The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)

"Glorious warfare!"

- Staal

Synopsis
With the mysterious ATMOS devices spreading across the world, Donna discovers that even her own family is not safe from the alien threat – but is it too late to save them? And what will she make of Martha Jones?

Plot
A young genius called Luke Rattigan is working with the Sontarans by using their technology to devise a device called Atmos, which makes a car carbon-free and functions as a Sat Nav. However, 52 deaths across the world occur simultaneously when Atmos takes control of several cars.

The Doctor receives a call from UNIT employee and former companion Martha Jones, who is now engaged to Tom Milligan. The Time Lord and Donna head to Earth and meet Colonel Mace, who is spearheading a raid on an Atmos factory. Two UNIT soldiers find an underground chamber but are captured and hypnotized by the Sontaran General Staal, then used to trap Martha so that she can be duplicated.

Donna heads home to visit her family while The Doctor visits Rattigan with a soldier called Ross. The Doctor discovers a teleport device and momentarily finds himself on board the Sontaran ship before beaming back. General Staal follows him down to Earth, though The Doctor manages to hit a squash ball onto his vulnerable probic vent and briefly incapacitate him and escape. The Doctor and Ross then manage to fend off an attempt to kill them using the Atmos in their UNIT jeep.

The Doctor calls Martha and tells her to inform UNIT about the Sontarans and put them on Code Red, but the clone doesn't comply. Around the world, a poisonous gas emits from millions of Atmos devices after the Sontarans activate them. Wilf is trapped inside his car, choking, and The Doctor battles to free him.

Cast

 * The Doctor - David Tennant
 * Donna Noble - Catherine Tate
 * Martha Jones - Freema Agyeman
 * Wilfred Mott - Bernard Cribbins
 * Sylvia Noble - Jacqueline King
 * Luke Rattigan - Ryan Sampson
 * Colonel Mace - Rupert Holliday Evans
 * General Staal - Christopher Ryan
 * Commander Skorr - Dan Starkey
 * Jo Nakashima - Elenor Matsuura
 * Private Harris - Clive Standen
 * Private Gray - Wesley Theobald
 * Ross Jenkins - Christian Cooke
 * Worker - Rad Kaim
 * Atmos Voice - Elizabeth Ryder

Production crew
To be added

Story Notes

 * This episode marks the first television appearance of the Sontarans in 23 years. Their last regular series appearance was in The Two Doctors, however the last time they were refered to was in 2007s' "The Sarah Jane Adventures". They had also previously appeared in several non-canonical productions, including "A Fix with Sontarans" in 1985 and the early-1990s independent production Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans.
 * Helen Raynor wrote this episode. Her Series 3 episodes Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks both occupied fourth and fith episode in the series. This two part episode also occupies episode four and five.
 * This two-parter is Douglas Mackinnon's first story as director.
 * Mobile phone company O2 is releasing an Atmos SatNav phone, possibly based on the devices used in this episode.
 * On the Sontaran ship and in almost every shot you will see what looks like an Xbox 360 power logo complete with the quarter circle lines and a dot in the center the only major difference is that it is purple rather than green.
 * This show was made during the 35th anniversary of the Sontarans.
 * In DW: The Time Warrior the Sontarans were described as "nasty, brutish and short". This is the first time that they are shown to actually be shorter than normal human stature.
 * There is a UNIT character called Jenkins, a homage to a famous piece of dialogue "Jenkins, chap with the wings there five rounds rapid" from DW: The Daemons.
 * This is Christopher Ryan's second role in Doctor Who. He previously played Lord Kiv in DW: Mindwarp.
 * UNIT has now been rebranded as the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, having previously been known as the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. This followed a request by the United Nations shortly after the series returned to TV in 2005. Nonetheless, Martha still refers to UNIT receiving funding from the United Nations.
 * When communicating with each other, UNIT use call signs first used in the Classic series. These are mostly based around greyhound racing. Personnel are usually designated a Greyhound call sign, whereas a base of operations is known as a Trap.
 * Donna makes reference to the terrorist prisoner camps at Guantanamo Bay. This is one of the first references in the revived Doctor Who to the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
 * The Cloning vat in this story is in fact the fountain from The Fires of Pompeii.

Ratings

 * Unoffical-6.4 million (35.5%)

Myths
to be added

Filming Locations
to be added

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * Luke asks how the Sontarans how they can tell Staal and Skorr apart but it is easy to distinguish who is who as they look different. Though he might have been referring to the typical Sontaran grunt, who are almost always wearing identical helmets.
 * The ATMOS devices are meant to stop cars from expelling gases. then how come we can see such exhaust fumes coming out of the unit jeep?
 * The field used by Sontarans to stop firearms apparently works by making the copper jacket expand, this would likely cause the firing pin still to engage the cartridge, causing an explosive misfire []
 * where did donna's grandad get the keys to the car?

Continuity

 * The Doctor last saw Martha Jones in DW: Last of the Time Lords. It is not indicated on screen how long it has been for Martha since she last saw the Doctor, although it has been long enough for her to have joined UNIT, obtained her doctorate, become engaged to Tom Milligan and (though it's not stated in this episode) work with Torchwood.
 * Martha last appeared (chronologically) in TW: A Day in the Death.
 * The Sontarans first appeared in DW: The Time Warrior and last appeared on TV broadcast screen in DW: The Two Doctors, though they did feature in a spin-off story: RP: Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans.
 * Donna has flashbacks of DW: Partners in Crime, The Fires of Pompeii and Planet of the Ood. It is stated in dialogue that, from her grandfather and mother's perspective, it has only been days since the events of Partners in Crime.
 * In SJA: Eye of the Gorgon, Bea Nelson-Stanley referred to the Sontarans as Potato-like.
 * Sylvia Noble recognizes the Doctor and references the events of The Runaway Bride, while Wilfred Mott recognizes the Doctor from his brief encounter with him in Voyage of the Damned. Wilfred's absence from The Runaway Bride is explained by Sylvia when she says he was ill with flu at the time of Donna's interrupted wedding.
 * The Doctor's initial response to Martha and Donna meeting each other is to ask them not to fight, a reference to Rose Tyler and Sarah Jane Smith's first encounter in School Reunion.

DVD Releases

 * It will be released on the Series 4 boxset DVD in November 2008.


 * It will be released as part of Series 4 volume 2 on June 2nd 2008