Step Back in Time: Extra Time

"There had never been a match quite like this."

Writer: Richard Dungworth

Format: Novel

Released: February 2012

Series: 2in1 6a

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Amy, Rory

Synopsis

The Doctor and his friends head to the 1966 World Cup final. While the Doctor and Amy discover that the Time Lord isn't the only alien visiting Wembley, Rory finds himself playing a crucial role in this historic England vs West Germany football match...

Verdict

Extra Time was a really fun story to kick off my reading of the Step Back in Time 2in1 novel! This actually serves as the final release in the range which is a shame but I thought this was a delightful little tale. It was really relaxed and calm which was good and the use of history was magnificent. I'm a huge football fan and would love the opportunity to step back in time and watch a historic match of my choosing like Rory had the opportunity of doing so here, but I can't say I would be picking anything that saw England victorious! I would definitely find myself in Lille during the summer of 2016 for Wales' victory over Belgium at the Euros, but with Rory being English I can understand the allure of your nation winning the World Cup. I thought the author did a fine job in capturing the feeling of the build up to the football match and the imagery of deserted London streets and the agony of PC Sanderson having to work shift was fantastic. Amy even thinking that it was just a game sent shivers down my spine because any football fan knows it is far more than that. I actually loved this story as it was before the Vispics got involved because just stepping into history like this was tremendous. It actually took a little while before any kind of plot got going with Rory finding a dead body in the toilet cubicle, but I was honestly absolutely fine with that. My enjoyment seemed to actually decrease when there was an alien hunt to have as I was just revelling in stepping through history. I think we could have leaned a little more into The Lodger with the Doctor's footballing abilities but it was Rory's encyclopaedic knowledge that I related to. If this was a Welsh equivalent then I would definitely be Rory. Although I'm not sure about the Match Attax collecting! Reading FIFA 11 and Football Manager in Doctor Who prose wasn't something I ever expected either but I'm all for it having had strong addictions to both games in the past! The significance of the Jules Rimet trophy was fantastic and I really liked how this was the basis for which the Vispics were going to feed on the endorphins of 93,000 mostly ecstatic supporters as England won the tournament. I could have done without the numerous mentions of the Union Jack as that flag does not represent the English alone and I can safely say that when Amy was questioned on who she wanted to win I would absolutely be in the camp supporting the Germans. The ridiculousness of Rory having to take the place of Bakhramov as the famous Russian linesman that dubiously awarded Geoff Hurst's extra time goal to make it 3-2 was absolutely insane. But it was so ludicrous I kind of enjoyed it. The continuity with The End of Time and the Vinvocci shimmer to have him look like the lino was good and the agony he felt not to make a mistake and change the course of English footballing history was hilarious. The story basically taking place over the course of the match was good, although now I'm not sure where Liberation of the Daleks can fit in! It's fun to think of different interpretations though. I really liked Rory's motivation being the disallowed Frank Lampard goal against Germany at the 2010 World Cup because that was frankly incredibly funny when it happened, although I shared Amy's sentiments regarding the vuvuzela. Nobody wants that cacophony of noise again. I thought the use of the Empire Stadium infrastructure itself to link with the London Underground and stop the Vispics was quite predictable but it was still enjoyable despite building towards something obvious. It was done well and Amy teaming with Sanderson to get everything sorted worked well. Her running into an actual police box instead of the TARDIS was also a fun moment. As was the Doctor suggesting their memento being the actual Jules Rimet trophy and steal it for themselves from 1983 in Brazil! Rather them than some thieves? Ludicrous but enjoyable. Overall, a great little read! 

Rating: 8/10