50. The War Games

This is it. This is the one that changes everything. Again. As the final episode of the 1st Doctor introduced the concept of regeneration, this final episode of the 2nd Doctor introduced at long last the Doctor's people, the Time Lords, and his home planet, still yet unnamed.

The story begins with the Doctor, Zoe and Jamie landing in a hellish World War 1 setting and becoming embroiled in the local fighting but discover things aren't what they appear. Come to find out there are many different Time Zones with different warriors plucked from history to fight for the amusement of the War Chief and the War Lord. Come to find out the War Chief is another Time Lord and is using Time Lord technology to help the War Lord build an army.

Faced with this impossible situation, the Doctor is forced to call the Time Lords for their help. Of course the Doctor has to leave in a rush to escape the Time Lords because he actually stole his TARDIS when he left his home planet. In the end, the Time Lords capture the Doctor, put him on trial and sentence him to exile on Earth after he regenerates!

This story is tremendous with 10 whopping episodes and is a fitting finale to the Patrick Troughton era, to the black and white era and to the 1960's. This truly is the end of an era of Doctor Who and when next the program returns to our screen, it will never be the same.

I must say that having gone through all the existing episodes of the 2nd Doctor, Patrick Troughton was a revelation in the role of the Doctor. After the very strict, crotchety old 1st Doctor, Pat came in and breathed new life into the new role and into the show itself. With a lesser actor, the show probably would have died but in the hands of Trougton, the show is reborn. He instantly endears himself to the audience and redefines everything about Doctor Who while keeping it the same. The shows continued success now 50 years later is do hugely in part to the magic of Patrick Troughton.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Games