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| The Story |
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The Doctor receives a phone call from Martha, who needs his help. The day before fifty-two users of
the Atmos system drowned at exactly the same time, and in different time-zones. Working with UNIT (now
the Unified Intelligence Taskforce), she intends to find out why.
The Atmos (Atmospheric Emissions System) system, created by child genius Luke Rattigan, removes the exhaust particulates from vehicles - reducing their harmful emissions to nil. It is installed in 400m cars worldwide, and is fitted as standard to UNIT's fleet of vehicles - including the UNIT Land Rover the Doctor travels in to visit Rattigan himself. Donna takes the opportunity to visit her Mother and Granddad. The Doctor, on his visit to the Rattigan Academy, discovers a teleport device that leads to a Sontaran space craft in Earth's orbit. He quickly rushes back through the teleport and leaves with his UNIT assistant Ross. After a failed attempt on their lives, the Doctor drives back to Donna's house in order to learn more about the system. Whilst her Granddad is locked in the Car, the Sontarans begin their invasion... Ross finds a black cab without an Atmos system. The Doctor and Donna accompany him back to the warehouse. Donna is instructed to wait for the Doctor in the TARDIS, whilst the Doctor tries to prevent a war with the Sontarans. Soon after Donna is inside the TARDIS, the two Sontaran controlled soldiers teleport it aboard the Sontaran's ship - stranding her inside. Colonel Mace is determined to launch a worldwide nuclear strike at the Sontaran's ship against the Doctor's wishes. But the missiles never launch - clone Martha has hacked into the NATO defence system, and has control of the nuclear grid. With the TARDIS captured, a spy amongst the UNIT ranks, and the Sontaran's gas getting ever stronger, the Doctor needs Donna's help to save mankind... |
| Memorable Quotes |
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The Atmos System: This is your final destination.
Donna: He is too skinny for words. You give [the Doctor] a hug, you get a paper cut! Doctor: It's a long time since anyone's said no to you hasn't it?
Doctor: Times like this I could do with the Brigadier. No offence.
Doctor: About you? Oh, from the start. Reduced iris contraction; slight thinning of the hair folicles on the left temple, and frankly you smell! You might as well have worn a T-Shirt saying "Clone". Commander Staal: A warrior doesn't talk, he acts. |
| Editor's Review |
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I have very mixed feelings about The Sontaran Stratagem. It was a decent episode overall, but
it lacked a special something that the previous episodes had given us. Amongst the many problems was the script.
Martha's philosophical lines were tedious last year and remain so. The moment of dialogue where she describes
the Doctor as "fire and ice" is the worst offender.
There was also a lot of dodgy science within the episode. The removal of Carbon Dioxide does not a Carbon-free Car make. Given that this is a widely talked about and discussed fact in the media, it's rather embarrassing that this was not recognised in the script. Worse still, the Production team referred to a Land Rover as a Jeep. They are not the same thing! On the plus side was the acting from most of the cast. The precocious Rattigan is played well. Freema looks to be doing a solid job as Martha's clone, and Donna's interplay with the Doctor is still strong. I hope for a stronger conclusion, but I find that the second of two part stories are often weaker than the first. The Poison Sky bucked that trend slightly, and was generally stronger than the first part. However, there are still many things not to like about it. For one, UNIT are a force that start off utterly useless and unable to handle the situation, which then miraculously convert into a well organised fighting machine - all without the Doctor's help. Other things to cringe about are the poorly placed emotional moments and Rattigan's sudden transformation from complete psycho to well-reasoning martyr. Such a transformation usually takes a while, but in this episode it happens in the blink of an eye. In the case of the former, the moment where the two Marthas meet is quite drawn out and utterly, utterly peripheral to the plot. You may also find the Doctor's "farewell" speech rather unusual. If you are going to have to do something that involves you dying, you keep the goodbye short and painful, and then go and do what you have to do. It would have been no less annoying if a full-on farewell dinner took place. However, there was a nice nod to Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, which the ming-mongs will "squee" about no doubt (no, I don't know what that means either). Already, speculation has started about his return to the show. I'm slightly doubtful. When UNIT finally gets going, the plot does steer a course from rubbish to not bad. Donna's mission is one of the highlights. It's a shame the dynamic between her and the Doctor will be lost. UNIT's finest hour was undoubtedly during the 1969 serial The Invasion. If they are used in the future, can we please see them used more in that manner? Yes they are soldiers, but they don't have to be completely useless! Next week's looks more promising. Georgia Moffet as the Doctor's daughter looks like an interesting plot. It could split the ming-mongs in half though! (Dan Ludlow) |