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Some of the Sontaran’s appearances have been better than others, and while rogue Sontarans like Strax have made appearances in lots of episodes, the episodes featuring the Sontarans as a main part of the plot are far few and between. They have also yet to appear in a Doctor Who game, which is silly considering how well they’d translate over.
7 The Pandorica Opens
The Pandorica Opens is the penultimate episode of Series 5, featuring just about every race the Doctor has ever faced off against. The episode itself is fantastic, but in terms of Sontarans, it doesn’t really do much for them. It’s a bit more than a Sontaran cameo-like The God Complex and The Time of the Doctor were because in this serial they’re an integral part of the plot.
The Sontarans are the ones who reveal to the Doctor that the Alliance was created to keep the universe safe from him, and are instrumental in him being locked away into the Pandorica, despite the universe’s explosion being caused by the TARDIS console room.
6 The Two Doctors
The Two Doctors was a special multi-Doctor story throughout the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker)’s run. Featuring an assortment of criminals that both Doctors have to stop, one of these villains was a Sontaran - Major Varl.
Varl wasn’t the greatest Sontaran, but it did give them a welcome re-appearance after quite a while out of the limelight. He was as typically pettily evil as Sontarans are, and had a nasty death when he was betrayed by one of his co-conspirators Chessene. This serial had both the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and the Sixth Doctor going up against the Sontarans, meaning they’ve fought against almost every version of the Doctor.
5 The Sontaran Experiment
The Sontaran Experiment is a rare two-parter in a time of the show where most serials were at least 4-6 episodes long. In this far-future episode, the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker), Sarah Jane Smith, and Harry Sullivan prevent Field Major Styre from setting up a fully-fledged Sontaran invasion. It’s one of the Fourth Doctor’s first episodes.
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An underrated piece, this serial was commissioned purely to capitalize on the costly Sontaran costume developed for their original appearance in The Time Warrior (1973). The Sontaran Experiment features great scenes with the fandom’s favorite potato men and lots of visually appealing exterior shots; being shot entirely on location.
4 The Invasion of Time
The Invasion of Time is a hugely significant part of both Sontaran and Gallifreyan lore; as it establishes the Sontarans as a credible threat to the Time Lords. The Sontarans arrive on Gallifrey when the Time Lords are exhausted from fighting the Vardans, and very nearly take the planet for themselves.
The Sontarans have never been raised to such heights again. In fact, they were so insignificant by the time of the Time War that they were omitted from the war completely. In this serial, they’re at the height of their power and almost kill Leela, one of the best Doctor Who companions.
3 The Time Warrior
The Time Warrior was the first appearance of the Sontarans, part of the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) era, and debuting in 1973. This story set in the past sees Commander Linx attempting to repair the ship by kidnapping scientists across different time settings.
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The serial is a great sci-fi-heavy serial that shakes up the format of historical Doctor Who serials and introduced the Sontarans to the show in a compelling way. Linx is a one-off character that should return.
2 War of the Sontarans
War of the Sontarans features a return of the old, Classic Who style of Sontarans. With a direct mention to previous Sontaran stories and indirect mentions to others, this story is a breath of fresh air after years of the Sontarans being depicted as funny and friendly through Strax during the Steven Moffat era.
They invade Earth at a moment of complete weakness, using the Flux event to their advantage. This is exactly like them, being a callback to their invasion strategy of Gallifrey back in The Invasion of Time. Unfortunately, this episode features a couple of annoying scenes of the Sontarans missing every single shot despite supposedly being some of the most dangerous warrior races around.
1 The Sontaran Strategem/ The Poison Sky
This two-parter re-introduced the Sontarans into the show after decades of absence, part of the fourth New Who series featuring the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant). The Sontarans are great in this episode, even if they’re not the scariest modern series monster; they are depicted as menacing, comedic, resourceful, and all above all - evil.
They take great fun in wiping out different UNIT soldiers, making it clear to the audience how much they love war. They’re also shown as incredibly resourceful and pretty smart, cloning characters including former companion Martha in order to gain intel on the humans and dismantle them from the inside.
While the two-parter does have cringey war-chanting moments from the Sontarans that most fans weren’t thrilled with, it shows just how well the potato-faced creatures work in the modern iteration of the show and led to a high-stakes, memorable two-parter early on in Series 4.
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