The Sontaran Stratagem (3004/404)

[Pitry]

Considering this was the episode I was suspicious about, after last year's Dalek fiasco, squee. Loved it.
The Sontarans actually worked, unlike some of the classic Who episodes with them, Martha and Donna ganged up on the Doctor, who in turned had some brilliant lines... and the Colonel was lovely, saluting and calling the Doctor "Sir" and then giving away sarcastic commetns about him giving orders despite saying he's not giving orders
And I shall repeat myself ad infinitum, but Donna rocked, once again. "super temp" indeed

[The Prophet]

Did it work?

Yeah, we seemed to enjoy it. Got our blood pumping

[Reefgirl]

Yeah, we seemed to enjoy it. Got our blood pumping

It's probably why the All Blacks win so much

[Matt G]

1. Having a car drive into water, not very scifi but effective.

2. Was Martha actually able to call the TARDIS to Earth or was the Doctor just in a good mood?

3. Probably UNIT's biggest ep yet.

4. Those two guys still had redshirts all over them!

5. Tennis ball in the back vent...nice!

6. OK, how are they going to cover this up.

Sontarans are very good bad guys, be interesting to see where the second part goes!

[ShadowMaat]

At that point I was yelling "Break the window you pillock" at the TV

I kept waiting for the Doctor to be frantically trying to sonic the door only to turn around and see Donna running at him/the car full-tilt with a shovel or metal garbage bin or something to smash the window. I can see something monkeying with the mechanics of the car, but making the glass unbreakable would be a bit of a stretch.

Still, I liked the ep. Good set-up for next week and while some of the elements were a bit meh (Clone Martha, Spoiled Prat, etc) it isn't nearly as bad as some things have been (Scribble Monster, The Wire).

Oh, and "In-tru-der window?" *huggles Doctor* Ye gods, how I love puns!

[pbellosom]

6. OK, how are they going to cover this up.

They managed to cover up the battle of canary wharf and the cyberman invasion in every country of the world simultaneously, compared to that this should be easy. Just say that Atmos had a fundamental design flaw, you could even tell the truth, that the genius kid designed it to kill everyone, just leave out the bit with the aliens.

[Dusk]

I can see that Flying Officer Bennett is having a field day with this episode. Just don't wet your pants now.

Seeing Donna weighing up her experiences with the Doctor as being dangerous, yet brilliant, is becoming a repetitive cycle with the companions. It's getting a tad boring having companions with domestic lives waiting for them back in London. Wouldn't it be great if we could start to get some TARDIS crew who a) weren't female (or gay), b) weren't from Earth (specifically London), and c) didn't have a fragile family waiting in the wings to be threatened by the Doctor's enemies. All I'm saying is that when it comes time to cast a new sidekick that they think outside the blue box.

ANYway, I sure liked the episode, it felt like Who and it played like Who, and the inclusion of UNIT and the Sontarans gave it a solid presentation. I'm not sure if it was worth making a two-parter out of it though, as I fear the conclusion will be much the same as the first part. But I hope to be wrong.

[Hulabaloo]

Seeing Donna weighing up her experiences with the Doctor as being dangerous, yet brilliant, is becoming a repetitive cycle with the companions. It's getting a tad boring having companions with domestic lives waiting for them back in London. Wouldn't it be great if we could start to get some TARDIS crew who a) weren't female (or gay), b) weren't from Earth (specifically London), and c) didn't have a fragile family waiting in the wings to be threatened by the Doctor's enemies. All I'm saying is that when it comes time to cast a new sidekick that they think outside the blue box.

Agreed. Having an unattached companion would be interesting to watch, but also I'd love to see a teenager join him on his travels. Just to see how they both interact with each other.

[Flyboy]

I can see that Flying Officer Bennett is having a field day with this episode. Just don't wet your pants now.

Seeing Donna weighing up her experiences with the Doctor as being dangerous, yet brilliant, is becoming a repetitive cycle with the companions. It's getting a tad boring having companions with domestic lives waiting for them back in London. Wouldn't it be great if we could start to get some TARDIS crew who a) weren't female (or gay), b) weren't from Earth (specifically London), and c) didn't have a fragile family waiting in the wings to be threatened by the Doctor's enemies. All I'm saying is that when it comes time to cast a new sidekick that they think outside the blue box.

ANYway, I sure liked the episode, it felt like Who and it played like Who, and the inclusion of UNIT and the Sontarans gave it a solid presentation. I'm not sure if it was worth making a two-parter out of it though, as I fear the conclusion will be much the same as the first part. But I hope to be wrong.

It's true... I was practically squeeing by the end of the episode....

I love it so and it annoys me so, but there we go :-p

[huntress]

I can't say much about it, because I saw it was rather blah for me. Not bad but nothing like the last two episodes. I leave final judegement up to the end of the second episode.

I liked Donna "driving" The look on the doctors face "I can't believe I am doing this" "Neither can I" I wonder how long she begged him for this LOL
I loved the simple scene of Donna walking home and she realizes that in the short period of time, so much has happened.
I want to keep Grandpa. Grabdpa is the best :nods:
Doctor! I bet you are good in squash ^_^
An evil Martha clone ....-_- oh well it was time for that I guess. Star Trek used that particular scifi gimmick since the first series and I haven't seen it yet used with the new doctors (I haven't see enough from the earlier years to know if this was used or not)

[Madeleine]

I have a feeling that there was an android Romana in an ep which was a ripoff of The Prisoner of Zenda. Or something.

[Guest]

I have a feeling that there was an android Romana in an ep which was a ripoff of The Prisoner of Zenda. Or something.

Do you mean the serial: 'The Androids of Tara'?

Synopsis: "Finding the fourth segment of the Key to Time was simple enough, but holding onto it may be another matter. The Fourth Doctor and Romana find themselves embroiled in the political games of the planet Tara, where doubles, android or otherwise, complicate the coronation of Prince Reynart."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Androids_of_Tara

I remember there was an android copy of Romana in this...

[Madeleine]

Yup, that's the one.

[Mr Prophet]

Basically, Benton becoming a Warrant Officer (which is not a commissioned post) was one of the highest privilidges he could achieve.

I believe the next step up is God.

And I have to agree with those who've raised the question of UNIT (I heard that the UN are no longer happy letting the Beeb call them the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, although the production team's story is that it's part of the update) recruitment standards. Surely the induction includes basics like 'spotting signs of hypnosis, brain-washing, robo-man control and the early stages of cyber-conversion' along with 'advanced bullet selection' and 'appropriate grit in the face of overwhelming alien combat technology'.

[Flyboy]

I believe the next step up is God.

And I have to agree with those who've raised the question of UNIT (I heard that the UN are no longer happy letting the Beeb call them the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, although the production team's story is that it's part of the update) recruitment standards. Surely the induction includes basics like 'spotting signs of hypnosis, brain-washing, robo-man control and the early stages of cyber-conversion' along with 'advanced bullet selection' and 'appropriate grit in the face of overwhelming alien combat technology'.

I think Warrant Officers may disagree with you. They ARE God.

There was an RAF Warrant Officer I knew once and he was walking across the parade square and an airmen was sorta half running across and didnt acknowledge the WO, the WO paused and bellowed: "Airman! GET BACK HERE!" The airman ran back and stood to attention infront of the WO, who said:

"Airman, there are only two people who can walk across MY parade square, me, and God. God gets away with it cause I can't see him, what's your excuse!?"

As for UNIT recruitment and training, why... here's a list of their basic publications:

http://www.unit.org.uk/publications.shtml