War of the Sontarans (TV story): Difference between revisions

{{Infobox Story

|season number        = Series 13 (Doctor Who)

|featuring            = Mary Seacole

|writer                = [[Chris Chibnall]]

|broadcast date        = [[7 November (releases)|7 November]] [[2021 (releases)|2021]]

|network              = [[BBC One]]<ref>This episode was also simulcast on [[BBC America]], as well as other networks.</ref>

'''''War of the Sontarans''''', prefixed with '''''Chapter Two''''' in the [[title sequence]], was the second episode of [[Series 13 (Doctor Who)|series 13]] of ''[[Doctor Who]]''. It formed the second chapter of the six-part serial ''Doctor Who: Flux''.

The Doctor enters the British Hotel and is welcomed by Seacole again, alongside a [[Great Britain|British]] solider, [[Lieutenant General]] [[Logan (War of the Sontarans)|Logan]] of the [[Light Division]], who is busy planning his advance against the Sontarans. He ignores her cries to avoid conflict at all costs and insists that the Sontarans have always been on Earth; the Doctor reconfirms this by finding [[Sontar (nation)|Sontar]] on a nearby map in the place of [[Russia]] and [[China]]. However, Seacole and Logan vaguely recognise the name 'Russia' and the Doctor concludes that the changes to time must have been relatively recent. However, Logan continues to dismiss her help and Seacole leads her away on her nursing rounds.

* [[Horse (War of the Sontaran)|Horse]] - [[Zaleno]]<ref>https://cultbox.co.uk/news/doctor-who-flux-the-amusing-story-of-how-a-sontaran-commander-got-his-horse</ref>

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== References ==

* [[Inston-Vee Vinder|Vinder]] remembers crashing in his [[escape pod]] towards a [[planet]], then wakes up in a [[hall|hallway]].

* [[Svild]] was hit by a [[cannon|cannonball]] in the back.

* When the Doctor tells [[Mary Seacole]] "half a league onward" as she's about to enter the [[Imperial Sontaran Time Carrier]], she is referencing "[[The Charge of the Light Brigade]]" by [[Alfred Tennyson|Lord Alfred Tennyson]]. This poem brought the [[Crimean War]] into the popular consciousness, dramatising an {{w|Charge of the Light Brigade|actual event}} in which the [[Light Brigade]] marched forward into certain death, surrounded by enemies. In the real world, this happened due to miscommunication, not recklessness. As in the real event, it's implied that they are being commanded by [[nobiliy|titled gentry]], a [[General]] with no prior military expertise ({{w|James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan|Lord Cardigan}} in the one case, and [[Logan]] here).

* The [[Sontaran flag]] symbol resembles the yellow diamond symbol seen on the door of [[Styre]]'s ship in [[TV]]: ''[[The Sontaran Experiment (TV story)|The Sontaran Experiment]]'', which first introduced the [[Sontaran]]s in 1975.

* The TARDIS has escaped [[the Flux]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Halloween Apocalypse (TV story)|The Halloween Apocalypse]]'')

* The [[Second Doctor]] had once stated that he had been to the [[Crimean War]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Evil of the Daleks (TV story)|The Evil of the Daleks]]'') Soldiers from the war were also kidnapped by the [[War Lord]]s. ([[TV]]: ''[[The War Games (TV story)|The War Games]]'')

* The [[Seventh Doctor]] landed during the siege of [[Sevastopol]], where the TARDIS was also damaged, this time by a British Cannonball separating the interior from the exterior. On this occasion, the Doctor and [[Ace]] became prisoners of the [[Russia]]n Empire, whilst [[Hex]] met his childhood hero, [[Florence Nightingale]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Angel of Scutari (audio story)|The Angel of Scutari]]'')

* The [[Twelfth Doctor]] previously helped [[Mary Seacole]] deal with an alien infection. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Charge of the Night Brigade (audio story)|The Charge of the Night Brigade]]'')

* The Thirteenth Doctor once again finds herself subjected to minor sexism due to her female body. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Witchfinders (TV story)|The Witchfinders]]'', ''[[Spyfall (TV story)|Spyfall]]'', ''[[The Haunting of Villa Diodati (TV story)|The Haunting of Villa Diodati]]'')

* Yaz and the Doctor are once again separated, with Yaz making the Doctor promise to find her, hearkening back to when they were separated during the Doctor's imprisonment in the [[Judoon]]. This time, Yaz keeps moving, making active decisions to help those around her, rather than waiting for the Doctor to return. ([[TV]]: ''[[Revolution of the Daleks (TV story)|Revolution of the Daleks]]'') They would be separated again when the Doctor is [[Extraction Squad|recalled]] to [[The Division|Division]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Village of the Angels (TV story)|Village of the Angels]]'', ''[[Survivors of the Flux (TV story)|Survivors of the Flux]]'')

* Yaz asks herself "[[WWTDD|What would the Doctor do?]]", which Swarm mocks. This was a phrase {{Simm}} once said to [[Martha Jones]] as a way of mocking her admiration for the Tenth Doctor. ([[TV]]: ''[[Last of the Time Lords (TV story)|Last of the Time Lords]]'')

* The Doctor mentions having been [[Lord President|President of Gallifrey]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Invasion of Time (TV story)|The Invasion of Time]]'', ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'', ''[[Hell Bent (TV story)|Hell Bent]]'')

* Svild remarks about his [[shame]] at having been injured in battle and the need to face [[Death sentence|execution]] to atone for his sins in battle. This echoes Commander [[Kaagh]]'s own sentiments. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Last Sontaran (TV story)|The Last Sontaran]]'')

* Yaz states that she is "Serving [[Police officer|Officer]] Khan, [[Hallamshire Police]], [[Earth Division]]", referencing her job as a police officer, though she had previously implied to have left Hallamshire Police. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Woman Who Fell to Earth (TV story)|The Woman Who Fell to Earth]]'', ''[[The Halloween Apocalypse (TV story)|The Halloween Apocalypse]]'')

* Dan's parents ask Dan about his disappearance, and also ask what had happened to his house. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Halloween Apocalypse (TV story)|The Halloween Apocalypse]]'')

* The Doctor asks if the Sontarans are the power behind the Flux, only for them to deny responsibility and instead admit to taking advantage of the already present crisis, much like how [[Cyber-Leader One]] described the [[Cybusmen]]'s use of the [[Dalek]]s' [[Void Ship]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Army of Ghosts (TV story)|Army of Ghosts]]'')

* Skaak mentions the [[Lupari]] shielding the Earth from the Flux. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Halloween Apocalypse (TV story)|The Halloween Apocalypse]]'')

* Skaak mentions Commander [[Linx]]'s claim on Earth for the Sontaran Empire. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Time Warrior (TV story)|The Time Warrior]]'')

* The Doctor once again disables someone with her pinky finger using [[Venusian aikido]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Ghost Monument (TV story)|The Ghost Monument]]'', ''[[Kerblam! (TV story)|Kerblam!]]'')

* [[Azure (The Halloween Apocalypse)|Azure]] remembers being at the [[Temple of Atropos]], and {{Spruell}} calls it the place "where it all began". ([[TV]]: ''[[Once, Upon Time (TV story)|Once, Upon Time]]'')

* Much like the [[Tenth Doctor]] with [[Harriet Jones]] regarding the [[Sycorax]], the Thirteenth Doctor shows moral outrage when the retreating Sontarans are massacred by [[Logan (War of the Sontarans)|Logan]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Christmas Invasion (TV story)|The Christmas Invasion]]'') The [[Third Doctor]] was likewise outraged when the [[Silurian]]s were destroyed by [[the Brigadier]], despite them no longer being a threat. ([[TV]]: ''[[Doctor Who and the Silurians (TV story)|Doctor Who and the Silurians]]'')

* [[The Gateway]], which bridges [[E-Space]] and [[N-Space]], was previously noted to have space-time coordinates of zero, as the Doctor here notes of the Temple of Atropos. ([[TV]]: ''[[Warriors' Gate (TV story)|Warriors' Gate]]'')

*[[Thirteenth Doctor|The Doctor]] shushes [[Mary Seacole]] leaving her dumbfounded. [[Eleventh Doctor|The Eleventh Doctor]] used this same trick when he shushed [[Craig Owens|Craig]], [[Alfie Owens|Stormageddon]] and his co-workers at the shop ([[TV]]:[[Closing Time (TV story)|''Closing Time'']])