Theory:Timeline - Sontarans

This page lists appearances of the Sontarans in the order in which they experienced them. This timeline is based upon observations of the Doctor Who universe and the events that occur during each of these stories.

A common feature of Sontaran history is the Rutan-Sontaran War.

Sontaran space armour
There exist four distinct variants of Sontaran space armour.
 * The black and silver suits seen in the classic series.
 * The bulkier blue armour seen in the RTD and Moffat eras of the new series.
 * The red armour seen in HOMEVID: Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans
 * The bulkier black and silver armour seen in the Chibnall era of the new series

However, as these variants, particularly the first two, appear in wildly different time periods. Stories cannot be placed so easily by armour alone.

Timeline

 * 3500 BC - COMIC: The Gods Walk Among Us
 * Styx is imprisoned.


 * 102 - TV: The Pandorica Opens
 * Blue-armoured Sontarans, possibly time travellers, appear as part of the Pandorica Alliance.


 * 13th century - TV: The Time Warrior


 * 1522 - COMIC: Dragon's Claw


 * 1605 - GAME: The Gunpowder Plot


 * 1609 - PROSE: The Empire of Glass
 * Colonel Tayre attends the Armageddon Convention hosted by Irving Braxiatel''.


 * 1872 - AUDIO: The First Sontarans


 * c. 1894 - AUDIO: The Cars That Ate London!
 * A Sontaran battle computer is present in Victorian London.


 * c. 1894 - AUDIO: A Photograph to Remember
 * Stonn, an exiled Sontaran, is the leader of the Bloomsbury Bunch.


 * c. 1895 - AUDIO: Truth and Bone


 * 1916 - AUDIO: Old Soldiers
 * Brak, a Sontaran soldier, appears on Earth during the Battle of the Somme, where he is captured by the British. Over the course of the 20th century, Brak creates weapons for humanity.


 * 1941 - COMIC: The Instruments of War


 * 1961 - AUDIO: Master of the Daleks


 * 198X - TV: The Two Doctors


 * c. 1985 - HOMEVID: A Fix with Sontarans


 * 1994 - HOMEVID: Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans / PROSE: Shakedown


 * Late-1990s - AUDIO: Old Soldiers
 * Having lived over eighty years, Brak is killed by a fellow Sontaran.


 * 2007 - AUDIO: The Great Sontaran War


 * 2009 - TV: The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky
 * Blue-armoured Sontarans of the Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet attempt to convert Earth into a breeding planet but are destroyed. Though he fails to recognise the Tenth Doctor, General Staal recalls that the Sontarans were denied the right to join the Time War, and the legend that states the Doctor led the fight.


 * TV: The Last Sontaran (flashback)
 * Commander Kaagh is the last survivor of the Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet


 * 2009 - TV: The Last Sontaran
 * Kaagh attempts to avenge the fallen Battle Fleet by destroying Earth but is defeated by Sarah Jane Smith; he returns to Sontar in disgrace.


 * 2009 - TV: Enemy of the Bane
 * Now a mercenary, Kaagh joins forces with Mrs Wormwood but ultimately sacrifices his life to stop her.


 * 2010 - TV: The End of Time
 * A lone Sontaran pursued by Martha Jones and Mickey Smith is neutralised by the Tenth Doctor.


 * 201X - AUDIO: The Sontaran Project
 * Kate Stewart recalls the relatively recent events of The Sontaran Strategem / The Poison Sky.


 * 201X - AUDIO: Portrait of a Lady
 * Skral is found on Earth.


 * 31 October 2021 - TV: The Halloween Apocalypse
 * Sontarans plan to exploit the Flux and begin an attack.


 * November 2021 - TV: War of the Sontarans
 * Two days after The Halloween Apocalypse. Sontarans have occupied Liverpool and used time travel to participate the Crimean War in 1855, making it so they had "always" been on Earth. They do not recognise the Thirteenth Doctor. The claiming of Earth by Linx in The Time Warrior is mentioned as inspiration for this invasion, which is ultimately erased with the Sontarans never having landed in either Halloween 2021 or the past.


 * While still in conflict with the Rutans, (TV: The Vanquishers) the Sontarans also clash with the Daleks and the Cybermen for control of the post-Flux universe. (TV: Once, Upon Time'')


 * December 2021 - TV: Survivors of the Flux
 * The Grand Serpent shuts down UNIT, which he had infiltrated its founding in 1957, enabling the Sontarans to resume their 2021 invasion.


 * 5 December 2021 - TV: The Vanquishers
 * The Sontarans trick the Daleks and the Cybermen into assembling their forces to be destroyed by the final Flux event, only for they themselves to lose their fleet to the Flux after being outwitted by the Doctor.


 * PROSE: The Three Little Sontarans
 * The Sontarans and the Rutans have been at war for only a few centuries, however they meet on a planet previously colonised by humans. Starn is the only survivor.


 * PROSE: The Three Brothers Gruff
 * Starn is killed, setting this after The Three Little Sontarans.


 * 25XX - HOMEVID: Mindgame


 * 25XX - PROSE: Shakedown


 * 25XX - AUDIO: The King of Sontar


 * 25XX - PROSE: The Taking of Chelsea 426


 * COMIC: Pureblood


 * 3076 - AUDIO: Terror of the Sontarans


 * 3500 - COMIC: Unnatural Born Killers
 * Arbitrarily dated by AHistory. A force of "classic" Sontarans are wiped out by Kroton.


 * Pre-4000 - AUDIO: The Sontarans
 * Set some time before The Daleks' Master Plan.


 * PROSE: A Soldier's Education
 * Set during the first seven minutes of Strax's life, placing this roughly twelve years before 4037.


 * 4037 - TV: A Good Man Goes to War
 * The apparent home time of the blue-armoured Strax, a "nearly twelve" year old Sontaran demoted to nurse. After serving at the Battle of Zaruthstra, he is picked up by the Eleventh Doctor to participate in the Battle of Demons Run in the 52nd century. Revived following a seemingly fatal injury sustained during the battle, Strax joins the Paternoster Gang in the Victorian era (see Theory:Timeline - Paternoster Gang). (WC: The Battle of Demons Run: Two Days Later)


 * c. 6th millennium - TV: The Time of the Doctor
 * The blue-armoured Sontarans participate in the Siege of Trenzalore.


 * 16087 - TV: The Sontaran Experiment


 * TV: The Invasion of Time
 * Black-armoured Sontarans launch an invasion of Gallifrey which is stopped by the Fourth Doctor.


 * AUDIO: Heroes of Sontar
 * Styre is mentioned as having postumously published literature on the torture of humans, setting this after The Sontaran Experiment. The Doctor notes that the Sontarans are "still sore about that Gallifrey business", setting this soon after The Invasion of Time.


 * AUDIO: The Five Companions
 * The Sontarans recognise the Fifth Doctor and refer to the Sontaran invasion of Gallifrey.


 * Far future - AUDIO: The Eternal Battle
 * In the universe's "twilight years", the Sontarans are extinct.

Unplaced

 * PROSE: For the Girl Who Has Everything


 * AUDIO: Peepshow
 * River Song finds black-armoured Sontarans in a miniscope


 * AUDIO: The Eternal Battle
 * The Fourth Doctor and Romana II find two sides of black-armoured Sontarans pitted against each other by Sycon Computer in a time bubble, intended to teach other races the futility of race.


 * COMIC: In Their Nature
 * The Fifth Doctor, accompanied by Adric, Nyssa and Tegan Jovanka, encounter black-armoured Sontarans at a Rutan weapon test field.


 * PROSE: Warmonger
 * The Sontarans are part of the Alliance led by the Supreme Controller, actually the Fifth Doctor, in the war against Morbius.


 * COMIC: The Final Quest
 * "Classic" Sontarans appear on Aleph-777.


 * COMIC: Conflict of Interests
 * "Classic" Sontarans appear on Aleph-777.


 * GAME: Destiny of the Doctors
 * uses black-armoured Sontarans to menace the Graak within the Doctor's TARDIS.


 * AUDIO: Silent Warriors
 * AUDIO: Conduct Unbecoming
 * AUDIO: The Eleven Day Empire
 * The Seventy-Ninth Sontaran Assault Corps invades the Eleven-Day Empire.
 * AUDIO: The Shadow Play


 * AUDIO: The Sontaran Ordeal
 * Blue-armoured Sontarans attempt to participate in the Last Great Time War. The Sontarans know the Doctor.


 * COMIC: The Betrothal of Sontar
 * The Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler encounter "classic" Sontarans and prevent Thanatos from wiping out Sontar.


 * AUDIO: The Eternity Cage
 * Blue-armoured Sontarans attempt to participate in the Time War.


 * PROSE: Blind Terror
 * During the war with the Rutans, a Sontaran scout ship is shot down and crashes to Earth. After a human helps him defeat a Rutan copy, Sontaran Commander leaves the planet in his ship to rejoin the war.


 * WC: Pond Life
 * The Eleventh Doctor flees from blue-armoured Sontarans in an unknown time period.


 * GAME: Dalek Supremacy
 * Blue-armoured Sontarans attempt to capture Dalek weapons bases but are wiped out by the New Dalek Paradigm.


 * COMIC: Black Sun Rising
 * A Sontaran is present at a trade negotiation with early Gallifreyans, presumably setting this well before The Invasion of Time


 * COMIC: The Outsider
 * AUDIO: The Moonrakers
 * A group of Sontarans are stranded on the Moon and do not recognise the Fifth Doctor.