The TARDIS lands at an academy for top athletes, all hoping to be chosen for the forthcoming Globe Games. But is one of them driven enough to resort to murder? The Doctor discovers that students have been hushing up unexplained deaths. Teaming up with a swimmer called Emma, the Time Lord begins to investigate - but he doesn’t expect to find a squad of Sontarans invading the academy! As the aliens begin their own lethal version of the Globe Games, the Doctor and Emma must find out what’s really going on. When the Doctor is captured and forced to take part in the Sontaran Games, can even a Time Lord survive this deadly contest...?

Doctor Who’s fourth annual entry into the Quick Reads initiative, which is aimed at adults with reading difficulties and those who feel they simply don’t have the time to tackle a long book, once again features the return of an old adversary. This time it’s the Sontarans.

Author Jacqueline Rayner (not to be confused with Helen Raynor, who wrote The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky) certainly knows her Sontaran lore. The notion of these creatures hosting a perverse kind of sporting event may seem strange at first, but remember Styre’s cruel tests in The Sontaran Experiment and Linx’s interest in witnessing medieval conflict in The Time Warrior. Rayner acknowledges the fact that the Sontarans’ war against the Rutans has passed through Earth’s solar system several times over the centuries, suggesting a ceaseless ebb and flow of the front line.

The youthful nature of the human characters in this story seems to be aimed at a younger readership - but don’t mistake this for a kids’ book. Some of the subject matter is decidedly grim and grisly, especially the deadly traps that are set by the Sontarans and the fact that some of the students cover up recent murders by hiding the bodies.

The plot structure is necessarily simplistic, but there are one or two nice twists if you’re game for a quick read.

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Richard McGinlay