The Sontarans was the fourth and final story of the third season of The Early Adventures.
Publisher's summary
The TARDIS arrives on a moon-sized asteroid orbiting two gas giants. With an amazing view, it's a chance for the Doctor, Steven and Sara to unwind after their recent adventures.
But they quickly find themselves in the midst of battle — on one side: a familiar group of space-suited soldiers — members of the Space Security Service. On the other: strange, squat aliens in body armour.
Surviving the initial hostilities, the Doctor and his friends discover that the SSS squad is on a terrifying mission. With many lives at stake, they have to venture deep inside the asteroid in search of a hideous weapon. But who can they trust in the battle against these Sontarans?
Plot
The Sontarans (1)
to be added
The Descent (2)
to be added
The Blind City (3)
to be added
The Rule of War (4)
to be added
Cast
- Steven/The Doctor/Narrator - Peter Purves
- Sara Kingdom - Jean Marsh
- Corporal Ellis/Slite/Shrok/Stack/Commander - Dan Starkey
- Captain Daphne Papas - Jemma Churchill
- Corporal Gage - John Banks
- Tinder/Human Soldier - Rosanna Miles
Uncredited Cast
References
- Steven knows of the Sontarans from his years as a pilot, although he never encountered them. Sara knows of them from the histories of this event.
- The Doctor claims to have fought in a war.
- Slite claims that humour improves human efficiency for war by up to 84%.
- Sara and Papas both joined the Space Security Service at the age of 7.
Notes
- This is the Doctor's first encounter with the Sontarans. In their first appearance in The Time Warrior, the Third Doctor's dialogue makes it clear that he already knows of the Sontarans, the Rutan Host, and their war. In The Two Doctors, the Second Doctor was also familiar with the Sontarans.
- A trailer for this story was released.
- This is part of the series of stories which take place between Episodes 7 and 8 of The Daleks' Master Plan, a narrative gap opened by The Mutation of Time and filled by The Little Drummer Boy, The Anachronauts, Home Truths, The Drowned World, The Guardian of the Solar System, and An Ordinary Life. The Sontarans is the final story in this series of adventures. The ending leads back into Episode 8 of The Daleks' Master Plan, 'Volcano', with another time machine pursuing the TARDIS, while the Daleks make a cameo appearance, preparing to test the Time Destructor back on Kembel.
- The Dalek cameo makes this the fourth audio story to feature both the Daleks and the Sontarans, after The Five Companions, Master of the Daleks and The Eternity Cage.
Continuity
- The Doctor, Steven and Sara still have the taranium core. (TV: The Daleks' Master Plan)
- Steven mentions Natalie Lang. (AUDIO: The Anachronauts)
- Steven explains how he was a prisoner of the Mechonoids (TV: The Chase) after he was shot down by the Krayt. (PROSE: The Empire of Glass)
- The Sontarans also made cameo appearances in The Empire of Glass, although it was not made entirely clear whether the Doctor or Steven were aware of or encountered them.
- Sara recalls her time in 1950s London with Michael and Audrey Newman. (AUDIO: An Ordinary Life)
- The Sontarans come across the Daleks when researching the history of the Mechonoids. (TV: The Chase, COMIC: Eve of War, Impasse, The World That Waits, PROSE: War of the Daleks, Birth of a Legend)
- While interrogated, Steven tells Slite about his recent battle against the Daleks. He ends explaining how he ran into the TARDIS while protected from Dalek fire by a force field. (TV: The Daleks' Master Plan)
- Sara tells Papas that in the future there will be peace "for a time." This period lasts from 3975 until 4000. (TV: The Daleks' Master Plan)
- The Doctor learns about the Sontarans, Rutans and their war. (TV: The Time Warrior, The Two Doctors)
- While talking to the others about war, the First Doctor recalls his adventure to the year 100,000 BC. According to the Doctor, Ian Chesterton had stopped him from murdering a caveman that was slowing them down. (TV: An Unearthly Child) According to another source, it was in fact the Eighth Doctor who dissuaded him from doing so. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors)
- An unidentified time machine, presumed to be a Dalek one, is detected by the TARDIS, while the Daleks prepare to test the Time Destructor. (TV: The Daleks' Master Plan)
External links
- Official The Sontarans page at bigfinish.com