The Sontarans [Doctor Who, Diversion 3]

The Sontarans by Simon Guerrier

14 December 2016

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You know, I can almost imagine finding this on a pawn shop bookshelf, with "Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Sontarans!" and a Target logo emblazoned on the cover. Although this is the most recent release I've reviewed on this marathon so far (released nine months before I started), it is in every sense more of a conscious attempt to emulate its period than the audio stories I just reviewed. The Sontarans represents something like The Daleks or The Ice Warriors, a 1960s introductory story for one of the series' iconic monsters, which in this case of course never existed. It's impressive that Guerrier can so easily switch to writing a story close in style to the original series when the last work of his I reviewed was a more conscious departure. The fact that they are both very obviously a part of this era despite their differences is a testament to the skill of the writer.

There is a decidedly "golden age", Dan Dare atmosphere to parts of this piece. Some of that may have to do with the theremin in the soundtrack, though the Space Security shootout with armored spacemen might also have a thing to do with it... A few more things recall this period, such as inexplicable remarks on the Doctor's part (his statement that it's been a long time since he fought in war), his conspicuous failure to deny that he's a human being, and the Nil are sort of like the Thals or the human stragglers in the Sensorite sewers in how they suddenly turn up after being thought long dead. It feels like it could have gone out in early 1966, with only Guerrier's deft touch for character work and the obvious aberration of the Sontarans to make it stand out.

Peter Purves is our narrator this time, though Jean Marsh voices Sara once more. Purves also lends his voice to the Doctor, and it's well done. It's not exactly a straight impression, but he captures Hartnell's essence well, and in a way which I think shows a lot of affection for the departed actor. We get not just a glimpse inside Steven's head in this story, but a little more about his backstory than was actually presented in the show. His past as someone who left war behind fits well into this story. I was also a little amused by the moment where he feels a pang of jealousy when Sara and Ellis smile at one another, something which made sense in the context of the two companions, but the possibility of which had never occurred to me previously.

Sara comes through well, too. Though this isn't as much of a deep dive into her as a character as in what the previous post covered, we still get a great look at how she operates as a companion. At the start, even though she's eager to go wander off into the flower fields, she still has a military mindset about her, making sure things are safe up ahead. She also settles back very easily into her Space Security routine when she's thrown into action with the officers on the asteroid.

The guest cast is also good here, with Dan Starkey putting in as great of an effort as always. He's shifted back to a voice that sounds a bit more like Linx from The Time Warrior than the New Who Sontarans which Starkey usually voices, which impressively gets across how much earlier these Sontarans are. I was startled when I realized he didn't voice Gage, since I'd been thinking for the whole audio that Gage must be a Sontaran since something in his voice sounded like Starkey's. And then I realized that Ellis, the soldier who isn't a Sontaran spy, was the one who was voiced by Starkey and I hadn't even noticed! That left me totally bewildered for a bit. Total Twilight Zone moment.

The story is capped off by a brilliantly Doctor-ish moment where the Doctor talks the Sontaran commander out of firing on and destroying a passing human civilian fleet by convincing him that it wouldn't be a sporting battle. It's a speech that wouldn't feel out of place in the New Series, but still doesn't sound totally inappropriate for Hartnell's Doctor.

I hadn't known going in that the story leads directly into Volcano, and realizing that was quite a nice moment. As nice of a story as this was, I found myself eager to get back to the show again and see how this Dalek plot as going to sort itself out. The last five episodes of The Daleks' Master Plan are next.

(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 11 April 2020.)