Mud, barbed wire, the smell of death... The year was 1917 and the TARDIS had materialised on the Western Front during the First World War.

Or had it? For very soon the Doctor found himself pursued by the soldiers of Ancient Rome; and then he and his companions were reliving the American Civil War of 1863. And was this really Earth, or just a mock-up created by the War Lords?

As Doctor Who solves the mystery, he has to admit he is faced with an evil of such magnitude that he cannot combat it on his own — he has to call for the help of his own people, the Time Lords.

So, for the first time, it is revealed who is Doctor Who — a maverick Time Lord who 'borrowed' the TARDIS without permission. By appealing to the Time Lords he gives away his position in Time and Space. Thus comes about the Trial of Doctor Who...

Novelization of the Doctor Who TV series; ten episode story "The War Games" (1969), script by Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke.