Epsilon/A Fix with Sontarans

	Sixth Doctor
	Tegan, Gareth
	Group Marshal Nathan
	The Doctor's TARDIS
	Eric Saward
	Marcus Mortimer
	John Nathan-Turner, Roger Ordish
	23 February 1985 20 June 2022
	BBC One
	1x10 minute minisode (original) 1x8 minute minisode (recut)
	THWR 107, 234
Doctor Who television stories
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Next →	Timelash
Jim'll Fix It
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Fix stories
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A Fix with Sontarans was a Doctor Who mini-episode specially written for the BBC's children's programme Jim'll Fix It, first broadcast on BBC One on 23 February 1985. As described by Jim'll Fix It host Jimmy Savile, the minisode was a "specially written episode with two Doctor Whos in it."

It featured the Sixth Doctor, Tegan Jovanka and Gareth Jenkins facing off a duo of Sontarans, using costumes created for The Two Doctors ^[+]Loading...["The Two Doctors (TV story)"].

For the release of the Doctor Who: The Collection — Season 22 blu-ray boxset, a re-edited version of A Fix with Sontarans was included as a bonus feature, differing from the original in several ways; the two minutes of footage of Savile from the original were removed as an ethical choice following the controversy surrounding him, and the fourth wall breaking ending that featured Savile was replaced with an all-new CG scene depicting a fleet of Sontaran ships.

Plot

The Sixth Doctor is operating the controls on the TARDIS console, accidentally transporting his former companion Tegan Jovanka on board after he pressed the matter transporter by mistake. Despite her annoyance at being transported from Earth, she reluctantly agrees to help when the Doctor reveals that two Sontarans are on board. The Doctor gets Tegan to help shut off all the sources of power, in the knowledge that the Sontarans have a powerful vitrox bomb with them that requires lots of power to detonate. If he cuts off the supply to the power cable they intend to tap into, he hopes that this will lure them into the TARDIS control room; Tegan points out, however, that they don't have anything to defend themselves with once they arrive, which the Doctor hadn't considered. The Doctor tells her that he'll improvise.

The Doctor then tells her to press the blue button, but, given the vague instruction, she presses the wrong blue button. He scolds her, telling Tegan that she has reactivated the matter transporter. The matter transporter, that seems to be influenced by what the Doctor is thinking, begins to work, transporting someone, not unlike the Doctor, would come and help him and Tegan. He guides Tegan's hand to the correct button and turns down the power, isolating it to control room. The matter transporter finishes, materialising a young human boy. The Doctor and Tegan hide, coming out after a few seconds, though the boy makes them jump by shouting "boo!" The Doctor asks the boy who he is while hiding behind Tegan, and the boy introduces himself as Gareth Jenkins. While Tegan wants to send Gareth back to Earth given the danger, the Doctor tells her it isn't possible due to the Sontarans and their bomb. Gareth offers to help them against the Sontarans, but while the Doctor doubts him, he reluctantly agrees given that the Sontarans will be arriving any minute. He tells Tegan to fetch a box, which she does, despite her indignant protesting.

The Sontarans recognise Gareth's name.

After Tegan places the box on the floor, the Doctor and Gareth begin to activate a series of controls on the TARDIS control console, and after a short while, the energiser in the console is fully primed, meaning that a trap has been laid for the Sontarans. Just then, the open-skinned Sontarans burst through the doors in a shower of smoke and sparks, and the Doctor, furious, shouts at them for destroying his "beautiful" doors, especially since they weren't even locked. The subordinate demands that the Doctor treats Group Marshal Nathan with respect, which he feigns to agree to. The Doctor, in turn, introduces himself, Tegan, and Gareth; Nathan immediately recognises the identity of Gareth despite his young age, pleased at capturing a bigger prize than he originally anticipated. Nathan instructs his subordinate to kill Gareth, as they know that a Gareth Jenkins led the Earth Defence Force against the Sontarans in their invasion of Earth in 2001, in Gareth's future. Having no way to disaude the two Sontarans from killing Gareth, even when he points out the name could be a coincidence, the Doctor tells Gareth to activate the trap that they set up, gas kills the Sontarans horribly, causing green blood to spew from their mouths, with steam rising from their convulsing bodies, and for their bodies to shrivel up. Tegan and the Doctor congratulate Gareth on killing the two Sontarans, and the Doctor asks how Gareth knew where all the TARDIS controls were. Gareth responds: "Well, I've seen you fly the TARDIS on telly."

1985 ending

Suddenly, Jimmy Savile appears on the TARDIS scanner, to Tegan's worry, and she informs the duo of the development. Inexplicably, Saville then enters the TARDIS, with the Doctor presenting Gareth with a Jim'll Fix It medal and Saville presenting him with the prop "BBC meson gun", as used by the Sontarans.

2022 ending

Suddenly, the Tenth Sontaran Battle Brigade appears on the TARDIS scanner, to Tegan's worry, and she informs the duo of the development. The Doctor exclaims, "this is just the beginning!"

Cast

• The Doctor - Colin Baker
• Tegan Jovanka - Janet Fielding
• Gareth Jenkins - himself
• Group Marshal Nathan - Clinton Greyn
• Sontaran - Tim Raynham
• Jimmy Savile - himself

Crew

• Videotape editor - Chris Booth
• Vision mixer - Sue Collins
• Camera supervisor - Stuart Lindley
• Technical co-ordinator - Bob Warman
• Make-up designer - Monica Ludkin
• Production team - Mark Jones, Romaine Lancaster, Sara Wookey
• Researchers - Jeremy Geelan, Gill Elliott
• Lighting director - Peter Wesson
• Visual effects - Jim Francis
• Sound supervisor - Richard Chamberlain
• Special sound - Dick Mills, BBC Radiophonic Workshop
• Writer - Eric Saward
• Designer - Gwen Evans
• Production manager - Helen Fielding
• Producers - John Nathan-Turner, Roger Ordish
• Director - Marcus Mortimer

Worldbuilding

• The Doctor hurriedly activates the lateral balance plane elevation cones and disconnects the relay and the bypass drones, but accidentally activates the matter transporter instead. Before seeing Tegan arrive, he is concerned he has brought a "foul evil" onboard the TARDIS.
• The Doctor tells Tegan he regenerated. though she doesn't think it's much of an improvement.
• Tegan was about to have lunch before she was transported.
• Tegan considers herself to be "all charm, all heart", while the Doctor thinks she's "all mouth".
• The Doctor considers the Sontarans to be the third most evil force in the galaxy, after the Daleks and the Cybermen.
• The Doctor instructs Tegan to disconnect the hydraulic rams and to operate the vengol solenoid.
• Tegan asks if Sontarans are afraid of the dark when told cutting the power will shut off the lights.
• The Doctor suspects that the Sontarans might try to tap into the main power cable.
• The Doctor believes he has great courage, vast intellect, and incredible perspicacity.
• Tegan initially thinks that Gareth is a sort of "mini-clone".
• The Doctor tells Gareth to set the coaxial stabilisers, to charge astral inducers, to prime the mandrel condensers, and to co-ordinate the vespian transmogrifier ratchet override flange simulator. Tegan doesn't believe that such controls exists, believing he made the names up, but the Doctor disproves her claim when Gareth uses the controls.
• Turner wields a baton and the subordinate Sontaran carries a bladed weapon.
• Group Marshal Nathan is from the Tenth Sontaran Battle Brigade.
• The Doctor is aware that the Sontarans invaded Earth in 2001.

Notes

• Despite rumours to the contrary, the young Gareth Jenkins in this broadcast is not the same Gareth Jenkins who worked as a composer, audio engineer and actor for Big Finish in the 2000s.
• Gareth Jenkins reunited with Colin Baker for the first time since filming at a signing event in January 2013.
• In 2015, Gareth Jenkins was interviewed by Toby Hadoke for Round 107 of Toby Hadoke's Who's Round.
• Due to the Jimmy Savile controversy, the story is no longer available as an extra on the DVD release of The Two Doctors as of 2014. It was, however, edited and re-added to the blu-ray as part of the release of The Collection: Season 22 in 2022.
• When Tegan arrives, the Doctor explains he has regenerated; since Tegan witnessed this before, she is not surprised. She is also shown to be somewhat familiar with the TARDIS controls, in keeping with her earlier appearances.
• However, Tegan is unfamiliar with Sontarans, which is contradicted by the audio drama Heroes of Sontar and and the short story Sontar's Little Helpers, which depict Tegan prior to the events of this story encountering Sontarans.

Errors

• Tegan is wearing a flight attendant's uniform similar to the one she wore in the series, even though she lost her job at the airline sometime between Time-Flight and Arc of Infinity. Though the short story Fixing a Hole, which acted as a sequel, addressed this by having Tegan say she had to call in favours to get back her job.
• Whilst Tegan questions the Doctor about the vespian transmogrifier ratchet override flange simulator, a boom shadow is seen on the TARDIS console.
• Because it was recorded decades after the initial filming, the Doctor's voice in the 2022 recut is noticeably more hoarse during the last line.

Production

• The format of Jim'll Fix It involved viewers asking requests of the host, Jimmy Savile. The show had wanted to do a Doctor Who fix for "about four years", at one point almost getting the Terileptils' android from The Visitation to do someone's homework, before new director Marcus Mortimer approached John Nathan-Turner. It was at Nathan-Turner's insistence that any sketch be in character and he also suggested Eric Saward write it.
• Gareth Jenkins had his own Sixth Doctor costume made for him by his grandmother and asked to appear in a Doctor Who story as the Doctor.
• Gareth Jenkins' letter to Jimmy Savile read as follows:

Dear Jim,

I like Dr. Who very much because I have got Colin Baker's Doctor Who suit made by my Nan and a tent TARDIS. Please could I see Colin Baker and go inside the TARDIS.

Yours sincerely

Gareth Jenkins (Age 8).

• Group Marshal Nathan and his subordinate, unnamed on-screen but referred to as "Turner" in the script, were a sly reference to the then-current Doctor Who producer John Nathan-Turner. This happened in rehearsal: the script called him "Group Marshal Stern".
• Janet Fielding was asked to participate in the sketch when it was discovered that Nicola Bryant was out of the country on holiday and unavailable to fill her role as the Doctor's then-current assistant, Peri Brown. She wore the flight attendant uniform she had worn in Logopolis and during most of Season 19, though since leaving the series her hair had grown much longer and she had bleached it blonde. Both of these issues were adressed in Fixing a Hole, which acted as a sequel.
• Gareth Jenkins learned all his lines but Colin Baker hadn't had time, so he wrote out some of them on the TARDIS console as Jon Pertwee had — even joking he "did a Pertwee". He claimed in interview that he'd improvised technobabble only for Gareth to repeat "not what I said but what he'd learned", though in the final version, Gareth does repeat Baker's lines. Again according to Baker, multiple retakes were necessary because of the differences between what they'd said.
• Colin Baker later told The Daily Mail that he found Jimmy Savile "creepy and patronising", with "none of the professional respect that one would expect to be shared when two programmes combine for a special purpose". "I recall clearly the disappointment I felt for the young boy [Gareth] for whom I suspect the whole experience was daunting and overwhelming."

Continuity

• Tegan is depicted being familiar with regeneration, given she saw the Fourth Doctor go through the process in TV: Logopolis ^[+]Loading...["Logopolis (TV story)"].
• This story is one of many to depict the Doctor Who series, of some sort, existing in-universe. Another notable example is the reference in TV: Remembrance of the Daleks ^[+]Loading...["Remembrance of the Daleks (TV story)"].
• PROSE: Fixing a Hole ^[+]Loading...["Fixing a Hole (short story)"] was written as a sequel to this story; even its name was a reference to the short story fixing the plot holes in this story. Additionally, it acted as thematic closure to Tegan's storyline, as the Sixth Doctor accidentally took her back to Heathrow Airport, which was a subversion of the Doctor continuingly failing to return Tegan to Heathrow in Season 19, etc.
• The Mandrel Condensers were later referenced in PROSE: The Giggle ^[+]Loading...["The Giggle (novelisation)"] and the Earth Defence Force in AUDIO: The Children of the Future ^[+]Loading...["The Children of the Future (audio story)"].

Home media releases

Doctor Who: The Collection — Season 22

The mini-episode was originally included as a bonus feature on the 2003 DVD release of The Two Doctors. However, in the wake of widespread allegations of paedophilia against Jimmy Savile, the host of Jim'll Fix It (who appears briefly in the mini-episode), as of 2014 BBC Worldwide has removed it from more recent pressings of the DVD. (Jenkins has said nothing inappropriate happened on A Fix with Sontarans)

The documentary Built for War, included on DVD releases of The Sontaran Experiment, features a discussion of this mini-episode that includes several clips. In its release as part of Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 12, the A Fix with Sontarans segment is edited to remove Savile's image from the TARDIS scanner and cut Baker's subsequent comment alluding to the host's character.

With the release of Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 22, A Fix with Sontarans was again included with the The Two Doctors blu-ray. The mini-episode was edited to remove the entire Jimmy Savile segment from the story, with the documentary also omitting any mention of the host. Instead, the mini-episode had an added scene in place of the cut sequences.

Footnotes