The Game (audio story)

 was the sixty-sixth story in Big Finish's monthly range. It was written by Darin Henry and featured Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor and Sarah Sutton as Nyssa.

William Russell also appeared, playing a different character than that of companion Ian Chesterton. It was therefore a kind of fulfilment of the original plan for Mawdryn Undead, which would have starred Davison and Russell, instead of Nicholas Courtney.

Until the release of Cold Fusion in 2016, this was the only Fifth Doctor story in audio or television to be six episodes long. However, this was a somewhat misleading distinction, since the episodes of this story were unusually short, and the total runtime was no different than the average Big Finish release.

Publisher's summary
On the planet Cray, it's game time...

The Gora and the Lineen are set to face off in the grudge match to end all grudge matches. The players are limbering up, the commentators are preparing, the fans are daubing themselves in their team's colours.

The arena is set, and the kick-off is approaching...

When the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa arrive, however, they find that Naxy is a sport that anyone can play ... whether they want to or not. Cray's entire future depends on the match's outcome, but the time travellers soon realise that it is anything but just a game...

Plot
to be added

Cast

 * The Doctor - Peter Davison
 * Nyssa - Sarah Sutton
 * Ambassador Faye Davis - Ursula Burton
 * Ockle Dirr - Robert Curbishley
 * Coach Bela Destry - Greg Donaldson
 * Morian - Christopher Ellison
 * Hollis Az - Andrew Lothian
 * Garny Diblick - Jonathan Pearce
 * Lord Darzil Carlisle - William Russell
 * Coach Sharz Sevix - Dickon Tolson

History

 * Darzil Carlisle was born outside Olympus Mons on Mars in 2414.

Planets

 * Cray has recently been twinned with Earth, a status which causes much embarrassment to Earth due to Cray's poor reputation and ongoing civil war.
 * The planet Galtry is on the other side of Cray's galaxy and uses coin currency, issued by the Bank of Galtry.

Species

 * Velosian bornoxes are dog-like bipeds capable of being tamed and trained to kill.
 * Mayzerians naturally emit a highly addictive pheromone with effects like a love potion. They come from Maser.

Units of time

 * A rev is equivalent to forty Earth minutes.

Continuity

 * The out of sequence friendship between the Doctor and Darzil Carlisle predates that of River Song. (TV: Silence in the Library)