Doctor Who Club of Australia

[Greg]

I think we all look to the return of the old trappings of Doctor Who to see what the new interpretation is going to be. This time we got a decent look at two: UNIT and the Sontarans.

After the pretty substantial reworkings of the Cybermen and the Macra, how the Sontarans would translate was probably the most interesting question. While they've been reworked, particularly in appearance, it was a bit like old home week in terms of how they deal with the world. The overt militarism remains, but (as in most earlier appearances) the Sontarans are willing to conduct an undercover operation in preparation for open warfare. The hypnotism aspect which featured in The Time Warrior makes it first return, and consequently gives me the impression that Sontarans have a range of standard techniques that they mix and match according to their needs.

UNIT? Well, what can you do with them? They're a security force that will always be out-gunned by their opponents. They don't think laterally, they just go straight forward and look for military solutions. This version is no different, although the name changed (United Intelligence Taskforce) is not that welcome. For those who are unaware, the United Nations has asked that fictional organisations using 'United Nations' in their names not be used, and hence UNIT has be renamed to suit this request.

Overall, this episode seemed to spend a lot of time setting up for the next episode - there are mysteries to be resolved, and about all we know is that there is a nefarious plan. To a large extent, it's a rewrite of The Invasion - aliens being aided by a genius, with a plan that involves world-wide distribution of an ubiquitous technological component, waiting for a signal to activate... and the Doctor and Co aided by UNIT, trying to work out what is going on before it happens.

Next week will tell us all, I imagine.

[Panecea]

Yes, this episode was slow but it is a two part episode, using most of the time (as Greg said) to establish the story. In light of this, I will rate this episode cautiously.

I felt Donna's interaction with her grandfather was the most genuine of all those I've seen this season.

[Greg]

Oh, and there's one thing that annoys me more than the sonic screwdriver... and that's things that are 'deadlocked'. You have a device that can get you out on anything, so you have to invent an excuse as to why it doesn't work sometimes.

If the sonic screwdriver prevents the telling of stories with tension, get rid of it!

[Panecea]

I have written to the BBC about the excessive use of the sonic screwdriver before. No reply ever came. Gone are the days of ingenuity. Perhaps, it is a subliminal reflection on society.

[dave]

I enjoyed this, although I actually prefer the old Sontarans...particularly those from The Time Warrior and The Sontaran Experiment. Their current body armour leaves a great deal to be desired so far as I'm concerned. Glad they got the height thing right, though: Sontarans should be short. I was happy that they still had spherical attack ships, but unhappy that they felt the original design needed to be 'improved' upon with some sort of screen to peer out of. Pffft. If it's not broken...

Anyways, looking forward to seeing more of the Sontarans in action next week.

[Sulp Niar]

...yawn.

There's some interest to be had here. Modern reimagining of the Sontarans as jocks who do war chants - that worked wonderfully. The whole military theme - toy soldiers, Martha as a soldier, et al. Martha coming back. Donna seeing her family. The whole modern context actually -it's something Series Four is doing really well, episode-by-episode (barring Pompeii). Almost like Series One, actually. And yeah, there was UNIT, and...

...oh, but it was all so boring, wasn't it? I know that the scale is big enough to warrant two episodes, but really this episode felt slow. 45 minutes, and not anywhere near enough plot to make that worthwhile. It's a problem that the writer - Helen Raynor - also had with 'Daleks in Manhattan'. Methinks she should stick to the one-parters (her two Torchwood stories are great), I'm afraid.

I'm hoping it picks up next week. I mean, it looks suitably epic and stuff. But it also looks a bit... boring.

You know what it reminds me of? 'The Sound of Drums'. That episode was all buildup to the end, when the sh*t really hit the fan. Yet 'TSoD' was great because it had insane stuff from the Master. I mean, he played pop music, for god's sake. Wasn't that great? But 'The Sontaran Stratagem' just felt... hollow. Damn, I wish Russell had written it instead.

Anyway. Hoping for an improvement.

EDIT: Just realised I swore. That's what comes of copying-pasting posts from other forums .

[meglos]

Good. The Sontarans were well realised and the idea with the sat-nav could, I think, actually happen in real life. A good build up for next week.

[FredDag]

I agree with Sulp Niar quite a lot about this story. I think the reason it seems a bit boring and slow is that Helen is writing it like an old traditional classic Dr Who, well that's my theory anyway. I remember seeing an interview with her last year and she said she watched old Dalek stories from the 80's and wanted to base the Daleks on them, bad move Helen. Sorry, TV has changed since then. We don't want plodding stories with chatty aliens, we want aliens who seem a real threat and seem really scary. I hope the story improves next episode and I hope I'm eating my words by this time next week.

[Hiruma]

Well Im probably going to disagree with everyone above me in this thread, but I found the reimagined Sontarans great. This story has also been good, we have clones, Sontaran hypnosis, UNIT and the rest.

I like a story that gives itself time to establish itself, which dosnt lend itself well normally to Dr Who nowadays , where often its lots of action scenes strung together.

I want plodding stories with chatty Aliens, because I dont want more of the 'Oh Heck, its the Doctor, Our plan is ruined!' stories. The Sontarans recognise the Doctor as a threat but are willing to use conventinoal ways to kill him. Sontarans were never supposed to be really 'scary'. Its what they do that is a threat. They are a military power that holds its existence to the concept of War.

Id like to Thank Dr Who for providing a villain race, that dosnt seek to turn people into Cybermen or disfigure them into Daleks.

Great first parter

[Tegan]

I'm going to hang back on commenting on two parters until I see both episodes. I've been disappointed in a few second halves lately.

But not his time.

Aside from Sontarens being a silly race really (thank you Sarah Jane) I was really impressed by this episode. I'm glad to have seen something that can't be turned off by the Sonic, and almost cheered when the Doctor actually used his brain to defeat the technology. Big bonus points for that.

Impressed with the Sontarens. I think maybe they could have been a bit beefier in the leg department. I don't know how those skinny little legs would hold up the rest in a high gravity environment, but the look above the waist was perfect.

And at last a clone race where you see more than two at a time!

[SharazJek]

No mention of the Sontarans coming from a high gravity field, making them much stronger in Earth's gravity. I would have thought that would be part of the essential mythos of their return.

Unless I missed it of course.

Otherwise a great slow paced story. I can't believe some of the comments here about it being boring. Has modern television made you so impatient?

[Sulp Niar]

[Speckled Jim]

Not too bad, not too fantastic, but then it did spend a lot of time setting things up for part 2. I didn't think the Sontarans' "reimagination" was that drastic, actually, and that's a good thing - just a better latex job than The Time Warrior (and much better than The Two Doctors), plus a more pronounced goatee. Oh, and their sneer seems to have gotten even more petulant.
The war chant? Hmm, a tad cringeworthy, but thankfully it didn't last long.
For me the let down was the story (although it does seem like it gets a bit more complex in part 2) - Sontarans using car exhausts to take over the world? And again, why is yet another race of aliens hellbent on conquering a comparatively flimsy little planet like Earth? What have we got they all need? I'll never get why we're so popular with everyone.
One other thing - it grated a tad to hear the Doctor bang on about the Medusa Cascades and diamond reefs off the coast of wherever when we all know for a fact we'll never get to see them, the new series seeming to never move beyond the boundaries of earth (or 21st century England most episodes).
But a pretty good effort so far; let's see how it concludes.

[Theta Sigma]

In comparisons to the return of the Daleks, the Cybermen and the Master, the return of the Sontaran seemed less spectacular.
However this episode is not a bad return for them.
Martha and Donna meet but I hate that Martha is engaged.
I am not sure that I like the uniforms worn by the UNIT soldiers, black with a red cap. Looks tacky to me.
Very eerie seeing the duplicate of Martha.
What a great cliffhanger especially with Wilfred being trapped in the car.