Mistaken for a vet, the Doctor discovers that the last of a protected species is about to become the prize in a high stakes game…

James Kettle’s story for the Ninth Doctor takes the show firmly into the 2000AD sort of weird SF world that the series dabbled with to an extent with The Long Game in series 1 but usually steers clear of outside the pages of DWM. It’s one of those tales where a lot is recognisable but is given a deliberately “sci-fi” name – and when that applies to a card game, I’m afraid I can’t help imagining James T. Kirk coming up with fizzbin back in the original Star Trek series – and the key players are to an extent archetypes, albeit ones that do show other sides to their character as the story progresses.

There’s also a little bit of a Leverage feel to it as well, as the Doctor and his temporary companion Nel – someone that would be interesting to hear appear alongside the 11th Doctor, perhaps, in a sequel story – go undercover in order to infiltrate the game. Again, everything is deliberately dialled up to 11, and while you wouldn’t necessarily want a whole season like this, it works well in context. Maureen O’Brien sounds like she’s having a blast playing a role a million light-years away from Vicki, and she and Christopher Eccleston give their scenes together great energy.

Verdict: Helen Goldwyn’s direction leans into the comic strip sides of this otherwise quite straightforward tale, giving us an interesting sidestep into a different sort of story. 7/10

Paul Simpson

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