Doctor Who and the Poison Sky

A Review of the Fifth Episode of Season Four

The latest episode of the fourth season of BBC's hit television series, Doctor Who, played out on Saturday. May 3^rd, 2008. Written by Helen Raynor, this episode was the second part of a two-part story featuring the classic Doctor Who alien race known as The Sontarans. When the first episode, The Sontaran Stratagem, left off, the world was being choked by the ATMOS system. ATMOS is the brainchild of 18-year old genius Luke Rattigan, played marvelously by Ryan Sampson. ATMOS was sold as a defense against atmospheric pollutions. Instead, it was a secret weapon designed with the help of The Sontaran people. Over one half of all the cars on planet Earth were equipped with ATMOS, even military and government vehicles. The vehicles, under the control of The Sontarans, began emitting a noxious gas that was choking the planet. Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and The Doctor were at the home of Sylvia Noble (Jacqueline King) when Donna's grandfather, Wilfred Mott, played by Bernard Cribbins, became locked inside the family car with the ATMOS system choking him to death on gas vapor.