4 episodes: The Sontarans, The Descent, The Blind City, The Rule of War. Running Time: Approx. 120 minutes. Written by: Simon Guerrier. Directed by: Ken Bentley. Produced by: David Richardson.
THE PLOT:
The Doctor, Steven, and Sara Kingdom materialize on an asteroid with a breathable atmosphere. Sara quickly recognizes it as part of the Sulgrave Asteroid Belt, which orbits two gas giants in a Figure-8. The time travelers are taken captive by agents of the Space Security Service under the command of Capt. Papas (Jemma Churchill) - only for all of them to quickly find themselves under attack!
The attacking aliens are unknown to the Doctor, but both Steven and Sara recognize them: The Sontarans, relentless warriors who destroy anyone in their path. The Sontarans control a cannon on this asteroid. Papas's mission is to blow it up, and she's on a tight timetable. If she fails, then the Sontarans will obliterate a fleet of refugees who are fleeing the devastation of their ever-expanding war with a rival empire.
It's a mission Sara recognizes from her own history. She tells the Doctor that she knows Papas succeeds - but she can also see for herself that victory will only be possible if the Doctor breaks his own rules and intervenes...
CHARACTERS:
The Doctor: This story is explicitly the Doctor's first encounter with the Sontarans. Both Steven and Sara are already familiar with them, making the Doctor the only character who doesn't know anything about them... a clever contrast with their introductory story, in which the Doctor knew who they were but the audience and the other characters did not. The Doctor is particularly observant, taking the measure of the Sontarans' worldview - which enables him to negotiate with the Sontaran leader, Slite (Dan Starkey), by arguing with the Sontaran on his own terms.
Steven: His time period is earlier than Sara's, so his knowledge of the Sontarans is less than hers. Still, he has heard stories of sectors of space devasted by them. He tells the Doctor that they cannot be stopped. The only thing to do when the Sontarans decide to claim your world is to run. This story again notes Steven's attraction to Sara, something writer Simon Guerrier established in The Anachronauts and that Matt Fitton further developed in An Ordinary Life. Steven experiences a moment of jealousy when Sara bonds with one of Papas's men - which does not stop him from trying to save that man later on. When captured by the enemy, Steven can't conceal everything he knows, but he makes sure not to tell them about the Taranium Core that he, the Doctor, and Sara stole from the Daleks.
Sara Kingdom: Jean Marsh's final performance for Big Finish, and I believe this is her final acting role (her credited appearance in Disney Plus's 2022 Willow consisted of archive footage). Simon Guerrier's script gives her plenty to do. Sara takes in the comparatively primitive technology of Papas's squad and flatly states that they won't stand a chance, pushing the Doctor into an impossible decision: Help Papas and intervene in a war, or don't help and change the history that Sara knows. The Doctor and Steven observe how much she has changed since they met her. She acknowledges as much, but she also regrets the cost of that change (her brother's death). She states that even if she had the chance to return to Space Security, at this point she would not do so.
Sontarans: As is almost always the case with a Sontaran story, some humor is wrung from the way they inflexibly interpret everything in warlike terms. However, this story plays them not as comedy caricatures (like most of their New Series outings), but as a formidable foe. After the Doctor finagles an escape down a mine shaft, getting Papas's squad to the bottom while narrowly avoiding lava, the Sontarans jump down after them. They land in lava, which is initially darkly comic... but the comedy dies away as they continue to jump down. The sheer stubbornness of their pursuit is already unnerving. Then it's revealed that their armor is impervious, and the story delivers a wonderful visual moment as they rise from the pool, lava dripping from them as they advance. In that moment, they truly feel like an unstoppable force in a way that has rarely, if ever, been seen before.
THOUGHTS:
The Sontarans is a war story, which is appropriate for the Doctor's first-ever encounter with a race of genetically engineered soldiers. The main plot is clearly inspired by The Guns of Navarone, and various war movie tropes are invoked, from the enemy commander who is ruthless but honorable in his way to a village that lives under the specter of enemy occupation. There are various deceptions, interrogations, and even a call for a firing squad.
Unlike some Early Adventures writers, Simon Guerrier does not shy away from making full use of the format's narration. Much of this feels like an action movie in audio form. This is particularly true of Episode Two, which includes a daring escape down a shaft followed by a sustained action set piece. Across multiple Companion Chronicles, Guerrier showed a deftness with quick but vivid descriptions, and his prose combined with well-judged music and sound effects brings the action effectively to life.
The script also makes use of the episodic format. Each of the four parts has a different primary focus and setting. Part One introduces the Sontarans, with the regulars encountering them and Papas on the asteroid's surface and, after a hopeless battle, fleeing for their lives. Part Two takes place first in, then at the bottom, of the shaft they use to escape. Part Three centers around a visit to a native village. Part Four brings all of the characters together at the Sontaran base. Each installment advances the singular narrative, but each also has its own identity and focus.
All three regulars receive strong roles, with the Doctor and Sara helping Capt. Papas with her mission while Steven attempts to hold out under Sontaran questioning. The named members of Papas's squad all have individual personalities, with the dutiful Papas a foil for Sara, who was once like her before circumstances changed her.
Even the Sontarans receive some characterization: Slite has a strong sense of honor, something that is apparent at multiple points. He finds torturing prisoners to be distasteful, while the Sontaran who conducts Steven's interrogation in the final episode has no such aversion. Dan Starkey is excellent as every Sontaran, making them suitably similar as clones, but also showing subtle differences between one trooper and another.
OVERALL:
The Sontarans is a very good story. Its war film-inspired plot is well-told, with a couple of gripping and exciting set pieces. It's also carefully structured, with shifts in focus that keep it from becoming repetitive.
The Sontarans themselves are particularly well-written. The only time a Sontaran was more individually intimidating was in The Sontaran Experiment, and that was just a single Sontaran. This story shows them as a powerful military force - and I think it might be the only Doctor Who story to really capitalize on that.
Overall Rating: 9/10.
Set immediately before: The Daleks' Master Plan, Episode 8
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