Classic Doctor Who - Season 12 - The Sontaran Experiment (1975) - Review

Starring: Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen & Ian Marter

Written By: Bob Baker & Dave Martin

Directed By: Rodney Bennett

 

As stories in Season 12 of Doctor Who go, The Sontaran Experiment can be too easily overlooked. Coming straight after fan-favourite The Ark In Space, and directly before the critically acclaimed Genesis Of The Daleks, this two-parter feels comparatively smaller and less ambitious. But with the return of the Sontarans, as well as continuing the Nerva Beacon story-arc, is this story somewhat overlooked?

 

The Doctor, Sarah Jane and Harry transmit down from the Nerva Beacon to a deserted Earth, ten-thousand years in the future. Though the planet has been abandoned by the human race, the time travellers are not alone, and they soon discover a shipwrecked crew of GalSec astronauts. When the Doctor finds himself interrogated by the astronauts as to where their missing crew are, he knows something's wrong. Why does everyone fear going to the rocks, why is everyone being hunted by an ever-patrolling robot, and what has happened to the missing GalSec crew?

 

Logistical and budget constraints meant that The Sontaran Experiment had to be filmed entirely on location, and with only exterior shooting. At the time of writing, it also stands as the only Doctor Who serial to feature no studio filming. In the wrong hands, this could have brought about poor results, but instead, the production team use this to their advantage. Being entirely shot on the Dartmoor landscape may sound like a nice place for the Doctor and his companions to be, but it's really the opposite. Boasting some great imagery, this story is far removed from serials in the past that could only make use of an entirely flat studio floor. Instead, the many rocks and crevasses of the area see characters falling from great heights and feeling cramped as they sometimes struggle to move through the tight and compact rocks and cliffs.

 

Despite being ten-thousand years in the future, this version of Earth is anything but advanced and idyllic, but instead feels somewhat dystopian. Early on, Sarah Jane perhaps sums it up best - “It's creepy, doesn't seem like Earth at all”. That's the thing about The Sontaran Experiment, it's clearly terrestrial, but at the same time it still feels alien and far removed. It's of great help that this story is also well-directed by Rodney Bennett, who manages to give us great views of the landscape while also constantly reminding us of the long drops and falls around every corner and edge of the rock face. The influence of new producer Philip Hinchcliffe (one of my personal favourite producers of the show) is clear throughout, as the whole story is laced with atmosphere. This story is dark, bleak and with many of the actual experiments we see, it's on the edge of what was acceptable for younger viewers when this was first broadcast.

 

As we can gather from the title, the Sontarans are also back, with Kevin Lindsay returning to play Field Major Styre, a new Sontaran. Kevin Lindsay is just as brilliant and well-suited to Styre as he was to Linx in The Time Warrior, and his performance here solidifies him as one of the definitive Sontaran actors. Though Kevin Lindsay's performance is as great as ever, the actual Sontaran prosthetics are something of a downgrade from the last time we saw them. They aren't bad by any means, but the make-up on Styre doesn't live up to that of Linx, but I suppose it's still much better than it would be in future appearances. Similar things can be said about the robot that hunts the GalSec crew – it may look a bit silly, impractical and leave little impact, but it's decent enough. Still, what makes Styre so unsettling to watch is his casual attitude to the sadistic experiments he's conducting. He sees no problem in tying a man up and letting him die of thirst, or seeing another two men hopelessly try and stop another from being crushed. Even when he actively kills someone, and Sarah Jane screams, he just asks “Why did you make that disagreeable noise?”. This isn't the best story to feature the Sontarans, but this is still perhaps the darkest we ever see them.

 

The script gives plenty for each of our main characters to do, and the story is improved further by their strong performances. In his third outing, Tom Baker continues to impress as the Doctor and gets to find out more about the GalSec crew. Meanwhile, Harry gets to examine Styre's experiments and plays a crucial role in defeating him, while Sarah Jane works with Roth to rescue the Doctor. Performance-wise, Elisabeth Sladen particularly impresses, especially when being “tested” by Styre. In comparison to our main characters, the supporting cast don't fare anywhere near as well. With the exception of Roth and Vural, the only two supporting characters with traits to set them apart, the rest of the GalSec astronauts feel forgettable and nothing more than bodies for Styre's experiments.

 

However, the biggest downfall of The Sontaran Experiment is clear when we actually stop and think about certain gaps in the story's logic. (Spoiler Warning!) It's made clear that Styre has been sent to experiment on and learn more about the human race in order to prepare for a Sontaran battle fleet to launch an invasion of Earth. But think about it, why the hell would you do that when the Earth has literally been deserted?! When the Doctor, Sarah Jane and Harry arrive, the only humans on the planet are the crashed GalSec astronauts – Earth is open for the taking! Some may see this a minor criticism, but if you look at it, the story risks losing a lot of credibility, and that's really something that should have been picked up before this story went into production.

 

So long as you don't think about the glaringly obvious logic gaps in the script, The Sontaran Experiment holds up. This is a strong two-part entry to Doctor Who that arguably ends up overlooked by the bigger and stronger stories that surround it, but understandably so. Still, there's a lot to like here, particularly the great use of location, the use and performances of our main characters, as well as Kevin Lindsay as Styre, and a bleak and atmospheric tone throughout.

The Sontaran Experiment
 

8/10