Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctors
Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctors | |
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Action | |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctors is an
Overview
A collaboration between
The game featured extensive, newly recorded audio dialogue by Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Nicholas Courtney. William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton were represented by a voice actor impersonating their portrayals of the First and Second Doctors. The substitute Hartnell and Troughton clips were laced with artificial grain to simulate vintage recordings. Jon Pertwee originally agreed to appear in the game but died before recording could take place; by agreement with his widow, Ingeborg Pertwee, he was represented in the game using audio clips from the television series. The game also contains Anthony Ainley's final recorded performance as the Master before his death. It also marks the first, and only, time that Ainley played the Master with a natural, grown beard rather than a false one.
The story was written by longtime Doctor Who writer Terrance Dicks.
Cast
- The Third Doctor – Jon Pertwee (archive audio)
- The Fourth Doctor – Tom Baker[1]
- The Fifth Doctor – Peter Davison[1]
- The Sixth Doctor – Colin Baker[1]
- The Seventh Doctor – Sylvester McCoy[1]
- The Master – Anthony Ainley[1]
- Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart – Nicholas Courtney[1]
Note: David Coker voiced the First Doctor and Second Doctor.[1]
Plot
The Graak is an intelligent, psychic and seemingly altruistic organism, turquoise in colour and resembling a
It is a matter of debate as to how the game fits into the continuity of Doctor Who. There are references to the "seven complete incarnations of the Doctor", with no reference made to either the
Gameplay
The bulk of the game takes place in the Doctor's TARDIS (and, on occasion, the Master's TARDIS, reached via "junctions" between the two time machines). The game begins in the Console Room of the Fourth Doctor's TARDIS, and the player must then select one of the Doctor's seven incarnations and activate the TARDIS to go in search of them.
Upon reaching the TARDIS of the selected Doctor (and also before almost every puzzle in the game), the player can use a "Time Winder" (a pyramid-like save point) and then set out into the TARDIS to find the Master (and, accordingly, the Doctor).
Upon leaving the Console Room, the player, as the Graak, must find the Great Divide: a chasm which separates the TARDIS from the Determinant. However, the Master has placed several of the Doctor's enemies in the TARDIS to make things more difficult for the Graak, such as
Upon reaching the Great Divide, the player selects a symbol and the Master gives the Graak a riddle. During the loading time, a map of the area of the TARDIS the player will explore is shown. The Graak will have to complete a certain objective (e.g. perform the Doctor Who theme on floor tiles), find certain information on monsters or Doctors (either from the Doctor's "City of Thoughts" database in his TARDIS or from the Master's "Monster Database"), or collect an item (such as a Stattenheim remote, or a Nestene Consciousness control sphere). Whilst the player is scouring the TARDIS(es), they may use telepathic links with the Doctor (resembling the TV title sequence effect of the Third Doctor's episodes) and the Doctor will give a short clue to the player. Having completed their task (out of a possible 28 tasks), the Graak then returns and gives the Master the item, or crosses a grid of tiles, or selects the true Doctor out of three possible choices, or similar. If the player fails, they will have to begin again (from the nearest Time Winder). If they succeed, they will have to face the Master in the Determinant. If they defeat the Master, that incarnation of the Doctor is freed:
- Celestial Toymaker's toybox (with Quarks)
- Second Doctor - A race against the Master on London Underground trains (with Yeti)
- Third Doctor - Seek and destroy the Dalek spaceship
- Raston Warrior Robots)
- Fifth Doctor - A joust in a medieval ring against a Sontaran on a hoverbike
- Sixth Doctor - Search the icy wilderness of Mars to find the Doctor
- Seventh Doctor - Race against the Master's car in the Doctor's Edwardian car, Bessie (with Autons)
Reception
The game received mixed reviews. PC Gamer saw the game as part of a larger trend of disappointing Doctor Who games despite the rich subject matter. In analysing the challenges Doctor Who poses to video gaming, the site noted that the personality of the Doctor himself would necessitate abstract item puzzles or dialogue-based puzzles rather than action-oriented gameplay.[2]
In a retrospective article for Destructoid, Anthony Burch said the game was "one of the most unplayable, unenjoyable games ever created".[3]
Despite the mixed reviews, Anthony Ainley's performance as the Master was widely praised by audiences.
Other releases
All of Anthony Ainley's recorded scenes as the Master from this game were included on the DVD release of Survival but without the background music played in them.[4]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "The CURSE of WHO: WHY has there never been a decent videogame with the Doctor?". theregister.co.uk.
- ^ Cobbett, Richard (26 February 2011). "Saturday Crapshoot: Destiny of the Doctors". PC Gamer. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
- ^ Burch, Anthony (11 December 2007). "Games time forgot: Destiny of the Doctors". Retrieved 12 May 2024.
- ^ They were also on Warriors' Gate VHS.BBC - Doctor Who (David Tennant and Billie Piper) - News Archived 2007-01-21 at the Wayback Machine
External links
- Destiny of the Doctors on Tardis Wiki, the Doctor Who Wiki
- Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctors at MobyGames
- Destiny of the Doctors at IMDb