The Sontaran Stratagem

Dear Gary—

“Doctor? It’s Martha, and I’m bringing you back to Earth.” This one sentence manages to capture the good and the bad, the old and the new, the interesting and the boring, all rolled up into the one that is New Who; and it is all encapsulated  in this one (read two) episode(s), The Sontaran Stratagem (read The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky).

The good, the old, the interesting: Martha, UNIT, the Sontarans. The bad, the new, the boring: Martha, UNIT, the Sontarans.

Martha:

 It is great to see Martha again, and it is great to revisit the old companion with the new—something Doctor Who doesn’t do enough of. And it is refreshing that with Donna we do not get any jealous cat fight, not even a hint (except in the Doctor’s imagination). Donna and Martha can meet as friends; comrades in arms; comparing notes. Martha has outgrown her crush; Doctor Who has matured. There is a bit too much of the Leela/Andred contrivance to Martha’s engagement with Dr. Tom Milligan though. I wish they could have shown that she had moved on without the obvious rebound, but I guess there is only time enough for this shortcut. 

Martha also has moved on in her professional life, no longer a medical student but a full-fledged doctor. However I have to wonder about her licensing considering UNIT rushed it through for her. She says this was done based on her work in the field; I’m not sure what that is referring to exactly. Her adventures with the Doctor? These qualify her as an MD? I don’t doubt Martha’s competence, only UNIT’s motives. What do they need a medical doctor for in such a hurry? And why do they need one coordinating their covert operations? Clearly she is simply being used as a hotline to the Doctor.

Martha does get to put her medical skills to good use; she even gets to wear her white doctor coat. This is cleverly dovetailed with Donna’s “super temp” skills in uncovering the lack of sick days in the ATMOS factory. But it is too clever by far and extraneous to the plot. The entranced workers are a diversion that goes nowhere. In fact they disappear once the gas starts dispersing and the factory comes under siege. No one gives them a second thought (just as no one in these poor disposable workers daily lives cared enough to come looking for their overworked loved ones when they failed to return home each night).

Finally, evil Martha clone—how great is that?

UNIT:

A UNIT without the Brigadier is just a plot device; an excuse to break out the soldiers; a reason to involve the Doctor in Earth affairs (as though he needs an excuse these days). Still, it does move the story along and provides a structure for the narrative so I’ll accept this excuse of a device, and the Brigadier does get a mention. What I find troubling, however, is the Doctor’s treatment of his former employer. It is heavy handed in the extreme and it is no wonder Mace doesn’t listen to the Doctor’s advice; I don’t blame him. For all of the smug arrogance the Third Doctor sometimes displays towards UNIT and authority figures, he usually grants the Brigadier the respect he is due. The Tenth Doctor, however, dismisses Mace and all he stands for; he treats him with scorn and contempt; he ignores and insults him. The Doctor claims that he does not do orders, yet when the time comes he starts barking out commands to Mace and is dumbfounded when Mace refuses to follow them. The Doctor even deems Martha guilty by association, forgetting his own lengthy stint with this very organization. Martha defends herself admirably, but she shouldn’t have to explain herself.

As suddenly as he takes a dislike to Mace, the Doctor takes an instant shine to Ross—his new best friend. I like Ross too, but I have to wonder at the Doctor’s snap judgments. He continues this trend when he and Ross meet with Luke Rattigan. In response to a perceived insult of Ross by Rattigan, the Doctor comes to his defense: “He called you a grunt. Don’t call Ross a grunt. He’s nice. We like Ross.” And in his lightening speed, the Doctor then goes on to ridicule and mock Rattigan. Now Rattigan is a conceited twit and I can’t help but feel he deserves what he gets. Except I also can’t help but feel that this is precisely the treatment Rattigan has received all of his life and what has led him on his current path. The Doctor really could use a lesson in tact.

Despite the Doctor’s hypocritical disdain, UNIT is a nice callback and a solid addition to New Who. “A modern UNIT for the modern world.” But it is mundane and lacks the character of the UNIT of old. While the organization itself merits a return, none of the individuals within it (excepting Martha) impress.

Sontarans:

The Sontarans are one of my favorite monsters from the old series and they return in excellent form. These are the compact little warriors I know and love; except that, as the Doctor notes, “This isn’t typical Sontaran behavior, is it? Hiding? Using teenagers; stopping bullets? A Sontaran should face bullets with dignity.” Two previous serials misused the Sontarans: The Invasion of Time and The Two Doctors. Both of these stories from the classic period had the Sontarans acting out of character and miscast. The Sontaran Stratagem does not miscast. It does however involve the Sontarans in a very un-Sontaran scheme; but even though the Sontarans are acting out of character I don’t mind. And I’ll tell you why. (You know of course, Gary, that I will tell you why.)

The strength of the Sontarans over the Daleks and the Cybermen (as far as storytelling goes) is that they have distinct personalities (despite their baked potato similarities). Sontarans are proudly militaristic, yes, but depicting legions of these squat, armor clad, single minded soldiers marching across the face of the planet and gunning down every living being in their path would be boring. The beauty of The Time Warrior and The Sontaran Experiment is that we got to know an individual Sontaran away from the battlefield.  The ultimate Sontaran goal is always victory over the Rutans; The Sontaran Stratagem, combined with its companion piece The Poisoned Sky, gives us a plausible reason for the Sontarans to be so far off mission and in the process gives us two memorable villains in General Staal and Commander Skorr.

(I do have to wonder, though, how and when the Sontarans became so misogynistic. The Sontarans are a clone race and therefore, I would presume, sexless. What exactly is their reference point for the blatant sexism they now display?)

While I don’t mind this Sontaran field trip to Earth, it does feel as though the Sontarans could be swapped out for any villain up to this point in the story. The main focus for the episode is ATMOS and the Rattigan Academy headed by Luke Rattigan. Luke is established as the patsy for the Sontarans; the obligatory human collaborator of the aliens. In the brief span afforded, however, he is granted a level of complexity that keeps things interesting. Too bad his red track-suited minions aren’t similarly treated. I have no idea why any of these background extras stick around other than that the script tells them to be there.

Everything comes to a head with Wilf trapped in his haywire car, the ATMOS devices emitting toxic fumes worldwide (here we go again with technology dependent Earth putting all its eggs in one gizmo basket only to have it backfire and threaten all of Mankind), and the Sontarans, joined by Luke, chanting their glorious new war cry. “Sontar-ha!”

So Martha calls the Doctor back to Earth to work for UNIT against the Sontarans. That’s The Sontaran Stratagem in a nutshell. It’s a set-up episode for what is to follow. Along the way there are some nice moments, particularly with Donna and Martha and again with Donna and Wilf.

“We are now at Battle Status One. Rejoice!”

I send you off with this inspiring refrain, Gary. Sontar-ha!