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
Jo Nakashima is investigating the Rattigan Academy and is kicked out by Luke Rattigan because she has found out his secret about the ATMOS devices. While she is driving she tries to get in contact with UNIT but she gets the answer phone suddenly her car takes control of itself and drives into the River Thames

Donna is flying the TARDIS while the Doctor gets a call from his ex-companion Martha Jones. She says that she is bringing him back to Earth. As the TARDIS lands she tells the doctor that she has a fiance called Tom Milligan and that it was he who got her the job. Martha takes the Doctor and Donna to a truck which serves as UNIT headquarters. Colonel Mace tells them that 52 people died at the exact same time at different locations and found in their cars and it is linked to the Rattigan Academy.

Meanwhile, two UNIT solders are in the lower corridors of the ATMOS Factory.They are let through a door by brainwashed ATMOS workers where they find a tub full of slime and an unformed humanoid shape attacked to by an umbilical cord attached to its neck. Just as it sinks back below the surface, the Sontaran General Staal, appears and brainwashes them both into working for the Sontarans.

Martha is checking an ATMOS employee and he says he is born to fight and he must serve it is obvious that he has been hypnotized by the Sontarans. The Doctor is assigned a solder for protection his name is Ross Jenkins and he Donna, the Doctor go into a jeep and drop Donna of at her home. While the other two go to the Rattigan Academy.

Donna walks down the street, recollecting past events with the Doctor, then sees her grandfather, Wilfred, who is pleased to see her. They go in from a cup of coffee. The Doctor and Ross walk into the academy and are confronted by Luke Rattigan who calls for his leader, General Staal. The Doctor uses a teleport pod to transport himself up to the Sontaran ship. Staal is planning to do something with the cars and are orbiting the earth.

The Doctor teleports back to Earth and returns to the UNIT jeep with Jenkins. The ATMOS devices kick in and start to drive them towards the river. The Doctor, realizing that the device is programmed to not follow his directions, orders the device to drive them into the river. Jenkins and the Doctor abandon the car as the device malfunctions. They run to Donna's mum house. Back at UNIT Martha is called to see Colonel Mace but she is kidnapped by the mind-controlled solders. She is took to the cloning room in the cellar and starts to get cloned.

The Doctor tells Donna's family that their car is dangerous and that it should be destroyed. Wilfred gets in the car to drive it off the street when the doors lock and the gas is released and starts to suffocate him. Sylvia runs in the house to grab an axe.

Martha's clone wakes up and puts her clothes on and Martha is put under a sleep. Martha's clone then walks off with the controlled solders, as the Doctor tries to save Wilfred.

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 fifth 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 indicator 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.(In the commentary broadcast on BBC7, it was said that "Jenkins" was named for Richard Jenkins, who maintains the BBC's DW website.)
 * 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 (redressed) fountain from The Fires of Pompeii.
 * The Table that is used to hold the real Martha is used in the Torchwood episode Cyberwoman. Also the metal headware that Martha has on at the same time looks like mind probe used the episode Sleeper

Ratings

 * Official - 7.06 million viewers

Myths
to be added

Filming Locations
to be added

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * The ATMOS devices are meant to stop cars from expelling gases so how come we can see such exhaust fumes coming out of the UNIT jeep? The fumes may be other less harmful gases which CO2 could somehow be reacted to produce.
 * 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.
 * The UNIT mobile command post is shown to be carried around in a semi-trailer, yet the inside layout appears considerably larger than the outside would suggest (shades of the TARDIS). The trailer has a fold out side. This is shown when they enter and inside where the ceiling angles down.
 * The UNIT crest still reads U.N.I.T.; given the newly stated name, it should read UN.I.T. Perhaps the renaming occurred recently and the crests were left unchanged.
 * Luke Rattigan accuses the Doctor of uttering a tautology by saying "ATMOS system". However, the phrase "atmospheric emissions system system" is a pleonasm, not a tautology. A tautology is a statement whose meaning is circular, such as "paper burns because it is inflammable". A tautology  can also mean "The use of words to repeat (unnecessarily) the same statement or meaning. ATM machine for example or ATMOS system. An example of a pleonasm would be tuna fish or poodle dog.
 * In Aliens of London, the Doctor describes the members of UNIT as being "good people". However, in The Sontaran Stratagem he is extremely antagonistic towards them, particularly their use of firearms. ( The Poison Sky 's reference to the Doctor wishing Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart was present is a possible indication that he prefers Lethbridge-Stewart's style of leadership, which he may have perceived as still being in effect in Aliens of London .)

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 but was discussed in the Doctor Who Confidental 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. Both the appearance and character of the Sontarans has changed. In earlier stories, they were brutish. In Stratagem, they appear to genuinely enjoy their war-like existence, even to the point of dying for the cause. One Sontaran smiles as he lies dying, and says, 'wonderful'. They appear to respect valour in their enemies and respect the rules of honour in battle. They however retain streaks of callousness and bloodthirstiness. In previous stories, their voices were repttilian-like. But in Stratagem their voices have a human quality. The probic vent, their weak point, located on the back of the neck, is referenced as in previous stories.
 * 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 was released as part of Series 4 Volume 2 on 7th July, alongside The Poison Sky, The Doctor's Daughter and The Unicorn and the Wasp.