S13E02 " War of the Sontarans" BBC1 6.10-7.10pm 7th November

[captainkirk]

Chibnall finally seems to have realized that Doctor Who is supposed to be fun and exciting. I'm still holding off forming an opinion on the main plot since that could go either way, but the Sontaran story was enjoyable.

Is anyone else getting Logopolis vibes from this season? The planet of people who keep time from coming apart and the danger of the universe disintegrating reminds me a lot of that story.

 

[DigificWriter]

I wouldn't quite go that far but this comes pretty close. The Time Warrior is excellent, and I really did love Strax, but other than that this is the most enjoyable Sontarans have been by far.

I was not impressed by The Time Warrior at all when I watched it a couple of months ago, so my personal 'high-water mark' for Sontaran stories had been The Two Doctors, and this story was better across the board.

 

[cultcross]

Well this was more engaging than episode one, certainly. Fun story, and the Doctor taking charge and being the protagonist at last is worth extra points if nothing else. The Crimean setting was well realised if the general was a touch on the nose as a stereotype. The Sontarans were good and managed to claw back a bit of menace from the more comic portrayal in earlier seasons. I'm still not clear what's going on this season really and I'm in that awkward space where I'm not sure how much is me not paying enough attention and how much is deliberate mystery.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Well this was more engaging than episode one, certainly. Fun story, and the Doctor taking charge and being the protagonist at last is worth extra points if nothing else. The Crimean setting was well realised if the general was a touch on the nose as a stereotype. The Sontarans were good and managed to claw back a bit of menace from the more comic portrayal in earlier seasons. I'm still not clear what's going on this season really and I'm in that awkward space where I'm not sure how much is me not paying enough attention and how much is deliberate mystery.

It's obvious that they made a 12 hour movie, and cut it into twelve parts with a hatchet.

Usually an episode has a rythmn.

1. See something cool.
2. Figure out that the cool thing is very dangerous.
3. Someone dies.
4. The Doctor promises every one that s/he will save them, they have no idea who s/he is, and they will spend the rest of their lives wondering who s/he is.
4a. The Doctor says This planet is protected.
5. More people die.
6. RUNNING AND SCREAMING.
7. The Doctor does something clever and saves the day.
8. French exit.

If the entire season follows that template, rather than each episode, then I'm not sure if we are up to step 4 yet, because a lot of what we've seen is probably misdirection.

 

[captainkirk]

I was not impressed by The Time Warrior at all when I watched it a couple of months ago, so my personal 'high-water mark' for Sontaran stories had been The Two Doctors, and this story was better across the board.

Time Warrior was actually the very first DW story I watched. I'm usually not wild about obvious callbacks but I liked the mention it got in this episode.

 

[ThreeEdgedSword]

Jessie Gender's review:

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[DigificWriter]

Time Warrior was actually the very first DW story I watched. I'm usually not wild about obvious callbacks but I liked the mention it got in this episode.

The Time Warrior didn't work for me because the entire story pivots around a moment - the cliffhanger of Episode 1 - that was only important upon the aerials initial broadcast back in the 70s.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

But hey, let's focus on Dan instead, who so far has been a collection of dad jokes, all equally awkward and unfunny.

I kind of like that he's so outright corny.

Her guardian is presumably in orbit with the rest of the doggos. You could just as easily ask where the guardians of those three humans executed by the Sontarans were?

Wasn't Karvanista(sp) part of some advance patrol?

 

[Starkers]

No, he reached Earth before the rest of the fleet due to some unforeseen event, which I'm guessing will be the Doctor or Swarm interfering to ensure he reaches Earth first and grabs Dan before the rest of the fleet arrives.

Overnight viewing figures are 3.96 so down almost half a million on last week's but usual caveats apply.

 

[DigificWriter]

The thing that caused Karvanista to get to Earth ahead of his fellow Lupari was, to coin a phrase, 'a wrinkle in time'.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

The thing that caused Karvanista to get to Earth ahead of his fellow Lupari was, to coin a phrase, 'a wrinkle in time'.

A tesseract? Will the Doctor meet Meg Murry? Maybe the Doctor is Mrs. Who!

 

[Saul]

Didn't enjoy this episode as much as last week but this series certainly feels more Doctory than the last two. I like to see the Doctor more up front and center.

 

[StCoop]

Overnight viewing figures are 3.96 so down almost half a million on last week's but usual caveats apply.

On the one hand there's no chance of picking up any casual viewers for the remaining episodes. On the other the people who came back for Chapter 2 will probably stick around for the rest.

It's all eyes on the consolidated numbers to see if it can stay over 5 million.

 

[DigificWriter]

^ That's not what I meant, but kudos anyway.

 

[ThreeEdgedSword]

Airing the first chapter when a big part of your target audience is still out trick-and-treating probably wasn't as clever as ... whover thought it was clever thought!

 

[ThreeEdgedSword]

Which was so obvious I didn't even think anyone needed to worry about it. Clearly the Lupari are saving humanity at a set point in history, and Yaz is usually NOT at a set point in history.

It was not a very serious question. (Even though the species bond thing doesn't hold up to logic, it's quite fun.) I'd also like to know when the Doctor found the time to curl her hair.

Man, Chibnall really doesn't know what to do with Yaz. Even when she's running circles around Vinder (I call him Tinder) she still comes off short from the three, spending half her time asking What Would The Doctor Do, and then... ending up as the Damsel in Distress anyway. I hate that.

Agree. Even though I did like the WWTDD bit, but mostly because it at least tells of a Doctor-companion bond that we are rarely ever shown. Ofc "acting like the doctor" also rings some alarm bells...

But hey, let's focus on Dan instead, who so far has been a collection of dad jokes, all equally awkward and unfunny.

I do think parts are funny; however, it really bugs me that he gets more characterisation, action, agency, and (very accelerated) development (PLUS a fun reluctant bromance) in two eps than all the other companions got so far. If Chibnall prefers to write for him, why not bring him on at the beginning of s 12 (or earlier) and ditch the others?
I mean, he now gives Yaz 2 or 3 character traits, but those developed off-screen. How hard could it have been to show a bit of that, like the Doctor showing her how to co-pilot the TARDIS, and their relationship getting on a more equal footing, or really even just be somewhat... defined, in s12?

Alternatively, in theory, Yaz could have taken over Dan's part. I bet at least her mom would have been up to some wok action. Well, damsel in distress it is.

At the very least, the one bright spot of both episodes so far has been Whittaker(...) She finally inhabits the role, and what a treat. It helps, of course, that she commands the story for the first time and actually propels the action forward. Very good, looking forward to more of that.

Indeed.

 

[Mr Awe]

A couple of things upon reflection:

Lupari might be man's best friend. But they're really poor protectors. For every other single alien invasion, they didn't bother to show up! Cute idea but they obviously don't fit with DW history. That said, I am enjoying Kavinista!

So, the Sontarans invade Earth starting in Liverpool present day. And then they want to go back an invade "Earth's history"?! Go back to multiple points in time and take over? Why not go back once to a distant point in time, take over, and keep control? Even if 1855 was the furthest back they could go, just take over the entire world back then. So much easier.

Really, all the Sontarans take a nap at the same exact 7.5 minute interval? One advantage of having such a short sleep/recharging cycle is that it's easier to make non-overlapping shifts! With that ratio, 7.5 minutes out of 27 hours, you can create 216 non-overlapping shifts. With humans, we sleep 8 hours out of 24, and can only create 3 non-overlapping shifts! Even human military's would never had a time when everyone is asleep, especially during a war! Maybe the Sontarans were overconfident? But still.

While seeing Dan's Mom and Dad was fun, that and Dan's entire sneaking onboard the Sontaran ship didn't feel realistic. Yeah, I know, don't watch DW for realism! But it took me out of the story for a bit. It sure is handy that the ultra sensitive Probic Vent is unprotected and in such a vulnerable place on their back.

Definitely a fun story. I've enjoyed the first two of this season more than the past two seasons.

 

[matthunter]

DenOfGeek put it best - Sontarans don't care about who they are fighting, or if they are fighting effectively. They just like being in a fight. So the idea that some of your fellow potatoes might be mixing it up whilst you're on a 7.5 minute nap is unconscionable - either all of you are awake for the scrap, or you aren't.

I think it's implied that the Lupari are set on this "species bond" only recently as a reaction to the Flux, so they wouldn't have bothered with previous stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if we eventually find out that it's the Doctor who set up the species bond in the first place - retroactively, at the end of this series.

 

[Seven of Five]

I fell asleep last week and forgot all about catching up. It's been one of those weeks.

This episode is an easy 8, with several cackles from me and even the husband, who isn't a fan of the current era. John Bishop (character name? bantering with the alien guy was hilarious.

What I can grasp of the ongoing mystery related to time is intriguing. The cliffhanger set us up nicely for next week.

 

[Mr Awe]

DenOfGeek put it best - Sontarans don't care about who they are fighting, or if they are fighting effectively. They just like being in a fight. So the idea that some of your fellow potatoes might be mixing it up whilst you're on a 7.5 minute nap is unconscionable - either all of you are awake for the scrap, or you aren't.

I think it's implied that the Lupari are set on this "species bond" only recently as a reaction to the Flux, so they wouldn't have bothered with previous stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if we eventually find out that it's the Doctor who set up the species bond in the first place - retroactively, at the end of this series.

None of these are serious issues for me and I did enjoy the episode.

Well, certainly it would be unconscionable to be sleeping while the enemy is destroying your supplies. So, if they had to pick one or the other unconscionable things . . .

Not sure that I agree that the Lupari's species bond is portrayed as a recent thing. We'll see if your theory pans out though about the Doctor setting it up! My guess is that it was all just set up to be a fun play on the idea of dogs being man's best friend.