Dowcra base. The third Elite Sontaran Assassination Squad closes in on its target. A dozen trained killers, but even they will be unable to bring down the invincible Strang…
Manipulated by the Time Lords, the TARDIS also arrives on Dowcra. And the Doctor is set to encounter the greatest Sontaran ever cloned…
THE KING OF SONTAR
The third series of Fourth Doctor Adventures from Big Finish debuted in 2014, returning to the cast of the first series with Louise Jameson once again joining Tom Baker in the audio TARDIS. The first story, John Dorney’s “The King of Sontar,” takes a surprisingly serious approach and marks a solid, well-written debut for the third series.
For a series that has traded so heavily on nostalgia thus far, “The King of Sontar” doesn’t engage on that level at all. If it approximates any era, it’s season 12 – the tone is serious throughout, but with none of the atmospheric nods to the gothic tone of the Hinchcliffe era. It’s very much a straightforward science fiction tale with a limited, unforgiving setting. The Doctor has his usual array of humorous lines, but that’s basically it – even the Sontarans are played perfectly straight, and while I enjoy comedy Sontarans, this is a refreshing change of pace. I also like some of the concepts on display, especially Strang (Dan Starkey) – the idea of an über-Sontaran is well-executed and well-supported in the script.
While Dorney is certainly to be applauded for producing such a tight, efficient script, I can’t say the material ever blew me away. The “straightforward” description I gave above is the best word I can think of for the story: until the very end, it doesn’t take any unexpected turns, right down to the usual Doctor Who supporting character, the idealistic yet misguided scientist who must make a difficult decision at the conclusion. While Strang is interesting in concept, in execution he’s little more than an even louder, more confident Sontaran – he’s not all that interesting a character to spend time with. Still, hearing Starkey and Baker play off each other more than makes up for it.
The end of the story, however, marks the first truly interesting moment of the entire Fourth Doctor range to this point, as Leela makes a decision that throws the Doctor’s faith in her into question. It’s fascinating for many reasons, not least Baker’s performance – it’s rare to hear this Doctor actually embrace something as human as disappointment, and I enjoyed the understated way he delivered it. It also demonstrates that the Doctor still considers their relationship in the teacher/student frame. There’s also the possibility of using this moment to question the Doctor’s morals: typically, something like Leela’s actions happen in Doctor Who stories anyway, but this time the writer hasn’t shifted the responsibility to a guest character. I’m interested to hear the repercussions of this as the series continues, and I hope it’s not something they wrap up too quickly – or, worse, resolve with a number of “missing episodes” between releases.
The production is largely successful. Nicholas Briggs is his usual reliable self in the director’s chair, while Jamie Robertson’s sound design is solid as ever. I particularly liked the score, which homages Dudley Simpson without ever going over the top. Overall, “The King of Sontar” is a success. There’s not much to say about it, but in this case that’s a good thing: it’s a solid, well plotted story with great performances and a surprising ending that tells us interesting things about the Sontarans in the process. It’s not a masterpiece, but this is how you write Doctor Who.
Highly recommended.
8/10