Sontaran
Encyclopedia
The Sontarans are a fiction
al extraterrestrial
race of humanoids from the British
science fiction television series Doctor Who
, and also seen in spin-off
series The Sarah Jane Adventures
. They were created by writer Robert Holmes
.
The Sontarans are a race of humanoids with a stocky build, greenish brown skin, and a distinctive dome-shaped head. Ross Jenkins in The Sontaran Stratagem
describes a Sontaran as resembling "a talking baked potato" but The Doctor sticks up for the Sontarans by saying that, to them, he looks like a pink weasel. Sontarans come from a large, dense planet named Sontar in the "southern spiral arm of the galaxy" which has a very strong gravitational field, which explains their compact stocky form. They also are far stronger than humans and in the recent series are smaller.
The Sontarans have an extremely militaristic culture; every aspect of their society is geared toward warfare, and every experience is viewed in terms of its martial relevance. In The Sontaran Experiment
, the Fourth Doctor comments that "Sontarans never do anything without a military reason." Aside from a ritualistic chant
in "The Sontaran Strategem"/"The Poison Sky
", they are never seen to engage in any activity that would be considered recreation, though a few offhand comments by Commander Skorr in "The Poison Sky" suggest they do consider hunting a sport (according to their creator Robert Holmes, Sontarans do have a highly developed artistic culture, but have put it on hold for the duration of the war, while the opening chapter of the novelisation of The Time Warrior
, based on Holmes' incomplete draft, refers to Linx listening to the Sontaran anthem while his spaceship is in flight). The Sontarans depicted in the series have detached, smug personalities, and a highly developed sense of honour; on multiple occasions, the Doctor has used his knowledge of their pride in their species to manipulate them. However, in "The Sontaran Stratagem", the Doctor nevertheless referred to them as "the finest soldiers in the galaxy".
Although physically formidable, the Sontarans' weak spot is the "probic vent" at the back of their neck, through which they draw nutrition. It is also part of their cloning process. It provides incentive to continue moving forward in battle since retreat would expose this area to their enemies. They have been killed by targeting that location with a knife (The Invasion of Time
), a screwdriver ("Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans
"), and an arrow (The Time Warrior
). Even something as simple as a squash ball aimed at that point or contact by the heel of a shoe is capable of incapacitating them temporarily (The Sontaran Stratagem
). They are also vulnerable to "coronic acid" (The Two Doctors
).
In the episode The Poison Sky
, it is revealed that the Sontaran Empire have been at war with the Rutan Host
for more than 50,000 years, and which, at a time around 2008, they are losing. However, the war is still raging at least 20,000 years later, in the serial The Sontaran Experiment.
All the Sontarans depicted in the television series have monosyllabic names, many beginning with an initial 'st' sound (e.g. Styre (The Sontaran Experiment
), Stor (The Invasion of Time
), Stike (The Two Doctors
), Staal (The Sontaran Stratagem
), Skorr (The Sontaran Stratagem
) and Strax (A Good Man Goes To War
); exceptions are Linx (The Time Warrior
), Varl (The Two Doctors
) and Kaagh (The Sarah Jane Adventures
). Subdivisions of the Sontaran military structure mentioned in the series include the Sontaran G3 Military Assessment Survey and the Grand Strategic Council, the Ninth Sontaran Battle Group, the Fifth Army Space Fleet of the Sontaran Army Space Corps, and the Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet. Military titles include Commander, Group Marshal, Field Major, and General. Agnomen
s include "the Undefeated", "the Bloodbringer", "the Avenger" and "the Slayer".
The newly married Martha Smith-Jones and Mickey Smith are seen being chased by a Sontaran sniper in the last Tenth Doctor serial The End of Time
, for unknown reasons. The Doctor, on the verge of a regeneration, knocks it out via a mallet to the probic vent.
A Sontaran appeared in A Good Man Goes to War
, but as an ally of the Eleventh Doctor. Commander Strax, the Sontaran in question, was condemned to work as a battlefield nurse (a punishment implied to have been meted out by the Doctor himself) to restore the honour of his clone stock. Strax expressed irritation at the task at the Battle of Zaruthstra in the 41st century after helping to heal an injured human boy, claiming this was "the greatest punishment a Sontaran can endure: to help the weak and sick." He was disillusioned with the glory of death in combat after being mortally wounded while fighting the Headless Monks at the Battle of Demons Run, though, and he firmly corrected fellow nurse Rory Williams
when the Doctor's companion called him a warrior, telling him, "I'm a nurse."
rather than sexual reproduction
, and thus for the most part are extremely similar in appearance. Human characters in both The Sontaran Experiment
and The Sontaran Stratagem
comment on how closely individual Sontarans resemble one another; however, it should be noted that their height, skin tone, facial features, vocal timbre and accent, hair, spacing of teeth and even number of fingers have varied from story to story, and sometimes within stories. When Luke Rattigan asks how they can tell each other apart in "The Sontaran Stratagem", General Staal remarks that they say the same of humans.
In The Time Warrior
, Linx states that "at the Sontaran Military Academy we have hatchings of a million cadets at each muster parade." The Doctor also comments in The Invasion of Time
that Sontarans can mass-clone themselves at rates up to a million embryos every four minutes. Thereafter the clones take just ten minutes to grow to adulthood.
Sontarans reproduce asexually and all the Sontarans depicted in the television series are of one gender (male). General Staal comments that "words are the weapons of womenfolk" and that the clone of Martha Jones performed well "for a female" as opinions on the sexuality inequalities in other species. This typifies a Sontaran trait: interested only in the strongest fighters in any group or race. In The Time Warrior
, when Linx examines Sarah Jane, he comments on how the human reproduction system is 'inefficient' and that humans 'should change it'.
In The Sontaran Stratagem, the Sontarans are seen to create human clones by growing them in tubs of green fluid. Enemy of the Bane
confirms that Sontarans are cloned in the same way. In a human clone, the umbilical corresponds to the probic vent on the back of a Sontaran's neck, suggesting that the vent is not unlike the human navel
, though clearly more complex.
The Sontarans have a variety of weapons. Their trade-mark weapon is a small rod with two handles and a plunger at one end, giving it a syringe style. But this is so it can be held and fired using three fingers. This weapon has appeared in every Sontaran story except The Sontaran Experiment and The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky. When first used by Commander Linx in The Time Warrior, it shows the ability to fire a beam which can disarm by knocking the weapon out of the wielder's hand, hypnotise, as well as cutting through wood and killing.
In The Sontaran Experiment, Field Major Styre instead used a small red laser pistol which only killed (although it did not kill the Doctor, because of a small metal plate the Doctor had been keeping in his inside pocket). The Invasion of Time saw Commander Stor using the small rod again, but also in episode six, a Sontaran trooper uses a short black rifle-like laser to try to burn through a lock on a door inside the TARDIS. The Two Doctors introduced a weapon called the Meson Gun (as named in the Jim'll Fix It Sketch, A Fix with Sontarans), a large silver rifle with a red fuel tank in the centre which was used by Group Marshal Stike and Varl in the third episode. It seemed to be some kind of flame-thrower as it fired a jet of flames very briefly. Group Marshal Stike was also seen carrying a baton.
It would not be until The Sontaran Stratagem that General Staal would show that the baton can fire an orange beam that could stun the target. In The Poison Sky, Commander Skorr and his troops carry large laser rifles into battle. In The Invasion of Time, their armour is shown to be resistant to Time Lord stasers and K-9's blaster. However, their armour is vulnerable to standard human firearms in "The Poison Sky", but the Sontarans in that episode used a 'cordolane signal' which caused the copper-lined bullets to expand, jamming most firearms instantly. UNIT troops overcame this by switching to steel-lined bullets.
The Sarah Jane Adventures story The Last Sontaran
showed further technological advancements of the modern Sontarans. Commander Kaagh, a surviving pilot from the tenth Sontaran battle fleet, had slightly different armour due to being from the special forces. His suit featured no gloves, so his bare hands were visible. And on his left arm was a control panel for his suit and ship. His helmet could fold up and retract and both his suit and ship featured cloaking devices, turning them both invisible. While the soldiers of the tenth fleet were armed with large laser rifles, Kaagh has a smaller laser carbine. Rather than hypnotising humans (as Sarah pointed out they usually do), instead, Kaagh fixed neural control devices to the back of the necks of his human agents. A red light flashes when it is operational, and Kaagh can activate and deactivate them when he wants with his control panel.
by Robert Holmes, where a Sontaran named Linx is stranded in the Middle Ages. Another Sontaran named Styre appears in The Sontaran Experiment
, experimenting on captured astronauts on a future Earth. They later appear in The Invasion of Time
, where they successfully invade Gallifrey
, but are driven out again after less than a day. They appear for the final time in the original series in The Two Doctors
. The Sontarans also appeared in a skit for the BBC children's programme Jim'll Fix It
titled "A Fix with Sontarans
", along with Colin Baker
as the Sixth Doctor
and Janet Fielding
as Tegan Jovanka
.
Though the two species are never seen together, several references are made to the Rutan Host
, an equally militaristic race with whom the Sontarans have been at war for more than 50,000 years ("The Poison Sky
"). As both cultures live for war, neither side is interested in ending the bloodshed, only victory. Their war is still ongoing at the time of the earlier serial The Sontaran Experiment, which takes place at least 10,000 years beyond the 30th century. The serial Horror of Fang Rock
, set during the early 20th century, hinted that the Sontarans had gained the upper hand, but this proved merely a temporary setback for the Rutans; "The Poison Sky
", set during the early 21st century, hinted that the Rutans were winning at that point.
The Sontarans make their return in the revived series in the episodes "The Sontaran Strategem" and "The Poison Sky", with Christopher Ryan
playing the Sontaran leader, General Staal of the Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet and also being the story arc's primary antagonist. The Sontaran design was revamped for the new series, though not to a great extent. In the episode, the Sontarans attempt to convert Earth into a breeding world for their clones; a planet the size of Earth would be able to clone millions at a time. It is suggested that their war with the Rutan Host is going badly at this point, hence the need for reinforcements. It is also revealed that they were not allowed to participate in the Time War
. The Tenth Doctor
is able to stop their plan and destroy their ship.
In "The Stolen Earth
", It is revealed that UNIT has been experimenting with Sontaran teleportation technology in what they call Project Indigo.
In "The End of Time
", a lone Sontaran soldier briefly appears chasing after Mickey Smith and his wife, Martha Jones; the reasons for this are not expanded upon. The Doctor knocks it out with a mallet before the Sontaran can shoot Martha.
Along with various other species, four Sontaran battle fleets appear in "The Pandorica Opens
", in an alliance to trap the Doctor and seal him inside the Pandorica.
The Sontarans reappear in a supporting role for the episode 'A Good Man Goes to War'
, lead by Commander Strax.
, an episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures
. Sarah Jane Smith
meets Bea Nelson-Stanley, an elderly lady suffering from Alzheimer's disease
who recalls her husband describing the Sontarans as looking like potatoes and that they were "quite the silliest creatures in the galaxy".
A Sontaran named Commander Kaagh the Slayer, of the 10th Sontaran Fleet, made his appearance in the second series of the spin-off show in episodes 1 and 2, The Last Sontaran
. Later in 2008, Kaagh reappears alongside Nicholas Courtney
as Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart in episodes 11 and 12, Enemy of the Bane
. The Sontaran Empire has ostracised him for his failures and the failures of the Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet, and he is forced to work as a mercenary for the alien Bane and later colludes with their renegade Mrs Wormwood to unleash the ancient entity Horath. After she betrays him, he seeks to take his life, but denied that opportunity he tackles her into Horath's vortex and they are both lost to it.
The Sontarans have also appeared as a character in the PC game Destiny of the Doctors
released on 5 December 1997, by BBC Multimedia. They can be defeated by firing the occupants of an angry beehive at them.
The Sontarans appear in the "Doctor Who: The Adventure Games
" episode, The Gunpowder Plot.
videos Mindgame, Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans
and Do You Have A License To Save This Planet?; three audio plays by BBV
: Silent Warrior, Old Soldiers and Conduct Unbecoming; the Faction Paradox
audio The Shadow Play; and a cameo appearance in Infidel's Comet. Shakedown marks the only occasion in which the Sontarans and their Rutan foes appear on screen together, and was adapted into a Virgin New Adventures
novel.
They have also appeared in several spin-off novels, including Lords of the Storm
by David A. McIntee
and The Infinity Doctors
by Lance Parkin
. In The Infinity Doctors, the Doctor
negotiated a peace between the Sontarans and the Rutan Host when two of them were left trapped in a TARDIS for several hours and got to talking due to their inability to kill each other. General Sontar also made an appearance in that novel. In The Crystal Bucephalus
by Craig Hinton
, the name of their planet was given as Sontara. The Sontarans also briefly appear in The Eight Doctors
, sent to the Eye of Orion by an agent of the Celestial Intervention Agency to kill the Fifth
and Eighth Doctor
s.
They appear in 2009, in the novella The Sontaran Games
by Jacqueline Rayner
, featuring the Tenth Doctor
and appeared in the New Series Adventures (Doctor Who)
book The Taking of Chelsea 426
by David Llewellyn
, featuring the Tenth Doctor
, fighting both times against the Rutan Host
.
In 2008, as part of Character options first series 4 2008 wave of action figures, they released some Sontaran action figures. These include General Staal, Commander Skorr and several Sontaran soldiers.
Big Finish Productions
first use of the Sontarans for their audio dramas was the 2011 Fifth Doctor story Heroes of Sontar
.
comic strip, both as adversaries of the Doctor and in strips not involving the Doctor. In The Outsider (DWM #25-26), by Steve Moore
and David Lloyd, a Sontaran named Skrant invaded the world of Brahtilis with the unwitting help of Demimon, a local astrologer
. The Fourth Doctor
faced the Sontarans in Dragon's Claw (DWM #39-#45), by Steve Moore and Dave Gibbons
, where a crew of Sontarans menaced China
in 1522 AD.
In Steven Moffat
's short story "What I Did on My Christmas Holidays by Sally Sparrow" (the basis for the Tenth Doctor
episode "Blink
"), the Ninth Doctor
has a rooftop sword fight with two Sontarans in 21st century Istanbul
, defeating them with the help of spy Sally Sparrow, apparently before the events of "Rose
" in his personal timeline.
The Sontaran homeworld was destroyed in the future during the events of the Seventh Doctor
strip Pureblood (DWM #193-196) but the Sontaran race pool survived, allowing for further cloning; the strip introduced the concept of "pureblood" Sontarans not born of cloning. The Sontarans also feature in the Kroton
solo strip Unnatural Born Killers (DWM #277) and the Tenth Doctor
's comic strip debut The Betrothal of Sontar (DWM #365-#368), by John Tomlinson
and Nick Abadzis
, where a Sontaran mining rig on the ice planet Serac comes under attack by a mysterious force.
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al extraterrestrial
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
race of humanoids from the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction television series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, and also seen in spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
series The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
. They were created by writer Robert Holmes
Robert Holmes (scriptwriter)
This entry is about the television scriptwriter. For other people with the same name, see Robert Holmes .Robert Colin Holmes was an English television scriptwriter, who for over twenty-five years contributed to some of the most popular programmes screened in the UK...
.
Culture
The Sontaran Stratagem
"The Sontaran Stratagem" is the fourth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 26 April 2008...
describes a Sontaran as resembling "a talking baked potato" but The Doctor sticks up for the Sontarans by saying that, to them, he looks like a pink weasel. Sontarans come from a large, dense planet named Sontar in the "southern spiral arm of the galaxy" which has a very strong gravitational field, which explains their compact stocky form. They also are far stronger than humans and in the recent series are smaller.
The Sontarans have an extremely militaristic culture; every aspect of their society is geared toward warfare, and every experience is viewed in terms of its martial relevance. In The Sontaran Experiment
The Sontaran Experiment
The Sontaran Experiment is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in two weekly parts on 22 February and 1 March 1975.-Synopsis:...
, the Fourth Doctor comments that "Sontarans never do anything without a military reason." Aside from a ritualistic chant
Haka
Haka is a traditional ancestral war cry, dance or challenge from the Māori people of New Zealand. It is a posture dance performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment...
in "The Sontaran Strategem"/"The Poison Sky
The Poison Sky
"The Poison Sky" is the fifth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 3 May 2008. The episode features both former companion Martha Jones and the alien Sontarans...
", they are never seen to engage in any activity that would be considered recreation, though a few offhand comments by Commander Skorr in "The Poison Sky" suggest they do consider hunting a sport (according to their creator Robert Holmes, Sontarans do have a highly developed artistic culture, but have put it on hold for the duration of the war, while the opening chapter of the novelisation of The Time Warrior
The Time Warrior
The Time Warrior is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from December 15, 1973 to January 5, 1974. This serial introduced Elisabeth Sladen as new companion Sarah Jane Smith. It also marked the debut of the Sontarans...
, based on Holmes' incomplete draft, refers to Linx listening to the Sontaran anthem while his spaceship is in flight). The Sontarans depicted in the series have detached, smug personalities, and a highly developed sense of honour; on multiple occasions, the Doctor has used his knowledge of their pride in their species to manipulate them. However, in "The Sontaran Stratagem", the Doctor nevertheless referred to them as "the finest soldiers in the galaxy".
Although physically formidable, the Sontarans' weak spot is the "probic vent" at the back of their neck, through which they draw nutrition. It is also part of their cloning process. It provides incentive to continue moving forward in battle since retreat would expose this area to their enemies. They have been killed by targeting that location with a knife (The Invasion of Time
The Invasion of Time
The Invasion of Time is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 4 February to 11 March 1978...
), a screwdriver ("Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans
Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans
Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans is a film spin-off of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was released direct-to-video in 1995 and was produced by the independent production company Dreamwatch Media, a division of Dreamwatch magazine...
"), and an arrow (The Time Warrior
The Time Warrior
The Time Warrior is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from December 15, 1973 to January 5, 1974. This serial introduced Elisabeth Sladen as new companion Sarah Jane Smith. It also marked the debut of the Sontarans...
). Even something as simple as a squash ball aimed at that point or contact by the heel of a shoe is capable of incapacitating them temporarily (The Sontaran Stratagem
The Sontaran Stratagem
"The Sontaran Stratagem" is the fourth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 26 April 2008...
). They are also vulnerable to "coronic acid" (The Two Doctors
The Two Doctors
The Two Doctors is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts from 16 February to 2 March 1985. It starred Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant as the Sixth Doctor and his companion Peri, respectively...
).
In the episode The Poison Sky
The Poison Sky
"The Poison Sky" is the fifth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 3 May 2008. The episode features both former companion Martha Jones and the alien Sontarans...
, it is revealed that the Sontaran Empire have been at war with the Rutan Host
Rutan Host
Rutans are a fictional extraterrestrial race from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. They have been at war with the Sontaran Empire for more than 50,000 years, and this war dominates both cultures to the exclusion of all else...
for more than 50,000 years, and which, at a time around 2008, they are losing. However, the war is still raging at least 20,000 years later, in the serial The Sontaran Experiment.
All the Sontarans depicted in the television series have monosyllabic names, many beginning with an initial 'st' sound (e.g. Styre (The Sontaran Experiment
The Sontaran Experiment
The Sontaran Experiment is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in two weekly parts on 22 February and 1 March 1975.-Synopsis:...
), Stor (The Invasion of Time
The Invasion of Time
The Invasion of Time is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 4 February to 11 March 1978...
), Stike (The Two Doctors
The Two Doctors
The Two Doctors is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts from 16 February to 2 March 1985. It starred Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant as the Sixth Doctor and his companion Peri, respectively...
), Staal (The Sontaran Stratagem
The Sontaran Stratagem
"The Sontaran Stratagem" is the fourth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 26 April 2008...
), Skorr (The Sontaran Stratagem
The Sontaran Stratagem
"The Sontaran Stratagem" is the fourth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 26 April 2008...
) and Strax (A Good Man Goes To War
A Good Man Goes to War
"A Good Man Goes to War" is the seventh episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One on 4 June 2011...
); exceptions are Linx (The Time Warrior
The Time Warrior
The Time Warrior is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from December 15, 1973 to January 5, 1974. This serial introduced Elisabeth Sladen as new companion Sarah Jane Smith. It also marked the debut of the Sontarans...
), Varl (The Two Doctors
The Two Doctors
The Two Doctors is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts from 16 February to 2 March 1985. It starred Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant as the Sixth Doctor and his companion Peri, respectively...
) and Kaagh (The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
). Subdivisions of the Sontaran military structure mentioned in the series include the Sontaran G3 Military Assessment Survey and the Grand Strategic Council, the Ninth Sontaran Battle Group, the Fifth Army Space Fleet of the Sontaran Army Space Corps, and the Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet. Military titles include Commander, Group Marshal, Field Major, and General. Agnomen
Agnomen
An agnomen , in the Roman naming convention, was a nickname, just as the cognomen was initially. However, the cognomina eventually became family names, so agnomina were needed to distinguish between similarly named persons...
s include "the Undefeated", "the Bloodbringer", "the Avenger" and "the Slayer".
The newly married Martha Smith-Jones and Mickey Smith are seen being chased by a Sontaran sniper in the last Tenth Doctor serial The End of Time
The End of Time
The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Our Understanding of the Universe, also sold with the alternate subtitle The Next Revolution in Physics, is a 1999 science book in which the author Julian Barbour argues that time exists merely as an illusion.-Auto-biography:The book begins by describing how...
, for unknown reasons. The Doctor, on the verge of a regeneration, knocks it out via a mallet to the probic vent.
A Sontaran appeared in A Good Man Goes to War
A Good Man Goes to War
"A Good Man Goes to War" is the seventh episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One on 4 June 2011...
, but as an ally of the Eleventh Doctor. Commander Strax, the Sontaran in question, was condemned to work as a battlefield nurse (a punishment implied to have been meted out by the Doctor himself) to restore the honour of his clone stock. Strax expressed irritation at the task at the Battle of Zaruthstra in the 41st century after helping to heal an injured human boy, claiming this was "the greatest punishment a Sontaran can endure: to help the weak and sick." He was disillusioned with the glory of death in combat after being mortally wounded while fighting the Headless Monks at the Battle of Demons Run, though, and he firmly corrected fellow nurse Rory Williams
Rory Williams
Rory Williams is a fictional character portrayed by Arthur Darvill in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Having been introduced at the start of the 5th series, Rory joins the Eleventh Doctor as a companion in the middle of Series 5...
when the Doctor's companion called him a warrior, telling him, "I'm a nurse."
Reproduction
The Sontarans reproduce by means of cloningCloning
Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...
rather than sexual reproduction
Sexual reproduction
Sexual reproduction is the creation of a new organism by combining the genetic material of two organisms. There are two main processes during sexual reproduction; they are: meiosis, involving the halving of the number of chromosomes; and fertilization, involving the fusion of two gametes and the...
, and thus for the most part are extremely similar in appearance. Human characters in both The Sontaran Experiment
The Sontaran Experiment
The Sontaran Experiment is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in two weekly parts on 22 February and 1 March 1975.-Synopsis:...
and The Sontaran Stratagem
The Sontaran Stratagem
"The Sontaran Stratagem" is the fourth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 26 April 2008...
comment on how closely individual Sontarans resemble one another; however, it should be noted that their height, skin tone, facial features, vocal timbre and accent, hair, spacing of teeth and even number of fingers have varied from story to story, and sometimes within stories. When Luke Rattigan asks how they can tell each other apart in "The Sontaran Stratagem", General Staal remarks that they say the same of humans.
In The Time Warrior
The Time Warrior
The Time Warrior is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from December 15, 1973 to January 5, 1974. This serial introduced Elisabeth Sladen as new companion Sarah Jane Smith. It also marked the debut of the Sontarans...
, Linx states that "at the Sontaran Military Academy we have hatchings of a million cadets at each muster parade." The Doctor also comments in The Invasion of Time
The Invasion of Time
The Invasion of Time is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 4 February to 11 March 1978...
that Sontarans can mass-clone themselves at rates up to a million embryos every four minutes. Thereafter the clones take just ten minutes to grow to adulthood.
Sontarans reproduce asexually and all the Sontarans depicted in the television series are of one gender (male). General Staal comments that "words are the weapons of womenfolk" and that the clone of Martha Jones performed well "for a female" as opinions on the sexuality inequalities in other species. This typifies a Sontaran trait: interested only in the strongest fighters in any group or race. In The Time Warrior
The Time Warrior
The Time Warrior is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from December 15, 1973 to January 5, 1974. This serial introduced Elisabeth Sladen as new companion Sarah Jane Smith. It also marked the debut of the Sontarans...
, when Linx examines Sarah Jane, he comments on how the human reproduction system is 'inefficient' and that humans 'should change it'.
In The Sontaran Stratagem, the Sontarans are seen to create human clones by growing them in tubs of green fluid. Enemy of the Bane
Enemy of the Bane
Enemy of the Bane is a two-part story from the Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures. It was broadcast on CBBC on 1 and 8 December 2008, and is the final serial of the second series...
confirms that Sontarans are cloned in the same way. In a human clone, the umbilical corresponds to the probic vent on the back of a Sontaran's neck, suggesting that the vent is not unlike the human navel
Navel
The navel is a scar on the abdomen caused when the umbilical cord is removed from a newborn baby...
, though clearly more complex.
Technology
In both the classic and new series, Sontarans are depicted using spherical or semi-spherical single-occupant spacecraft. The Invasion of Time introduced a red carrier ship which could be briefly seen on the TARDIS scanner in episode 5. The Sontaran Stratagem also saw the introduction of a large mothership from which the small Sontaran spheres could be seen to originate. The Doctor notes that the one ship by itself is enough to completely wipe out Earth.The Sontarans have a variety of weapons. Their trade-mark weapon is a small rod with two handles and a plunger at one end, giving it a syringe style. But this is so it can be held and fired using three fingers. This weapon has appeared in every Sontaran story except The Sontaran Experiment and The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky. When first used by Commander Linx in The Time Warrior, it shows the ability to fire a beam which can disarm by knocking the weapon out of the wielder's hand, hypnotise, as well as cutting through wood and killing.
In The Sontaran Experiment, Field Major Styre instead used a small red laser pistol which only killed (although it did not kill the Doctor, because of a small metal plate the Doctor had been keeping in his inside pocket). The Invasion of Time saw Commander Stor using the small rod again, but also in episode six, a Sontaran trooper uses a short black rifle-like laser to try to burn through a lock on a door inside the TARDIS. The Two Doctors introduced a weapon called the Meson Gun (as named in the Jim'll Fix It Sketch, A Fix with Sontarans), a large silver rifle with a red fuel tank in the centre which was used by Group Marshal Stike and Varl in the third episode. It seemed to be some kind of flame-thrower as it fired a jet of flames very briefly. Group Marshal Stike was also seen carrying a baton.
It would not be until The Sontaran Stratagem that General Staal would show that the baton can fire an orange beam that could stun the target. In The Poison Sky, Commander Skorr and his troops carry large laser rifles into battle. In The Invasion of Time, their armour is shown to be resistant to Time Lord stasers and K-9's blaster. However, their armour is vulnerable to standard human firearms in "The Poison Sky", but the Sontarans in that episode used a 'cordolane signal' which caused the copper-lined bullets to expand, jamming most firearms instantly. UNIT troops overcame this by switching to steel-lined bullets.
The Sarah Jane Adventures story The Last Sontaran
The Last Sontaran
The Last Sontaran is the first story of Series 2 of The Sarah Jane Adventures and is a continuation of events from Doctor Who two-part story "The Sontaran Strategem" and "The Poison Sky"...
showed further technological advancements of the modern Sontarans. Commander Kaagh, a surviving pilot from the tenth Sontaran battle fleet, had slightly different armour due to being from the special forces. His suit featured no gloves, so his bare hands were visible. And on his left arm was a control panel for his suit and ship. His helmet could fold up and retract and both his suit and ship featured cloaking devices, turning them both invisible. While the soldiers of the tenth fleet were armed with large laser rifles, Kaagh has a smaller laser carbine. Rather than hypnotising humans (as Sarah pointed out they usually do), instead, Kaagh fixed neural control devices to the back of the necks of his human agents. A red light flashes when it is operational, and Kaagh can activate and deactivate them when he wants with his control panel.
Doctor Who
The Sontarans made their first appearance in 1973 in the serial The Time WarriorThe Time Warrior
The Time Warrior is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from December 15, 1973 to January 5, 1974. This serial introduced Elisabeth Sladen as new companion Sarah Jane Smith. It also marked the debut of the Sontarans...
by Robert Holmes, where a Sontaran named Linx is stranded in the Middle Ages. Another Sontaran named Styre appears in The Sontaran Experiment
The Sontaran Experiment
The Sontaran Experiment is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was originally broadcast in two weekly parts on 22 February and 1 March 1975.-Synopsis:...
, experimenting on captured astronauts on a future Earth. They later appear in The Invasion of Time
The Invasion of Time
The Invasion of Time is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 4 February to 11 March 1978...
, where they successfully invade Gallifrey
Gallifrey
Gallifrey is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and is the homeworld of the Doctor and the Time Lords...
, but are driven out again after less than a day. They appear for the final time in the original series in The Two Doctors
The Two Doctors
The Two Doctors is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in three weekly parts from 16 February to 2 March 1985. It starred Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant as the Sixth Doctor and his companion Peri, respectively...
. The Sontarans also appeared in a skit for the BBC children's programme Jim'll Fix It
Jim'll Fix It
Jim'll Fix It was a long-running British television show, broadcast by the BBC between 1975 and 1994. It was presented by Jimmy Savile. It was produced by Roger Ordish, who also worked on other BBC shows, including A Bit of Fry & Laurie...
titled "A Fix with Sontarans
A Fix with Sontarans
"A Fix with Sontarans" is the name of a specially written segment produced for the BBC children's programme Jim'll Fix It featuring Colin Baker in character as the Sixth Doctor. It was broadcast on 23 February 1985...
", along with Colin Baker
Colin Baker
Colin Baker is a British actor who is known for playing Paul Merroney in The Brothers from 1974 to 1976 and as the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986.- Background:Colin Baker was born in London, but moved north to...
as the Sixth Doctor
Sixth Doctor
The Sixth Doctor is the sixth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Colin Baker...
and Janet Fielding
Janet Fielding
Janet Fielding is an Australian actress, known for her role in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who as Tegan Jovanka, a companion of the Fourth Doctor, played by Tom Baker, and the Fifth Doctor, played by Peter Davison. She was born in Brisbane...
as Tegan Jovanka
Tegan Jovanka
Tegan Jovanka is a fictional character played by Janet Fielding in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. An Australian airline stewardess and a native of Brisbane who was a companion of the Fourth and Fifth Doctors, she was a regular in the programme from 1981 to...
.
Though the two species are never seen together, several references are made to the Rutan Host
Rutan Host
Rutans are a fictional extraterrestrial race from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. They have been at war with the Sontaran Empire for more than 50,000 years, and this war dominates both cultures to the exclusion of all else...
, an equally militaristic race with whom the Sontarans have been at war for more than 50,000 years ("The Poison Sky
The Poison Sky
"The Poison Sky" is the fifth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 3 May 2008. The episode features both former companion Martha Jones and the alien Sontarans...
"). As both cultures live for war, neither side is interested in ending the bloodshed, only victory. Their war is still ongoing at the time of the earlier serial The Sontaran Experiment, which takes place at least 10,000 years beyond the 30th century. The serial Horror of Fang Rock
Horror of Fang Rock
Horror of Fang Rock is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 3 September to 24 September 1977.-Synopsis:...
, set during the early 20th century, hinted that the Sontarans had gained the upper hand, but this proved merely a temporary setback for the Rutans; "The Poison Sky
The Poison Sky
"The Poison Sky" is the fifth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 3 May 2008. The episode features both former companion Martha Jones and the alien Sontarans...
", set during the early 21st century, hinted that the Rutans were winning at that point.
The Sontarans make their return in the revived series in the episodes "The Sontaran Strategem" and "The Poison Sky", with Christopher Ryan
Christopher Ryan
Christopher Ryan is an English actor. Ryan is perhaps best known for his role as Mike "The Cool Person" in the BBC comedy series The Young Ones.-Early life:...
playing the Sontaran leader, General Staal of the Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet and also being the story arc's primary antagonist. The Sontaran design was revamped for the new series, though not to a great extent. In the episode, the Sontarans attempt to convert Earth into a breeding world for their clones; a planet the size of Earth would be able to clone millions at a time. It is suggested that their war with the Rutan Host is going badly at this point, hence the need for reinforcements. It is also revealed that they were not allowed to participate in the Time War
Time War (Doctor Who)
The Time War, more specifically called The Last Great Time War, is a conflict within the fictional universe of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
. The Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
is able to stop their plan and destroy their ship.
In "The Stolen Earth
The Stolen Earth
"The Stolen Earth" is the twelfth episode of the fourth series and the 750th overall episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode was written by show runner and head writer Russell T Davies and is the first of a two-part crossover story; the concluding episode is...
", It is revealed that UNIT has been experimenting with Sontaran teleportation technology in what they call Project Indigo.
In "The End of Time
The End of Time
The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Our Understanding of the Universe, also sold with the alternate subtitle The Next Revolution in Physics, is a 1999 science book in which the author Julian Barbour argues that time exists merely as an illusion.-Auto-biography:The book begins by describing how...
", a lone Sontaran soldier briefly appears chasing after Mickey Smith and his wife, Martha Jones; the reasons for this are not expanded upon. The Doctor knocks it out with a mallet before the Sontaran can shoot Martha.
Along with various other species, four Sontaran battle fleets appear in "The Pandorica Opens
The Pandorica Opens
"The Pandorica Opens" is the twelfth episode, and first in a two-part story, in the fifth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, broadcast on 19 June 2010. The Doctor's friends send him a warning; he deals with a message on a cliff, a mysterious box and a love story that...
", in an alliance to trap the Doctor and seal him inside the Pandorica.
The Sontarans reappear in a supporting role for the episode 'A Good Man Goes to War'
A Good Man Goes to War
"A Good Man Goes to War" is the seventh episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One on 4 June 2011...
, lead by Commander Strax.
Sarah Jane Adventures
They are mentioned in Eye of the GorgonEye of the Gorgon
Eye of the Gorgon is the third story of the British science fiction television series The Sarah Jane Adventures. It forms the third and fourth episodes of the show's first series...
, an episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
. Sarah Jane Smith
Sarah Jane Smith
Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running British BBC Television science-fiction series Doctor Who and its spin-offs K-9 and Company and The Sarah Jane Adventures....
meets Bea Nelson-Stanley, an elderly lady suffering from Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
who recalls her husband describing the Sontarans as looking like potatoes and that they were "quite the silliest creatures in the galaxy".
A Sontaran named Commander Kaagh the Slayer, of the 10th Sontaran Fleet, made his appearance in the second series of the spin-off show in episodes 1 and 2, The Last Sontaran
The Last Sontaran
The Last Sontaran is the first story of Series 2 of The Sarah Jane Adventures and is a continuation of events from Doctor Who two-part story "The Sontaran Strategem" and "The Poison Sky"...
. Later in 2008, Kaagh reappears alongside Nicholas Courtney
Nicholas Courtney
William Nicholas Stone Courtney was an English television actor, most famous for playing Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Early life:...
as Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart in episodes 11 and 12, Enemy of the Bane
Enemy of the Bane
Enemy of the Bane is a two-part story from the Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures. It was broadcast on CBBC on 1 and 8 December 2008, and is the final serial of the second series...
. The Sontaran Empire has ostracised him for his failures and the failures of the Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet, and he is forced to work as a mercenary for the alien Bane and later colludes with their renegade Mrs Wormwood to unleash the ancient entity Horath. After she betrays him, he seeks to take his life, but denied that opportunity he tackles her into Horath's vortex and they are both lost to it.
Games
The origins of the Sontarans have not been revealed in the television series. The Doctor Who role-playing game published by FASA claimed that they were all descended from the genetic stock of General Sontar (or Sontaris), who used newly developed bioengineering techniques to clone millions of duplicates of himself and annihilated the non-clone population. He renamed the race after himself and turned the Sontarans into an expansionist and warlike society set on universal conquest. However, this origin has no basis in anything seen in the television series.The Sontarans have also appeared as a character in the PC game Destiny of the Doctors
Destiny of the Doctors
Doctor Who: Destiny of the Doctors is a PC computer game based on the British science fiction television series Doctor Who; released on 5 December 1997 by BBC Multimedia.- Overview :...
released on 5 December 1997, by BBC Multimedia. They can be defeated by firing the occupants of an angry beehive at them.
The Sontarans appear in the "Doctor Who: The Adventure Games
Doctor Who: The Adventure Games
Doctor Who: The Adventure Games is a series of episodic third-person adventure games, based on the BBC TV series Doctor Who and developed by Sumo Digital. Charles Cecil served as executive producer and worked with Sean Millard and Will Tarratt on the design...
" episode, The Gunpowder Plot.
Other appearances
Other appearances by the Sontarans include the spin-offDoctor Who spin-offs
Doctor Who spin-offs refers to material created outside of, but related to, the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....
videos Mindgame, Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans
Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans
Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans is a film spin-off of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was released direct-to-video in 1995 and was produced by the independent production company Dreamwatch Media, a division of Dreamwatch magazine...
and Do You Have A License To Save This Planet?; three audio plays by BBV
BBV
BBV is a video and audio production company specialising in science fiction drama, known for its links with the British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
: Silent Warrior, Old Soldiers and Conduct Unbecoming; the Faction Paradox
Faction Paradox
Faction Paradox is a fictional time travelling cult/rebel group/organized crime syndicate, originally created by the author Lawrence Miles. The Faction's belief-system as portrayed has some similarities to voodoo, and is sometimes described as such...
audio The Shadow Play; and a cameo appearance in Infidel's Comet. Shakedown marks the only occasion in which the Sontarans and their Rutan foes appear on screen together, and was adapted into a Virgin New Adventures
Virgin New Adventures
The Virgin New Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who...
novel.
They have also appeared in several spin-off novels, including Lords of the Storm
Lords of the Storm
Lords of the Storm is an original novel written by David A. McIntee and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The novel features the Fifth Doctor and Turlough. The novelisation of Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans by Terrance Dicks, published as part of...
by David A. McIntee
David A. McIntee
-Biography:McIntee has written many spin-off novels based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, as well as one each based on Final Destination and Space: 1999. He has also written a non-fiction book on Star Trek: Voyager and one jointly on the Alien and Predator movie franchises...
and The Infinity Doctors
The Infinity Doctors
The Infinity Doctors is a BBC Books original novel written by Lance Parkin and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
by Lance Parkin
Lance Parkin
Lance Parkin is a British author, best known for writing fiction and reference books for television series, in particular Doctor Who and Emmerdale...
. In The Infinity Doctors, the Doctor
Doctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
negotiated a peace between the Sontarans and the Rutan Host when two of them were left trapped in a TARDIS for several hours and got to talking due to their inability to kill each other. General Sontar also made an appearance in that novel. In The Crystal Bucephalus
The Crystal Bucephalus
The Crystal Bucephalus is an original novel written by Craig Hinton and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Fifth Doctor, Tegan, Turlough and Kamelion.-External links:*...
by Craig Hinton
Craig Hinton
Craig Paul Alexander Hinton was a British writer best known for his work on various spin-offs from the BBC Television series Doctor Who....
, the name of their planet was given as Sontara. The Sontarans also briefly appear in The Eight Doctors
The Eight Doctors
The Eight Doctors is a BBC Books original novel written by Terrance Dicks and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was the first of the Eighth Doctor Adventures range and features the Eighth Doctor and introduces his new companion, Sam Jones.The novel...
, sent to the Eye of Orion by an agent of the Celestial Intervention Agency to kill the Fifth
Fifth Doctor
The Fifth Doctor is the fifth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Peter Davison....
and Eighth Doctor
Eighth Doctor
The Eighth Doctor is the eighth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Paul McGann...
s.
They appear in 2009, in the novella The Sontaran Games
The Sontaran Games
The Sontaran Games is a BBC Books original novella written by Jacqueline Rayner and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Tenth Doctor as played by David Tennant. This paperback is part of the Quick Reads Initiative sponsored by the UK...
by Jacqueline Rayner
Jacqueline Rayner
Jacqueline Rayner is a best selling British author, best known for her work with the licensed fiction based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....
, featuring the Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
and appeared in the New Series Adventures (Doctor Who)
New Series Adventures (Doctor Who)
The New Series Adventures are a series of novels relating to the long-running BBC science fiction television series, Doctor Who. The 'NSAs', as they are often referred to, are published by BBC Books, and are regularly published in the spring and autumn of each year. Beginning and concluding with...
book The Taking of Chelsea 426
The Taking of Chelsea 426
The Taking of Chelsea 426 is a BBC Books original novel written by David Llewellyn and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Tenth Doctor without an official companion...
by David Llewellyn
David Llewellyn (author)
David Llewellyn , is a Welsh novelist. He grew up in Pontypool and graduated from Dartington College of Arts in 2000. His first novel, Eleven, was published by Seren Press in 2006. His second novel, Trace Memory, a spin-off of the BBC drama series Torchwood was published in March 2008. Everything...
, featuring the Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
, fighting both times against the Rutan Host
Rutan Host
Rutans are a fictional extraterrestrial race from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. They have been at war with the Sontaran Empire for more than 50,000 years, and this war dominates both cultures to the exclusion of all else...
.
In 2008, as part of Character options first series 4 2008 wave of action figures, they released some Sontaran action figures. These include General Staal, Commander Skorr and several Sontaran soldiers.
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
first use of the Sontarans for their audio dramas was the 2011 Fifth Doctor story Heroes of Sontar
Heroes of Sontar
Heroes of Sontar is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. -Plot:The Doctor takes his friends to the peaceful citadel planet, Samur. But they find it deserted...
.
Comic books
The Sontarans have also appeared several times in the Doctor Who MagazineDoctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
comic strip, both as adversaries of the Doctor and in strips not involving the Doctor. In The Outsider (DWM #25-26), by Steve Moore
Steve Moore (comics)
Steve Moore is a British comics writer.Moore is credited with showing acclaimed writer Alan Moore , then a struggling cartoonist, how to write comic scripts...
and David Lloyd, a Sontaran named Skrant invaded the world of Brahtilis with the unwitting help of Demimon, a local astrologer
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
. The Fourth Doctor
Fourth Doctor
The Fourth Doctor is the fourth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC British television science-fiction series Doctor Who....
faced the Sontarans in Dragon's Claw (DWM #39-#45), by Steve Moore and Dave Gibbons
Dave Gibbons
Dave Gibbons is an English comic book artist, writer and sometime letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries Watchmen and the Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything"...
, where a crew of Sontarans menaced China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
in 1522 AD.
In Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat is a Scottish television writer and producer.Moffat's first television work was the teen drama series Press Gang. His first sitcom, Joking Apart, was inspired by the breakdown of his first marriage; conversely, his later sitcom Coupling was based upon the development of his...
's short story "What I Did on My Christmas Holidays by Sally Sparrow" (the basis for the Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
episode "Blink
Blink (Doctor Who)
"Blink" is the 10th episode of the third series of the new production of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 9 June 2007, and is the only episode in the 2007 series written by Steven Moffat; the episode is based on a previous short story written by...
"), the Ninth Doctor
Ninth Doctor
The Ninth Doctor is the ninth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by Christopher Eccleston....
has a rooftop sword fight with two Sontarans in 21st century Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, defeating them with the help of spy Sally Sparrow, apparently before the events of "Rose
Rose (Doctor Who)
"Rose" is the first episode of Series One of the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by show runner Russell T Davies and directed by Keith Boak, the episode was first broadcast on 26 March 2005....
" in his personal timeline.
The Sontaran homeworld was destroyed in the future during the events of the Seventh Doctor
Seventh Doctor
The Seventh Doctor is the seventh incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by the actor Sylvester McCoy....
strip Pureblood (DWM #193-196) but the Sontaran race pool survived, allowing for further cloning; the strip introduced the concept of "pureblood" Sontarans not born of cloning. The Sontarans also feature in the Kroton
Kroton (Cyberman)
Kroton is a fictional character who appeared in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He was a companion of the Eighth Doctor. The canonicity of the comic strip with respect to the television series, like other Doctor Who...
solo strip Unnatural Born Killers (DWM #277) and the Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
's comic strip debut The Betrothal of Sontar (DWM #365-#368), by John Tomlinson
John Tomlinson (comics)
John Tomlinson is a British comic book writer known for his work on various 2000 AD strips.-Biography:Tomlinson worked at Marvel UK in the early 1990s and helped nurture various talents, including Matthew Bingham and John Freeman. He has co-written strips with Nick Abadzis.He was editor of 2000 AD...
and Nick Abadzis
Nick Abadzis
Nick Abadzis is a British cartoonist, comic book writer, and graphic novelist. He currently lives in New York, having moved from his previous home in London in 2010.-Early life:...
, where a Sontaran mining rig on the ice planet Serac comes under attack by a mysterious force.