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The First Sontarans                                       


Doctor Who: The Lost Stories 3.6                      



I bought this nearly a year ago and have just found time to fit it in.

I gather this was commissioned for Colin Bakers first season, before it was changed to 45 minute episodes and then was cancelled due to the Two Doctors also featuring the Sontarans. Due to be set on the Marie Celeste, it was altered and only a reference, and a mention of the Daleks remain.

A group of aliens are living on Earth in the late 1800’s, but what are they doing there? And what’s there problem with the Sontarans.

There is a lot packed into these 4 episodes, so much so that it feels much longer - not a complaint. Some stories I’ve come away from trying to remember what did happen. 

Episode one seems to have the Doctor and Peri go from place to pace with no real intention. Starting on the Moon they discover a reciever/transmitter and make their way to Earth to follow up. Interrupting a cock fight leads them to a tavern where they meet someone else and go back to theirs.

Its not quite so haphazzard as it appears. With knowledge of timelords and technology well beyond Earths current knowledge. We find the the Kaveetch are refugees of the Sontarans.

Episode 2 takes us on a slightly different path the one the ones that’s expected. A dungeon with some gruesome remains is where the Doctor and Peri effectively escape to. With the Sontarans turning up to look for their lost patrol, things go from bad to worse.

I don’t always follow plots that’s well, and there are a number of different characters in this, with Peri and the Doctor splitting up and a lot going on. Switching narratives I did struggle to remember where things were left. The 1800’s Earth setting was almost forgotten, with complications added when the Rutans enter the proceedings.

It's late into part 3 where we get some idea of the 'first sontarans' that the title references. To have the back story filled in adds flavour to the monsters. Here it does wonders for the adventure as you begin to understand the dynamics of the Sontarans and Kaveech ,and why they're so intwined.

There are one or two twists, turns and surprises, each one well written. Some good characterisation. Though it's not perfect, its a pity it didn’t get made.


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