A Sontaran flagship, also known as a Sontaran command ship, mother ship, Imperial Sontaran Time Carrier and Time Ship, was a massive spacecraft that served as the Sontarans' primary military vessel.
Characteristics[]
The ship was spherical with eight curved claws, four above and four below. For battle, the top and bottom claws could interlock to reveal a cannon that could obliterate a planet. Around the middle of the sphere were docking ports for dozens of Sontaran scout ships. According to the Tenth Doctor, Earth's entire nuclear arsenal wouldn't even scratch the ship's defences. (TV: The Sontaran Stratagem, The Poison Sky)
Interior[]
The ship had a very interesting layout, including numerous corridors, as well as a spacious bridge with a many control and weapons consoles, as well as overhead box shape ceiling lamps that give the vessel's bridge interior a beautiful, yet eerie purple glowing effect. (TV: The Sontaran Stratagem, The Poison Sky) The Bridge also had wide windows so that the Sontaran commander could have a front row view of seeing and enjoying the thrill of subjugating a target planet and it's primitive population from above. (TV: The Sontaran Stratagem, The Poison Sky)
History[]
One Sontaran flagship, commanded by General Staal, led the Sontaran Empire's Tenth Battle Fleet. The flagship arrived in orbit of Earth to spearhead an invasion that would turn the planet into a cloning world. It was linked to the surface via teleport pods between the ship, the ATMOS factory and the Rattigan Academy. The ship was destroyed by Luke Rattigan, when he activated his atmospheric converter on the bridge. (TV: The Sontaran Stratagem, The Poison Sky) One Sontaran, Commander Kaagh, in flight near the flagship, survived and landed his scout ship on Earth. (TV: The Last Sontaran)
The Twelfth Battle Fleet also had a flagship. (PROSE: The Sontaran Games)
The Seventy-Ninth Sontaran Assault Corps used several warships in their invasion of the Eleven-Day Empire. Morlock described the ships as "great leaden lumpy things" which were "very crude". (AUDIO: The Eleven Day Empire)
The Sontarans of the Fourth Sontaran Intelligence Division arrived at the colony Chelsea 426 in one of their warships. (PROSE: The Taking of Chelsea 426)
The Sontarans joined the Pandorica Alliance formed to imprison the Eleventh Doctor in the Pandorica to save the Universe. At least one Sontaran flagship was in the Alliance fleet which arrived at Stonehenge in 102 AD. (TV: The Pandorica Opens)
Sontaran forces, including a flagship, participated in the Siege of Trenzalore. (TV: The Time of the Doctor)
Alternate timelines[]
In the 24th century of a timeline created when Rassilon gave the Cyberiad the full resources of the Time Lords, the Cybermen declared war on their rival empires. The last to fall, the Sontaran Empire sent out Commander Sturg to capture the Tenth Doctor, bringing him, Gabby Gonzalez and Cindy Wu to Sontar via the Sontarans' Imperial Flagship. No sooner had the flagship made it to Sontar orbit was it immediately shot down by the Cybermen, making a fiery crash landing on its homeworld. (COMIC: Supremacy of the Cybermen)
Behind the scenes[]
Doctor Who: Legacy[]
A giant Sontaran flagship is fought by the the Doctors and their companions in Doctor Who: Legacy. Found by the Eleventh Doctor, it is identified by Porridge and determined to be hostile by Madame Vastra. The Tenth Doctor notes that the flagship's shield generators must be disabled before shutting down the engine.