Destiny of the Doctors
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Destiny of the Doctors is a PC computer game based on the British science fiction television series, Doctor Who; released on 5 December 1997 by BBC Multimedia.
[edit] Overview
A collaboration between BBC Multimedia and Studio Fish (a British developer), Destiny of the Doctors was a CD-ROM which received an 11+ age rating from ELSPA. It was supported by Microsoft Windows 95 (although it also works on all subsequent forms of Windows although there are some compatibility issues with XP on some PCs). It was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as some countries in Europe, and was well-received and found critical acclaim from many magazines (including the now defunct PC Planet). It was quite successful; however, rumours of a new version of the game based on elements of the revived series have proven to be unfounded.
The game featured extensive, newly recorded audio dialogue by Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, and Nicholas Courtney who reprised his role as The Brigadier. William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton were represented by a voice actor impersonating the deceased Hartnell and Troughton. The substitute Hartnell and Troughton clips were laced with artificial grain to simulate vintage recordings. Jon Pertwee originally agreed to appear in the game. However due to his death before recording an agreement was reached with his widow, Ingeborg Pertwee, to represent him in the game using audio clips from the television series.
Some fans speculate that the game does indeed fit somewhere in the continuity (somewhere between Survival and the 1996 Doctor Who television movie). Considering that at the very end of the game the Eighth Doctor is glimpsed, and that the Master here is in his Anthony Ainley incarnation as opposed to Eric Roberts, its place in the series' canon is, at best, unclear (if it has a place at all).
[edit] Story
The Doctor's arch-nemesis the Master has taken control of the planet Siralos, which is made of "pure psychic energy". With this planet's power, he plans to mould the universe unto his will. To begin, he takes the first seven incarnations of the Doctor out of time and space and puts them in the Determinant, a domain he has created from the conquered will of Siralos. He plans to eradicate any trace of the Doctor from time and space; so he may be free to rebuild the cosmos as he pleases. However the player's character, the Graak (a psychic being created by the Doctor) pledges to stop the Master's insidious plans; and the game begins.
The Graak is an intelligent, psychic and seemingly altruistic organism that was apparently created by the Doctor. It is turquoise in colour and resembles a jellyfish. It floats about four feet from the ground, and has no visible organs (nor any recognisable features). The Master states that the Graak is protoplasmic.
Although it has no limbs, it is dextrous enough to be able to handle items such as a sonic screwdriver and a radio transmitter. It only speaks when it asks the Doctor questions as part of a challenge; but when it does speak, it talks with a high voice, varying in tone and inflection (implying that speaking is a strain to the creature). When the Master calls the Graak "a good little doggie", it is heard to bark.
[edit] 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; and the player must then select one of the Time Lord's seven regenerations 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 "TimeWinder" (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 diffcult for the Graak; such as Daleks, Cybermen, Autons, Ice Warriors, Quarks, Sea Devils, Silurians, Sontarans, Yeti, and Zygons. There are weapons in the TARDIS that can be used to incapacitate or kill these monsters; some of which can be kept throughout the quest (such as the sonic screwdriver, or a radio used to contact Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart for advice and hints), and others which can only be used for a limited time (such as dalekanium, or watering cans).
Upon reaching the Great Divide, the player selects a symbol and the Master gives the Graak a riddle; and, 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 (eg. perform the Doctor Who theme on floor tiles), find certain information on monsters or Doctors (either from the Doctor's "City of Thoughts" databank in his TARDIS; or 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; these resemble the title sequence effect of the Third Doctor's era, 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 TimeWinder). 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:
- First Doctor - A chase around the 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
- Fourth Doctor - Search around the maze that is the Doctor's mind
- Fifth Doctor - A joust in a medieval ring against 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)
