War Games 3

So... Zoe calls it a "space-time machine" or some such and the Doctor surmises that it's bigger on the inside. On the other end, a character referred to in the credits simply as "War Chief" notes that the fugitives are time-travellers. It appears to be The Meddling Monk all over again. It's not, of course, bit still.

First thing that doesn't make sense in this episode: Lady Jennifer couldn't drive from 1917 to Ancient Rome, but she has no problem driving from Rome to 1917.

First awesome thing in this episode: Lt. Carstairs' shadow looming as the Doctor examines the safe. We think someone's snuck up on the Doctor- nope, just good old Lt. Carstairs. A few minutes later someone bursts through a door holding a gun and we think the game is up again- nope, Carstairs again. Clearly a bunch of filler was going on, but that doesn't mean it wasn't awesome.

About Time goes on about how you can't blow up a safe without damaging the stuff inside. The think I'll pick apart in that scene is the length of the fuse. "Four seconds" indeed. Lt. Carstairs is a master confidence trickster if he can bluff that other soldier in four seconds.

As long as I'm on the subject of About Time, I should point out that they complain about how WWI isn't a very good way of training troops because survival had more to do with luck than skill. Von Weich and Smythe, however, do not discuss tactics. They discuss morale. The WWI zone is designed to see how good the aliens are at keeping morale up in a hopeless situation. (Fridge brilliance at its finest.)

The capture-escape game that they played in the first episode with the Brits is now done again with the Germans, and we're treated to the Doctor using his Sonic Screwdriver as... a screwdriver... twice. Hrm. The scene's important; we establish that Von Weich is a hypno-alien as well, and the Germans are being manipulated every bit as much as the Brits are.

The Doctor's hypothesis about where/when they are is an interesting one. The way he describes it, it would appear that he thinks they're on Earth, and that random time-holes have been erected that allow people to travel from WWI to Rome and back. Erm, are we still supposed to think that Smythe is a human, maybe from the future? Why would he be so incredulous about the concept of time-travellers who look like humans, then?

...Surely, the aliens wouldn't mind introducing a random element into their games? They won't be fighting real wars completely on their terms...

Also: Carstairs kills a bunch of people. They're all innocent dupes in this, just like him. This, to me, makes his "last stand" somewhat less heroic.