The Sontaran Stratagem (3004/404)

[Pitry]

cascade? it's what a waterall does, it's basically like falling, but more systematic, tends to be via layers or levels. well, thats my understanding of the word anyway.

Yeah, that's what my dictionary claimed. Cheers

[Willow'sCat]

The line about there being something on Donna's back just makes me think about *Classic* The Planet of the Spiders. I spent a lot of time after that eppy looking over my shoulder.

[ShadowMaat]

Maybe it'll be a birthmark that'll be the key to everything. A birthmark that looks remarkably like the words Bad Wolf.

[BruTak]

The line about there being something on Donna's back just makes me think about *Classic* The Planet of the Spiders. I spent a lot of time after that eppy looking over my shoulder.

There's a rumour going round that

Spoiler:

Donna may be being controlled by the Empress of the Rachnoss somhow.

[huntress]

That could make for a pretty hilarious plot. The Doctor and Donna stumble across some intricate alien plot and rush in to Save the Day figuring it's yet another Take Over the World Scheme only to find out it's just some alien businessman trying to start a Chip Shop Empire or something.

You know that would actually be really amusing and different from the usual "Save the World" theme

[MasySyma]

You know that would actually be really amusing and different from the usual "Save the World" theme

True. They could always fight off the alien who wants to "save" the world too. The Doctor and Donna must fight off an alien who wants to unite Earth under one banner by making one group stronger than the rest.

For a small little rock without a lot of technology, Earth seems to attract way too much attention to itself sometimes.

[huntress]

True. They could always fight off the alien who wants to "save" the world too. The Doctor and Donna must fight off an alien who wants to unite Earth under one banner by making one group stronger than the rest.

For a small little rock without a lot of technology, Earth seems to attract way too much attention to itself sometimes.

ROFL yeah that is what I am thinking too and that why it is so funny that Douglas Adams wrote quite a few DW storylines in his time. He is after all the guy who claimed that we are "Mostly Harmless" Period.

[Merlin's_Legacy]

During the Doctor's "goodbye" speech to Donna, I think I heard him say "The broken moment of the Medusa Cascade" (I know he said Medusa Cascade, but the "broken moment of" part was a bit unclear, but then after Donna gets in the Jeep, she says something to the effect of "The broken moment of what?"

Is "Broken Moment" actually what was said?

[Gate-builder]

During the Doctor's "goodbye" speech to Donna, I think I heard him say "The broken moment of the Medusa Cascade" (I know he said Medusa Cascade, but the "broken moment of" part was a bit unclear, but then after Donna gets in the Jeep, she says something to the effect of "The broken moment of what?"

Is "Broken Moment" actually what was said?

I heard 'broken moon,' but you are right, it was a bit hard to understand. DT talks rather fast sometimes

[ShadowMaat]

According to the closed captioning on SCIFI it's "the fifteenth broken moon of the Medusa Cascade."

[Merlin's_Legacy]

Ahhh.... So now there is a bit of a clue. The Medusa Cascade must be a star system or a group of solar systems, most likely once beautiful then ruined and made "ugly" somehow to make the Medusa myth fit. (I'm beginning to think that certain elements of both Torchwood and Sarah Jane Adventures might be relevant to this season as well.)

[nx01a]

Another enjoyable episode.

Donna's learning to drive stick in the Tardis.

Martha's ordering around UNIT troops, though I can't figure out why. She's the doc who can call The Doc and then check the personnel or any aliens found, not coordinate the surgical strike against the place.

The Doctor really needs to get over his 'no guns' policy. As it pointed out constantly and as Torchwood proves every week, the Doctor isn't around full time to save us. He may show up to save the planet, but who saves the family from the rogue alien, or the town from an extradimensional slug, or the country from a fat-nanny? If he wants to nurse us through our existence without violence, then do so full time. If not, don't complain about what we do to survive when he's not around and the dangers still exist.

The car navigation and CO2 device is topical, though I wonder exactly why the Doctor just didn't break the windows with the sonic screwdriver to escape? It CAN do that, right? And the Sontarans employ some kind of temporal technology in the devices? I realize they obviously have FTL capability, but should they have even 'primitive' time technology?

It was great to see a companion finally think of herself and her family. Martha and Rose are prime examples of what happens to the collateral in a companion's life: damage. I loved the flashbacks as Donna approached home. Despite all she'd seen, home was the place that made her the happiest. Smart woman. The recognition scene between the individual Noble family members and the Doctor was hilarious.

Contrast that with the Ratt boy. A genius who feels that Earth isn't a home and is willing to let it get terraformed [if that's what the Atmos units are doing] so he can go off and live among the stars with the aliens who he hopes will accept him. The brilliant can also be the most dim. Him joining in the Sontaran war chant was laughable, though I found myself humming along, as well.

I was deathly afraid the Sontarans were doing the whole Dalek 'inhabit human bodies as the next step in our glorious evolution!'. Thank goodness not. Poor Martha and RepliMartha. I see someone having to kill RepliMartha, not realizing it's a clone. That won't make the Doctor very happy, especially if it's the Doctor, or Donna. Those two brainwashed soldiers really need to bite it for being stupid.

The Sontaran ship looked alot like the handheld transmat device from a Torchwood episode, the one where Tosh and the alien... I've enjoyed how alien ships in Who leave trails of smoke. Even the most advanced technologies still damage the world around them. The little trails behind the Sontaran war globes made them look like the sentinels from The Matrix movies.

As for the Medusa Cascade... I think destruction when I hear 'cascade', especially since it was something the Doctor apparently did during the Time War. Sealing a time rift, the Master said? Perhaps that destroyed the system, or the Doctor turned the Daleks there to stone. Or froze them in time. Either way, maybe all these missing planets are being relocated TO the Medusa Cascade, to rebuild after the damage the Doctor inflicted/rectified? The Doctor did mention the 'half moon', so things obviously aren't pristine there.

Another enjoyable episode. More of the same!

[Coco Pops]

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.

But in Voyage Of The Damned it didn't look much like a cover up with news stories saying how Londoners have deserted the place because of alien attacks.

So I don't see a need for acover up here.

Also DW has been borrowing ship designs from other shows. In Partners In Crime the Adipose spaceship looked like a ship from Babylon 5.

In this episide the Sontaren ship looked a hell of a lot like the Drej ship from Titan A.E. If it were a glowy blue it would have been the same ship IMHO

Oh yeah and why didn't they just break the car window?

[maneth]

Yeah, the car window thing was stupid. Other than that the episode was pretty good, and I can't wait for part 2!

[P-90_177]

But in Voyage Of The Damned it didn't look much like a cover up with news stories saying how Londoners have deserted the place because of alien attacks.

So I don't see a need for acover up here.

Also DW has been borrowing ship designs from other shows. In Partners In Crime the Adipose spaceship looked like a ship from Babylon 5.

In this episide the Sontaren ship looked a hell of a lot like the Drej ship from Titan A.E. If it were a glowy blue it would have been the same ship IMHO

Oh yeah and why didn't they just break the car window?

Well maybe but only in the same way that StarFuries look like X-Wings.