The Sontaran experiment (1975)

Review
DVD review
More about Doctor Who
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Review

This is a two-part serial, first broadcast between 22nd February - 1st March 1975. A brief and not really spoiler-ish summary of the plot: in this sequel to 'The ark in space', the Doctor travels to the now-abandoned earth to repair some equipment. Abandoned? Well, not quite...

The need to write this two-parter, a quite uncommon format for Doctor Who, came up when one of the six-part stories planned for the season became a four-parter instead. The Sontarans, the villains of the piece, had been invented by regular Doctor Who writer Robert Holmes and had made their debut in a story from the Jon Pertwee era. Their archenemies, the Rutans, would make an appearance in 'Horror of Fang Rock'.

The good stuff:

you have to admire the sheer boldness of this story. Beware, spoilers ahead - mankind has deserted the earth, a hostile alien has moved in and turned the place into his own little test lab where he can experiment on humans without being disturbed, and a couple of human victims who don't trust each other have escaped and are now roaming the countryside. And, oh yes, there are only two 25-minute episodes in which to set up the plot and resolve it
the whole thing works. The serial is well-paced and well-acted, there's enough story to leave you satisfied, and the writing and the direction ensure that the plot is nicely resolved within the available time without things ever feeling rushed

Some minor quibbles:

the serial is even more obviously made on a shoestring than most Doctor Who
the Sontarans' decision to, um, call the whole thing off at the end of the serial is a bit sudden

My verdict:

Quite good, actually.

A quite entertaining two-parter with a remarkably dark theme for Doctor Who.

DVD review

What I've seen is the UK DVD edition. Special features:

Commentary by Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Philip Hinchcliffe (producer) and Bob Baker (writer). The conversation is polite and informative, worth listening to at least once.

Built for war. The genesis and development of the Sontaran race through the history of the series, with contributions from Terrance Dicks, Elisabeth Sladen, Anthony Read, Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Bob Baker, Erik Saward and Stuart Fell. As a documentary about the Sontarans, not really the most interesting of Doctor Who villains, this is overkill. As an excuse to round up some of the usual suspects and get them talking about their memories of making the series, it's fine.

There are also production subtitles, which are informative as ever, and a photo gallery.

The bottom line:

A "nice to have" DVD.

More about Doctor Who

An introduction:
Doctor Who reviews: introduction

More "quite good, actually" Doctor Who:
Doctor Who reviews: quite good, actually

More from the Tom Baker years:
Doctor Who reviews: 1974 - 1981

Similar stories:
Doctor Who reviews: space opera

More "nice to have" Doctor Who DVD releases:
Doctor Who reviews: nice to have

More DVD releases from 2006:
Doctor Who reviews: 2006 releases

Original version of this review:
07/04/09

More about this serial

Episode guides:
BBC Cult

Serial reviews:
Outpost Gallifrey

DVD reviews:
Outpost Gallifrey

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