66. The Game.

6 episodes. Approx. 118 minutes. Written by: Darin Henry. Directed by: Gary Russell. Produced by: Gary Russell, Jason Haigh-Ellery. 


THE PLOT

The planet Cray has been in the midst of a brutal civil war for generations - but it isn't recognized as a war. The violence is confined to a game known as "Naxy," in which teams representing the planet's factions battle to the death in an arena. Whichever team kills the most opposing players by the time the buzzer sounds, wins the match. Tens of thousands die each year, and the entire society is structured to make sure the game continues in perpetuity.

The Doctor has to come to Cray to witness the final peace negotiation of one of his heroes, the legendary diplomat Lord Darzil Carlisle (William Russell). But he quickly finds himself pulled into the world of Naxy, playing for the losing Lineen. Once he realizes the nature of the game, he tries to stop the bloodshed - but his efforts only end up making things worse, as his attempt to lead an escape transforms into a vicious massacre!

At least he can count on Lord Carlisle to stop the carnage. But Carlisle hides a secret of his own. He has never actually negotiated any of the peace treaties credited to him. He relied on help from a friend, a figure who created peace and then pushed the credit onto Carlisle: The Doctor! 


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: The early episodes allow Peter Davison to play something unusual for the Doctor: fannishness. His hero worship of Carlisle makes for some amusing moments, and Davison plays it to the hilt. His enthusiasm in the early episodes emphasizes how bitter his disappointment is when he sees Carlisle's ineffectual performance at the peace talks. "Never meet your heroes," he snaps disgustedly, still unaware that the secret to Carlisle's success is actually a future version of himself.

Nyssa: Bonds with Lord Carlisle, her lack of preconceptions about him allowing her to see him clearly. She recognizes that while he's in over his head, he is nevertheless a good man. This leads to her (short-lived) decision to stay with Carlisle as his aide. She justified her decision to the Doctor very simply: "He needs me more than you do." It's a rationale that suits Nyssa's character perfectly, and ties in well to her ultimate departure on television.

Lord Carlisle: William Russell, one of the original stars of Doctor Who, is marvellous as Carlisle. It's a very different role than Ian Chesterton - and though Russell's voice is instantly recognizable, he creates a very different performance. He projects an avuncular warmth, particularly in his scenes with Nyssa, but there's also a note of fear that creeps into his voice. He knows he isn't up to doing the job himself, and when he realizes that the Doctor on Cray is not the man he's come to know, he grows extremely nervous. The final scene between Davison and Russell is particularly strong, with both actors at the top of their respective games.


THOUGHTS

Darin Henry is an extremely successful television writer and producer, with credits on both American and British television: Seinfeld, Futurama, and The War at Home being just a small sampling of a very long list of titles. It's fair to say that his writing a Big Finish audio - and doing so at a time shortly before Doctor Who returned to television - was a bit of a coup for the small audio production company.

For his script, Henry has crafted a six-parter. Not in length, mind you: Thanks to some aggressive script editing by Gary Rusell (who saw the script's length and worried that it would end up at 3 - 4 hours), The Game ends up with the running time of the average Big Finish four-parter. This probably is actually a good thing. This is an action piece, and by making it as tight and fast as possible, the energy that is the story's strength is never allowed to lag. Scenes are mostly very short, plot developments come at a rapid pace, and what we're left with is akin to a high-speed rollercoaster. Not that I wouldn't be interested in knowing what was cut, but I suspect the cuts were for the best.

The six-part structure is the classic 4 + 2 construction advocated by Robert Holmes. The first four episodes focus on the brutal game of Naxy and the peace talks that hope to end it. The last two episodes shift gears and turn the story in a different direction. The shift is well done, taking place at a dramatic high point - a moment that would inevitably see the Naxy story resolved in any case, so we don't feel cheated out of the first story by moving to the second. Groundwork is laid in the early episodes, as the Doctor and Nyssa discover incongruities that create questions to be answered after the focus shift. And the change in direction does exactly what it's always been intended to do in six parters: Keep up the energy by giving the audience something new.

Big Finish's production standards are at their best. Episode Two is dominated by a large-scale action scene, the sort of thing audio often struggles with. Here, it works a treat. By staging the bloodshed in the context of a "sport," Henry's script is able to use sports announcer Garny Diblick (Jonathan Pearce) to describe what is occurring in the arena. Description is about what you would get from an actual sportscast - enough to complement the field action for viewers and to allow listeners to follow it, but not so much as to come across as forced. Everything is very tightly edited, and the sound effects, performances, and writing come together to create a breathless sequence.

The ending does feel a bit rushed, and obvious set-up for a recurring villain in the form of crime boss Morian (Christopher Ellison) ends up going nowhere, as Morian never recurs - something I'm quite fine with, since he's not the most interesting of villains anyway. The climax still works reasonably well, though, and the tag scene between the Doctor and Nyssa is highly effective. 

It may not be quite as good as Spare Parts or Creatures of Beauty, but then few stories are. The Game is breathlessly paced and does a fine job of making a very violent action story nevertheless fit perfectly within the Doctor Who framework. 


Overall Rating: 8/10.

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