7TV: Doctor Who vs Frankenstein

One of my favourite things about tabletop gaming is that moment when your brain asks, ‘What if...?’

What if Sherlock Holmes investigated Innsmouth? What if Robin Hood robbed the Death Star? What if the Fourth Doctor turned up just as Victor Frankenstein was about to tear a hole through space and time?

Most games would look at you funny, except for glories like A Very British Civil War.

However, 7TV simply says, ‘Sounds like a great episode.’

That freedom is exactly why I've decided to give 7TV a proper outing, and I honestly can't think of a better first game than ‘Doctor Who versus Dr Frankenstein.’ Now, I could have opened proceedings with a default scenario, but I’ve decided to create a bespoke scenario I've called The Rabentor Rift.

What is 7TV?

If you've never come across it before, 7TV is less of a traditional wargame and more of a toolkit for recreating your favourite television shows and films on the tabletop. Rather than building armies around historical periods or tightly balanced factions, you cast your production like a TV episode with heroes, villains, henchmen, monsters, weird gadgets, and ridiculous plot twists.

It actively encourages cinematic storytelling over tournament efficiency, and for me that's a big part of its charm. My wargames interest has significantly moved away from tournament play or even the simple ‘line up and fight’ style of game into a desire for objective based games with strong narratives.

The game is built around ‘Ratings’ rather than points, so instead of worrying whether every unit is mathematically optimal, you're putting together a cast that simply feels right. Every game should end up looking like an episode of television that somehow escaped onto your gaming table.

Which, frankly, sounds much more fun than another perfectly balanced mirror match.

Why Doctor Who vs Frankenstein?

Doctor Who is wonderfully flexible as a narrative setting. The Doctor has fought robots, mummies, Cybermen, dinosaurs, Vikings, vampires, Romans, Daleks and giant maggots (made of bubble wrap of course). Throwing Frankenstein into that bonkers mix barely raises an eyebrow.

The scenario I’ve designed starts in Rabentor, Switzerland in 1820, where Dr Frankenstein believes he's finally discovered the secret of creating life. Unfortunately, he's completely wrong.

The machine he's painstakingly assembled isn't generating life at all. It's tapping into an ancient alien containment device buried beneath the village, slowly forcing open a fracture in space-time.

Cue impossible temporal shenanigans!

The TARDIS materialises.

Out steps the Doctor, Sarah Jane, K9 and a UNIT detachment led by Lieutenant Lethbridge-Stewart, racing to stop history literally coming apart at the seams.

Meanwhile Frankenstein, entirely convinced he's on the verge of conquering death itself, has absolutely no intention of switching the machine off.

It's exactly the sort of glorious crossover that feels right for 7TV.

Building the Cast

One of the nicest surprises during preparation was discovering the 7TV StudiosCasting Agency

Rather than trying to squeeze existing profiles into the characters I wanted, I was able to build completely bespoke cast cards that matched the feel of everyone involved. The 7TV rules include methods to do this, which I used in building these bespoke character sheets. It would be nice if the software did this validation for you, but it’s still a great resource.

I chose MY Doctor (Tom Baker) and gave him some characterful tricks.

Sarah Jane (my wife’s favourite companion, she’s the real Dr Who fan in our household) is included as the capable investigative companion.

K9 brings his usual mix of utility and laser-based problem solving.

UNIT soldiers provide plenty of dependable firepower. Now of course, my soldiers are equipped for 1880, rather than 1820, but that matters not a jot when ‘timeywimey’ nonsense is involved!

Across the table Frankenstein is supported by his Monster, the Bride, stitched-together zombies and a wonderfully unpleasant pair of assistants in Mia Krempe and Igora the Brain Gatherer.

The whole cast came together remarkably quickly, and seeing everyone's personalised cards printed out really helps sell the illusion that this is an actual lost TV serial from somewhere in the multiverse.

Using My Collection

Perhaps the biggest surprise of this project was realising I barely needed to buy anything.

Like many hobbyists, I have a growing collection of terrain that spends most of its life looking decorative on shelves.

The fantasy medieval buildings I scratch-built for the game Guards of Traitor's Toll turned out to be great for representing a secluded Swiss village in 1820. Add some barrels, crates, walls and a graveyard, and Rabentor required no additional effort to construct.

The centrepiece, naturally, is Frankenstein's Engine of Life sitting in the middle of the town, surrounded by scattered objectives representing alien components hidden throughout the village.

It's always satisfying when existing terrain gets to play a completely different role from the one it was originally intended for.

Finally Giving Some Models a Job

Perhaps my favourite part of the preparation has been finding an excuse to use miniatures that were never actually bought for gaming.

We've all done it.

You see a fantastic sculpt, paint it simply because it looks cool, proudly place it in the display cabinet, and then never touch it again.

For most of the models I’m using for this game, these were bought my Dr Who loving wife, who picked them up from Crooked Dice and Bad Squiddo at Vapnartak in York. I painted them for her and they live on our boardgame shelves for most of the time.

For this scenario I’ve raided that display shelf with absolutely no shame whatsoever.

These characters originally painted purely for display are suddenly starring in their own television special, proving that almost any miniature can become useful if you're prepared to write a slightly ridiculous scenario around it.

Honestly, that's one of the most fun parts of 7TV. Stop worrying whether a model belongs to the ‘correct’ faction, just cast them in a starring role.

The Scenario

The battle itself revolves around five objectives spread across the village.

Four represent pieces of ancient alien technology hidden beneath Rabentor. Depending on which side reaches them first, they're either helping stabilise the growing rift or feeding more power into Frankenstein's machine. Only after securing enough of these objectives can the stars finally interact with the Engine of Life itself.

For the Doctor, success means shutting down the alien containment system before history is rewritten.

For Frankenstein, success means triumphantly activating the machine, blissfully unaware that he's about to erase his own village from existence.

It feels wonderfully thematic. The supporting cast race around solving problems while the stars build towards the inevitable final confrontation at the heart of the battlefield. Exactly as a great season finale should.

Roll Camera...

That's probably my favourite thing about this entire project.

Nothing here was designed by chasing the strongest list or the latest competitive meta.

Instead, it all started with a silly idea.

Could Doctor Who fight Frankenstein?

Could I use terrain I already owned?

Could display models finally get their moment in the spotlight?

Could I create something that felt like a forgotten Saturday evening adventure serial?

The answer to all those questions has been a very enthusiastic ‘yes.’

Whether the Doctor successfully seals the temporal fracture or Frankenstein accidentally destroys reality itself, the important thing is that the table will tell a memorable story.

And really, isn't that what great wargaming is all about?

 

Tbc