Ten Statements About....DOCTOR WHO STORY SEVENTY-SEVEN: THE SONTARAN EXPERIMENT (1975)

Stop checking her teeth, Styre...even in a shapeless mac, Sarah
Jane is a keeper!

"Clock expert?"
"Horologist, actually, and chronometrist. I just love clocks: atomic clocks, quartz clocks, grandfather clocks... Cuckoo clocks..."

1) This is the first exposure I ever had to The Sontarans...and it's the serial that made me a Sontaran fan for life. Even though this is a story that was apparently thrown together half-assed because Season Twelve came up short two episodes, this serial really drives home the nightmarishness and character that makes them unique.

2) ....and I'll tell you something else. Even though this is obviously a one-piece latex mask, I prefer the Sontaran look from this serial to the harder, smoother version of The Time Warrior and the bushy eyebrowed 'groucho' versions from The Invasion of Time. This one ends up looking actually more organic, and that makes for Styre being a lot more sinister than Linx.

3) I like how this serial takes place entirely out of doors (a necessity, given its last minute creation), and is shot entirely on video. Unlike later episodes, which shoots outdoor scenes on film, this serial gives it a much more consistent look.

4) We're still at the point in the season where the writers think Harry is going to be useful--he actually plays an active part in defeating Styre--but the bulk of his onscreen time is spent literally standing on a rock watching things. It's obvious that the producers have realized what a ball of energy they have in Tom Baker, and Harry's days are numbered.

"Look, Tom, you've got to talk to the producers...they say
they're going to turn me into a goofball before getting rid of
me entirely."

5) That whole angle with Donald Douglas' Vural making a deal with Styre seems a touch...gratuitious, innit? It really adds nothing to the serial except for that one line during the pressure experiment. The idea of this one alien stalking, capturing and murdering these people not out of bloodlust or sport, but out of military curiousity, is strong enough as it is.

6) I know that the automaton was constructed the way it was due to budgetary constraints--we'll see this throughout the series from here on in--but for what it is, it's pretty cool. It does manage to be non-human, and that weird humming and beeping that accompanies it is unnerving.

Granted, I can do without those two things that makes it look like there are chopsticks up its nose, but still...

7) While it is the nightmarishness of the experiments that shook young Tom's mind like a paint mixer when he first saw this serial, I do have to wonder if we would have been better served by seeing the after-effects. The experiment with Sarah seems a touch silly, especially with that goofy headband, and the most effective is that one man near dead from hydration.

Ladies and Gentlemen--this robot is not only a deadly hunter,
but it can imitate a walrus effortlessly!

8) I know that Tom Baker broke his collarbone during shooting, resulting in some judicious editing and stand-in work...but I never noticed it until I was informed of this. So clever is the filmmaking that the injury is extremely well concealed throughout..

9) Thoughout the Hinchcliffe era, there'll be little touches that are so subtle as to almost not be noticed, and here's one....the majority of the astronauts in this serial are played by South African actors to emphasize how language has changed in the intervening years since the solar flare disaster. And I love how these astronauts' attitudes are not of joy, but of resentment--it's the sort of 'pioneer spirit' I'd almost expect from people who were born of colonists.

10) For a two part episode, there's a lot going on--primarily due to the companions splitting up so quickly. Writers Bob Barker and Dave Martin is able to cover so much ground in setting up the situation by following The Doctor and Sarah's separate threads that the meat of the story can be gotten to quickly.

Overall...given that this serial was a last minute commission to make up for a shortfall of episodes, this serial is surprisingly effective and continues to build up the mission statement of the Hinchcliffe era--horror tinged story lines inspired by classic horror tales (this one, let's be honest, is a twisted up version of The Most Dangerous Game). The fact that it is part of a set of link serials that make up one giant story is even more impressive. Some people may disagree with me, but I think it's recommended.

Ten Statements About....DOCTOR WHO STORY SEVENTY: THE TIME WARRIOR (1973/74)

"Hello...I'm the Greatest Companion You Will EVER Have."

"A straight line may be the shortest distance between two points, but it is by no means the most interesting."

1) Ahhhhhh, Sarah Jane Smith. If anyone wants proof of why Elisabeth Sladen is the gold standard of Who Companions, you have just to see this serial. Just as Tom Baker steps in and owns the part of the Doctor instantly a few serials hence, Sladen makes sure we know what Sarah Jane is all about from her first appearance at the scientist's summit. And throughout the serial, Sarah Jane is proactive, taking the point when dealing with Irogron. She's the perfect Doctor Who companion because she can take a major role in stories while complimenting the Doctor, not overshadowing him.

2) I know stories indicate that Jon Pertwee didn't get along with Sladen, but you never see it here. On the contrary, The Doctor seems to have a gleeful admiration for her and entrusts more and more to her as the story progresses. It's as if in Sarah Jane you get both the Ian and the Barbara, the Jamie and the Zoe, the ass-kicker and the smart chick all rolled into one package.

"My name is Linx.  I am 34, and my interests are military
adventurism, torture and conquest.  I am looking for..."

3) And then there's The Sontarans. You can keep your Daleks, your Cybermen, your Ice Warriors...I'll take these guys. Supposedly writer/creator Robert Holmes wrote out an exceptionally long treatise on these aliens, and it certainly shows in this serial. Over the course of four parts we learn loads about the Sontarans--and I love how these guys have an actual cultural outlook and personality. Linx is a monster, but one that has a code of honor and even a rudimentary sense of humor. Yes, they become diminished in future appearances (slightly--very slightly--returned to some form of dignity by Russell T. Davies., although I could do without the short jokes), but for now they're the most brutally formidable of the Who monsters.

Plus...it gives The Doctor an alien race that's strong, but not so super-strong (like the Cybermen) that they can engage him in hand to hand.

4) One of the clever touches to Holmes' script is how Linx honors his promise of giving Irongron 'magical' weapons--but is satisfied with just giving them rifles and a single primitive robot, as if he's willing to do what he says, but never so far that his allies could become a liability to him. It shows how intelligent an enemy Linx is....

5) ...and, to the script's credit, The Doctor responds in kind. This isn't the Doctor of other eras who gleefully cheat by using high tech to squash his foes dwelling in the past; he uses methods more or less consistent with that time and a knowledge of guerilla tactics. Just as with Linx, this speaks volumes of this Doctor's view on the sanctity of time and cultural development.

6) Another cool touch is how Donald Pelmear's Professor Rubeish is set up to be comic relief....but is revealed to be a valued ally who uses his own weaknesses to his advantage, and--like Sarah Jane--takes action against his situation. It doesn't surprise me that The Doctor ends up trusting Rubeish to help enact his final plan.

You know the story...two aliens, one woman...trouble.

7) I also appreciate that while there is a gag about Linx claiming Earth for the Sontaran Empire (a plot thread that is picked up with the Sontaran's next appearance in next season's The Sontaran Experiment), this whole serial is motivated by a very simple, very selfish intent--namely, that Linx wants to return to the war with the Rutans. Everything derives from this one need on Linx's part. It's refreshing to see this kind of story in amongst all the 'we're taking over this planet NOW' tales that Doctor Who all too often deals with.

8) Here's the one thing that bothers me about the Sontarans, though...the whole thing about the 'probic vent' in the back always rang wrong. I understand the reason for the vent (it forces Sontarans to face their enemies in battle and never turn their back on them), but it seems a somewhat arbitrary concept...and given that the Sontarans presently are practicing an in vitro form of reproduction, I can't figure out why they didn't breed out this weakness when so many of their opponents sneak up on them and smack 'em on the vent.

9) I find it interesting that Holmes chose to have Alan Rowe's Edward of Essex just accept The Doctor and Sarah Jane at face value, just ascribing their weird clothes and speech to their being sorcerers. It nimbly sidesteps what could have been a time consuming duplication of the 'who are these beings?' thing that we've been through already once with Irongron.

10) I am not entirely sure--other, more learned fans will correct me, I'm sure--but this may be the first serial done under Barry Letts that does not feature stunts by Havoc! It does kinda show, especially with the painful long-shotting of many of the fight scenes to conceal that this isn't Pertwee doing all the chopping and kicking.

Overall...an excellent introduction to an excellent companion, featuring a solid new villain and sober, clever script writing. And on top of that, it apparently is the first serial to namecheck Gallifrey. Downright required viewing.