This Sporting Life

"It's not only a cup. It's the World Cup!"

Writer: Una McCormick
Format: Audio
Released: May 2016
Series: Short Trips 6.05

Featuring: First Doctor, Steven, Dodo

Synopsis

When the Doctor, Steven and Dodo arrive in London in March 1966, World Cup fever is already underway. But disaster has struck: the trophy has been stolen, and the police are at a loss as to who could have taken it. When someone shoves part of the trophy into Steven's hands, the travellers become embroiled in the case...

Verdict

This Sporting Life was a decent little audio adventure and it is one that I had been looking forward to for quite some time. I'm not too sure why I took so long to finally purchase and listen to it but I was glad to be doing a Doctor Who story where football was a loose theme. I was actually quite surprised by how little football featured in this audio as the story was all about the World Cup going missing. I think it's terrific that there was a very own take from the Doctor Who universe regarding how the cup went missing and came to be found. It was quite humorous and that is often a good thing. Peter Purves was a very good narrator and I thought his impression of the First Doctor was excellent. He perfectly managed to capture the essence and likeness of William Hartnell and that is absolutely crucial in my opinion. I really liked some of the Doctor's moments in this story and the audio really captured the era it represented very nicely. The plot was intriguing but it definitely could have been improved. There was intrigue and mystery but there needed to be just a bit more action and excitement for me to give a higher rating. A story featuring Dodo is quite a rarity so I was delighted to hear her in this adventure and she was quite excited to be showing Steven the Swinging Sixties. Given the era the TARDIS trio come from (in terms of the show), just how the TARDIS was able to navigate its way successfully to a certain time and place is rather questionable. I won't dwell on it too much but it really doesn't fit with the characters that featured and the story's placement. The Goldsmith was a good character and the revelation that he was helping the aliens by wanting to use the World Cup to send them back on their way was interesting. Using the World Cup as parts was quite surprising and I liked how Dodo kept selling its importance. The Doctor being able to repair the ship was good even if it was quite easy and somewhat predictable. The length of this audio was good the pacing of the story was great but it was just missing a bit of an oomph factor. As a huge football fan myself, I was hoping for more about the sport but all we sadly got was Steven thinking it was a silly sport and his lack of understanding about the World Cup. Overall though, a pretty decent story!

Rating: 7/10