Doctor Who: The Adventure Games is a series of four episodic third-person adventure games, based on the BBC TV series Doctor Who and developed by Sumo Digital. Charles Cecil served as executive producer and worked with Sean Millard and Will Tarratt on the design. Each episode is being made available for free download by residents of the UK from the official website of Doctor Who, with the first one released on 5 June 2010, the second one released on 26 June 2010 and the third was released on 27 August 2010[1]
Production[ | ]
The games were commissioned by Simon Nelson of BBC Vision. Phil Ford was selected to write because of his experience in writing for Doctor Who, and the Sarah Jane Adventures, including writing the Dreamlands animated Doctor Who series.
Concept art for Skaro as seen in "City of the Daleks"
Phil Ford and James Moran wrote the scripts, and Charles Cecil worked on the game design. The Games were created by Sumo Digital with Will Tarratt as lead designer. Composer of the revived series of Doctor Who Murray Gold has provided music for The Adventure Games. Executive producers of the 2010 series of the show Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger and Beth Willis, along with BBC Wales Interactive's Anwen Aspden and video game creator Charles Cecil all serve as executive producers of the interactive episodes.[2][3]
Episodes[ | ]
| No | Episode | Writer | Release date(s) | Link | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "City of the Daleks" | Phil Ford | 5 June 2010 (PC) / 15 June 2010 (Mac) | link | |
| In an alternate 1963, the Daleks have control of time and the TARDIS arrives in the ruins of London. Before time runs out for Amy Pond, a trip must be made to the planet of Skaro.[4] | |||||
| 2 | "Blood of the Cybermen" | Phil Ford | 26 June 2010 (PC) / 30 June 2010 (Mac) | link | |
| In the Arctic a survey team are turning into metal. An army of Cybermen have been under the ice for thousands of years.[5] | |||||
| 3 | "TARDIS" | James Moran | 27 August 2010 (PC / Mac) | link | |
| The Doctor and Amy encounter a mysterious monster called the Entity while piloting the world's most famous blue box - the TARDIS.[6] | |||||
| 4 | TBA | Phil Ford | 2010 | — | |
| The Doctor and Amy are in the 23rd century just after The Great Flood of London. | |||||
Cast and characters[ | ]
Both The Doctor and Amy Pond are playable characters in different stages of the game. Rotoscope technique was used to capture the actors' movements.
- Matt Smith as The Eleventh Doctor
- Karen Gillan as Amy Pond
- Nicholas Briggs as Dalek Voices ("City of the Daleks") / Cyber Voices ("Blood of the Cybermen")
- Sarah Douglas as Professor Meadows ("Blood of the Cybermen") / Entity ("TARDIS")
- Sara Carver as Sylvia ("City of the Daleks")
- Barnaby Edwards as Chisholm ("Blood of the Cybermen")
Smith and Gillan also provided likeness for their characters.
Cast notes[ | ]
- Sara Carver previously starred as Khellian Queen in Fifth Doctor's audio adventure "Three's a Crowd" and as Kim Kronotska in Eighth Doctor's audio adventure "Memory Lane". She has also voiced other characters in numerous Doctor Who related audio dramas produced by Big Finish.
- Barnaby Edwards has directed, written and provided voices for various Big Finish Doctor Who audios,[7] and is also a principal Dalek operator in the television series.[8]
Plots[ | ]
City of the Daleks[ | ]
"City of the Daleks"
The Doctor and Amy arrive in Trafalgar Square, London in 1963 to find the city in ruins and under the control of the Daleks. Following a woman, Sylvia, into the London Underground they learn that she is the only human survivor after the Daleks invaded - appearing through a 'split' in the sky. Amy, Sylvia and the Doctor are pursued by the Daleks. Sylvia is killed but the Doctor and Amy escape. The Doctor deduces that the Daleks have gained the power to alter history and, returning to the TARDIS with Amy, traces the source of the invasion to Skaro, the Daleks' home planet.
The TARDIS lands in Kaalann, the Dalek capital city, which has been rebuilt since the Doctor last saw it. Amy begins to fade, since the destruction of humanity in 1963 means that she was never born. The Doctor uses several Dalek components to create a "Chronon Blocker", which slows the process. The Doctor and Amy observe the Dalek Council Chamber. They see the Dalek Emperor, as well as a device which the Doctor believes to be the technology that allows the Daleks to manipulate history. The Doctor and Amy are captured by Daleks and taken before the Emperor. The Emperor explains that the Daleks will become the new Time Lords with control over the Time Vortex, through the use of the "Eye of Time", a powerful tool previously kept on Gallifrey. The Doctor escapes with Amy by leaping into the Eye which transports them back in time to an earlier ruined Kaalann which is infested with Varga plants just prior to the arrival of the Daleks with the Eye.
The Doctor sends Amy to find components that he can use to create a device that will blind the Daleks. Despite beginning to fade once more, Amy finds the parts and the Doctor constructs the device. In the Council Chamber, the Daleks, led by the white Supreme Dalek, are preparing to use the Eye to launch an attack on Earth in 1963. Amy, still fading, activates the blinding device affecting the Daleks. This allows the Doctor to free the Eye from its restraints and to flee the room with Amy. The Eye crashes down and explodes and the Doctor and Amy find themselves back at the TARDIS, but with Kaalann still in ruins. Amy is no longer fading out of existence. Using the TARDIS scanner, they see that the original 1963 timeline has been restored and that Sylvia is alive.
Blood of the Cybermen[ | ]
"Blood of the Cybermen"
A number of flashbacks show an excavation of an arctic base. A worker at the base called Chisholm flees from the base on a Snowmobile where he finds a Cyberman arm. Chisholm falls off a cliff and gets badly hurt. The Doctor receives an SOS call which he responds to, and landing where Chisholm fell. The Doctor and Amy rescue Chisholm and they use the TARDIS where to go back to the base where Chisholm came from.
They get out the TARDIS where Chisholm is attacked by a Cybermat after which he runs away and hides. The Doctor goes to the base entrance where he encounters a Cyberslave. After Amy kills the Cyberslave they enter the base. The head of the operation, Professor Meadows (voiced by Sarah Douglas), tells them that all of her crew have been turned into Cyberslaves. The Doctor starts on a serum to reverse the effects of the Cyberman conversion. To rach the communications room they have to get past Cybermats and then a Cyberslave which tries to kill Amy. The Doctor and Amy hear over the radio that a team is coming to the base, however they can't be warned until the radio is repaired. The Doctor has developed a cure which they give to the part changed Chisholm. Chisholm shows them a lift in which they go down underground.
Trying to get to the control room the Doctor and Amy have to get around Cyberslaves. However, Amy is kidnapped by two Cyberslaves. The Doctor reaches the control room where he finds Professor Meadows is now a Cyberslave. She forces the Doctor to revive the Cybermen from stasis to save Amy. The Doctor saves Amy but he needs to stop the Cybermen. The intervention of Chisholm allows him to do this and they escape from underground before an explosion destroys everything. The Doctor and Amy leave Chisholm behind so he can answer any questions that UNIT might have.
TARDIS[ | ]
"TARDIS"
The Doctor and Amy are inside the TARDIS, discussing where they should go next for a more peaceful outing. However, the TARDIS suddenly enters a 'space riptide', and the Doctor is launched through the doors and out into space.
After the TARDIS steadies itself, Amy looks outside and sees the Doctor hovering, still conscious and surrounded by a number of strange blue worms, a short distance away. Through sign language, he manages to tell Amy that he is slowly suffocating, and she can save him by operating the TARDIS. Amy follows his directions and recovers the Doctor into the TARDIS. The blue worms, known as 'Chronomites', are somewhat harmless parasites, although they can make you 'very itchy'.
Just as they begin to celebrate their victory, the TARDIS enters another riptide, and Amy disappears. Amy is now in the Doctor's future with a strange glowing sphere that she had accidentally released from its prison in the TARDIS. The Doctor brings himeself and Amy back into the same time and deals with the creature, the "Entity". The Doctor plans to take Amy to 23rd century London just after a 'Great Flood', but finds that the underwater city has been infested by gigantic shark-like creatures.
Continuity[ | ]
City of the Daleks[ | ]
- The Doctor has previously been to Skaro as the First Doctor in the story "The Daleks", the Second Doctor in "The Evil of the Daleks" and as the Fourth Doctor in "Genesis of the Daleks" and "Destiny of the Daleks" (although in Destiny in the novel War of the Daleks revealed to be actually the planet Antalin).
- Varga plants first appeared in the First Doctor's story "Mission to the Unknown" and were created by Terry Nation, the creator of the Daleks. They have also made appearances in audio stories.
- One of the items needed is a Kontron Crystal, which appeared in the serial Timelash.
- "City of the Daleks" features Kaalann's first on-screen appearance. Voice director Gary Russell suggested Fritz Lang's Metropolis and The Dalek Chronicles as inspiration for the design of the city.
- The Beatles were previously referenced in First Doctor's story "The Chase" as the Doctor and his companions watched the band perform "Ticket to Ride" on a Time-Space Visualiser. Similarly, "The Chase" also featured the Daleks.
- At one point in "City of the Daleks" the Doctor mentions Cathy Gale, a character from the TV series The Avengers. Honor Blackman, who played the character, starred as Professor Lasky in the Sixth Doctor's story The Trial of a Time Lord.
Blood of the Cybermen[ | ]
- Amy says the Cybermats are worse than spiders which the Doctor replies "Let's not go there". His fear of spiders is established in the Third Doctor's story Planet of the Spiders.
- The Cybermen in this game are from our universe[citation needed], yet they look almost identical to the parallel universe Cybermen established in the 2006 series, and also have the same catchphrase, "Delete".
- The Doctor tells Amy that he taught Elvis to play the guitar. This continues the running theme of meeting musicians from the previous episode.
TARDIS[ | ]
- Amy asks the Doctor to name one of his holidays which didn't end in a disaster which the Doctor mentions Brighton Beach. The Doctor had previously been to Brighton in the stories Pier Pressure and Business Unusual. The Doctor also mentions Paris which had visited in City of Death.
- Inside the TARDIS study room there the following items: a Dalek eye stalk, book of Weeping Angels, the Second Doctor's recorder which was last seen in The Three Doctors, the Chronon Blocker from City of the Daleks, a map of medieval Venice from The Vampires of Venice, Liz Ten's facemask, the fob watch and the Journal of Impossible Things from Human Nature, a Cybermen chestpiece (our universe Cybermen), the Time Lord staff from The End of Time, a Sycorax staff, a gramophone seen in the TV movie, a cricket ball, a sonic blaster (possibly the one River Song took from the Doctor's TARDIS in the future mentioned in Silence in the Library), an Ood translator, the Fourth Doctor's scarf and a distress beacon which was used in Blood of the Cybermen.
- The Laser Screwdriver which the Master used in The Sound of Drums & Last of the Time Lords Amy uses to assemble the Tractor Beam.
System requirements[ | ]
Template:VG Requirements
Marketing[ | ]
On 7 April 2010, the game was first announced on the official Doctor Who BBC website. It included a brief description of what was to come as well as 13 in-game pictures.[9] On 8 April 2010, 5 concept art pictures were released on the official website.[10] On 16 April 2010, the site announced that first game footage would be screened right after Victory of the Daleks would be broadcast.[11] During this game footage, the release date for the first episode was confirmed as 5 June 2010. On 21 April 2010, an event was held at Sheffield for journalists and the public to have a test.[12]
The first episode was scheduled to be available on the 5 June,[1] but a 'not quite final' version was available 3 days early.[13] The Mac version was released on 15 June.
On 17 June, Simon Nelson, controller of portfolio and multiplatform at BBC Vision told games magazine MCV that the number of downloads of the first episode had already exceeded half a million. "The result is a lot more than I was expecting, We had set ourselves some fairly stretched targets on this and we’ve blown them away", he says.[14]
To promote the second episode "Blood of the Cybermen", Steven Moffat and Nicholas Briggs went to Gavinburn Primary School in Scotland and to the Pacific Quay in Glasgow.[15][16]
To coincide with the airing of The Big Bang in the US on 24 July on BBC America and Space, the Windows versions of the first two episodes were made available to purchase outside the UK via Direct2Drive.[17]
References[ | ]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Doctor Who - How to get the Doctor Who Adventure Games outside the UK. BBC. Retrieved on 2010-06-03
- ↑ BBC announces four free Dr Who adventure games for PC - preview in our new issue
- ↑ Doctor Who: The Adventure Games
- ↑ Doctor Who: Doctor Who: The Adventure Games - episode one details revealed - News & Features. BBC (2010-04-22). Retrieved on 2010-06-03
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/theadventuregames/bloodofthecybermen
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/news/bulletin_100820_01
- ↑ http://www.bigfinish.com/chat/
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0079mgg
- ↑ Doctor Who: Doctor Who: The Adventure Games - News & Features. BBC (2010-04-07). Retrieved on 2010-06-03
- ↑ Doctor Who: The Adventure Games Concept Art - News & Features. BBC (2010-04-08). Retrieved on 2010-06-03
- ↑ Doctor Who: First Footage from Doctor Who: The Adventure Games - News & Features. BBC (2010-04-16). Retrieved on 2010-06-03
- ↑ Doctor Who: Adventure Games Launch in Sheffield - News & Features. BBC (2010-04-21). Retrieved on 2010-06-03
- ↑ http://www.mcvuk.com/news/39261/BBC-explains-early-Doctor-Who-release
- ↑ http://www.mcvuk.com/news/39626/500000-download-new-Who-game
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/news/bulletin_100622_03/Steven_Moffat_School_Reunion
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/news/bulletin_100622_04/Cybermen_and_Daleks_Invade_Glasgows_Pacific_Quay
- ↑ http://www.direct2drive.com/2/9642/product/Buy-Doctor-Who:-The-Adventure-Games---Episode-1-and-2-Download
External links[ | ]
- Template:Bbc.co.uk
- Template:TardisIndexFile
- Announcement at the Doctor Who news page
- http://www.develop-online.net/news/34416/BBC-signs-Cecil-and-Sumo-for-Doctor-Who-game
Template:Doctor Who (series 5)
Template:Dalek video games
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