Doctor Who 4.4: The Sontaran Strategem
RTD and co. do love to bring back the old villains each season, so it's good to see them bringing back one of the uglier, nastier villains this year and doing it well. Things to love:
- As always, Donna. In every way possible.
- Martha. Hee!
- The Sontarans look excellent - the same design as I remember, except now the masks can actually move with the actors' faces so they look far more realistic and less like a, er, mask.
- The Sontarans are also as military as I remember them. We don't know why the Earth is important (yet), but we can assume that whatever they want the Earth for is not just "Ooh, I feel like destroying the Earth today" as with so many evil aliens.
- Using car satnav as the evil alien device? Just brilliant! The ultimate way to get your lethal device into every country, every street in the world.
- The clone in the gunk tank was seriously creepy and brilliantly done.
- That moment when the Doctor makes the assumption that Donna is leaving him. It feels like he's lost confidence in himself after everything that has happened lately and so he makes the leap that Donna doesn't want to stay immediately.
- Donna's mocking and put down afterwards were just brilliant. Perfectly toned to puncture the Doctor's little self-pity, "it's all about me" moment. This is why I adore Donna.
- Wilf. Please don't kill him, I want to see him in many, many more episodes because I adore Donna's grandfather.
- Cloning Martha is a pretty neat plot device and gives us the chance to see evil!Martha without actually changing Martha.
- The relationship between Donna and Martha. Again, the Doctor is convinced that it's all about him, so to see them getting on and having fun together (mostly at his expense) is great. Heh.
There was so much to love about this episode that I'm sure I've missed bits. The Sontarans never had the romance of the Daleks or the Cybermen and weren't evil maniacs like the Master, but they always made great enemies due to their differences from the usual Doctor Who villains. They weren't destroying the Earth or invading because it seemed like a fun thing to do or because they had some big hate for humans. Everything they did was about military strategy, usually the latest plan in their war with the Rutans. The Earth was always just an incidental victim in their plans, which in some ways made them much nastier and more lethal then other evil aliens because their plans for the Earth weren't about hate, they were about logic and strategy.
Obviously if RTD decides that they just hate the Earth and that's why they're attempting to destroy it, I will be seriously annoyed with him.
Modern effects and make-up have allowed the production team to make the Sontarans look more real than they did in the classic series without losing anything. The Daleks and the Cybermen always did look pretty good in the classic series so not a huge amount was needed to update them for the new series. The Sontarans, though, had the problem of those immovable masks that never allowed the actors to do much beyond poking their tongues out occasionally. I do like the more realistic mask.
I love the fact that Martha is over the Doctor and is engaged to that nice young doctor we saw at the end of the last series. It was good to see two former companions getting on so well from the start rather than having the cat-fight we saw between Rose and Sarah Jane in School Reunion. It's a good contrast and Martha was quick to see why Donna makes a great companion for the Doctor.
Speaking of Donna...yay for Donna finding the big clue! She's turning out to be a great companion who can actually think for herself and be an equal to the Doctor in some ways. I'm not entirely convinced about her flying the TARDIS (um, even Adric couldn't actually do it - I'm sure the time he 'programmed' the TARDIS it was actually the Master working through him?) but I'm willing to overlook that tiny point for the fabulousness she displayed throughout this episode.
In terms of the season arc, I heard no mention of the Shadow Proclamation (or at least nothing overt) but there was definitely a Medusa Cascade mention again. Someone can correct me (please?), but I don't think there was a lost planet or a mention of the disappearing bees either. Correct or deaf? I love the challenge of trying to spot the season arc mentions - it adds extra layers to each episode.
Yet again, the pacing of the episode worked beautifully as a two-parter. There was time to really develop things properly and nothing felt like filler. It rolled along at a good pace but also allowed a few quieter moments and a more developed plot. I have no idea what's coming next week but I can't wait :-)