Title: Winner Takes All
Author: Jacqueline Rayner
Year: 2005
Genre: Science Fiction, Tie-In
Winner Takes All is the third entry in the BBC New Series Adventures following the 2005 revival of Doctor Who. Rose and The Doctor return to modern day Earth which is caught up in a new videogame craze – Death to Mantodeans but people keep disappearing.
I first read this book back when I was 10 years old and my dad took me to the bookshop and the premise of the story being around a videogame made me want to read it first, even though it was technically the third entry in the series at the time and I can still remember that Saturday afternoon blitzing the story in my bedroom.
I have read quite a few of the early entries in the New Series Adventures (all of the tie ins for series 1 and 2) but this one always stuck in my head as a favourite one but in having a recent clear out I decided to read it one more time before passing them all on to my nephew to read.
As mentioned above, this story is set on modern-day Earth where the Doctor and Rose learn there is a new video game craze, Death to Mantodeans but is it as harmless as it appears? Also why do people keep winning free holidays, only to never be seen again?
Meanwhile in deep space, a war between the Quevvils’s and Mantodeans has been raging for years, the Quevvils have struggled to gain access to the Mantodean stronghold and need brave but gullible soldiers and they may have found them, on Earth.
As the Doctor and Rose discover the horrific truth, can they save Rose’s family and friends from the alien threat and can the Doctor beat the game and win?
Upon re-reading this book I have to admit I enjoyed it just as much as I remembered, both the premise and the big twist in the story have lived in my head for almost twenty years and it was great to revisit it once again.
Of course the Doctor and Rose appear and are described as they were played by Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper in the TV series at the time, I also liked how this story included the other “Earth” characters from Rose’s life with Mickey and Jackie both appearing, it also helps to expand on her story as we learn about Rose’s neighbours on the Powell Estate which makes her seem even more grounded and real than the TV show. The secondary antagonist, Darren Pye, who is a vile bully and layabout criminal is also suitably mean and menacing and a character you will love to hate.
The Quevill’s and Mantodeans are admittedly fairly weak villans and just fall into. random alien characters, although this is largely forgotten with the mystery around the game and also the tension when the Doctor has to play the game to the end is very well done and I still found myself unable to put it down when I got to this part.
The book also has some great little references to early Noughties gaming in Mickey’s flat which definitely got my nostalgia flowing and there are quite a few references to the first series of the main TV show in this book, which for fans of the series does help place the story within the timeline but for casual fans or people who haven’t seen the show for a long time these can go over an average readers head.
Overall though for serious fans of Doctor Who as it was back in 2005, or people who watched the latest series with Ncuti Gatwa and watched the older series on BBC iPlayer and now read the books, this is a great starting point to the New Series Adventures.
