infinity score

Gary Russell reveals how new game Infinity marks his final writing for Doctor Who

To those with long Doctor Who memories, the release of “The Orphans Of The Polyoptra”, the second episode of the Doctor Who Infinity videogame, is tinged with poignancy as it marks, after over 30 years, Gary Russell’s final piece of writing for the show. “This is my swansong,” he tells Red Alert.

Despite penning a myriad of Doctor Who comic strips, novels, coffee table books and magazine articles, not to mention script editing the programme itself, Gary Russell had never written for a videogame. Until now, that is.

“It was a big challenge for me,” he admits. “I’d seen [2013 game] Doctor Who Legacy, but Tiny Rebel said they were taking it up a level from that. We’re making it far more intricate.”

Russell’s episode, released alongside the first, George Mann’s “The Dalek Invasion Of Time”, is a retro-flavoured tale featuring Jon Pertwee’s Doctor, recounted in the modern day by Katy Manning’s Jo Jones.

“This series of Infinity games has been led by the writers,” says Russell. “It’s quite nice to actually have games that are story-led, rather than game-led, so the game literally slots in. I’ve tried to put mystery games, puzzles games, adventure games… There are no shoot-’em-ups because this is Doctor Who and you don’t do that. But there’s a good variety of stuff!” SO

Doctor Who Infinity is out first week of August on PC/Mac, later in the month on mobile.