Crossing Time And Space In LEGO Dimensions’ Doctor Who Level Pack

Opening a Lego Dimensions pack is an unbridled joy – as long as you don’t think too much about your bank balance, of course. When the first step with any of them is to build a Lego character, you’re immediately invested in a physical representation of what is likely one of your favourite characters. In this case the construction of your own tiny Doctor Who – Peter Capaldi’s perpetually Scottish 12^th Doctor – prepares you for an adventure in time and space, while thankfully providing a tiny Sonic Screwdriver, and a spare, for your children – or you – to lose.

This particular Lego Dimensions pack places you in an episode of Doctor Who – Lego-ified introduction and all – entitled “The Dalek Extermination of Earth”, which sees the Doctor do battle with his eternal nemeses, the Daleks and their maniacal leader Davros. Except that might feel a little too straight forward, so expect to see other villains popping up in this timey-wimey adventure.

The Doctor’s moveset is,, of course based around his Sonic Screwdriver, which allows him to fix objects as well as destroy certain items with a sonic blast. Early on in the level, as in the other level packs, you get to build the two included Lego craft: the iconic TARDIS and the Doctor’s faithful robot dog K-9. As a long-time Doctor Who fan, the whole process, and the resulting models, had me grinning like a fool, and that didn’t stop throughout my playthrough.

Each of the craft has three different builds, with the TARDIS initially allowing you to dock at certain points within the level and then travel through time for some of the story’s puzzles, while you can also enter the ship’s interior by holding the Triangle button. On the other end of the spectrum, K-9 can be ridden around, firing laser beams that destroy silver objects while talking incessantly to the Doctor in his cheery way.

As with all the different themes within Lego Dimensions, the Doctor Who flavoured humour runs throughout this level pack, with plenty of knowing nods to the series, from the trophy entitled “Minikits. Minikits Are Cool.” to Capaldi’s mutterings about the Daleks not being here for a plumbing convention. The whole thing looks and sounds like Doctor Who, with many of the central musical themes appearing, and a number of beloved – or reviled – characters and races showing up as well.

The only real issue I had with the Doctor Who pack was that I just couldn’t see the Doctor smashing his way around the level in an effort to find all of the Lego bricks. Having played a huge number of the Lego titles, I’m well aware that smashing things is the core of the entire series, but here in particular it doesn’t quite sit right with the Doctor’s boundless intelligence.

Perhaps it’s something that’s highlighted for me, bccause in all other aspects it’s incredibly faithful to the Doctor Who franchise. Mind you, the Doctor always does whatever is necessary to save the world, whether that means finding thousands of plastic bricks or not.

The only other mild problem the Doctor Who pack has is its loading times. Most of the puzzles revolve around travelling forward or back in time in order to put something into position to be used at a later date, and as you time travel the game has to load the new environment. It simply takes too long, even if you do see the TARDIS spinning around while the Doctor Who music plays . It’s a shame as it takes the shine off what is otherwise a wonderful piece of fan service.

Upon completing the central level, which takes just over an hour – or indeed if you’ve chosen to take the Doctor straight into the main game – you unlock the jewel in this set’s crown. Each time the Doctor dies, he regenerates, cycling through the twelve Doctors. What really makes this special is if you enter the interior of the TARDIS, where each doctor is met not only by their era’s version of the theme song, but also their personal interior, from the original black and white rendition of William Hartnell’s first Doctor to Capaldi’s modern version. It’s genuinely delightful.

Once again, the Doctor Who level pack shows Travellers Tales making the most of a license entrusted to them. As always, it’s been treated with respect and good humour, and provides something that will truly enamour fans of all ages.