Planet Samur was once a peaceful haven. Pilgrims journeyed across the seven galaxies to meditate in the courtyards of the vast Citadel that spanned its equator. It was Samur’s misfortune, however, to find itself situated on the furthermost frontier in the eternal war between the amoeboid Rutan Host and the belligerent, troll-like Sontarans…
Twenty years after detonating a bacteriological weapon over Samur, rendering it uninhabitable, the Sontarans are back: a select platoon of seven has landed here on a secret mission, carrying sealed orders given to them by Fleet Marshal Stabb.
The TARDIS has landed here, too, bringing the Doctor, Tegan, Turlough and Nyssa into the second great Battle of Samur. Fighting not only the Sontarans, but mystical mercenaries… and a deadly, decades-old curse.
HEROES OF SONTAR
Big Finish is no stranger to the history of Doctor Who. Name a monster from the classic series – some popular, some not – and you’ll have good odds that it’s appeared at least once in a Big Finish production. Not just Daleks and Cybermen, but Wirrn, Krynoids, Morbius… the list goes on. Shocking, then, that it took until 2011 and Alan Barnes’ “Heroes of Sontar” for the Sontarans to make their Big Finish debut. As a story, it’s mostly successful, but its approach to the returning villains is interesting for Big Finish’s first attempt at them.
I’m not sure when Alan Barnes turned into the house comedy writer, but “Castle of Fear” was an ill-considered Python pastiche and “Heroes of Sontar” is apparently an extended tribute to Dad’s Army. Unfortunately, I’ve never seen the show, so what was supposedly a constant barrage of in-jokes went completely over my head. Divorced of context, the humor is relatively amusing, though it does immediately beg the question of why these Sontarans appear so incredibly stupid. There’s an in-story explanation, and it’s perfectly reasonable, but the joke drags on for over two episodes. Why transform the Sontarans into figures of fun immediately upon using them for the first time? Both the classic and new series managed to make them both threatening and humorous simultaneously; the direction Barnes chooses seems odd given that.
Humor aside, the story is generally effective. It’s fascinating to see Sontarans driven by superstitious fear of curses: you’d assume their universal focus on military conquest would eliminate the paranormal from their considerations, but considering their religious fervor for battle, it makes surprising sense. The Witch Guard are suitably intimidating and an impressive foe for the Sontarans: virtually unstoppable, able to level entire divisions using nothing more than swords. Unfortunately, the sound design fails with them: the filter on John Banks’ voice renders him almost incomprehensible. I also enjoyed the manipulative cunning of Sontaran Fleet Marshal Stabb (Banks again) – when the situation is explained, and the reason for the humor becomes apparent, the play takes a significant turn for the better. The predictable, final bout of heroism from the last Sontaran isn’t all that memorable, however.
“Heroes of Sontar” also does great things for Turlough and Nyssa. While Turlough is his usual cowardly, self-interested self, Barnes raises the rarely-used point that he’s also a war veteran, and uses this to explain his thought processes and actions. Nyssa, for her part, is finally portrayed as an older character with different life experiences – there’s no good reason why it took four plays to get to this point – and the revelation about the names of her children is surprisingly touching, not corny. If I have one complaint, it’s with the continuity references to the “Winter” segment of “Circular Time.” This adds nothing but a small amount of false tension to the story while simultaneously being rather confusing to people who weren’t listening 55 releases ago. I’d forgive it if it was as elegant as the continuity of “A Death in the Family,” but it’s clunky, intrusive, and unnecessary.
The Doctor and Tegan, meanwhile, don’t see a great deal of characterization. The Doctor does get a fun moment of heroism as he rides a Sontaran gravity sphere into the stratosphere on an apparent suicide mission, and his trickery of the stupid Sontarans is admittedly amusing. Apart from that, Peter Davison doesn’t have much to do, and Janet Fielding has even less – all she does is stand around offering sarcastic mockery of the Sontarans’ height.
Apart from the Witch Guard voices, Jamie Robertson’s sound design is adept as ever, and the score is suitably bombastic for the first Sontaran Big Finish story. Ken Bentley’s direction keeps the humor in check in the first two episodes, avoiding the problems found in the last Barnes story. Overall, “Heroes of Sontar” is a guarded success. Despite some missteps, it tells a strong, interesting story, and only partially mishandles the audio debut of the Sontarans. Should be interesting to see where the trilogy goes from here.
Recommended.
7/10