Doctor Who: The Game

Big Finish: Monthly Range #66

by Darin Henry, Peter Davison (Narrator), Sarah Sutton (Narrator)

On the planet Cray, it's game time...

The Gora and the Lineen are set to face off in the grudge match to end all grudge matches. The players are limbering up, the commentators are preparing, the fans are daubing themselves in their team's colours.

The arena is set, and the kick-off is approaching...

When the Doctor and Nyssa arrive, however, they find that Naxy is a sport that anyone can play... whether they want to or not. Cray's entire future depends on the match's outcome, but the time travellers soon realise that it is anything but just a game...

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Audiobook

Audio CD

First published February 1, 2005

Reviews

[Polly Batchelor · Rating 3 out of 5]

"We simplify so all we can see is us versus them. Players sacrifice themselves for nothing except to keep the game alive."

The Doctor and Nyssa arrive on Cray, where they play 'Naxy'. A game that is literally a fight to the death and ends with death. Essentially war that never ends. A sport that anyone plays whether they want to or not. I quite enjoyed the story. It felt like it came straight from the 80's. Davison and Sutton both sounded young and the sound score had a very 80's discos feel. I didn't enjoy when Morian became central stage. I did laugh at the though of a retirement home full of coffins.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny how whenever I heard William Russell’s voice, I kept thinking it was the First Doctor. There are corny guitar licks here and there, but I thought this was an excellent use of a character The Doctor meets out of order. And Nyssa’s reaction at the end is understandable.

[Stephen Theaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

William Russell plays Lord Carlisle (superbly), who is reportedly one of the most eminent advocates for peace in galactic history, and one of the Doctor's heroes. The fifth Doctor takes Nyssa to meet him. But the war in this case has been couched in terms of being a sport, and the Doctor has inadvertently joined a team. The image of the fifth Doctor wielding a sword in an arena is rather fun, and in a stroke of genius football commentator Jonathan Pearce plays the commentator. Just what I wanted after the last few fifth Doctor audios I listened to: a straightforward adventure in the real world without any impostor Doctors.

[Michael Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

ファンBOY精神丸出しで戦争を終わらせ平和をもたらす大使カーライズに会いにきたドクター。ところがホッケーに似たスポーツ、ネクシィに関心を持ってしまったドクター。試合に出ないかと誘われ参加するが、それが相手を殺すことも厭わないとんだデスゲームであることが判明する。

これがドクターとカーライズの最初で最後の出会いということになるのかな。カーライズはこれまでに何度もドクターに助けてもらっていて、前回の別れ際に「君は親友だった」と言ったというから、まさにリバー・ソングとドクターみたいな関わり方をしているのだなぁと2004年にリリースされているので、先に存在した物語ということになる。

ドクターのFanboyぶりを利用してターディスを奪うための罠をしかけたっていうのが....どんだけドクターのこと知り尽くしてる敵やねん！みたいな。

カーライズの声をイアンの中の人がやっていたというのも嬉しいポイント。

[Frank Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a natural aversion to stories about sport and though most scifi franchises have visited the trope, I tend to find that episodes about life or death battle games are among my least favourite. 'Move Along Home' - anybody?

So this story about a war fought on the game field had started on the wrong foot for me - however, I actually went ahead and enjoyed it anyway, for the most part. There was a little bit of daft dialogue but otherwise I thought this was pretty good.

[Kelly McCubbin · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you were to tell me that I would've enjoyed a Doctor Who story about soccer hoolaganism, I'd have not believed you. But it's a tight narrative played well and about twice as fun as it ought to be.

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

William Russell is absolutely phenomenal in this…what a legend. May he rest in peace.

[Tabitha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than I expected for a "sports story". Good premise, kind of lost me in places.

[Nicholas Whyte]

The Game was a rather nice parable of the Doctor and Nyssa ending a war; not a lot more to say about the plot than that. Several interesting things about the form rather than the content, though. First off, the six-part framework is much more effective than BF's usual four parts, and imposes a certain discipline on the storytelling. Second, the setting is very close in concept to my day job, but this is a broad brush portrayal, not a didactic exercise, so I forgive the blurring of details. Third, and most important, we have the return of William Russell to Doctor Who after forty years, as interplanetary negotiator Lord Darzil Carlisle - a memorably flawed character, whose relationship with both Nyssa and the Doctor turns out to be the real story here.

[Jamie Revell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story focuses on a planet where the local team sport is (more or less) sword combat to the death. It has quite a bit of fun with the parallels to football (or, frankly, most team sports), which helps along the plot of a negotiator brought in to end the bloodshed not being quite what he's been cracked up to be. There's the occasional moment of dark humour, largely from the commentator, and, while this is never going to be a true classic in the range, it's above the average.

[Debra Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

This adventure is a planet that has a game that is actually a war between tribes. A peace conference is going on to fix it but a mobster is trying to keep the game going to keep his gambling business going. Can the doctor stop this. Find out.

[Danny Welch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This audio is a great example of don't judge a book by it's cover, when I read the synopsis of this story and looked at it's cover I was really put off by it but after listening to it I can honestly say it's actually a really good 5th Doctor audio, very underrated. 8/10

[Charles Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The rare 6 parter, The Game has a fast paced exciting feel from the beginning. The 5th Doctor (Peter Davison) and Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) land on the planet Cray, where the Gora and the Lineen are fighting a civil war in the guise of a game called Naxy.
More violent than average Doctor Who fare.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting Dr Who combat game story.

[Ritchie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate stupid rabid sports fans. Good story otherwise.

[Yosef Shapiro · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a rather weak story. It was way too long. One of the few redeeming features was William Russel , original companion Ian, in a different role.