The Sontaran Experiment: Part Two

Review of both episodes:

It was an experiment to have the first two-part story for many years and to film the entire story on location in an outdoor setting (Dartmoor National Park). These experiments work well as the location work is very good and the two part story is very neat with no waste material or time for boredom. This never quite manages to reach 10/10 classic status because it is quite unremarkable as a story but it is very interesting, thoroughly entertaining and very well done so I rate it very highly.

The story follows on from The Ark in Space. The Doctor, Sarah and Harry travel via Transmat to Earth from space station Nerva 10,000 years in the future. There they find a tiny group of humans some of whom have been captured and tortured by a mysterious alien that turns out to be a Sontaran. The experiments are being done on the humans to find their weaknesses in preparation for a Sontaran attack on humanity.

Some criticisms I have read are not deserved in my view as for instance I have seen it said elsewhere that it does not make sense the Sontarans are wasting time testing humans when there are very few surviving on Earth but it is clearly said in The Ark in Space that the humans on Nerva are the chosen people to take humanity forward but not the only humans left. It is clearly said in that previous story and in this one that there are other human colonies and it is also explained that the Sontarans plan to wage war on the humans elsewhere not just those living on Earth. So this all makes more sense than some critics claim. It does seem a slightly inefficient and unnecessary strategy but it is credible enough.

Another criticism is that this is dull and merely a filler. I do not find it dull. This is an entertaining story with a welcome return for Sontarans and very good performances. It is gritty and bleak looking but I rather like that and it fits the story that Earth has been abandoned. I find the story fun. It is a filler but a really good one because it is short and acts as an extension of The Ark in Space which also links in to the later story Revenge of the Cybermen.

It is not a 10/10 classic but is very good and neatly presented as a tight two parter. The acting is excellent. Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen and Ian Marter are all wonderful in the regular lead roles and this adventure strengthens the relationships developing between their characters. Sontaran Styre is brilliant visually and in the performance of Kevin Lindsay. He acts the part perfectly delivering dialogue really well and enacting fight scenes and torturous experiments well. The Sontaran face moves perfectly with speech and the overall costume is great for its day. The human colonists are well believable and engaging and the idea is interesting. Grim torture, the threat of war, the return of an excellent alien race and involving characters make this really good in my opinion.

Both episodes 9/10.

I am no great Whostorian to remember all the details of the seasons I have watched already, but I think this is one of the shortest of the serials thus far, weighing in at only two episodes. This serial leads reasonably neatly on from the previous on, where the Doctor and partners teleport down to Earth to find it fairly deserted, but with some remnants of humanity hanging on. While these "remnants" take an instant distrust to the Doctor, another, much greater danger lurks in the background with nefarious goals for the planet.

Interesting to come to this serial off the back of Ark in Space, because in terms of shooting it seems to be the total opposite of that serial. While Ark was wholly inside a few sets with no externals, The Sontaran Experiment appears to be entirely filmed outdoors on the moors somewhere. I am not entirely sure that the location does sell the idea of an Earth bereft of most of its human life, but it is effective for the space it offers (and maybe I am used to such scenarios just being crumbling cities – which I guess would be long since crumbled in this scenario). Much like Ark though, the serial benefits from a limited number of characters and a short number of episodes, so there is really no padded here at all. I am not sure if this is deliberate or not, but certainly in season 12 so far it does seem different from other seasons where you could easily imagine the three serials being padded out to more episodes. Anyway, the brevity of this serial does actually help, because it throws us into a scene and moves us through it quite quickly. I guess it could have been spread out a bit, but it works pretty well with the time it has, and has a good pace. There is not a huge amount of detail, but it does have some nice moments; again, similar to Ark, there are some unsettling moments – here the terror- visions of Sarah Jane are quite creepy; as indeed is the whole idea of torture and experiments. It is another solid serial in this new season.

The special effects and sets are limited and have dated but wisely there is not too much of them. I am not sure what the costume department were thinking by putting Sarah Jane into some hideous garish creation – perhaps it was a mix of costume and also hi-vis outfit to highlight where she is in case she got lost? In terms of performances Baker is solid again, judging his Doctor just right between too serious and too comedic. Sladen is good despite her costume and mostly being in peril here. Marter is starting to grow on me a little; although still not a big fan of his very 1970's 'old girl' character, although this is not his fault. The supporting cast are good, although I thought the Sontaran in Time Warrior had a bit more space to have a character and presence than Lindsay did here.

Overall, a tight and engaging little serial that is not strong enough to be a classic, but it does its job in the time it needs, and it does it pretty well – which after too many 3-part serials delivered as 6-part serials, that is no bad thing at all.

This two parter is something like a WW2 picture in a different setting. As the name suggests the alien wants to experiment on humans. Decades ago in Britian this was likely culturally relevant, but now it feels like it's been done endlessly. Still it moves at a good pace and the characters are interesting. This a new Who and Sarah Jane Smith were worth watching.

A Sontaran invasion is on the horizon, they've sent their man Styre in order to wisen, but he's not very bright, and he doesn't have height, for a military man he's a pretty poor fight.

Not sure why a baron planet with barely any human life on it was going to need such research.

Sarah recognises the unwelcome visitor as a Sontaran.

We have had that exact cliffhanger in a previous story. I wasn't exactly overly impressed with the first part, Part two is better, it does at least have some action.

The Sontarans are interesting, and are perfectly in character with hat would follow over the years. The whole idea of the experiment is well conceived. The device the Sontaran uses to capture its villains looks like the thing from the Smash advert, not convinced.

I cannot say enough positive things about Ian Marter, I loved Harry, such a hearty, fun character, Marter's delivery was a joy.

It's a decent watch, not one I tend to revisit often, Part 2 is better then Part 1. Tom gets to shine. 7/10