Doctor Who 4x04 - "The Sontaran Stratagem"
 

"The Sontaran Stratagem" by Helen Raynor
Martha Jones summons the Doctor back to present-day Earth, but with the mysterious ATMOS devices spreading across the world, Donna discovers that even her own family is not safe from the alien threat.

Rawr! Why is nobody posting in here?

Ah, it's open now then. I watched it last night, but I can't remember much.

The soap opera like parts, with Donna coming home were a bit gay but all the scenes with Staal were magniff. There was once recurring piece of electronic music that I liked a lot, usually during the mystery-like scenes with the Sontarans.

That's really all I can remember, I'll have to watch it again tonight.

Hi there! Ok, I'll post.

I thought the episode was good overall. It did have some faults, such as some of the acting of the Sontarans, but it wasn't really awful. I don't know how they compare to the 'classic' Sontarans so I can't really comment on that. UNIT could have had more character and uniqueness although I think the way it was depicted kind of suited its place in the story, with the Doctor protesting against the 'man with a gun'. The writing was good, and I particularly enjoyed the scenes with the Doctor and Rattigan. The 'In-tru the window' bit I found funny and the humour wasn't RTD-cringeworthy. All in all I gave it a 7/10.

One thing that definitely deserves credit is the fact that the 2 companions weren't arguing! I was really not looking forward to having the two characters argue over "who luvs tha docta mor, he luvs me da most!!" but it was nice to see them getting on!

Brilliant episode. Very old series-like pretty much consistently. The portrayal of the Sontarans was good (didn't like Skorr's voice though), Murray's music was good for the most part (although there was a bit much of it). The Donna/family stuff was played as it should have been. Martha and Donna got along (and it was lovely seeing Martha again). UNIT's return was excellent -- I really like how UNIT has evolved. David Tennant was on top form as the Doctor, and the writing of his character really excelled. Can't really pick too many flaws with it, actually. Definitely a strong 9/10.

Although I considered giving it lower for the Adipose cameo. I have edited that scene out in my version. :D

I've never seen any full episodes with the Sontarans in. Was Christopher Ryan like the past Sontaran leaders? As in, did they too speak like old Army Generals during the great war?

I thought you hated Martha...

I recommend you check them out. Particularly "The Time Warrior." Christopher Ryan was in keeping with the past Sontaran leaders.

Love Martha. My favorite companion of the new series hands down.

I did spot a 'Sontaran' story on DVD in HMV yesterday, I might get it if I've got any money. Good lord, it's been over a year and a half since I got a new Doctor Who DVD. Must be because HMV started charging £20 per effing DVD! Parasitic bastards.

Oh and Danny, the One-man pods were back after all :P

More than Jack?

That's an awful lot. Doctor Who DVDs are between $18 and $25 here. And I thought that was expensive.

I saw! It was excellent.

Hmm... To be fair, I put them in different leagues, really. I do prefer Jack, but he was never really a proper "companion." He was closer to being the Doctor's equal. He never fulfilled a real "companion" role like Rose, Martha, and Donna all did/do.

Although to be fair, I did spot a couple priced at £9 yesterday, like "Black Orchid". But that's probably for the shorter, 2 part stories :(

Would you say Jack was in the same 'Companion' league as the likes of the Brig?

Generally the prices are measured by how much work is put into the release. Some stories only have one or two extras -- others have extensive documentaries and such. The ones with more extras are usually the more expensive ones. It usually doesn't come down to length (although sometimes the length dictates how much work they put into the extras).

Closer, but still not quite. Bear in mind that Jack came from pretty far in the future. He understood a lot of stuff that the Doctor did -- far more than the Brigadier ever did.

This was indeed a great episode, I found that all aspects (writing, directing, acting, make up...everything) of the show really came together and made this a really tight episode. The were a couple of parts I didn't like, like the Adipose scene, and especially the "Intruder Window" scene (which made me cringe horribly). But all in all, fantastic episode, I've rated it an 8/10, but if the second episode is anything like this one, then I'll rate the story possibly 10/10. This IS how Doctor Who should be, and it felt like I was watching a proper modernized version of the classic series with this episode.

S'pose you're right Danny. Sometimes the Brig was frustratingly ignorant to what was going on. And you'd think that a high standing figure in an organization that specializes in aliens would have more of an understanding.

Are you aware, Ben, that the aforementioned gag was also used in 'Dalek' in series 27/One?

Yeah, I'm totally aware, that's why I totally hated it. They recycled a joke which was crap to begin with.

I have a little spoiler concerning Ep 6. Not about the whole daughter thing. But the spoiler tags don't work.

Can I post it?

Here's a hint. The spoiler tags will work if you use them properly.

[spoiler=nothing]See? Magic.[/spoiler]

Not in this thread...

Oh i though you enter the spoiler in the pop up box.

Anyway never mind. Its not worth its own thread.

I can do spoilers!

[SPOILER="RTD's big plan"]The Doctor dies, badly composited gas comes out of his mouth and revives the charred bones of the Master, who regenerates into a snowman Adipose who travels the universe in a TARDIS disguised as a child's scooter.[/SPOILER]

Feel free to post it anyway.

The sad part is, RTD's great master plan, which probably had way more time and thought put into it than what you just wrote, will probably end up sounding about as lame.

[SPOILER="Martha"]Martha will be in The Doctor's Daughter apparently. Hopefully she goes home after and then her next 2 episodes of the series will be the finale.[/SPOILER]

They changed the theme again. I think last nights was the best, however it needed a little bit more bass.

It would be good at the end of the Series to get all the themes and place them on top of each other so its a mix of every theme.

I bet that's what Chuzzle will do for the finale. Gawd, imagine the chorusing, and the sort of dull echo effect from the fact that they're all at different speeds...

This is a spoiler for The Doctor's Daughter, not Martha. Martha is a character. You cannot spoil a character -- at least not outside the show. :P

Additionally, I really don't think this is a spoiler at all. It's a casting issue. This stuff is generally known months beforehand. (I certainly knew it for a few weeks now...)

The opening consistently doesn't have enough bass.

Needs moar bass boom wallop.

No please.

Really. I had no idea. I put in spoilers in case some people thought there was a possibility she died next week (obvious she won't) but some people are massive spoilerphobes.

Really loved that, definitely a 9/10 from me. Only criticism is that Commander Skorr looked and sounded goofy, especially compared to the awesomeness of General Staal.

Also, I don't think they changed the theme this time, other than the piss poor editing of the closing theme...?

Bloody loved it, that ending was really well done and gripping. With the Doctor seeming so helpless as everything goes off, standing in the middle of a smoke filled street, the music building as the Sontaran's chant and launch their one man pods.

Brilliant, just brilliant. Acting, makeup, writing, everything.. this is what Doctor Who is supposed to be like. The references to past episodes were done in a good way, so was the Donna / Martha and Donna's Family interaction. (Love Wilf!)

It just felt so.. classic Who. Especially when Stall appears and does the whole introduction, GLEE. :D

Only two quibbles from me this time though..

Agreed, that was a bit confusing.

Also, I will personally kill the next character in doctor who that says 'Deadlocked'. Then again, I suppose if you are an invading alien force and want to make damn sure NOTHING stops your plan, deadlock is the best option.

Can't wait for next weeks, hope it is just as awesome, if not more so.

Staal's beard made me laugh inside.

Staal's beard made me laugh outside.

Sontaran facial hair has been there since the Sontarans were introduced.

ZOMG I really have been missing a lot.

The Sontarans in the Two Doctors look a bit ... melted.

Bloody marvellous. 9/10.

Although, I did notice that they did go ahead and changed UNIT to an abbreviation for "Unified Intelligence Taskforce". :(

The UN made them cause they are spoil sports :(

This was posted here by BritCanuck a few weeks ago.

Incorrect. This was RTD's decision. Essentially, the BBC got in some trouble for making a fake UNIT web site during series one. RTD wanted to avoid possible further trouble with fans trying to make web sites for a non-existent UN organization, so to avoid that, he changed the name. If he wanted to, he could have kept it the same and there is nothing the UN could have done about it. The decision to change it was his alone.

I had to give this an 8/10 rating, it was a solid episode and was some good viewing, acting was excellent and it was excellent to see Martha back, especially since there was no arguing, which as what i feared. the Sontaran's were great to see again too. Christopher Ryan was pretty much unrecognizable as Staal, and Donna is definately becoming one of the best written characters around. Next weeks should be an exciting finale.

Unrecognizable?

I still think his voice is recognizable! See this clip for example in which he played Dave Hedgehog, (non-Bottom fans, he is on the far left hand side of the couch).

+ YouTube Video

"What do you think Medieval people did before telly?"

"Well they had their tea, didn't they?" -- I still laugh at this :D

Yeah I know im just commenting on how they decided to actually go ahead with it.

So was he, I'm pretty sure. :P

Watching the BBC website clip for Poison Sky I think it looks great.

I really think Skorr is a great character (didn't like him that much at first) and Murray Gold picked the best music for that scene.

Looks like there will be a lot of fighting.

And Liz Sladen is in Confidential!