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{{Quote|Glorious warfare!|Staal}}
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{{Infobox Story SMW
|image = Staal2.jpg
|season number = Series 4 (Doctor Who 2005)
|series episode number = 4
|story number = 192a
|scripturl      = https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/documents/doctor-who-4-episode-4-the-sontaran-stratagem-blue-revisions-29102007.pdf
|doctor = Tenth Doctor
|companions = [[Donna Noble|Donna]]
|featuring = Martha Jones
|featuring2 = Wilfred Mott
|featuring3 = Sylvia Noble
|enemy = [[General]] [[Staal]]
|setting = [[London]], [[Rattigan Academy]] and [[Sontaran flagship]], [[2009]]
|writer = Helen Raynor
|director = [[Douglas Mackinnon]]
|producer = [[Susie Liggat]]
|confidential = Send in the Clones (CON episode)
|broadcast date = 26 April 2008
|network = BBC One
|format = 1x45 minute episode
|production code = 4.4
|series = [[Doctor Who television stories|''Doctor Who'' television stories]]
|prev = Planet of the Ood (TV story)
|next = The Poison Sky (TV story)
|made prev = Partners in Crime (TV story)
|made next = The Poison Sky (TV story)
|clip = The Return of the Sontarans - The Sontaran Stratagem - Doctor Who - BBC
|clip2 = The Doctor Meets General Staal - The Sontaran Stratagem - Doctor Who - BBC
}}
'''''The Sontaran Stratagem''''' was the fourth episode of [[Series 4 (Doctor Who 2005)|series 4]] of ''[[Doctor Who]]''.


{{Infobox NewTV
It was the first appearance of the [[Sontaran]]s in the revived series and saw the reappearance of [[Martha Jones|Martha]] as a recurring guest character following the next two episodes.
|story name=The Sontaran Stratagem
|image=[[Image:The sontaran stratagem promo.jpg|250px]]
|series= [[Doctor Who]] - [[List of television stories|TV stories]]
|number= [[Series 4 (Doctor Who)|Series 4]]
|story number= 4
|doctor= [[Tenth Doctor]]
|companions=[[Donna Noble]]<br>[[Martha Jones]] (Reintroduction)
|enemy=[[Sontaran|The Sontarans]]<br>[[Luke Rattigan]]
|setting= [[London]] [[2009]]
|writer=[[Helen Raynor]]
|director=[[Douglas Mackinnon]]
|producer=[[Susie Liggat]]
|broadcast date= [[26th April]] [[2008]]
|format= 1x45 minute episode
|production code= 196 a
|previous story= [[Planet of the Ood]]
|next story= [[The Poison Sky]]
}}


Also of note was the casting of the [[Sontaran]]s. As well as featuring the return of [[Christopher Ryan]] in a [[Staal|new role]], this episode featured the first ''Doctor Who'' appearance of [[Dan Starkey]], seen here as [[Commander]] [[Skorr]]. Primarily recognised later as Commander [[Strax]], a friend of [[the Doctor]], he would go on to appear in various other roles, several of them also Sontaran, in both the TV series and [[Big Finish Productions]]' audio dramas during the years that would follow.


== Synopsis ==
== Synopsis ==
With the mysterious [[ATMOS]] devices spreading across the world, [[Donna Noble|Donna]] discovers that even her own family is not safe from the alien threat – but is it too late to save them? And what will she make of [[Martha Jones]]?
Fifty-two people across the world in eleven different time zones die at the exact same time. The only connection: they all have [[ATMOS]] installed in their [[Car|vehicles]]. [[Martha Jones]], now a [[UNIT]] [[Doctor|medic]], summons the [[Tenth Doctor]] back to modern-day [[Earth]] to help figure out why, but [[Sontaran|an old enemy]] lies in wait...
 
== Plot ==
Boy genius [[Luke Rattigan]] and his students toss out reporter [[Jo Nakashima]] and her notes from the [[Rattigan Academy]]. She angrily protests, claiming that her investigations of [[ATMOS]], Rattigan's invention, have led her to believe it is dangerous. An uninterested Rattigan allows her to leave. However, upon returning inside, he contacts his mysterious employer and recommends Jo's "termination". His employer reminds him they don't take orders from "humans", but Rattigan replies that he said "recommend", and the employer agrees to terminate Jo.
 
Sometime later, Jo is driving in her [[car]], which is fitted with an ATMOS-issue [[SatNav|Satnav]]. She leaves a message for [[Alan Mace|Colonel Mace]] of [[UNIT]], asking him to check out several recent deaths that have occurred in ATMOS-equipped cars and to pinpoint the times. After crossing a bridge, her ATMOS navigation instructions lead her car to turn right and stop at the bank of a river. Jo is confused, as she told ATMOS to take her to UNIT Headquarters. She's about to exit the vehicle and find her own way, when the car doors lock themselves and the transmission locks itself into the drive position. Jo screams helplessly as the car accelerates towards the bank and goes flying, landing in the river, where it sinks with her inside, causing her to drown.
 
Meanwhile, [[Donna Noble|Donna]] is flying [[the Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] with mixed results while the [[Tenth Doctor]] watches closely, warning her not to get too close to the [[1980s]]. Donna sarcastically wonders if she's going to put a dent in them. (''"Well, someone did,"'' the Doctor mutters to himself) He receives a call from a [[Martha Jones' mobile phone|mobile phone]] on the console, belonging to former [[companion]] [[Martha Jones]]. When he answers, Martha greets him happily on the other end of the line and tells him that she's bringing him back to Earth.
 
The TARDIS materialises in an alley, where Martha is waiting. She and the Doctor joyfully reunite, although he grows trepidatious when he introduces Martha to Donna, expecting them to start fighting. Martha and Donna, however, get along almost immediately by making jokes at the Doctor's expense. Donna is the first to notice Martha is wearing a [[ring]] on her finger and congratulates Martha, who explains she's now engaged to [[Thomas Milligan|Tom Milligan]] and, thanks to the Doctor's recommendation, has a job with UNIT as a medical officer. Their interlude is interrupted when Martha receives a call on a walkie-talkie and gives the all-clear to execute "[[Operation Blue Sky]]." Nearby, UNIT forces raid an ATMOS factory and arrest the workers. Unbeknownst to them, Luke Rattigan's mysterious employer is monitoring the raid from afar, and ridicules the soldiers' primitive fabrics and weapons.
 
Martha leads the Doctor and Donna into a [[lorry]] containing a mobile UNIT headquarters, and introduces the Doctor to Colonel Mace, who knows all about the [[Time Lord]] from UNIT files. The Doctor isn't impressed with the overly military "new" UNIT, while Donna, already unsettled by how comfortable Martha seems in her new role among soldiers, compares UNIT's handling of civilian workers in the ATMOS factory to [[Guantanamo Bay]].
 
Martha and Mace explain the reason behind the raid: just the day before, fifty-two people were simultaneously poisoned to death in their cars across the world. Martha has checked the biopsies and found the unknown toxin had left the victims' bodies immediately. The cars in question are of different makes and models, but are all fitted with ATMOS - which stands for ATMospheric Omission System. Donna, who has heard of the system before, aids Martha and Mace in explaining to the Doctor that the new technology reduces [[carbon]] emissions from vehicle exhaust fumes to zero. UNIT suspects that such an incredible feat of engineering is alien in origin, and the Doctor theorises that the environmentally-friendly technology could be concealing a weapon, with the 800 million cars on Earth as its arsenal.
 
Meanwhile, two UNIT soldiers, Privates [[Carl Harris|Harris]] and [[Steve Gray|Gray]], are exploring the lower corridors of the ATMOS factory when they find two ATMOS workers guarding a door. Rattigan's secret employer remotely orders the two workers, who seem to be in a hypnotic trance, to allow the soldiers entry. The two soldiers enter a mysteriously-lit chamber with an armoured vat and hear something alive banging underneath. While the nervous Gray attempts to call for back-up, the more self-assured and inquisitive Harris opens the container to find it is filled with a bubbling green chemical solution. Submerged within is a featureless human shape with an umbilical cord running down its back; it reacts to their presence but shows no signs of aggression.
 
As Harris figures it must be a cloning tank and someone is growing a body, a squat figure in a domed helmet and full body armour appears in the room and praises Harris's skills of [[deduction]], while belittling Gray's overly-cautious instincts as "smell[ing] of sweat and fear". The arrogant Harris repeatedly insults the warrior's height, provoking him into shooting a bolt of energy from a staff which disables the private's legs. Gray is then goaded into firing his submachine gun, which only clicks as the warrior reveals the room is contained within a [[cordolaine]] signal that excites the [[copper]] surface of the bullet and causes expansion in the barrel, rendering the soldiers' guns useless, as well as blocking their radio signals. In desperation, Gray raises his gun to physically attack the figure, who retaliates by paralysing him in turn and motions the two ATMOS workers inside to prepare the two UNIT privates for his stratagem. When asked for a name, he identifies himself as [[General]] [[Staal]] of the [[Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet]], known as "Staal the Undefeated", and finally removes his helmet to reveal a slimy brown face underneath which horrifies the incapacitated privates.
 
The Doctor examines one of the ATMOS devices under Martha's watchful eye and concludes it is advanced but not alien technology. His dismissive attitude toward Mace's military background prompts Martha to defend the colonel; after leaving the Doctor, she has tried to use his influence as a force for good and is working with UNIT on her own terms. Donna, meanwhile, has been using her own temp skills to go over the personnel records. She returns with the Sick Days file, which is empty: no employees at the factory have called in sick for months, if ever, which is even more suspicious.
 
The Doctor and Mace discuss Luke Rattigan, the renowned creator of the ATMOS system who now runs the Rattigan Academy outside London as a school for the exceptionally gifted. The Doctor decides to pay Rattigan a visit and Mace assigns him an escort, private [[Ross Jenkins]]. Meanwhile, Donna and Martha have a chance to chat, and Donna is left profoundly concerned when Martha warns her that life with the Doctor can have devastating consequences, and that [[Last of the Time Lords (TV story)|her own family suffered]] because she didn't tell them about her involvement with the Doctor.
 
In the factory [[basement]], Staal bestows the same hypnotic programming on Gray and Harris as the ATMOS workers, assigns them orders and then returns to the Sontarans' ship via a nearby teleport pod. As the Doctor prepares to head to the Rattigan Academy with Jenkins in a [[jeep]], he is approached by Donna who tells him that she's going home. Thinking that she is leaving for good, the Doctor laments the many places they could have travelled together and thanking her for saving his life in more ways than one, until he figures out she only intends to pay a brief visit to her [[Sylvia Noble|mother]] and [[Wilfred Mott|granddad]], and is roundly mocked by Donna for his misinterpretation.
 
Acting on Colonel Mace's orders, Martha speaks to a [[Poland|Polish]] factory worker named [[Trepper]] and finds he is little more than an automaton with an alarmingly rapid heartbeat as he tells her in an emotionless monotone that he came over from Poland just to work, and that he works 24 hours a day. A disturbed Martha goes to report her findings to Mace, when she is intercepted by privates Harris and Gray. Under the pretence of escorting her to the colonel, the two take her down to the basement and into the cloning chamber. Martha realises too late she has been led into a trap, and screams as the brainwashed UNIT soldiers restrain her inside.
 
The Doctor and Jenkins drop Donna off in [[Chiswick]], and she thinks back on her recent adventures as she walks down her street to her home, where her grandfather Wilfred is waiting with open arms. In the Nobles' kitchen, Donna tells Wilf about her travels; she learns that it's been a few days since [[Partners in Crime (TV story)|the Adipose incident]]. Her grandfather takes it well, despite some concern for her safety, but warns her not to tell her mother, Sylvia. When Sylvia comes in, she mocks Donna's claims of travelling as "gallivanting around" and scolds her for the trick with the keys; which she did find after all.
 
On their way to the Rattigan Academy, the Doctor notes that even the UNIT jeeps are equipped with ATMOS. Jenkins claims that UNIT has been watching Rattigan for some time but until his system is proven to be dangerous, the government refuses to remove ATMOS from vehicles. They arrive at the academy to find Luke waiting for them. Despite the "Hitler Youth"-style training regime his students are subjected to, the Doctor is excited by the science experiments being conducted inside the labs, all of which seem centred on terraforming a planet. The insecure Luke feels threatened by the Time Lord's intellect and although he sympathises with the difficulties of being a genius, the Doctor notes that the young man couldn't have created such advanced equipment - such as the large piece of tunnel-like sculpture he keeps in his reception area.
 
[[File:Doctor_Sontarans.jpg|thumb|The Doctor stumbles upon the Sontarans]]
The Doctor triggers a control on the piece of "art", revealing it as a teleport pod, and finds himself transported to the war room onboard the Sontaran spaceship. He teleports back when they notice him, but General Staal follows in pursuit and makes it through before the Doctor sabotages the pod with his sonic screwdriver. By displaying a level of understanding about Sontarans far beyond that of humans, the Doctor prompts Staal into removing his helmet and ridicules his honour. Realising who he's up against, the Time Lord uses a racquet to bounce a squash ball off the teleport pod and hit Staal's [[probic vent]], the Sontarans' one weakness. A stunned Staal collapses, enabling the Doctor and Jenkins to make their escape while he recovers. Rather than pursue them, Staal uses his energy rod to repair the teleporter and returns to his ship with Luke. With 400 million cars converted with ATMOS devices, he has his second-in-command [[Commander]] [[Skorr]], "the Bloodbringer", begin the invasion.
 
Skorr teleports down to the factory basement and confronts a captured Martha, for whom the Sontarans have prepared something more sophisticated than the [[Hypnosis|hypnotic]] programming they used on the factory drones and the privates. Sure enough, to Martha's horror, the humanoid creature inside the vat emerges from the liquid as [[Martha Jones (clone)|a naked replica of herself]]. Ignoring her protests, Skorr lulls Martha into an unconscious state and begins transferring her memories into the clone.
 
Luke suggests using the ATMOS to kill the Doctor, confusing Staal, as Luke had previously told him the Doctor hadn't given his name. Staal recalls the legends of the [[Last Great Time War]], which claim that the Doctor led the Time Lords into battle, and becomes elated at the idea of wiping out an old enemy of the Sontarans alongside Earth. As the Doctor and Jenkins begin to return to the ATMOS factory, the Sontarans track their progress through the ATMOS SatNav device in their UNIT jeep and steer it into the river. Finding all the doors deadlock-sealed, the Doctor manages to override the device by reverse psychology: he instructs it to do what it's doing anyway so it will disregard his orders and do the opposite. It stops just short of the river and allows the Doctor and Jenkins to jump out. They dive for cover, expecting an explosion, which turns out to be anticlimactic as the ATMOS just sparks and shorts out.
 
With the ATMOS signal gone, Luke and Staal assume that the Doctor is dead. Luke assures the general that the initial test run resulting in the fifty-two dead car drivers was successful, and they are ready to unleash the ATMOS devices on a wider scale. Back on Earth, Skorr briefs the Martha clone, who has stripped the original of her clothes and engagement ring to maintain the disguise, and sends it out with the brainwashed Harris and Gray to sabotage UNIT from the inside.
 
The Doctor reunites with Donna at her home in Chiswick while Jenkins goes to find a vehicle without ATMOS so they can get back to UNIT headquarters. As the Doctor and Donna inspect the ATMOS device on the Nobles' car, they are joined in the driveway by Wilfred, who recognises the Doctor as the same man who [[Voyage of the Damned (TV story)|disappeared in front of him]] on Christmas Eve. However, he takes this and the knowledge the Doctor is an alien in his stride, and the two introduce themselves properly. Sylvia, however, is less than impressed to recognise him as the same person who caused so much trouble at [[The Runaway Bride (TV story)|Donna's aborted wedding]].
 
The Doctor uses Donna's mobile to call UNIT and speaks with Martha, unaware he is talking to her clone. She promises to pass on his warning about Sontaran invasion, but after ringing off, assures Mace that there is no cause for alarm. The Doctor then resumes his examination of the ATMOS in Donna's car, only to trigger a hidden device exposing gas nozzles. The Sontaran [[lieutenant]], [[Skree]], detects the converter's activation aboard the Sontaran ship, leading Staal to realise the Doctor is still alive. He is delighted, looking forward to a glorious battle, and orders the invasion to begin and the Sontaran ships close in.
 
The Doctor realises the gas fumes coming from the car are [[poison]]ous and Wilfred tries to move it off the street, but at the same time, Staal orders all the ATMOS converters to be activated and every one deadlocked. As Wilfred gets in the car, the doors suddenly lock themselves and the engine starts on its own. Inside, Wilf becomes engulfed in the poisonous gas as the Doctor and Donna try to disable the ATMOS to get him out. All over the world, cars begin emitting the toxic gas into the atmosphere, with their owners unable to stop them. At the factory, the UNIT soldiers try to destroy their ATMOS-fitted cars by shooting at them, while Martha's clone and her Sontaran-controlled escorts look on impassively.
 
Meanwhile, Wilf begins to choke as the Doctor's desperate efforts to get him out of the car fail. Sylvia hurries back inside the house as car alarms are set off all along the street and the other parked cars begin emitting the gas. The Doctor can only watch helplessly while Donna's entire street is buried in the deadly fog. Up above, General Staal leads Rattigan and his Sontaran troops in a war chant as the invasion begins.


[[Image:Sontarans|thumb|262px|the sontarans are back!!]]== Plot ==
== Cast ==
[[Jo Nakashima]] is investigating the [[Rattigan Academy]] and is kicked out by [[Luke Rattigan]] because she has found out his secret about the [[ATMOS]] devices. While she is driving she tries to get in contact with [[UNIT]] but she gets the answer phone suddenly her car takes control of itself and drives into the [[River Thames]]
* [[Tenth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[David Tennant]]
* [[Donna Noble]] - [[Catherine Tate]]
* [[Martha Jones]] - [[Freema Agyeman]]<ref>Agyeman also plays [[Martha Jones (clone)|the clone of Martha Jones]].</ref>
* [[Wilfred Mott]] - [[Bernard Cribbins]]
* [[Sylvia Noble]] - [[Jacqueline King]]
* [[Luke Rattigan]] - [[Ryan Sampson]]
* [[Colonel]] [[Alan Mace|Mace]] - [[Rupert Holliday Evans]]
* [[General]] [[Staal]] - [[Christopher Ryan]]
* [[Commander]] [[Skorr]] - [[Dan Starkey]]
* [[Jo Nakashima]] - [[Eleanor Matsuura]]
* [[Harris (The Sontaran Stratagem)|Private Harris]] - [[Clive Standen]]
* [[Steve Gray|Private Gray]] - [[Wesley Theobald]]
* [[Ross Jenkins]] - [[Christian Cooke]]
* [[Trepper|Worker]] - [[Rad Kaim]]
* [[ATMOS|Atmos Voice]] - [[Elizabeth Ryder]]


[[Donna Noble|Donna]] is flying [[the TARDIS]] while [[Tenth Doctor|the Doctor]] gets a call from his ex-companion [[Martha Jones]]. She says that she is bringing him back to [[Earth]]. As the TARDIS lands she tells the doctor that she has a fiance called [[Tom Milligan]] and that it was he who got her the job. Martha takes the Doctor and Donna to a truck which serves as [[UNIT HQ|UNIT headquarters]]. [[Mace|Colonel Mace]] tells them that 52 people died at the exact same time at different locations and found in their cars and it is linked to the Rattigan Academy.
=== Uncredited cast ===
* [[Captain]] [[Marion Price|Price]] - [[Bridget Hodgson]]
* [[Lieutenant]] [[Skree]] - Dan Starkey
* [[Sally (The Sontaran Stratagem)|Sally]] - [[Joan Williams]]<ref>[http://www.castingcollective.co.uk/search-for-artistes/wales/profile?sl=84685&p=3&artiste_id=6583 Profile Joan Williams] at Casting Collective</ref>
* ATMOS Workers - [[Jon Davey]]<ref>http://www.jondavey.com/acting.php</ref><ref name="Acting">http://guide.doctorwhonews.net/role.php?code=6230&detail=listing&pg=dwm</ref>, [[Andrew Slade]]<ref name="Acting" />


Meanwhile, two UNIT solders are in the lower corridors of the ATMOS Factory.They are let through a door by brainwashed [[ATMOS]] workers where they find a tub full of slime and an unformed [[humanoid]] shape attacked to by an umbilical cord attached to its neck. Just as it sinks back below the surface, the Sontaran General [[Staal]], appears and brainwashes them both into working for the [[Sontaran]]s.
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|Note=
}}


While Martha is checking an ATMOS employee he says he is born to fight must serve. It becomes obvious that he has been hypnotized by the Sontarans. The Doctor is assigned a soldier for protection named [[Ross Jenkins]] and he, Donna, the Doctor drop Donna off at her home before proceeding to the Rattigan Academy.
== Worldbuilding ==


Donna walks down the street, recollecting past events with the Doctor, then sees her grandfather, [[Wilfred Mott|Wilfred]], who is pleased to see her. They go in from a cup of coffee. The Doctor and Ross walk into the academy and are confronted by [[Luke Rattigan]]. After snipping Rattigan with much repartee, the Doctor sneaks into a [[teleport pod]] in his living room and teleports up to the Sontaran ship. Then, The Doctor discovers that the Sontarans are planning to do something with the cars and are orbiting the earth.  
=== Diseases and illnesses ===
* Donna is surprised that no ATMOS employees have ever had [[man flu]].


The Doctor teleports back to Earth and Staal, the Sontaran leader, follows him down to Rattigan's mansion. After impairing him hitting his [[Probic vent]] with a squash ball, The Doctor returns to the UNIT jeep with Jenkins. The ATMOS devices kick in and start to drive them towards the river. The Doctor, realizing that the device is programmed to ''not'' follow his directions, orders the device to drive them into the river. Jenkins and the Doctor abandon the car as the device malfunctions. They run to Donna's mum house. Back at UNIT Martha is called to see Colonel Mace but she is kidnapped by the mind-controlled solders. She is taken to the cloning room in the cellar and the process of cloning her is begun.
=== Technology ===
* The [[Sontaran]]s use [[cloning pool]]s.
* [[400000000 (number)|400000000]] cars have ATMOS devices.


The Doctor tells Donna's family that their car is dangerous and that it should be destroyed. Wilfred gets in the car to drive it off the street when the doors lock and the gas is released and starts to suffocate him. [[Sylvia Noble|Sylvia]] runs in the house to grab an axe.  
=== Individuals ===
* Martha is now engaged to [[Thomas Milligan|Tom Milligan]].
* Martha's stated desire to change UNIT from the inside echoes [[Jack Harkness]]' similar statement about his intentions regarding [[Torchwood Institute|Torchwood]].
* [[Luke Rattigan]] invented [[Fountain Six]].
* Donna Noble once dated a boy named [[Matthew Richards]], who in the end turned out to be [[gay]].


Martha's clone wakes up and puts her clothes on and Martha is put under a sleep. Martha's clone then walks off with the controlled solders, as the Doctor tries to save Wilfred.
=== Locations ===
* The Doctor mentions the fifteenth broken [[moon]] of the [[Medusa Cascade]].
* Streets in [[Chiswick]] include [[Rydale Street]] and [[Mallard Street]].


==Cast==
=== Planets ===
*[[Tenth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[David Tennant]]
* The Doctor mentions [[Cotter Paluni's World]] as one of the planets he wanted to take Donna.
*[[Donna Noble]] - [[Catherine Tate]]
* The Doctor also mentions wanting to take Donna to the Diamond Coral Reefs of [[Kataa Flo Ko]].
*[[Martha Jones]] - [[Freema Agyeman]]
*[[Wilfred Mott]] - [[Bernard Cribbins]]
*[[Sylvia Noble]] - [[Jacqueline King]]
*[[Luke Rattigan]] - [[Ryan Sampson]]
*[[Mace|Colonel Mace]] - [[Rupert Holliday Evans]]
*[[Staal|General Staal]] - [[Christopher Ryan]]
*[[Skorr|Commander Skorr]] -  [[Dan Starkey]]
*[[Jo Nakashima]] - [[Elenor Matsuura]]
*[[Harris (The Sontaran Stratagem)|Private Harris]] - [[Clive Standen]]
*[[Steve Gray|Private Gray]] - [[Wesley Theobald]]
*[[Ross Jenkins]] - [[Christian Cooke]]
*[[Trepper (Worker)|Trepper]] - [[Rad Kaim]]
*ATMOS Voice - [[Elizabeth Ryder]]


==Production crew==
=== Species ===
''To be added''
* General Staal is called a "baked [[potato]]" by [[Ross Jenkins]].
* The Sontarans' weak point is their [[probic vent]].


==References==
=== Time wars ===
*The Doctor said he worked with UNIT some time in the [[1970s]], "or was it the [[1980s|80s]]?": A reference to the [[UNIT dating controversy]].
* According to Staal, the Sontarans were not allowed to take part in the [[Last Great Time War]].
*According to Staal, the Sontarans were not allowed to take part in the [[Last Great Time War]].
*Donna calls the UNIT soldiers "stormtroopers", a possible reference to [[wikipedia:Stormtrooper (Star Wars)|Star Wars]], or rather the [[Nazi]] soldiers.
:''She was more likely referring to the Nazi troopers, since Nazi soldiers are part of history, and as such have generated the expression "stormtroopers" for soldiers used as a show of force.''
*The Doctor mentions the fifteenth moon of the [[Medusa Cascade]].
*Martha mentions the ''[[Valiant]]''.
*General Staal is called a "baked [[Potato]]" by [[Ross Jenkins]].
*When the Sontarans realised they had an intruder, the Doctor replied "How'd he get in, then? In-tru-der-window?". [[Henry Van Statten]] also said the same thing.
*The dialogue between [[Tenth Doctor|the Doctor]] and [[Martha Jones|Martha]] confirms that he helped get her her job with [[UNIT]].
*Martha is now engaged to [[Tom Milligan]].
*The Sontarans' weak point is their [[probic vent]]; a small connector at the back of their necks that allows them to plug into an energy source to recharge.
*The Doctor mentions [[Cotter Palluni's World]] as one of the planets he wanted to take Donna.
*Martha's stated desire to change UNIT from the inside echoes [[Jack Harkness]]' similar statement regarding his intentions regarding [[Torchwood Institute|Torchwood]] ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]''; also [[TW]]: ''[[Fragments]]'').


==Story Notes==
=== Timeline ===
*This episode marks the first television appearance of the Sontarans in 23 years. Their last regular series appearance was in [[The Two Doctors]], however the last time they were refered to was in [[2007]]s' "[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]". They had also previously appeared in several non-canonical productions, including "[[A Fix with Sontarans]]" in 1985 and the early-1990s independent production ''[[Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans]]''.
* The Doctor said he worked with UNIT some time in the [[1970s]], "or was it the [[1980s|80s]]?"
*[[Helen Raynor]] wrote this episode. Her [[Series 3 (Doctor Who)|Series 3]] episodes ''[[Daleks in Manhattan]]'' and ''[[Evolution of the Daleks]]'' both occupied fourth and fifth episode in the series. This two part episode also occupies episode four and five.
*This two-parter is [[Douglas Mackinnon]]'s first story as director.
*Mobile phone company O2 is releasing an Atmos SatNav phone, possibly based on the devices used in this episode.
*On the Sontaran ship and in almost every shot you will see what looks like an Xbox 360 power indicator complete with the quarter circle lines and a dot in the center the only major difference is that it is purple rather than green.
*This show was made during the 35th anniversary of the Sontarans.
*In [[DW]]: ''[[The Time Warrior]]'' the Sontarans were described as "nasty, brutish and short". This is the first time that they are shown to ''actually'' be shorter than normal human stature.
*There is a UNIT character called Jenkins, a homage to a famous piece of dialogue "Jenkins, chap with the wings there five rounds rapid" from [[DW]]: ''[[The Daemons]]''.(''In the commentary broadcast on BBC7, it was said that "Jenkins" was named for Richard Jenkins, who maintains the BBC's DW website.'')
*This is [[Christopher Ryan]]'s second role in Doctor Who. He previously played Lord [[Kiv]] in [[DW]]: ''[[Mindwarp]]''.
*UNIT has now been rebranded as the ''Unified Intelligence Taskforce'', having previously been known as the [[United Nations Intelligence Taskforce]]. This followed a request by the United Nations shortly after the series returned to TV in 2005. Nonetheless, Martha still refers to UNIT receiving funding from the United Nations.
*When communicating with each other, UNIT use call signs first used in the Classic series. These are mostly based around greyhound racing. Personnel are usually designated a Greyhound call sign, whereas a base of operations is known as a Trap.
*Donna makes reference to the terrorist prisoner camps at Guantanamo Bay. This is one of the first references in the revived Doctor Who to the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
*The cloning vat in this story is in fact the (redressed) fountain from [[The Fires of Pompeii]].
*The Table that is used to hold the real Martha is used in the Torchwood episode [[Cyberwoman]]. Also the metal headware that Martha has on at the same time looks like mind probe used the episode [[Sleeper]]


===Ratings===
=== Unified Intelligence Taskforce ===
*Official - 7.06 million viewers
* UNIT has received increased funding from the [[United Nations]].
* Martha mentions the ''[[Valiant (aircraft carrier)|Valiant]]''.


===Myths===
== Story notes ==
''to be added''
* The Doctor last saw Martha Jones in the television story ''[[Last of the Time Lords (TV story)|Last of the Time Lords]]''. It is not indicated on screen how long it has been for Martha since she last saw the Doctor, although it has been long enough for her to have joined UNIT, obtained her doctorate, become engaged to Tom Milligan and worked with Torchwood. Martha last appeared (chronologically) in ''[[A Day in the Death (TV story)|A Day in the Death]]''.
* The Sontarans first appeared in the television serial ''[[The Time Warrior (TV story)|The Time Warrior]]'' and last appeared on a TV broadcast in ''[[The Two Doctors (TV story)|The Two Doctors]]'', though they did feature in a direct-to-video story, ''[[Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans (home video)|Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans]]''. They also feature in the television stories ''[[The Sontaran Experiment (TV story)|The Sontaran Experiment]]'' and ''[[The Invasion of Time (TV story)|The Invasion of Time]]''. Though physically similar to prior appearances, their uniforms are now blue (though a few Sontarans seen aboard their command ship are seen in armour coloured more like previous versions; however, they still have blue helmets and shoulder pads) and their voices have taken on a more human quality. They are honourable when it comes to the rules of warfare and respect their enemies, but are callous and bloodthirsty.
* [[Helen Raynor]] wrote this episode. Her [[Series 3 (Doctor Who 2005)|Series 3]] episodes ''[[Daleks in Manhattan (TV story)|Daleks in Manhattan]]'' and ''[[Evolution of the Daleks (TV story)|Evolution of the Daleks]]'' both filled fourth and fifth episode slots in the series. This two-part story also occupies episode four and five.
* [[Helen Raynor]] was originally reluctant to write this story, having read online comments about her previous Dalek two-parter and come away "physically shaking" at the level of vitriol. [[Russell T Davies]] convinced her not to take the comments too seriously and to write this story. ([[REF]]: ''[[The Writer's Tale]]'')
* This two-parter is [[Douglas Mackinnon]]'s debut story as the director.
* When Donna asks the Doctor if it was his influence that turned Martha into "a soldier", a few notes of Donna's theme music can be heard before it segues into the music which plays when the UNIT soldiers appear.
* Mobile phone company O2 released an ATMOS SatNav phone, possibly based on the devices used in this episode.
* This show was broadcast during the thirty-fifth anniversary year of the Sontarans.
* In ''[[The Time Warrior (TV story)|The Time Warrior]]'' the Sontarans were described as "nasty, brutish and short", a reference to [[wikipedia:Thomas Hobbes|Thomas Hobbes]]. This is the first time that they are shown to ''actually'' be shorter than normal human stature.
* There is a UNIT character called Jenkins, a homage to a famous piece of dialogue: "Jenkins, chap with the wings there Five rounds rapid" from the television story ''[[The Dæmons (TV story)|The Dæmons]]''. In the commentary broadcast on BBC7, it was said that "Jenkins" was named for Richard Jenkins, who maintains the BBC's DW website.
* UNIT has now been rebranded as the ''Unified Intelligence Taskforce'', having previously been known as the ''United Nations Intelligence Taskforce''. This followed a request by the United Nations shortly after the series returned to TV in 2005. Nonetheless, Martha still refers to UNIT receiving funding from the United Nations and the latter ''[[Children of Earth: Day One (TV story)|Children of Earth: Day One]]'' indicates that the UN still commands UNIT.
* When communicating with each other, UNIT use call signs first used in the classic series. These are mostly based on greyhound racing. Personnel are usually designated a Greyhound call sign and a base of operations is known as a Trap.
* Donna makes reference to the terrorist prisoner camps at Guantanamo Bay. This is one of the first references in the revived ''Doctor Who'' to the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Similarly, Martha refers to UNIT's funding being "in the name of homeworld security", a deliberate reference to the Department of Homeland Security established in the US after 9/11.
* The cloning vat in this story is the fountain from ''[[The Fires of Pompeii (TV story)|The Fires of Pompeii]]'', redressed. The table that is used to hold the real Martha is used in the Torchwood episode ''[[Cyberwoman (TV story)|Cyberwoman]]''. Also, the metal headgear that Martha wears at the time looks like the mind probe used in the episode ''[[Sleeper (TV story)|Sleeper]]''.
* This episode, and its follow-up, ''[[The Poison Sky (TV story)|The Poison Sky]]'', are the only episodes featuring Donna's family to not be written by [[Russell T Davies]].
* [[Edward Gomez]] provided [[science advisor|science advice]] for the writing of this episode.
* Originally, [[Geoff Noble]] was in this episode. [[Helen Raynor]] drew upon her own parents' relationship, depicting Geoff being henpecked by Sylvia. However, after filming his scenes for ''[[Partners in Crime (TV story)|Partners in Crime]]'', it had become clear that [[Howard Attfield]] was extremely ill with cancer. After consulting with the actor's wife, [[Russell T Davies]] decided to replace him with Wilf. One draft explained that Geoff was unwell.
* [[Phil Collinson]] did not produce this episode. While he took time off, [[Susie Liggat]] filled in for him.
* The UNIT driver [[Ross Jenkins]] is a shout-out to script assistant Ross Sutherland and New Media assistant producer [[Richard Jenkins]].
* [[Russell T Davies]] saw the story as an opportunity to finally put UNIT centre-stage. In particular, he was keen to draw a contrast between their approach and the Doctor's more pacifist brand of heroism, because he felt that the Doctor's association with the Taskforce had seemed almost hypocritical in the past.
* [[Russell T Davies]] wanted a key hook for the adventure to be something topical yet seemingly mundane. Originally, this was going to be a new kind of chimney, which would be attached to every home as part of a purported effort to cleanse the atmosphere of pollution. As [[Helen Raynor]] developed her narrative, however, it was decided to combine the notion of green technology with the newfound popularity of satellite navigation in automobiles. There had been several recent reports of satnav devices giving drivers incorrect information, leading to accidents and even near-fatalities. It was agreed that modern viewers, especially children, would be better able to relate to a pollution-fighting satnav than a chimney.
* Initially, cloning was going to be a much more prominent aspect of the story, with the ATMOS factory workers all being clones. [[Russell T Davies]] felt that this element would be more effective in small doses, however, which led to the introduction of the cloned Martha.
* Luke's surname was originally Marlow, in reference to a young fan of [[Helen Raynor]]'s acquaintance; it was changed to Rattigan, which had been an early name for Miss Foster in ''[[Partners in Crime (TV story)|Partners in Crime]]'', and had previously been used by [[Russell T Davies]] on the soap opera ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revelations_(1994_TV_series) Revelations]''.
* The reporter's surname was initially Rosser instead of Nakashima.
* A long-simmering issue which [[Russell T Davies]] decided to confront was UNIT's name. Following its mention in [[Aliens of London (TV story)|''Aliens of London'']], the BBC was made aware that the real United Nations was now concerned about being associated with a fictional entity, and was especially wary of any confusion which might arise from people encountering online references to UNIT. Davies' initial reaction was simply to avoid any explanation of the UNIT acronym, but he no longer felt that this approach was viable. Having explored a range of options, it was finally agreed that the organisation would now be identified as the Unified Intelligence Taskforce.
* This two-parter was originally designated Block Four of the recording schedule. However, when Block Three - [[Partners in Crime (TV story)|''Partners in Crime'']] and [[The Fires of Pompeii (TV story)|''The Fires of Pompeii'']] - was split into two, it became Block Five instead.
* The task of redesigning the Sontarans fell to [[Neill Gorton]] and his team at [[Millennium FX]]. Gorton felt that [[John Friedlander]]'s original facemask design required little modernisation. In greater need of updating was the Sontaran armour, with the quilted texture used in the Seventies now seeming very dated, although both Gorton and [[Russell T Davies]] were determined to preserve the dome-like helmets which perfectly matched the shape of the Sontaran head. Recalling that [[Jingo Linx|Linx]] had been mistaken for a knight in ''[[The Time Warrior (TV story)|The Time Warrior]]'', Gorton strove to give the Sontaran armour a metallic feel.
* To play the various Sontarans, a number of relatively short-statured artistes were required, only two of whom would be seen without their helmets - [[Christopher Ryan]] and [[Dan Starkey]].
* [[Dan Starkey]] was a fresh graduate from drama school when he was cast as Commander Skorr.
* Rotherham-born [[Ryan Sampson]] was twenty-three when he played the eighteen year old American Luke Rattigan.
* Martha's departure allowed [[Russell T Davies]] to change the character's personality. In her reappearance, she is more mature and equal to the Doctor, as opposed to the third series, in which she was in love with him.
* The writers debated several aspects of Martha's character, her status and reaction to Donna in particular. [[Helen Raynor]] elected to emphasise Martha's medical career over her military career, and avoided a "handbags at dawn" scenario because she felt it would rehash [[Rose Tyler]]'s initial opinion of [[Sarah Jane Smith]] in ''[[School Reunion (TV story)|School Reunion]]''.
* The car going into the river was the first time a car-cannon had been used since [[2005]], and was required to be completed in one shot. The car fired into the canal was removed immediately afterwards to clear the shipping route.
* The scenes involving the cloning tank were filmed in a Welsh shampoo factory and reused a prop from [[The Fires of Pompeii (TV story)|''The Fires of Pompeii'']] as the tank which contained the clone.
* [[Russell T Davies]] and [[Freema Agyeman]] enjoyed the scenes set in the cloning room; Agyeman liked playing an "evil companion", who she and Davies felt made the real Martha "warmer", and Davies thought Privates Gray and Harris discovering the tank in a darkened room was "classic Doctor Who".


===Filming Locations===
=== Ratings ===
''to be added''
* 7.06 million viewers (UK final)<ref>[http://guide.doctorwhonews.net/info.php?detail=ratings&start=100&type=date&order= Doctor Who - consolidated ratings]</ref>


===Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors===
=== Filming locations ===
* The ATMOS devices are meant to stop cars from expelling gases so how come we can see such exhaust fumes coming out of the UNIT jeep? ''The fumes may be other less harmful gases which CO2 could somehow be reacted to produce.''
==== Studio ====
* The field used by Sontarans to stop firearms apparently works by making the copper jacket expand, this would likely cause the firing pin to still engage the cartridge, causing an explosive misfire.
* Upper Boat Studios, Trefforest
*The UNIT mobile command post is shown to be carried around in a semi-trailer, yet the inside layout appears considerably larger than the outside would suggest (shades of the TARDIS). ''The trailer has a fold out side. This is shown when they enter and inside where the ceiling angles down. It still looks larger than it should, however this can be attributed to the camera lens which often makes interiors seem larger than they really are.''
* BBC Broadcasting House, Llandaff
*The UNIT crest still reads U.N.I.T.; given the newly stated name, it should read UN.I.T. ''Perhaps the renaming occurred recently and the crests were left unchanged. Or they kept it for sentimental or branding/trademark reasons. Military units oftain retain historical insignia even if their official designations change.''
*Luke Rattigan accuses the Doctor of uttering a tautology by saying "ATMOS system".  However, the phrase "atmospheric emissions system" is a pleonasm, not a tautology. A tautology is a statement whose meaning is circular, such as "paper burns because it is inflammable".
*Considering the Doctor holds distain for UNIT, even going so far as to consider one of its leaders an enemy for carrying a gun, it's odd that he would have arranged for Martha to get a job with them. ''Then again, she does say her intent is to change the organization from the inside; perhaps the Doctor had this in mind when he recommended her - perhaps inspired by Jack Harkness' success in reforming Torchwood?''
*Rattigan remarks on how all Sontarans look alike and asks how they can tell each other apart. As it happens, the only two "bare-headed" Sontarans seen in this and the following episode look nothing alike and sound nothing alike. ''Aside from the fact that the idea of "identical clones" is more a science-fiction cliche than something rooted in fact, this was more likely intended as an in-joke for viewers. Or, given Rattigan's ignorance and insanity, it could have also been an indication of racism on his part (similar to the racial stereotypical fallacy held by some that all Asians look alike, for example).''


==Continuity==
==== Location ====
*The Doctor last saw Martha Jones in [[DW]]: ''[[Last of the Time Lords]]''. It is not indicated on screen how long it has been for Martha since she last saw the Doctor, although it has been long enough for her to have joined UNIT, obtained her doctorate, become engaged to Tom Milligan and (though it's not stated in this episode but was discussed in the Doctor Who Confidental episode) work with Torchwood.
* Margam Country Park, Port Talbot
*Martha last appeared (chronologically) in [[TW]]: ''[[A Day in the Death]]''. It is not yet known whether this episode (and the two that follow) occur before or after her later Torchwood involvement in [[BBCR]]: ''[[Lost Souls]]''.
* Usk Valley Business Park, Pontypool
*The Sontarans first appeared in [[DW]]: ''[[The Time Warrior]]'' and last appeared on TV broadcast screen in [[DW]]: ''[[The Two Doctors]]'', though they did feature in a spin-off story: [[RP]]: ''[[Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans]]''. They also feature in ''[[The Sontaran Experiment]]'' and ''[[The Invasion of Time]]''. Both the appearance and character of the Sontarans has changed. In earlier stories, they were brutish. In the following story, they appear to genuinely enjoy their war-like existence, even to the point of dying for the cause. In the following episode, one Sontaran smiles as he lies dying, and says, 'wonderful'. They appear to respect valour in their enemies and respect the rules of honour in battle. They however retain streaks of callousness and bloodthirstiness. In previous stories their voices were repttilian-like. But in ''Stratagem'' their voices have a human quality. The probic vent, their weak point, located on the back of the neck, is referenced as in previous stories.
* Nant Fawr Road, Cardiff
*One aspect of Sontaran culture introduced with this episode is the war-chant "Sontar-ha!" which had not been heard previously.
* Orion Electric, Port Talbort
*Donna has flashbacks of [[DW]]: ''[[Partners in Crime]]'', ''[[The Fires of Pompeii]]'' and ''[[Planet of the Ood]]''. It is stated in dialogue that, from her grandfather and mother's perspective, it has only been days since the events of ''Partners in Crime''.
* Roath Basin, Cardiff Docks
*In [[SJA]]: ''[[Eye of the Gorgon]]'', [[Bea Nelson-Stanley]] referred to the Sontarans as [[Potato]]-like.
*[[Sylvia Noble]] recognizes the Doctor and references the events of ''[[The Runaway Bride]]'', while [[Wilfred Mott]] recognizes the Doctor from his brief encounter with him in ''[[Voyage of the Damned]]''. Wilfred's absence from ''The Runaway Bride'' is explained by Sylvia when she says he was ill with flu at the time of Donna's interrupted wedding.
*The Doctor's initial response to Martha and Donna meeting each other is to ask them not to fight, a reference to [[Rose Tyler]] and [[Sarah Jane Smith]]'s first encounter in ''[[School Reunion]]''.
*The Doctor mentions that the ATMOS devices are a temporal pocket 1 second out of sync with real time like the Medusa Cascade in the Stolen Earth and Journey's End.


==DVD Releases==
=== Production errors ===
*It will be released on the Series 4 boxset DVD in November 2008.
{{discontinuity}}
* The UNIT mobile lorry is much bigger on the inside than the outside. ''This was explained in the next episode's commentary.''
* When the TARDIS lands where the Doctor and Martha are supposed to meet, as the camera pans, you can see that the inside panel of the TARDIS has been removed and the gap attached to the building behind it, to give the TARDIS that "bigger on the inside" look without the use of a green screen.


*It was released as part of Series 4 Volume 2 on 7th July, alongside The Poison Sky, The Doctor's Daughter and The Unicorn and the Wasp.
== Continuity ==
* Sontarans use hypnosis to control workers and two soldiers, much as another Sontaran [[Jingo Linx]] previously did to scientists. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Time Warrior (TV story)|The Time Warrior]]'')
* Sontarans again make use of [[Sontaran baton]]s. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Two Doctors (TV story)|The Two Doctors]]'')
* Donna recalls flashbacks of previous adventures with the Doctor. ([[TV]]: ''[[Partners in Crime (TV story)|Partners in Crime]]'', ''[[The Fires of Pompeii (TV story)|The Fires of Pompeii]]'', ''[[Planet of the Ood (TV story)|Planet of the Ood]]'')
* Martha informs Donna that she left the Doctor because of the impact it had on her family, ([[TV]]: ''[[Last of the Time Lords (TV story)|Last of the Time Lords]]'') as she never truly told them what she was doing. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Lazarus Experiment (TV story)|The Lazarus Experiment]]'', ''[[42 (TV story)|42]]'')
* The Doctor uses Martha's phone, which she gave to him when she left. ([[TV]]: ''[[Last of the Time Lords (TV story)|Last of the Time Lords]]'')
* From her grandfather and mother's perspective, it has only been days since Donna left with the Doctor. ([[TV]]: ''[[Partners in Crime (TV story)|Partners in Crime]]'')
* [[Bea Nelson-Stanley]] referred to the Sontarans as [[potato]]-like. ([[TV]]: ''[[Eye of the Gorgon (TV story)|Eye of the Gorgon]]'') Zorelle called Lieutenant [[Vorn]] 'potato-head', angering him and Commander [[Steg]]. ([[HOMEVID]]: [[Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans (home video)|Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans]]) [[Clyde Langer]] would also make a similar remark about "spuds". ([[TV]]: ''[[The Last Sontaran (TV story)|The Last Sontaran]]'')
* [[Sylvia Noble]] recognises the Doctor and references Donna's wedding, ([[TV]]: ''[[The Runaway Bride (TV story)|The Runaway Bride]]'') while [[Wilfred Mott]] recognises the Doctor from his previous brief encounter with him. ([[TV]]: ''[[Voyage of the Damned (TV story)|Voyage of the Damned]]'') Wilfred's absence from Donna's wedding is explained by Sylvia when she says he was ill with [[flu]] at the time.
* The Doctor's initial response to Martha and Donna meeting each other is to ask them not to fight, which is what happened when [[Rose Tyler]] met [[Sarah Jane Smith]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[School Reunion (TV story)|School Reunion]]'')
* The Doctor briefly calls Martha's [[superphone]], initially unaware that he is speaking to an impostor when Martha's clone answers. He was previously oblivious to [[Rose Tyler]]'s possession by [[Cassandra O'Brien.Δ17|Cassandra O'Brien]] when he first called her on Rose's mobile. ([[TV]]: ''[[New Earth (TV story)|New Earth]]'')
* The Doctor mentions that the ATMOS devices are a temporal pocket one second out of sync with real time. The same is later said for the [[Medusa Cascade]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Stolen Earth (TV story)|The Stolen Earth]]'') and for a time, the Doctor's TARDIS. ([[TV]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'')
* Martha's talks of her engagement to Tom Milligan. She met Tom during her last adventure with the Doctor. ([[TV]]: ''[[Last of the Time Lords (TV story)|Last of the Time Lords]]'') During the intervening time, she referred to dating a doctor (Milligan). ([[TV]]: ''[[Reset (TV story)|Reset]]'') She is later said to be on honeymoon. ([[TV]]: ''[[Children of Earth: Day One (TV story)|Children of Earth: Day One]]'') At some point, she eventually marries [[Mickey Smith]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'')
* When the Sontarans realise they had an intruder, the Doctor replies, "How'd he get in, then? In-tru-der-window?" [[Henry van Statten]] said the same thing regarding the [[Ninth Doctor]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Dalek (TV story)|Dalek]]'')
* Staal remarks about the Sontarans being forbidden to be involved in the [[Last Great Time War]], possibly due to the [[Sontaran invasion of Gallifrey|Sontaran Invasion of Gallifrey]] under Commander [[Stor]] of the [[Sontaran Special Space Service|Special Space Service]]. ([[TV]]: [[The Invasion of Time (TV story)|The Invasion of Time]]) Some Sontarans, however, had tried to get involved in the Time War. ([[AUDIO]]: [[The Sontaran Ordeal (audio story)|The Sontaran Ordeal]], [[The Eternity Cage (audio story)|The Eternity Cage]])
* This story is picked up and continued in [[For the Girl Who Has Everything (short story)]] in the [[The Wintertime Paradox (anthology)]].


==External Links==
== Home video releases ==
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/episodes/S4_04 Official BBC  Website - Episode Guide for '''The Sontaran Stratagem''']
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
File:The Complete David Tennant Years Region 1 US DVD cover.jpg|The Complete David Tennant Years DVD<br />Region 1 US cover
File:Series-4-volume-3.jpg|thumb|Series 4 Volume 2 DVD Cover
File:Series-4-boxset.jpg|thumb|''Doctor Who: The Complete Fourth Series'' DVD cover
File:Bbcdvd-series1234.jpg|thumb|''Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Four'' DVD box-set
File:The Sontarans (box set).jpg|thumb|The Sontarans Box-Set
File:Bbcdvd-series1234567.jpg|thumb|''Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Seven'' DVD box-set
</gallery>


* This story was released in the [[Series 4 (Doctor Who 2005)|Series 4]] DVD box set in November 2008 along with the rest of the series.
* It was released as Series 4 Volume 2 in a vanilla edition with ''[[The Poison Sky (TV story)|The Poison Sky]]'', ''[[The Doctor's Daughter (TV story)|The Doctor's Daughter]]'' and ''[[The Unicorn and the Wasp (TV story)|The Unicorn and the Wasp]]''.
== External links ==
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/episodes/S4_04 Official BBC Website - Episode Guide for '''The Sontaran Stratagem''']
{{dwrefguide|who_tv36.htm|The Sontaran Stratagem}}
* {{briefhistory|serials/2008de.html|The Sontaran Stratagem}}
* {{locguide|sontaranstratagem|The Sontaran Stratagem}}
== Footnotes ==
{{reflist}}
{{DWTV}}
{{Sontaran stories}}
{{Sontaran stories}}
{{Series 4}}
{{UNIT stories}}{{TitleSort}}
 
[[Category:Doctor Who (2005) television stories]]
[[Category:Series 4 (Doctor Who) stories]]
[[Category:2008 television stories]]
[[Category:UNIT television stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in 2009]]
[[Category:Stories set in London]]
[[Category:Stories set in Chiswick]]
[[Category:Stories set in England]]
[[Category:Stories set in Richmond]]
[[Category:Sontaran television stories]]
[[Category:Television stories that use Murray Gold's 2nd main theme]]
[[Category:The Monster Collection: The Sontarans stories]]


[[Category:Tenth Doctor episodes|Sontaran]]
[[fr:The Sontaran Stratagem]]
[[Category:Sontaran episodes|Sontaran Strategem]]
[[it:The Sontaran Stratagem (TV)]]
[[Category:UNIT episodes|Sontaran Strategem]]
[[pt:The Sontaran Stratagem]]
[[Category:2008 television stories|Sontaran]]
[[Category:Stories set in 2009|Sontaran]]
[[Category:Stories set in London|Sontaran]]
[[Category:Missing Planets arc]]

Latest revision as of 10:30, 4 September 2024

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The Sontaran Stratagem was the fourth episode of series 4 of Doctor Who.

It was the first appearance of the Sontarans in the revived series and saw the reappearance of Martha as a recurring guest character following the next two episodes.

Also of note was the casting of the Sontarans. As well as featuring the return of Christopher Ryan in a new role, this episode featured the first Doctor Who appearance of Dan Starkey, seen here as Commander Skorr. Primarily recognised later as Commander Strax, a friend of the Doctor, he would go on to appear in various other roles, several of them also Sontaran, in both the TV series and Big Finish Productions' audio dramas during the years that would follow.

Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]

Fifty-two people across the world in eleven different time zones die at the exact same time. The only connection: they all have ATMOS installed in their vehicles. Martha Jones, now a UNIT medic, summons the Tenth Doctor back to modern-day Earth to help figure out why, but an old enemy lies in wait...

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Boy genius Luke Rattigan and his students toss out reporter Jo Nakashima and her notes from the Rattigan Academy. She angrily protests, claiming that her investigations of ATMOS, Rattigan's invention, have led her to believe it is dangerous. An uninterested Rattigan allows her to leave. However, upon returning inside, he contacts his mysterious employer and recommends Jo's "termination". His employer reminds him they don't take orders from "humans", but Rattigan replies that he said "recommend", and the employer agrees to terminate Jo.

Sometime later, Jo is driving in her car, which is fitted with an ATMOS-issue Satnav. She leaves a message for Colonel Mace of UNIT, asking him to check out several recent deaths that have occurred in ATMOS-equipped cars and to pinpoint the times. After crossing a bridge, her ATMOS navigation instructions lead her car to turn right and stop at the bank of a river. Jo is confused, as she told ATMOS to take her to UNIT Headquarters. She's about to exit the vehicle and find her own way, when the car doors lock themselves and the transmission locks itself into the drive position. Jo screams helplessly as the car accelerates towards the bank and goes flying, landing in the river, where it sinks with her inside, causing her to drown.

Meanwhile, Donna is flying the TARDIS with mixed results while the Tenth Doctor watches closely, warning her not to get too close to the 1980s. Donna sarcastically wonders if she's going to put a dent in them. ("Well, someone did," the Doctor mutters to himself) He receives a call from a mobile phone on the console, belonging to former companion Martha Jones. When he answers, Martha greets him happily on the other end of the line and tells him that she's bringing him back to Earth.

The TARDIS materialises in an alley, where Martha is waiting. She and the Doctor joyfully reunite, although he grows trepidatious when he introduces Martha to Donna, expecting them to start fighting. Martha and Donna, however, get along almost immediately by making jokes at the Doctor's expense. Donna is the first to notice Martha is wearing a ring on her finger and congratulates Martha, who explains she's now engaged to Tom Milligan and, thanks to the Doctor's recommendation, has a job with UNIT as a medical officer. Their interlude is interrupted when Martha receives a call on a walkie-talkie and gives the all-clear to execute "Operation Blue Sky." Nearby, UNIT forces raid an ATMOS factory and arrest the workers. Unbeknownst to them, Luke Rattigan's mysterious employer is monitoring the raid from afar, and ridicules the soldiers' primitive fabrics and weapons.

Martha leads the Doctor and Donna into a lorry containing a mobile UNIT headquarters, and introduces the Doctor to Colonel Mace, who knows all about the Time Lord from UNIT files. The Doctor isn't impressed with the overly military "new" UNIT, while Donna, already unsettled by how comfortable Martha seems in her new role among soldiers, compares UNIT's handling of civilian workers in the ATMOS factory to Guantanamo Bay.

Martha and Mace explain the reason behind the raid: just the day before, fifty-two people were simultaneously poisoned to death in their cars across the world. Martha has checked the biopsies and found the unknown toxin had left the victims' bodies immediately. The cars in question are of different makes and models, but are all fitted with ATMOS - which stands for ATMospheric Omission System. Donna, who has heard of the system before, aids Martha and Mace in explaining to the Doctor that the new technology reduces carbon emissions from vehicle exhaust fumes to zero. UNIT suspects that such an incredible feat of engineering is alien in origin, and the Doctor theorises that the environmentally-friendly technology could be concealing a weapon, with the 800 million cars on Earth as its arsenal.

Meanwhile, two UNIT soldiers, Privates Harris and Gray, are exploring the lower corridors of the ATMOS factory when they find two ATMOS workers guarding a door. Rattigan's secret employer remotely orders the two workers, who seem to be in a hypnotic trance, to allow the soldiers entry. The two soldiers enter a mysteriously-lit chamber with an armoured vat and hear something alive banging underneath. While the nervous Gray attempts to call for back-up, the more self-assured and inquisitive Harris opens the container to find it is filled with a bubbling green chemical solution. Submerged within is a featureless human shape with an umbilical cord running down its back; it reacts to their presence but shows no signs of aggression.

As Harris figures it must be a cloning tank and someone is growing a body, a squat figure in a domed helmet and full body armour appears in the room and praises Harris's skills of deduction, while belittling Gray's overly-cautious instincts as "smell[ing] of sweat and fear". The arrogant Harris repeatedly insults the warrior's height, provoking him into shooting a bolt of energy from a staff which disables the private's legs. Gray is then goaded into firing his submachine gun, which only clicks as the warrior reveals the room is contained within a cordolaine signal that excites the copper surface of the bullet and causes expansion in the barrel, rendering the soldiers' guns useless, as well as blocking their radio signals. In desperation, Gray raises his gun to physically attack the figure, who retaliates by paralysing him in turn and motions the two ATMOS workers inside to prepare the two UNIT privates for his stratagem. When asked for a name, he identifies himself as General Staal of the Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet, known as "Staal the Undefeated", and finally removes his helmet to reveal a slimy brown face underneath which horrifies the incapacitated privates.

The Doctor examines one of the ATMOS devices under Martha's watchful eye and concludes it is advanced but not alien technology. His dismissive attitude toward Mace's military background prompts Martha to defend the colonel; after leaving the Doctor, she has tried to use his influence as a force for good and is working with UNIT on her own terms. Donna, meanwhile, has been using her own temp skills to go over the personnel records. She returns with the Sick Days file, which is empty: no employees at the factory have called in sick for months, if ever, which is even more suspicious.

The Doctor and Mace discuss Luke Rattigan, the renowned creator of the ATMOS system who now runs the Rattigan Academy outside London as a school for the exceptionally gifted. The Doctor decides to pay Rattigan a visit and Mace assigns him an escort, private Ross Jenkins. Meanwhile, Donna and Martha have a chance to chat, and Donna is left profoundly concerned when Martha warns her that life with the Doctor can have devastating consequences, and that her own family suffered because she didn't tell them about her involvement with the Doctor.

In the factory basement, Staal bestows the same hypnotic programming on Gray and Harris as the ATMOS workers, assigns them orders and then returns to the Sontarans' ship via a nearby teleport pod. As the Doctor prepares to head to the Rattigan Academy with Jenkins in a jeep, he is approached by Donna who tells him that she's going home. Thinking that she is leaving for good, the Doctor laments the many places they could have travelled together and thanking her for saving his life in more ways than one, until he figures out she only intends to pay a brief visit to her mother and granddad, and is roundly mocked by Donna for his misinterpretation.

Acting on Colonel Mace's orders, Martha speaks to a Polish factory worker named Trepper and finds he is little more than an automaton with an alarmingly rapid heartbeat as he tells her in an emotionless monotone that he came over from Poland just to work, and that he works 24 hours a day. A disturbed Martha goes to report her findings to Mace, when she is intercepted by privates Harris and Gray. Under the pretence of escorting her to the colonel, the two take her down to the basement and into the cloning chamber. Martha realises too late she has been led into a trap, and screams as the brainwashed UNIT soldiers restrain her inside.

The Doctor and Jenkins drop Donna off in Chiswick, and she thinks back on her recent adventures as she walks down her street to her home, where her grandfather Wilfred is waiting with open arms. In the Nobles' kitchen, Donna tells Wilf about her travels; she learns that it's been a few days since the Adipose incident. Her grandfather takes it well, despite some concern for her safety, but warns her not to tell her mother, Sylvia. When Sylvia comes in, she mocks Donna's claims of travelling as "gallivanting around" and scolds her for the trick with the keys; which she did find after all.

On their way to the Rattigan Academy, the Doctor notes that even the UNIT jeeps are equipped with ATMOS. Jenkins claims that UNIT has been watching Rattigan for some time but until his system is proven to be dangerous, the government refuses to remove ATMOS from vehicles. They arrive at the academy to find Luke waiting for them. Despite the "Hitler Youth"-style training regime his students are subjected to, the Doctor is excited by the science experiments being conducted inside the labs, all of which seem centred on terraforming a planet. The insecure Luke feels threatened by the Time Lord's intellect and although he sympathises with the difficulties of being a genius, the Doctor notes that the young man couldn't have created such advanced equipment - such as the large piece of tunnel-like sculpture he keeps in his reception area.

The Doctor stumbles upon the Sontarans

The Doctor triggers a control on the piece of "art", revealing it as a teleport pod, and finds himself transported to the war room onboard the Sontaran spaceship. He teleports back when they notice him, but General Staal follows in pursuit and makes it through before the Doctor sabotages the pod with his sonic screwdriver. By displaying a level of understanding about Sontarans far beyond that of humans, the Doctor prompts Staal into removing his helmet and ridicules his honour. Realising who he's up against, the Time Lord uses a racquet to bounce a squash ball off the teleport pod and hit Staal's probic vent, the Sontarans' one weakness. A stunned Staal collapses, enabling the Doctor and Jenkins to make their escape while he recovers. Rather than pursue them, Staal uses his energy rod to repair the teleporter and returns to his ship with Luke. With 400 million cars converted with ATMOS devices, he has his second-in-command Commander Skorr, "the Bloodbringer", begin the invasion.

Skorr teleports down to the factory basement and confronts a captured Martha, for whom the Sontarans have prepared something more sophisticated than the hypnotic programming they used on the factory drones and the privates. Sure enough, to Martha's horror, the humanoid creature inside the vat emerges from the liquid as a naked replica of herself. Ignoring her protests, Skorr lulls Martha into an unconscious state and begins transferring her memories into the clone.

Luke suggests using the ATMOS to kill the Doctor, confusing Staal, as Luke had previously told him the Doctor hadn't given his name. Staal recalls the legends of the Last Great Time War, which claim that the Doctor led the Time Lords into battle, and becomes elated at the idea of wiping out an old enemy of the Sontarans alongside Earth. As the Doctor and Jenkins begin to return to the ATMOS factory, the Sontarans track their progress through the ATMOS SatNav device in their UNIT jeep and steer it into the river. Finding all the doors deadlock-sealed, the Doctor manages to override the device by reverse psychology: he instructs it to do what it's doing anyway so it will disregard his orders and do the opposite. It stops just short of the river and allows the Doctor and Jenkins to jump out. They dive for cover, expecting an explosion, which turns out to be anticlimactic as the ATMOS just sparks and shorts out.

With the ATMOS signal gone, Luke and Staal assume that the Doctor is dead. Luke assures the general that the initial test run resulting in the fifty-two dead car drivers was successful, and they are ready to unleash the ATMOS devices on a wider scale. Back on Earth, Skorr briefs the Martha clone, who has stripped the original of her clothes and engagement ring to maintain the disguise, and sends it out with the brainwashed Harris and Gray to sabotage UNIT from the inside.

The Doctor reunites with Donna at her home in Chiswick while Jenkins goes to find a vehicle without ATMOS so they can get back to UNIT headquarters. As the Doctor and Donna inspect the ATMOS device on the Nobles' car, they are joined in the driveway by Wilfred, who recognises the Doctor as the same man who disappeared in front of him on Christmas Eve. However, he takes this and the knowledge the Doctor is an alien in his stride, and the two introduce themselves properly. Sylvia, however, is less than impressed to recognise him as the same person who caused so much trouble at Donna's aborted wedding.

The Doctor uses Donna's mobile to call UNIT and speaks with Martha, unaware he is talking to her clone. She promises to pass on his warning about Sontaran invasion, but after ringing off, assures Mace that there is no cause for alarm. The Doctor then resumes his examination of the ATMOS in Donna's car, only to trigger a hidden device exposing gas nozzles. The Sontaran lieutenant, Skree, detects the converter's activation aboard the Sontaran ship, leading Staal to realise the Doctor is still alive. He is delighted, looking forward to a glorious battle, and orders the invasion to begin and the Sontaran ships close in.

The Doctor realises the gas fumes coming from the car are poisonous and Wilfred tries to move it off the street, but at the same time, Staal orders all the ATMOS converters to be activated and every one deadlocked. As Wilfred gets in the car, the doors suddenly lock themselves and the engine starts on its own. Inside, Wilf becomes engulfed in the poisonous gas as the Doctor and Donna try to disable the ATMOS to get him out. All over the world, cars begin emitting the toxic gas into the atmosphere, with their owners unable to stop them. At the factory, the UNIT soldiers try to destroy their ATMOS-fitted cars by shooting at them, while Martha's clone and her Sontaran-controlled escorts look on impassively.

Meanwhile, Wilf begins to choke as the Doctor's desperate efforts to get him out of the car fail. Sylvia hurries back inside the house as car alarms are set off all along the street and the other parked cars begin emitting the gas. The Doctor can only watch helplessly while Donna's entire street is buried in the deadly fog. Up above, General Staal leads Rattigan and his Sontaran troops in a war chant as the invasion begins.

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Uncredited cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

General production staff

Script department

Camera and lighting department

Art department

Costume department

Make-up and prosthetics

Movement

Casting

General post-production staff

Special and visual effects

Sound



Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.


Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Diseases and illnesses[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Donna is surprised that no ATMOS employees have ever had man flu.

Technology[[edit] | [edit source]]

Individuals[[edit] | [edit source]]

Locations[[edit] | [edit source]]

Planets[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Doctor mentions Cotter Paluni's World as one of the planets he wanted to take Donna.
  • The Doctor also mentions wanting to take Donna to the Diamond Coral Reefs of Kataa Flo Ko.

Species[[edit] | [edit source]]

Time wars[[edit] | [edit source]]

Timeline[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Doctor said he worked with UNIT some time in the 1970s, "or was it the 80s?"

Unified Intelligence Taskforce[[edit] | [edit source]]

Story notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Doctor last saw Martha Jones in the television story Last of the Time Lords. It is not indicated on screen how long it has been for Martha since she last saw the Doctor, although it has been long enough for her to have joined UNIT, obtained her doctorate, become engaged to Tom Milligan and worked with Torchwood. Martha last appeared (chronologically) in A Day in the Death.
  • The Sontarans first appeared in the television serial The Time Warrior and last appeared on a TV broadcast in The Two Doctors, though they did feature in a direct-to-video story, Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans. They also feature in the television stories The Sontaran Experiment and The Invasion of Time. Though physically similar to prior appearances, their uniforms are now blue (though a few Sontarans seen aboard their command ship are seen in armour coloured more like previous versions; however, they still have blue helmets and shoulder pads) and their voices have taken on a more human quality. They are honourable when it comes to the rules of warfare and respect their enemies, but are callous and bloodthirsty.
  • Helen Raynor wrote this episode. Her Series 3 episodes Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks both filled fourth and fifth episode slots in the series. This two-part story also occupies episode four and five.
  • Helen Raynor was originally reluctant to write this story, having read online comments about her previous Dalek two-parter and come away "physically shaking" at the level of vitriol. Russell T Davies convinced her not to take the comments too seriously and to write this story. (REF: The Writer's Tale)
  • This two-parter is Douglas Mackinnon's debut story as the director.
  • When Donna asks the Doctor if it was his influence that turned Martha into "a soldier", a few notes of Donna's theme music can be heard before it segues into the music which plays when the UNIT soldiers appear.
  • Mobile phone company O2 released an ATMOS SatNav phone, possibly based on the devices used in this episode.
  • This show was broadcast during the thirty-fifth anniversary year of the Sontarans.
  • In The Time Warrior the Sontarans were described as "nasty, brutish and short", a reference to Thomas Hobbes. This is the first time that they are shown to actually be shorter than normal human stature.
  • There is a UNIT character called Jenkins, a homage to a famous piece of dialogue: "Jenkins, chap with the wings there Five rounds rapid" from the television story The Dæmons. In the commentary broadcast on BBC7, it was said that "Jenkins" was named for Richard Jenkins, who maintains the BBC's DW website.
  • UNIT has now been rebranded as the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, having previously been known as the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. This followed a request by the United Nations shortly after the series returned to TV in 2005. Nonetheless, Martha still refers to UNIT receiving funding from the United Nations and the latter Children of Earth: Day One indicates that the UN still commands UNIT.
  • When communicating with each other, UNIT use call signs first used in the classic series. These are mostly based on greyhound racing. Personnel are usually designated a Greyhound call sign and a base of operations is known as a Trap.
  • Donna makes reference to the terrorist prisoner camps at Guantanamo Bay. This is one of the first references in the revived Doctor Who to the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Similarly, Martha refers to UNIT's funding being "in the name of homeworld security", a deliberate reference to the Department of Homeland Security established in the US after 9/11.
  • The cloning vat in this story is the fountain from The Fires of Pompeii, redressed. The table that is used to hold the real Martha is used in the Torchwood episode Cyberwoman. Also, the metal headgear that Martha wears at the time looks like the mind probe used in the episode Sleeper.
  • This episode, and its follow-up, The Poison Sky, are the only episodes featuring Donna's family to not be written by Russell T Davies.
  • Edward Gomez provided science advice for the writing of this episode.
  • Originally, Geoff Noble was in this episode. Helen Raynor drew upon her own parents' relationship, depicting Geoff being henpecked by Sylvia. However, after filming his scenes for Partners in Crime, it had become clear that Howard Attfield was extremely ill with cancer. After consulting with the actor's wife, Russell T Davies decided to replace him with Wilf. One draft explained that Geoff was unwell.
  • Phil Collinson did not produce this episode. While he took time off, Susie Liggat filled in for him.
  • The UNIT driver Ross Jenkins is a shout-out to script assistant Ross Sutherland and New Media assistant producer Richard Jenkins.
  • Russell T Davies saw the story as an opportunity to finally put UNIT centre-stage. In particular, he was keen to draw a contrast between their approach and the Doctor's more pacifist brand of heroism, because he felt that the Doctor's association with the Taskforce had seemed almost hypocritical in the past.
  • Russell T Davies wanted a key hook for the adventure to be something topical yet seemingly mundane. Originally, this was going to be a new kind of chimney, which would be attached to every home as part of a purported effort to cleanse the atmosphere of pollution. As Helen Raynor developed her narrative, however, it was decided to combine the notion of green technology with the newfound popularity of satellite navigation in automobiles. There had been several recent reports of satnav devices giving drivers incorrect information, leading to accidents and even near-fatalities. It was agreed that modern viewers, especially children, would be better able to relate to a pollution-fighting satnav than a chimney.
  • Initially, cloning was going to be a much more prominent aspect of the story, with the ATMOS factory workers all being clones. Russell T Davies felt that this element would be more effective in small doses, however, which led to the introduction of the cloned Martha.
  • Luke's surname was originally Marlow, in reference to a young fan of Helen Raynor's acquaintance; it was changed to Rattigan, which had been an early name for Miss Foster in Partners in Crime, and had previously been used by Russell T Davies on the soap opera Revelations.
  • The reporter's surname was initially Rosser instead of Nakashima.
  • A long-simmering issue which Russell T Davies decided to confront was UNIT's name. Following its mention in Aliens of London, the BBC was made aware that the real United Nations was now concerned about being associated with a fictional entity, and was especially wary of any confusion which might arise from people encountering online references to UNIT. Davies' initial reaction was simply to avoid any explanation of the UNIT acronym, but he no longer felt that this approach was viable. Having explored a range of options, it was finally agreed that the organisation would now be identified as the Unified Intelligence Taskforce.
  • This two-parter was originally designated Block Four of the recording schedule. However, when Block Three - Partners in Crime and The Fires of Pompeii - was split into two, it became Block Five instead.
  • The task of redesigning the Sontarans fell to Neill Gorton and his team at Millennium FX. Gorton felt that John Friedlander's original facemask design required little modernisation. In greater need of updating was the Sontaran armour, with the quilted texture used in the Seventies now seeming very dated, although both Gorton and Russell T Davies were determined to preserve the dome-like helmets which perfectly matched the shape of the Sontaran head. Recalling that Linx had been mistaken for a knight in The Time Warrior, Gorton strove to give the Sontaran armour a metallic feel.
  • To play the various Sontarans, a number of relatively short-statured artistes were required, only two of whom would be seen without their helmets - Christopher Ryan and Dan Starkey.
  • Dan Starkey was a fresh graduate from drama school when he was cast as Commander Skorr.
  • Rotherham-born Ryan Sampson was twenty-three when he played the eighteen year old American Luke Rattigan.
  • Martha's departure allowed Russell T Davies to change the character's personality. In her reappearance, she is more mature and equal to the Doctor, as opposed to the third series, in which she was in love with him.
  • The writers debated several aspects of Martha's character, her status and reaction to Donna in particular. Helen Raynor elected to emphasise Martha's medical career over her military career, and avoided a "handbags at dawn" scenario because she felt it would rehash Rose Tyler's initial opinion of Sarah Jane Smith in School Reunion.
  • The car going into the river was the first time a car-cannon had been used since 2005, and was required to be completed in one shot. The car fired into the canal was removed immediately afterwards to clear the shipping route.
  • The scenes involving the cloning tank were filmed in a Welsh shampoo factory and reused a prop from The Fires of Pompeii as the tank which contained the clone.
  • Russell T Davies and Freema Agyeman enjoyed the scenes set in the cloning room; Agyeman liked playing an "evil companion", who she and Davies felt made the real Martha "warmer", and Davies thought Privates Gray and Harris discovering the tank in a darkened room was "classic Doctor Who".

Ratings[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • 7.06 million viewers (UK final)[5]

Filming locations[[edit] | [edit source]]

Studio[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Upper Boat Studios, Trefforest
  • BBC Broadcasting House, Llandaff

Location[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Margam Country Park, Port Talbot
  • Usk Valley Business Park, Pontypool
  • Nant Fawr Road, Cardiff
  • Orion Electric, Port Talbort
  • Roath Basin, Cardiff Docks

Production errors[[edit] | [edit source]]

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
  • The UNIT mobile lorry is much bigger on the inside than the outside. This was explained in the next episode's commentary.
  • When the TARDIS lands where the Doctor and Martha are supposed to meet, as the camera pans, you can see that the inside panel of the TARDIS has been removed and the gap attached to the building behind it, to give the TARDIS that "bigger on the inside" look without the use of a green screen.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Home video releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Complete David Tennant Years DVD Region 1 US cover

    The Complete David Tennant Years DVD
    Region 1 US cover

  • Series 4 Volume 2 DVD Cover

    Series 4 Volume 2 DVD Cover

  • Doctor Who: The Complete Fourth Series DVD cover

    Doctor Who: The Complete Fourth Series DVD cover

  • Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Four DVD box-set

    Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Four DVD box-set

  • The Sontarans Box-Set

    The Sontarans Box-Set

  • Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Seven DVD box-set

    Doctor Who: The Complete Series One to Seven DVD box-set

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ Agyeman also plays the clone of Martha Jones.
  2. ↑ Profile Joan Williams at Casting Collective
  3. ↑ http://www.jondavey.com/acting.php
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://guide.doctorwhonews.net/role.php?code=6230&detail=listing&pg=dwm
  5. ↑ Doctor Who - consolidated ratings
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v • e
Sontaran stories
For the purposes of this list, a "Sontaran story" is one in which one living, authentic Sontaran plays a part within the confines of the story, outside of flashbacks to previous stories and cliffhangers that lead into the following story. For this reason, stories such as The Halloween Apocalypse and Survivors of the Flux are not counted due to the Sontarans' appearance being defined by their importance to following stories. Stories like The End of Time and The Time of the Doctor are also not included due to the Sontarans' appearance being no consequence to the plot of the story. Stories featuring Strax of the Paternoster Gang are only included on the Paternoster Gang story template.
Television
Broadcast
Home video
Audio
Prose
Comics
Video games
Complete list of appearances
v • e
UNIT stories
TV
Doctor Who
Major
Minor
Torchwood
SJA
PROSE
U.N.I.T.
website
UNIT Press
Briefings
Operations
Board
Candy Jar UNIT series
Operation Wildcat and Other Stories
Operation Fall-Out and Other Stories
More to be added
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