in 2023, “The Second Doctor Regenerates” was uploaded by Jacob Booth onto his YouTube channel, "The Confession Dial". And it was incredible to watch. It was clear that a lot of work had gone into it. Not just in terms of special effects, which were impressive. But also making sure that it flowed naturally as a scene.
For example, the video begins with exterior shots of the Citadel on Gallifrey before leading into the trial. It’s a nice way of re-introducing this key moment, especially for those already familiar with the original version.
The video also includes nice nods to issues of continuity often debated and discussed among fans. This includes a very quick glimpse of Season 6b – the theory that the Second Doctor’s life somehow continued after “The War Games”. There’s also a shot of the TARDIS not being able to decide if it landed in 1970 or 1980 – just like different producers and writers couldn’t decide what the date was for the Third Doctor's stories. This is often referenced by fandom as "the UNIT dating controversy".
That’s what the original video included. But what differences does the updated version seen in “The War Games in Color” feature?
"The War Games in Color"
The answer is surprisingly not many. Naturally, the trial scene is more or less presented as in the original story, only now in color. One slight but noticeable subtraction is the little flashes and nods to Season 6b, which have been replaced with snippets of other Second Doctor stories.
But a lot of what was in the original video has made it to “The War Games in Color”, including the nod to the UNIT dating controversy. In fact, something has been added: a shot of the TARDIS heading to Earth, with certain plastic meteorites following very closely behind. It’s a lovely little detail that foreshadows the next adventure even better.
But that further highlights just how good “The Second Doctor Regenerates” truly is. It’s an extremely well-made video, and it’s fantastic that the production team for “The War Games in Color” recognized that, with very few changes made. Even better is that Jacob Booth said in a tweet that this “may have lead to some other things”. We can’t wait to find out what they are.