Childhood revisited yet thoroughly contemporary: back in 1963 a very small Megan watched from behind the sofa (the Daleks terrified me!), and now I revel in the relaunch over the past five years... here in my hands is a box which like the Tardis itself contains far more than you'd think from the outside!

Just as the subject matter takes me back to childhood, presentation harks back to early role-playing games: a boxed set, 'all you need to play' even some dice. The game itself - in both presentation and mechanics - is designed to be accessible to newcomers to role-playing as well as to those who have been playing a long time. While it will, of course, be an advantage to be familiar with the TV show, the general idea of time-travel and adventure is presented clearly enough that the odd player in your group who is not should be able to cope.

For those in a real rush to play, a 4-page Quickstart manages to explain both the concept of role-playing and the mechanics of this game; while there are character sheets for the Doctor and the Companions who've appeared since the 2005 restart of the show. If you prefer a slower approach there are Player and Gamemaster Guides which go through everything in much more detail, and blank character sheets for you to create your own characters.

The game mechanics are straightforward. Each character has Attributes (awareness, coordination, ingenuity, presence, resolve and strength) and Skills, and when a task is to be resolved a target difficulty is set which you try to exceed by rolling a couple of d6 and adding in the most appropriate Attribute and Skill. Players can 'tweak' the outcome by use of Story Points (also used in other ways to influence things to their advantage), which they earn for character achievements and good role-playing. To make life easier, some little cardboard counters are provided to help track Story Points.

Overall, this regeneration presents a game that is pretty true to the spirit of the TV show. It never quite gives a good resolution to the problem of the Doctor being such a dominant character if you choose the 'classic' Doctor and companions grouping, and there are no suggestions for how the Doctor player can work in harmony with the GM to create the right atmosphere and effect... mention is made of his 'super-genius' knowledge of much of the universe, but not of ways in which to make it happen. Neither has any use been made of the rich heritage of the show prior to the 2005 restart, and indeed only ONE Doctor (the 10th regeneration played by David Tennant) is featured. Other than that, it's a promising beginning that ought to empower all role-playing Doctor fans to come out from behind the sofa and take a trip in the Tardis for themselves!

This game has a wonderfully intuitive, pick up and play system. Characters are made with a short, reasonable list of attributes, abilities, and traits. Checks involve rolling 2d6 and adding the appropriate attribute+skill. Traits modify the die roll.

Characters also have story points, similar to fate points in the Fate system, which can do a variety of things from modify die rolls to alter the game's narrative and environment (within reason). This adds beautifully to the cinematic nature of the system and universe.

Unfortunately, the rulebooks lack organization and the consistency and quality of writing. Nearly 50% of the Gamemaster’s Guide is a repetition of the Player’s Guide, a shameful waste of time and paper that could have been better used to provide a more in-depth description of the Doctor Who universe (which is otherwise a bit lacking). Alien traits and gadgets are found in the GMG rather than the Player’s Guide, unnecessarily complicating character creation. The narrative style of the books focus on sounding relaxed and “cool”; sometimes this results in useful, uncomplicated exposition, but at other times the tone grates, and some overly lengthy text could have been replaced by simple tables. Advice to the GM is fraught with contradiction: GMs are advised in one place to be flexible, and in another, in so many words, that GM fiat surpasses everything—horrifying to see in what’s supposed to be a rules-light, novice-friendly system.

The adventure booklet is shoddily written and obviously rushed. It’s filled with grammatical errors, let alone plot holes. The second, shorter adventure suggests having the Doctor as a player character, but then dictates the Doctor’s actions as if he were an NPC. Fortunately, the loose structure of the game makes it easy to design your own adventures if you want to—but that’s not helpful to first-timers who need some guidance on that front.

The production quality of the box set is fantastic: well-bound, beautifully laid-out paperback rulebooks, sheets, and cards. The 6d6 are lovely. Sadly the box needs to be sturdier, and is only just big enough to hold everything as shipped. Once I punched out my story tokens, they didn’t fit in the box with everything else.

Tried to get a lengthy review thrice - no luck...
In Short:
Good RPG for beginners, everything included, rules covered in two books, so one Box probably is enough for a table full of players.
Adventures: one great, one a bit uninspired, many adventure seeds.
Rules remind of the Eden Cinematic Unisystem (Buffy), easy to learn and use. Interesting Damage System (different attacks=damage to different abilities), combat shouldn't be the main theme of conflict solving (hope future products/adventures back this up).
Problems: You have to know Doctor Who, some examples were hard for me to understand despite playing for more than 20 years in dozens of rpg systems, must be because I've only seen the first two new seasons of Doctor Who (stupid german television)
Adventures make certain assumptions about the Doctors behavior which might not work out that well considered the Doctor is probably a PC...
A very good game to introduce fans of Doctor Who into roleplaying.