Today’s episode is the 34th for David Tennant as
Doctor and that ties him with Colin Baker. Tennant is now just three episodes
away from matching Sylvester McCoy. I got the most recent edition of Doctor Who
Magazine and on the cover it has the line about how Earth survived 92 invasions
which is an incredible stat. A couple of things have changed in my mind since
watching the previous episode. Firstly there is the introduction of Martha. I
mentioned that Martha’s introduction seemed to be solely so that she could be
cloned. I have to admit that it is quite fun having an evil Martha in the
story. When Martha meets her cloned self it is quite a nice moment and
Another thing that has changed since watching The Sontaran
Stratagem. Rattigan doesn’t seem quite so annoying in this episode. I think
it’s because the inevitability of his demise that makes him seem more normal
than he was in the previous episode. He is abandoned by his followers at the
academy and after his hissy fit he is belittled a bit before redeeming himself
and killing himself and blowing up the Sontaran ship.
The Sontarans plan to turn earth into great big breading
ground is quite a good one. I think that it might have been nicer if the plan
have been made clearer and revealed earlier in this two parter. The idea is the
sort of idea that would have worked quite well as a series finale.
There is a blink and you’ll miss it appearance of Rose. As
the series approaches the half way mark her involvement is going to be more
noticeable. In fact I think it’s the first time since Partners in Crime that
Rose has been on our screens.
Helen Raynor’s previous story was the Daleks two parter in
the previous series which had its moments but I think that this is a stronger
two parter. I thought that Christopher Ryan was a good Sontaran and he was a
good leader. I know this is a strange thing to say but I thought that the
lighting gave the Sontarans a different look which I quite liked. I think that
Robert Holmes would have liked this story because it uses the Sontarans in a
way that compliments his characters.
What is a surprise (still) is the rather cliffhanger style
ending to the episode. Martha has become a companion again although this time
not quite as willing as he was before. I think that the Sontarans have been
bought back and used in a good way. I have appreciated this story much more
than when I watched it in 2008. The design of the Sontarans has been one of the
successes of the story but it’s a story that has managed to bring in a lot of
elements and make it all work. It was quite a shopping list that Helen Raynor
had to deal with and this episode continues the good trend that the series is going
on.
Tomorrows episode is going to be another interesting one.
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