The Sontaran Stratagem

"He's like fire. Stand too close and people get burnt."

Writer: Helen Raynor

Format: TV

Broadcast: 26th April 2008

Series: 4.04

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Donna, Martha 

Synopsis 

Martha Jones summons the Doctor back to modern-day Earth, but an old enemy lies in wait. Reunited with UNIT and his former companion, the Doctor is in a battle against the Sontarans and the dangerous ATMOS which is in every car on Earth. But what is the Sontaran plan?

Verdict 

The Sontaran Stratagem is an excellent episode and kicks off this two-part story in tremendous style. It really doesn't put a foot wrong and credit must go to Helen Raynor for that as her writing really is terrific. This story has the perfect mix of emotion, action and humour and with such contrasting emotions present in different areas of the episode, it can be quite striking. It certainly has a great effect on the audience, or at least it did for me, as there was a lot going on but things never seemed complicated. We have the Sontarans returning which is just fantastic and I remained impressed today with the modern take on the superb Classic villains. The costume revamp is very good and I like how their body armour has improved. The head design is also improvement but I must say it did look a lot more like the commonly referred to potato which was quite funny. Martha Jones also returned in the episode but she hadn't quite been gone as long from our screens as the Sontarans had. Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords was referenced very well and I loved the initial meeting between Martha and Donna. The former seemed a little deflated by the latter's being there but they soon got along very nicely. They bantered about the Doctor in a similar way Sarah Jane and Rose did in School Reunion and that really was wonderful. UNIT were also back in this story and featured more heavily than in their previous appearances since the 2005 revival. The Doctor referencing the dating controversy was good and I also liked his dismissal of salutes and guns. Donna though was very keen on a salute which was another brilliant injection of comedy. ATMOS was a great concept and the idea of the Sontarans using every car on the planet as a weapon was pretty frightening I must say. Each one was fitted with poisonous gas and that sparked disaster for the planet. Luke Rattigan was an excellent character and I adored it when the Doctor corrected his English. The Sontarans mentioning the Time War was good and I loved how they were disgusted at not being allowed to take part. That will be further explored in an upcoming audio adventure with the War Doctor I believe, so I look forward to that. Donna returning home for the first time was great and I thought the scene where the Doctor thought she was permanently leaving was comedy genius. This pairing really is hilarious. Ross and the Doctor got on splendidly as well and I loved the timing of the former's pun when driving to the Rattigan Academy. The Doctor also enjoyed it which was great. Harris and Gray were very good characters and I liked how they were converted to the Sontaran cause. It was intriguing to see the cloning process of the Sontarans in detail for the first time and I loved how they then cloned Martha to suit their ordeal. The cliffhanger was outstanding and with the Sontarans learning of the Doctor's presence, they advanced their plans and set off their 400 million weapons. Each car was fitted with ATMOS and that meant poisonous gas. Wilf was trapped in his car and I can't recall the Doctor looking so helpless. This spanned worldwide and there was quite literally nothing he could do. There was worldwide disaster. Overall, an excellent episode and a sublime start to the story!