The new Dr Who computer game
Now you too can be Dr Who
The next big craze in computer games is likely to be a new Doctor Who adventure out in May for the BBC Micro. TV Choice gets the inside info on what's in store for Doctor Who addicts who want to personally take on the deadly enemies of our civilisation...
FANS of the Doctor Who series on TV may soon know what it's actually like to pit their wits against the cosmic forces of evil in a last-ditch attempt to save civilisation as we know it.
They can be the Doctor on the screen instead of merely watching his daring exploits.
The reason is that the BBC are cashing in on the craze in adventure games with a Doctor Who computer game full of perils for the Doctor - ie, you the player (see panel below).
Due out in May, the game promises to be the first of many as the BBC takes commercial advantage of its legal copyright on many legendary TV characters and adventure stories, and the success of the much-acclaimed BBC Microcomputer.
It's the first of a planned series of continuing Doctor Who adventures, and other stories.
As yet they are closely guarded secrets... but maybe we'll see a Blake Seven game in the future.
Wizards
And no doubt Britain's growing army of computer wizards could think up games for series as unlikely as Tenko and Question Time?
Although the BBC Microcomputer was originally part of a grand 'computer literacy project' which the BBC started in an attempt to educate Britain in computers, the commercial spin-offs are huge.
And that totally British and patriarchal institution doesn't play cricket when it comes to profit.
Some video games manufacturers have already approached the BBC to ask permission to do a Doctor Who game an obviously ideal subject but have been turned down.
'We turned them down because we didn't want 1,002 Doctor Who games around,' Charles says Elton of BBC Publications. By using the cricket-mad Doctor Who in a game they can score a few sixes in the booming computer games market.
The profits of spin-off outfits like BBC Publications (which is marketing the game) get ploughed back into making good TV programmes, say the BBC.
Says Charles Elton: 'The BBC, for all its faults, is a good samaritan. We're not just flogging BBC Micros.'
Certainly no-one could argue that the Doctor Who game is educational, in the spirit of The Computer Programme, but it will catch on in a big way if previous examples of Doctor Who merchandising are anything to go by.
A whole mini-industry has been created by the Doctor Who cult, which has spread worldwide since the series first started in the early 1960s.
Doctor Who game cassettes may eventually be available for all microcomputers, either through the BBC itself or via independent games producers licensed by the BBC.
Radical
Until then you need the £400 BBC Micro Model B (not the cheaper but less powerful Model A) to play the game.
The cassette will probably be priced at a little over £10, although this has yet to be finalised.
The game will be sold through nationwide computer dealers, and bookshops - a radical new departure in the computer games business.
The Doctor Who game is for the famous BBC Micro
GAMEPLAN: how it's played
IN the Doctor Who game, which is still under development, the unpredictable Tardis lands the Doctor and his companion in a world of excitement and danger.
The four 'play areas', or screens, are negotiated one at a time by the player with a running total of points gained as the player moves from screen to screen.
The hazards on screen are:
- A prison whose walls are packed with destruction...
- Vicious Space Harpies, nasty demons programmed to destroy...
- Tunnels of evil alive with wriggling worms...
- A Killerbee guarding the Door Of Time.
Notable by their absence are the awesome Daleks the copyright for the Daleks is held by their inventor, Terry Nation, not the BBC.
The same restriction applies to another popular Doctor Who character, each the dog K-9.
During the BBC's game the Doctor has to piece together the code that alone can save this universe from a fate worse than oblivion, while a clock ticks off each nervous second.
Current Doctor Who Peter Davison is the subject of the game one point his face flashes up on the screen in dot format.
The game story was invented by an ex-producer of Doctor Who, Graham Williams, and the actual computer program based on the game idea, with adaptations to fit the restrictions of computer programming, is now being written by 17-year-old computer wizard Jeremy Ruston, who has A-levels on his mind as well as computer games.
That's what usually happens when games are invented - one person thinks up the story, another adapts it to fit a computer program.
It's a typical adventure game format, with an ultimate quest, hazards to be negotiated, objects to be found, different play areas, etc.
It takes full advantage of the BBC Micro's superb colour and sound facilities.
The BBC say they are 'open to suggestions' about further adaptations for Doctor Who programs.
And they say they have 'other ideas up our sleeve for further games.'
...and the controversies about the new TV series
WHO to please? General viewers or the hard core of Who Hacks? Sarah Godowski investigates the Doctor's dilemma
DOCTOR WHO is in the throes of an identity crisis.
The series is being torn between the conflicting interests of the hard core of its most loyal followers and the average viewer.
Doctor Who's fans, most of whom are adult, are a demanding lot.
They know all about the Doctor's past, how old he is, how you spell the names of all his assistants, the plots of episodes dating back to the 60s and DON'T take kindly to people messing about with their concept
of how their hero should behave.
Tom Baker, the last person to play the coveted role, was unpopular with this hard core for trivialising the role, for getting out of all his tight corners with no more ingenuity than to use his sonic screwdriver.
Surprises
But John Nathan-Turner, the show's producer, is trying to take it seriously once more.
And this year he has lined up a treat for the fans -- each series will contain some sort of flashback to the vintage years of Doctor Who, ranging from the reappearance of Omega the renegade Time Lord in The Arc Of Infinity to a guest appearance of the Brigadier in the third series. There's also one surprise he's keeping up his sleeve - it's one of the all-time great monsters, but I'd rather not say which' - could it be the Daleks?
But do kids today care about this heritage?
Probably not.
Ordinary viewers may be justified in accusing the programme of taking itself too seriously.
'You have to tread a fine line between looking after the "big fans" and
the normal TV watcher,' says Peter Davison, the latest and most youthfullooking of the Doctors.
'It's a hard line to tread, as the large proportion of people aren't "in" on it.
This year is the 20th anniversary of the series, so I suppose it's quite nice to give the fans something this year.'
The well-chosen stories are becoming more and more ingenious.
In one series to be seen this year, The Terminus, the plot revolves around a sort of cosmic leper colony, guarded by what its designer, Dee Robson, calls 'an Alsation dog in Anglo Saxon gear'.
I got the idea from memento mori carvings - a statue of Bishop Fox in Canterbury shows him lying in repose on the top of the tomb, and underneath in various stages of decomposition.'
Rather strong stuff for children's TV, perhaps?
Dee's response is a definite 'no comment'.
Peter Davison is the subject of further controversy.
The fans are keen on him, seeing in him a move back towards the roots of the programme.
But he has been criticised by average watchers as being unbelievable, too light-hearted and not as alarming as the Doctors of old.
Most of us associate him with the role of the feckless Tristan in All Creatures Great And Small, where he stole the show from the nominal star Christopher Timothy.
He's also unique among Doctors in that he's kept up other TV parts simultaneously.
'I don't think children really mind. I think they've got more intelligence than most people credit them for, and they just accept that you are doing other things.'
Another crisis of identity, perhaps? As long as the parts keep rolling in, it is a crisis that he can just about cope with.
Dr Who, Tuesdays & Wednesdays, early evening
Caption: Pretty boy Peter Davison is popular with the 'hacks' who didn't like Tom Baker's sonic screwdriver...
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