The Brief
Over the past few years, we’ve worked on several projects based around hit BBC TV show Doctor Who, and its spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures. This was an exciting opportunity for everyone, as we have plenty of fans of the show here, especially as it's filmed so close by.
The Challenges
Back when the BBC were launching the second series (that’s the one where David Tennant became the Doctor), they asked us to create a suite of online games that would accompany it, and would allow fans to explore the Doctor’s universe. The games that had accompanied Series 1 got over a million plays, so we had a huge challenge to come up with something equally fun and successful. The BBC wanted a game that would really challenge viewers, and we all agreed that each game we made would link to an episode and mirror its storyline.
The Process
Our game making began with scouring the scripts looking for loose ends in the plots. There weren’t many, but we found enough to produce dramatic gameplay to extend each episode. These initial ideas were developed into full game specs describing the look, feel, and function of each game.
We also created two more online games for the children’s show The Sarah Jane Adventures. The BBC wanted a site for show merchandise, but rather than just a basic brochureware site, they wanted something fun and creative that would really engage the young viewers of the show. We suggested that games would be a perfect way to keep fans involved. We designed them to be quick and fun, to encourage them to play again and again and share it with their friends.
The Results
In total we built 12 games to support the Doctor Who series, and they were released one at a time on Saturday nights during the transmission of the episodes. The games were regarded as a huge success by both Sequence and the BBC. The player numbers exceeded the impressive heights of series 1, and two of the games were so popular that the BBC featured them right on their homepage.