The Sontaran Stratagem

General Staal is a Sontaran clone, quite short, although he is fully grown, bash his probic vent, to annoy and torment, making combative turtlehead groan.

Summoned back to Earth by Martha Jones after a spate of simultaneous deaths around the world in cars fitted with Atmos, the Doctor and Donna investigate a juvenile entrepreneur and the supposed genius behind the technology, while locking horns with a familiar enemy with plans to wipe out the human race.

There's something missing from "The Sontaran Stratagem". While the use of sat-nav devices to evil effect is inspired and reminiscent of something like "Terror of the Autons", the episode somehow fails to inspire.

There's something very un-Sontaran about the whole affair. The menace here is Sontaran-lite, just as I was bitterly disappointed with the return of The Doctor's silver nemesis in Season 2. Perhaps it's me but while the make-up is wonderful (the early close-up of the Sontaran is excellent), the costume looks like something from a '90s Action Man.

Donna remains the strongest companion to-date, making Martha look rather lightweight in comparison.

7 out of 10. Only the first part of this double-header so things may improve but this is a very average tale so far. At the end of the day, Helen Raynor just doesn't deliver the quality of scripts that you expect from this series. It's missing fizz and pop and, overall, disappoints.

This isn't my favorite episode of season 4 so far. The Sontaran, though being a classic monster of Dr.Who, don't really do much for me. Though being creatures of war and not really having much mercy they don't deliver the same umph that the Daleks and Cybermen do. But the episode wasn't a complete failure! Having two companions in this episode was very interesting and funny at times. It also helped to keep the story along because the Sontarans could not hold my attention for two whole episodes. It's also really suspenseful when you know something that none of the other characters know, but you can't warn them. I won't spoil what it is but it keeps the story moving along. Also this story would've been much better if it woudn't have neen for the American teenager who constantly whined over everything under the sun. Maybe if they would've cut him out and crammed it in to one episode it would've been better!

I remember these guys from the days of classic Who, however I have noticed they are a fair bit different to the Sontarans of those days. Anyway it is worth watching the whole episode for the cliffhanger, they defiantly did a good job there

I was among those not impressed with Helen Raynor's Dalek two-parter from Series 3, but "The Sontraran Stratagem", the opening part to her two-part story which sees the return of classic Doctor Who villains the Sontarans, is surprisingly effective and exciting.

The episode has a nice humorous tinge to its opening scenes and it is absolutely brilliant to see the Doctor's interaction with UNIT once again. The Sontarans themselves also look quite good and their storyline is handled reasonably well.

The trailer for next week's episode left me cold and a tad bit concerned rather than excited, with another really outlandish Earth invasion sort of thing apparently slated to happen. During Pertwee's era of Earth-bound stories at least everything happened under wraps. However, considering how surprised I was with this episode, next week's could be impressive as well.

I very much enjoyed Bernard Cribbins' character again. I think I like Donna's family more than Rose's or Martha's family, although I honestly could do without Sylvia Noble (Donna's mother's) cartoonish 'comic relief', which contrasted badly with the well-delivered and occasionally clever one-liners Raynor came up with.

I doubt this story will end up not being my least favorite Sontaran story, but it's already looking like it'll finish a not so distant loser, and considering the competition from classics like "The Time Warrior" and "The Sontaran Experiment", it's not really much of an insult.

7/10 for this first part, and what a cliffhanger (I sure do miss those).