The Beautiful Game

The Ninth Doctor Adventures Series 3 #1.3

Released: 10 May 2023

Listened: 6/20/23

This one seems to be another “indulge an interest” story, but this time it’s football, and it’s writer Katherine Armitage who’s indulging, but Christopher Eccleston is a huge football fan as well, and it appears that the Ninth Doctor also feels positively about it. He’s come to the Royal Hotel, Manchester to see the foundation of the Football League in 1888, except oops, he’s a week early. (Really not bad, considering.) However, there’s also an alien here called a Strike, which is a growly, tentacle thing that somehow feeds on obsessions and mania, and doesn’t let go once it’s started. So football itself is in danger. Naturally, there’s an extremely practical, helpful young woman working at the hotel, whom the Doctor immediately latches onto as a companion-substitute. Except she really doesn’t want any part of the adventure, and keeps insisting that she should know her place. Normally, the Doctor ignores bystanders who don’t want to help out, so it seems a bit odd that he’s leaning on Daphne so much instead of her more outgoing friend Eva. There’s a lot of football references and commentary in this one, like a lot a lot. Much of which goes over my head as an American. The Strike is a rather strange baddie. It’s mostly mindless, and the whole “eats obsessions” thing is really odd. It reminds me a lot of the P’Ting from Jodie Whittaker’s first season. That said, Becky Wright does an amazing job portraying its raspy babble.