The Sontaran Experiment: Part One (22 Feb. 1975)

The Doctor, Sarah and Harry teleports to Earth to ensure the planet is safe for the survivors on-board Nerva Beacon to return to Earth and re-inhabit their world. Only to find a Sontaran ... See full summary »

Director:

Rodney Bennett

Writers:

Bob Baker, Dave Martin

Stars:

Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, Ian Marter

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Tom Baker	...	Doctor Who
Elisabeth Sladen	...	Sarah Jane Smith
Ian Marter	...	Harry Sullivan
Donald Douglas	...	Vural
Glyn Jones	...	Krans
Peter Walshe	...	Erak
Kevin Lindsay	...	Styre
Peter Rutherford	...	Roth
Terry Walsh	...	Zake

Storyline

The Doctor, Sarah and Harry teleports to Earth to ensure the planet is safe for the survivors on-board Nerva Beacon to return to Earth and re-inhabit their world. Only to find a Sontaran named Styre has captured a group of humans and conducting experiments on them to discover the human body's weaknesses, as part of the Sontaran's goal for domination of the galaxy.

---

Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

---

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 February 1975 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Hound Tor, Manaton, Devon, England, UK

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

24 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This two-part serial was released by the BBC on video cassette in the UK in October 1991 as part of a double video pack with the six-parter that followed it, Doctor Who: Genesis of the Daleks: Part One.

---

Goofs

The Sontaran's hands show a glove with 5 fingers - Sontarans only have three fingers.

User Reviews

Sontarans look like Russett Mr. Potatoheads!

I'm reviewing both parts 1 and 2 here because that's the way it comes on the video.

This one is a really great episode, one of my personal favorites. Tom Baker plays Doctor Who and Sarah is his sidekick along with one other male sidekick, Ian Sullivan.

Doctor Who stops off on Earth (far in the Earth's future when it is no longer inhabited) to make repairs to some equipment that he has based there. Sarah and her friend come along for some R&R in the beautiful English countryside but they run into a "hole-trap" right away! Pretty soon some human astronaults show up and they are very suspicious of the TARDIS trio because some of their crew members have been killed.

The facts ultimately show that it is Field Major Styre, a Sontaran, along with his devilish mobile robot, who has been torturing and killing off the astronaults. Styre had lured them to Earth with a fake distress call and then destroyed their space ship after they had landed. He is conducting "experiments" on humans to detect all their mental and physical inferiorities, (e.g., by water deprivation, by mashing them, etc.), so that his tribe can invade the galaxy and exploit these weaknesses. His superiors are awaiting his final report prior to the invasion.

But Doctor Who has other plans for the Sontarans! The Sontaran, Styre, (as well as his look-alike superior), looks like a giant russett potato with arms and legs and dressed in a cool space suit, and is actually made up quite good. His robot is also a timeless work of tinsmithing art. The cinematography in this entry is spectacular and the action is constant.

If I have a singular critique of this one it's that it is one of the shorter Doctor Who episodes, having only two parts. Still, it's very worthwhile television. My highest recommendation.