Doctor Who: The Sontaran Experiment [1975] [DVD]

This story is just like a Sontaran - short, tough and effective. But it won't take over your life or test you to breaking point - a Sontaran would ... 5*** NOTE: You can buy this story as part of the Sontarans four story box set 'Bred for War', which offers good value if you don't already have the four individual DVDs.We're used now to having `Doctor Who' stories that are all done in well under an hour, but in 1975 this wasn't the usual thing at all. `The Sontaran Experiment' only happened because the season-opening six-part story was thought not to be working, and was split into Robert Holmes' four-part classic `The Ark in Space' and this two-parter, written quickly and well by Bob Baker and Dave Martin. Their stories are often full of enjoyably alien weirdness (`The Claws of Axos', `The Invisible Enemy') so this is a contrast. It's a compact and quite brutal action adventure with a straightforward plot and very good dialogue.It was quite controversial as a single story DVD release; my VHS copy sits happily in its double tape pack with `Genesis of the Daleks' and on DVD it could have been combined with `The Ark in Space'. However, the quality of this DVD is excellent, showing off the production to best effect.It was also unusual for being made entirely on location with the new `Outside Broadcast' video cameras and literally miles of cables around Hound Tor on Dartmoor, in weather that doesn't look too bad on screen but was, according to the commentary, cold, wet and very difficult to work in. `Spearhead From Space' was the first all-location story, made five years earlier on 16mm film, but with many interior scenes. Here there is no `indoors' to hide in, not even the TARDIS, as the Doctor and friends have arrived by Transmat from Space Station Nerva. This gives an exposed, almost agoraphobic feel to this story of something alien hunting humans on our own world.The results of this `Dartmoor Experiment' are excellent, the desolate moors and rocky tors making a very convincing deserted Earth, on which a small group of humans from one of Earth's colonies have fallen victim to sinister, cruel Sontaran `researcher' Styre, who, helped by his hunting robot, wants to discover human weaknesses to make invasion easier. It's up to the Doctor, Sarah and Harry to save the world yet again.That's basically the whole plot in two lines, but within that simple outline there's good action and dialogue, some time for characters to develop, great use of the landscape by director Rodney Bennett, a convincing robot and one of the more inventive deaths for any `monster' in the classic series with an impressive special effect.This was the first story (in production order) made under the legendary duo of Philip Hinchcliffe and Robert Holmes, and the new style is clear. There are elements here that would never have been included in the Pertwee years. I greatly enjoy both eras, but this is where the famous `Gothic' darkness started to creep into `Doctor Who' - Styre is a really malevolent specimen and probably enjoys his `research'. As the enemies became more evil, the Doctor stood up to them as strongly as ever, a true hero and a force for good.Tom Baker was heroic too, carrying on with a broken collarbone after falling on the wet ground; stuntman Terry Walsh was his `double' for the later action scenes. In only his second story (in production order), it's amazing that he is already the Doctor in every detail, with a fresh and energized performance. Ian Marter plays Lt. Harry Sullivan with true-blue Britishness, a totally reliable `lieutenant' for the Doctor while Elisabeth Sladen is excellent as Sarah, as always; her reaction on first seeing the Sontaran is one of the highlights.Kevin Lindsay (who played Linx in `The Time Warrior') returned to play both Styre and his impatient commander, the Marshal. They are identical and meant to be; Sontarans are reproduced by cloning. For me, he's the definitive Sontaran and showed how it should be done, with help from stuntman Stuart Fell in the fight scenes. The Sontaran head is very good, much better than any that followed, although strangely it's still not as good as the superb design used in the earlier story.The colonists are all well played as a group of tough spacemen, stranded on a deserted world and pushed to their limits. I liked the way they have South African accents, it seems from the commentary this was a comment on the way accents might develop over time; however I thought this was also a clever touch to make them contrast with the standard English spoken by the people of Nerva in `The Ark in Space', who they refer to (derisively) here as the `Mother Earth' people.With Styre cleverly defeated by exploiting what a Sontaran would see as his strength and after a bit of quick talking to put off the Marshal, the Doctor and his friends shimmer away by Transmat, back to Space Station Nerva - or so they think ... next stop Skaro, but that's another story ...`The Sontaran Experiment' has been completed and evaluated.Final report: five stars.DVD Special Features:The commentary is very good and informative, with Elisabeth Sladen, producer Philip Hinchcliffe and co-author Bob Baker.`Built For War' - an excellent 40 minute feature looking at the making of this story and the other three classic series encounters with the Sontarans. An excellent set of contributors and well presented, entertainingly intercut by a hitherto unknown Sontaran wandering around yet more moorland (in nice weather this time). He's picking up strange transmissions on his communications unit from such humans as Terrance Dicks, Elisabeth Sladen, Anthony Read and Eric Saward, who seem to know far too much about Sontarans for his liking ...Photo Gallery (5 min) - a very good collection of location pictures plus some design drawings and `behind the scenes' photos showing the paraphernalia then involved in location video `filming' on top of Dartmoor.

A short story this may be, only two episodes as I remember, but it is a clever one, and introduces us to the warrior race the Sontarans.It picks up directly after the "Ark in Space" which was the second story of the legendary Tom Baker years as Dr Who, and continues onto one of the best Dalek stories ever written "Genesis of the Daleks".The Sontaran's are a war like race, genetically engineered and cloned into a massive army. One is sent to Earth to conduct experiments on Humans to give a better insight into out weaknesses so we can be invaded with more ease. The Doctor then scuppers the plans of the Sontarans and heads onto his next adventure on SkaroThis episode was largely filmed on location and featured no internal of indoor shoots. Tom Baker broke his collar bone during filming so the actor Terry Walsh was used as a double in many scenes where the Doctor fights the Sontaran scientist.An excellent if short story from the early times of the greatest Doctor ever to fly the TARDIS!

Sontarans are back and up to no good. Can't tell you the whole story,Spoilers!But I warmly recommend it.

Really good Doctor Who story. I always thought the shows best years were 1970-1976. The three main characters of The Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan are a delight. Quite a nasty story with a suitably evil Sontaran warrior. One of the three times the show got it spot on with the actors, Pertwee/Manning and Tennant/Tate being the others. In a different league to the awful Whitaker/Capaldi rubbish of recent years. Nice to see a story shot on location for once. Great commentary track. Brings back lovely memories from childhood of Axons, Autons. Morbius, Sutekh and others. Well worth watching this has stood the test of time very well. Really sad that so many of the people involved with this story are no longer with us.

This episode of Dr Who is unusual as it is a two-part offering. That said, it is fast paced, well written and works well. Filmed entirely on location which is refreshing. The extra behind the scenes doc is very good and revealing...

Another outing for the Sontarans, once again the same actor donning the costume but playing a different character from the one he played in Time Warrier which was Elisabeth Sladens 1st as Sarah Jane Smith. This story follows from when the Doctor, Sarah and Ian beam down to the planet from the spaceship from The Ark in Space. Only a 2 parter but an enjoyable story to take your mind of your own troubles.

Have to say "Busted Flush "Mark""'s review is a bit misguied - the DVD is actually not being sold as a full price release.It's specifically being sold as a cutdown type release at a reduced price point. I'd say this was actually above and beyond what they needed to do given that they regularly sell 6 parters without hiking the price upwards! It's the story, not running length that you're buying - in event the picture quality will be infinitely superior to the old VHS version...Great story by the way!

New product. Very entertaining. Great price.

Evidentemente es la única manera de conocer al Doctor Who clásico, una gran historia dividida en varios capítulos. Tom Baker es excelente en el papel del Doctor.

Es ist eine Episode die man in der Dr. Who reihe nicht fehlen darf. gibt mir mehr. A+DVD Top

A slightly mis-matched pair of releases from the Doctor Who vaults comes our way from the BBC. The Invasion, an epic 8 part story from 1968 made in glorious black and white - at the time the second longest story yet made - and a brief two-parter, The Sontaran Experiment, squeezed in from 1975. But there's a lot to enjoy here to celebrate the classic era of the show.The Invasion stars Patrick Troughton as the second Doctor, featuring in a format that set the stage for his successor Jon Pertwee's tenure in the role. After the success of the Web of Fear a year earlier, when Yeti invaded the London Underground and the Doctor helped the British military contain the threat, the production team set about creating another London/alien invasion story, with the military presence expanded to a fictional international force known as UNIT. They brought back the same character and actor from the Yeti story to lead this force, promoted him to Brigadier and thus launched one of the most popular and enduring characters from the show's history.This particular story was something of a milestone in Doctor Who history, even though it was born out of a panic to replace some rejected scripts. Not just because it created a new format for the show, but mainly for its impact on the viewing public. When the Cybermen emerged from the London sewers to enslave the human race, marching inexorably down the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral, the impact on the psyche of the British children watching was enormous. I know I was not alone in avoiding all sewer manhole covers for years to come! Alas, episodes 1 & 4 were junked by the BBC in 1971 and the remaining 6 were of poor quality tele-recordings. Inadequate linking material, intended to bridge the gaps, was recorded by Nicholas Courtney - The Brigadier - for the 1993 VHS release, but now the brilliant boys at Cosgrove Hall have replaced the two missing episodes in their entirety with animated recreations of the missing footage. I wasn't sure at first about the concept, but all doubts were dispelled as it is so brilliantly executed. Using the original soundtrack, the animation has been recreated perfectly and fills the void wonderfully.Apart from the animation and phenomenal restoration work, there are many extra features describing the animation concept, process and restoration, as well as an in depth feature on the making of the programme and the era in general. The care and love that went into making these two episodes is evident. It thus seems almost churlish - and certainly geeky - to make any criticism, but there is one error which is almost unforgivable! The animators have given the Doctor's assistant Zoe the wrong costume in the early part of episode 1! It would have been an easy mistake to make, except that the previous episode (which runs immediately into this story) does exist and photos from episode 1 are abundant. They've drawn her with the costume she adopts about mid-way through the first episode. For all their attention to detail, it seems a very basic error to have made.The commentary from Frazer Hines (Jamie), Wendy Padbury (Zoe) and Nicholas Courtney for the six live action episodes is very entertaining, as is the one from the animators and restoration team for the two missing episodes. But I wish they'd have included Derrick Sherwin, the script editor, eventual producer, creator of the UNIT format and author of this particular tale. Much as I like hearing the Brigadier, he does get used rather often on the Doctor Who commentaries. A minor quibble.With all of these extras and goodies, it's a shame to compare the relatively thin co-release, The Sontaran Experiment. A two part adventure from Tom Baker's first season in the role of Doctor number four, this very short story really belongs as a tag-team with the preceding four-part adventure, The Ark in Space. It's really using all the location and outside broadcast allocation that didn't get used in the studio based Ark story. By releasing it alone, I think the BBC are stretching fan's patience just a tiny bit, but they have at least included a very well made documentary on the history and evolution of the Sontarans and there's a great commentary soundtrack too. Seems a bit much to shell out $13 for two episodes, but as a fan, I'm just glad to have them in my library. As the first story ever made to be made entirely on location and entirely on video tape, it's an interesting milestone in the Doctor Who evolution.A good pair of releases. One probably too long and one probably too short, but together forming another great pair of entries into the Doctor Who DVD collection.

Another fantastiv 4th DR episode.