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The ´óÏó´«Ã½ has announced that a new Doctor Who Adventure Game – The Gunpowder Plot – will be available to download via the from 31 October, 2011.

The Doctor Who Adventure Game: The Gunpowder Plot features a star-studded cast, including Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, Ralf Little as Guy Fawkes, Phil Daniels as Town Crier, Emilia Fox as the 14th Plotter and C´óÏó´«Ã½ presenter Chris Johnson as Barnaby. It will offer players a unique experience of one of the most important and memorable moments in British history.

Ralf Little, who plays Guy Fawkes in the game, says: "It is a way of bringing the story alive to, probably, millions of kids who are aware of the name Guy Fawkes because of November the 5th, but not actually really understand what the historical significance is behind it."

Written by Phil Ford, voice directed by Gary Russell and produced by a team drawing on the very best talent from TV and the games industry, the Adventure Game was executive produced by Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger, Beth Willis and Anwen Aspden, alongside Charles Cecil, one of video gaming's most revered creators. The game is being developed by independent UK game development studio Sumo Digital Ltd.

Commissioned by Victoria Jaye, Head of IPTV and TV Online Content, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Vision – in collaboration with Controller of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Learning, Saul Nassé – the game provides audiences with a unique way to learn about one of the most significant periods in British history, through an interactive experience of one of the UK's best-loved programmes. The last four-game series, released in 2010, exceeded all expectations with more than 2.8m downloads requested so far.

Victoria Jaye says: "We're always looking at ways to bring Doctor Who stories to life for the audience beyond broadcast television, seizing the creative potential of digital platforms to delight fans with new ways to engage with characters and story worlds."

The game will be available for UK households on PC and Mac as a free download from the Doctor Who website from 31 October.

A preview is available here:

Notes to Editors

Plot synopsis

After a mid-space collision, the Doctor, Amy and Rory crash land on Earth, 1605 AD. Here they discover that a mothership belonging to the Sontaran's age-old enemy, the Rutan Host, is on Earth. The only problem – the ship is buried deep below the site upon which the House of Lords has now been built.

Meanwhile, a secret society of malcontents is plotting to overthrow the Government by planting gunpowder beneath the House of Lords. Two members of this society are exposed in our story – Robert Catesby and Guy Fawkes. The 14th plotter, hitherto undisclosed in the history books, is a shape-shifting Rutan, who, by infiltrating the plotters and controlling their plans can have her ends met – the launch path cleared for her mothership, deep below the foundations of the House of Lords.

And so the Doctor, Amy and Rory must find a way to stop the plotters, the Sontarans and the Rutans, all of whom are intent on blowing something (if not everything!) to pieces.

This game puts the player in the shoes of one of the TARDIS crew, exploring the streets and communities of 1605 London, to become embroiled in the Gunpowder Plot as it draws to its explosive conclusion. The aim is to get beneath Parliament to stop the aliens starting a war on Earth, ensure that Guy Fawkes is arrested, everyone inside the House of Lords is safe – and above all, make sure history stays on its correct path.

NI