Season 12, Episode 3 | 2 parts | First broadcast: 22 February – 1 March 1975 | Writer: Bob Baker and Dave Martin | Director: Rodney Bennett
Cast
- Tom Baker as the Doctor
- Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith
- Ian Marter as Harry Sullivan
- Kevin Lindsay as Field Major Styre
Summary
Teleporting down to a desolate future Earth to investigate a distress call, the Doctor, Sarah Jane and Harry discover a lone Sontaran warrior, Styre, conducting brutal survival experiments on stranded human colonists to assess humanity’s usefulness as cannon fodder in the ongoing Sontaran-Rutan war. As Harry is captured and subjected to Styre’s tests, the Doctor must outwit the Sontaran’s superior strength and technology to free the surviving humans before the invasion fleet Styre is preparing the way for can arrive.
Interesting Facts
- At just two episodes, this is the shortest regular serial in classic Doctor Who’s history.
- It was recorded entirely on outdoor videotape on Dartmoor rather than in the studio, an unusual technical approach for the era.
- This is the second appearance of the Sontarans following their debut in The Time Warrior, cementing them as recurring adversaries.
- The story continues directly from the previous serial, with the TARDIS crew returning to a devastated future London still recovering after The Ark in Space’s events.
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