Welcome to ‘The Game of Delta’ of the ‘Zorbius’ series by Tim Bradley!

Believe it or not, the Seventh Doctor is a hard character to write for. In my experience, it’s a challenge to write a story about a dark, devious Doctor as established in the TV stories; books; comics and audios he’s been in. But I wanted to give it a try. I hope I have made him devious enough.

I enjoyed writing ‘The Game of Delta’. It was during the heat wave of July 2013 when I wrote the story. I recall it well and wanted to set the story in an exotic and sunny location. I eventually ended up putting the Doctor and Ace in Maputo, Mozambique where they have their adventure. So random!

I’d previously written Ace in ‘The Robots of Lonmar’ where she teamed up with Nyssa, Billy, Jo and Victoria. This was a different challenge to write for both the Seventh Doctor and Ace in a ‘Doctor Who’ adventure. I watched all the TV stories and heard plenty of Big Finish audios that featured them.

I thought about Ace’s relationship with the Doctor and how he would put her in the dark once again, frustrating her with a special task that he had in mind for her. With the ‘Zorbius’ storyline already in place, there was no brainer about it and it gave me a chance to explore more of the Zorbius legacy. 🙂

I also wanted to feature Delta from ‘Delta and the Bannermen’ in this adventure. ‘Delta and the Bannermen’ is my favourite story out of the much-loathed Season 24 of ‘Doctor Who’. I had fun writing Delta and exploring more of her character after watching her TV appearance countless times.

It was also great fun to include the Cybermen in this story, matching the 50th anniversary celebrations to the 25th anniversary celebrations when they featured in ‘Silver Nemesis’. I also did a new take on the Cybermen in this story. You may be so surprised by what they are in this adventure.

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred at conventions. It was good to get their voices for their characters after having met them at conventions. I hope I’ve done them justice by writing them faithfully to what they were envisioned in the TV show and other mediums. 🙂

I’d like to think I’ve captured both the zaniness and darker aspects of the Seventh Doctor era in tow for this thrilling adventure with Delta and the Cybermen. I hope the story is coherent enough for you to enjoy reading it. So without further or do, let’s delve into what’s arguably called ‘The Game of Delta’.

TIM BRADLEY, July 2020