The Sontaran Ordeal (CD, NM 1.4)

    Big Finish - Classic Doctors, New Monsters, Vol. 1


This story feels like a continuation of the short story we got to see of the 8th Doctor trying to save a woman when her ship is crashing but she refuses his help because he’s a Time Lord. The Time Lords fight a battle in the Time War in the skies above Drakkis, which devastates the planet. It becomes a planet of war, never to see peace again. And the 8th Doctor tries to stop it but he’s not the War Doctor so his is ineffective in his pleas for peace.

So he is caught in a battle on the planet, where Jask, a victim of his Sontaran commander’s desire for personal glory, and Sarana, a native of Drakkis. And they apparently have spice worms that attack based on movement so things go awry a bit for the threesome while they have a battle of wills to save the planet. But of course Sarana is caught in the middle in her attempts to save her planet. And she ultimately rejects the Doctor, with his pathetic attempts to stop the war from affecting her planet. She needs a different Doctor for that. And despite his attempts to assist the citizens of Drakkis, the 8th Doctor almost seems helpless when there’s war. He’s trying to put out fires after they’ve been lit. He doesn’t have the strategist mentality of the 7th Doctor or the cynicism of the War Doctor. This isn’t his fight and it shows. It’s really kind of sad.


Paul McGann (The Doctor), Josette Simon (Sarana Teel), Dan Starkey (Jask), Christopher Ryan (General Stenk/Flitch), Sean Connolly (Tag Menkin/Ensign Stipe). Other parts played by members of the cast.

Writer: Andrew Smith

Director: Barnaby Edwards

Release: July 2016

© Laura Vilensky 2019