In 1990, Bally, a company known for pinball greats such as Fun House, The Comet, and The Addams' Family, released the Dr. Who pinball game.

Featuring lines from the show's BBC run, as well as "Dalek Multiball," wherein the player would have three or more balls in play on the playfield at once, all the while attempting to shoot the balls into chutes identified by daleks, as the game shrieked "It is the doctor! Exterminate the doctor!"

That game got me to revisit the old show. I had only ever watched it with my dad as a wee tot, and didn't make much of it at the time. I liked the old show and am much looking forward to the new. But that pinball game really moved me.

I wonder if anyone else met the show through the game?

Oh man, I loved that pinball. Just playing a multiball with Daleks screaming at you... perfect. Sadly, I never hit the final jackpot no matter how much I played it. I'd love to have a version for myself, but I simply don't have the room. I'll just go look on eBay and sigh.

It became harder to find that machine in the mid 90s. The Dalek Multiball caused a mini playfield to rise up, revealing the chutes into which you shot the ball to destroy the Daleks. A problem some (present company included) found with the design of the machine was that there was no safety mechanism on the mini playfield. If it was in the up position and a maintainer cycled it to the down position with a finger in the way, that finger was, shall we say, not much of a hindrance to the operation of the mechanism.

But it was a great game. Bally/Williams/Midway made some of the best ones.

Of note to this discussion: The Twilight Zone, which used sound bites from other games the company had released previously. In Powerball multiball, you might hear Gomez Addams say "You're a funny guy," or Rudy from the Fun House saying "Hey! Quit playing with the clock!" You could also hear "Riiiide the COMET!" or, my favorite, "Exterminate the Doctor!"

Hee. I just dropped by this forum to check out what other TWOPpers had to say about the new Who, and then I spotted this sub-category. I actually own one of these pinball machines -- yes, bought it off Ebay -- and have to say, it is awesome. There is a video component, in which you leap your doctor over various obstacles and back to the safety of the Tardis before the Daleks get him. The multiball is really fun, with the Daleks screaming and the big Dalek on top lights up. Very cool.

Wow! How much did it cost?

For a long time, I've wanted a pinball machine (in general). When I saw the Doctor Who one... that was the one for me. Maybe someday it will all come together for me.

There was a game arcade in Las Vegas that had this machine. I kept playing it until it locked up (a ball got stuck and the game wouldn't cycle until it got the ball back.