The Nightmare Game

"There's an intruder on the pitch!"

Writer: Gareth Roberts

Format: Comic Strip

Released: May-June 2003

Printed in: DWM 330-332

Featuring: Eighth Doctor

Synopsis

When Delchester United's penalty is blocked by a materialising TARDIS, the Doctor emerges and ponders who is operating a static Vortex beam. Just what is hidden under the stadium of Delchester United?

Verdict

The Nightmare Game was another strong comic strip adventure to continue my reading through The Flood graphic novel! I'm a huge football fan being a Cardiff City season ticket holder, follower of Wales home and away and just a general interest in everything going on with the game, so having the TARDIS materialise in a penalty box just as a penalty was to be taken was very amusing! It was such a cool image and the tension that comes with a penalty, especially one in the last minute, is palpable so an interruption wouldn't go down too well with an eagerly anticipating crowd! I was in the Netherlands last month watching Wales and we had a penalty awarded by VAR after an agonising wait, so I fully appreciate how fans of Delchester must have been feeling. I really enjoyed that we got a look at the fans departing the stadium as well and it was another disappointing day at the office with murmurs of discontent amongst the crowd making their way home and to public transport. Being a Cardiff fan, that's something I have experienced on multiple occasions! The Doctor just making references to the static Vortex beam in action was amusing as he wasn't really interested in the football as there was something much more at work. I was amused by the end of part two with the image of Delchester's home stadium actually being transported away as part of a ship! Milo and Frank as the Shakespeare brothers and the new owners of Delchester was terrific and I found the whole thing amusing given my proximity to football. They had implemented a new training regime and the players were basically knackered every week which explained their change in form since receiving new ownership. I thought Billy was a fun little character to fill the companion role alongside the Doctor, and I like that we have an absence of companion for a little bit as we get to explore a bit more of this eighth incarnation. I enjoyed his characterisation and appearance here. I thought Ray Stobbs as a player was a good character too and Billy's reaction to seeing his team's captain was delightful in asking for the autograph. Having some football skills to eventually take down the Nukaryote was good and the end goal for this organic creature was intriguing in wanting to actually absorb the universe! The history of the creatures being composed from one organic component that absorbed all of the rest and how they differed from humanity's development was fantastic. I liked that concept a lot. The different creatures in the employ of the Shakespeare brothers being the Morgs and then the Killer-Mass was brilliant and there was just so much going on with different creatures and them being developed. I was so amused by the Shakespeare brothers being concerned with the galactic police too, they didn't shut up about the threat! Overall, this was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the football theme. A fun adventure!

Rating: 8/10