Doctor Who: The Sontaran Strategem (1)

Donna: “He's too skinny for words. You give him a hug... you get a paper cut.”

A triple whammy of returning fixtures tonight. We had the Sontarans, UNIT, and the ever lovely Miss Jones. Helen Raynor certainly doesn't do things by halves. There was a big step up, too, in terms of story quality. “Daleks in Manhattan” and ”Evolution of the Daleks” (also penned by Raynor), were my least favourite episodes of season three. But this two-parter was actually pretty decent. The Sontarans haven't been in an episode of Who since 1985's “The Two Doctors”. So this was a timely, reasonably well scripted, return.

The Sontarans were fun and, unlike the Slitheen and the Daleks, I was actually pleased to see their return. True, at times they were a little comic book -- and it's admittedly hard to sympathise with a race of aliens obsessed with destruction and the glory of war -- but the same could be said for most Who villains. By and large, they're a belligerent bunch. Often their motivations go against all that's logical. In the case of the Sontarans, I'm guessing it's this breakdown in logic that caused them to forget to include a probic vent cover on their Sontaran armour. There's nothing glorious about being defeated by a squash ball.

At first, I didn't recognise Christopher Ryan as General Staal. His prosthetic head hid his features too well. But his voice, eventually, gave him away. This isn't Ryan's first time in Doctor Who. It's not even his first time in a rubber mask -- he played Lord Kiv in the 1986 episode "Mindwarp". And, for the first time (I think), we got to see just just how short the Sontarans really are. Very short indeed. An ideal part for Ryan, who's only five feet tall.

The meeting of old companion and new went smoother than in “School Reunion”. It was bound to, I suppose. Donna's cut from a different cloth than Rose, Sarah Jane or Martha. She has no romantic feelings for the Doctor. So the Doctor's fears of a cat fight erupting turned out to be embarrassingly unfounded. Still, at least we got a laugh out of it. Donna and Martha actually got on pretty well. Donna likes the Doctor. Just not in "that" way. Which has been quite refreshing this season. The semi-romantic sub-plots were starting to feel jaded. So good on them for trying something new.

But, Martha... a soldier? I'm not sure whether it's Freema's slightly dodgy acting abilities... or whether a tough-girl persona just doesn't jibe with Martha's softness. Whatever the reason, it was painful to watch at times. Physically, there's no hardness about Martha. She's a proper girl. Freema did her best, but Martha will always be sweet. And I was even less convinced by evil clone Martha. Like Noel Clarke before her, Freema's acting chops just don't pass muster.

It's always a joy to see Wilfred. He's the real heart of Donna's family and I love him in any scene. It's obvious he loves Donna, and the feeling's clearly reciprocated. Bernard Cribbins is perfect in this role. Wilfred's the kind of Grandpa we all wish we had. Which is more than I can say for Donna's Mum. She's quickly becoming a real irritation. I don't know what it is about companions' Mothers, but why do they always have to make them so whingey? I liked Jackie, because, despite her incessant complaining, you always knew she had Rose's best interests at heart. Martha's mum, Francine, I never did warm to -- and I'm finding it equally difficult, so far at least, to feel anything but loathing for Sylvia. Maybe she'll turn out to have hidden depths.

But I won't be holding my breath.

Bits and pieces:

-- The "Sontar-ha" chant was new. At least, I don't recall hearing it before.

-- The Doctor's "In-tru-da window" joke was the same gag cracked by American megalomaniac Henry Van Statten in the first season episode, "Dalek".

-- In first season episode "Aliens of London", the ninth Doctor stated that UNIT were "good people". Why the change of heart?

Billie says...

Is this a "technology is evil at its core" lesson, or a "pollution will eventually kill us" lesson? Maybe it's a "humans should never betray their own species" lesson, because we can already tell that's going to come back to bite that bratty teenage genius. I liked seeing the Doctor outgenius him. That was fun.

And I always enjoy seeing companions interact. I don't know if it's just that they've learned from the mistakes they've made with earlier companions, or if Catherine Tate is a better actress or easier to write for (or all three), but there's a complexity to the Doctor's relationship with Donna that I like so much better than the unrequited mess he had with Martha. I liked seeing Donna being protective toward Martha, and vice versa. And maybe Donna was a bit pleased to be the active, more important companion, but not in a mean way at all.

Alert the media because this never happens, but I disagree with Paul about Donna and her feelings for the Doctor. As I said in an earlier review, I think Catherine Tate's performance has hinted that she does love him. It's just that she knows he doesn't feel the same way, so she's smart enough to keep it to herself. It's my interpretation, though, and I could be wrong. At least there's more there to interpret with Donna than there was with Martha, and that's good. (That makes it sound like I didn't like Martha. I did and I do.)

I love Donna's grandfather, too. I had one terrific step-grandfather, and two really awful grandfathers. I still miss him. The terrific one, that is.

Quotes:

Doctor: "Name?"
General Staal: "General Staal of the ninth Sontaran battle fleet. Staal the Undefeated!"
Doctor: "Oh, that's no good. What if you get defeated? Staal the not quite so undefeated any more but never mind?"
Ross: "He looks like a potato. A baked potato. A talking baked potato."
Doctor: "Now, Ross. Don't be rude. You look like a pink weasel to him."

Doctor: "ATMOS means more people driving, more cars, more petrol, end result: the oil's gonna run out faster than ever. The ATMOS system could make things worse."
Luke: "Yeah, well, that's a tautology. You can't say 'ATMOS System', 'cause it stands for Atmospheric Emission System. So you're saying 'Atmospheric Emission System System'. Do you see, Mr Conditional Clause?"

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