Doctor Who and the Sontaran Stratagem

Fourth Episode of the New Season

The newest episode of the hit BBC television series Doctor Who blasted onto British television scenes on Saturday, April 26^th, 2008 and saw the return of the Sontarans, a race of cloned warriors that live for warfare. The episode also saw the return to Doctor Who of Freema Agyeman in her role as The Doctor's 3^rd season companion, Martha Jones.

First, let's examine the Sontarans and their appearances in Doctor Who. The alien race known as the Sontarans made their first appearance in the original Doctor Who's 11^th Season (1973-1974). It was during The Doctor's 3^rd Incarnation, played by Jon Pertwee, and his companion was Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen). The serial, made up of four episodes broadcast between December 1973 and January 1974, was called The Time Warrior. The serial, written by Robert Holmes, featured Commander Linx of the Fifth Sontaran Army Space Fleet, stranded on Earth after his battles with the Rutan, the Sontaran's mortal enemies.

The Sontaran's next appearance occurred during The Doctor's 4^th Incarnation (Tom Baker) when he and Sarah Jane Smith again encountered the race. Races of clones that are created at a rate of one million every four minutes, The Sontarans are warriors and live for war. Their only weakness is a probic vent in the back of their neck. This forces the Sontarans to face their enemies head-on. This time, during the 12^th Season of the original series (1974-1975), the two episodes of the serial were written by Bob Baker and Dave Martin, were broadcast between February and March 1975. The Doctor's other companion, Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter), also faced the Sontarans and Field Major Styre of the Sontarans.