It’s time for another underrated gem — this time from Liz! Join Deb, Kat, Liz, and Lynne as they talk about the debut story for Sarah Jane Smith.
Do you think this story is a gem? Why or why not? Drop us a tweet or let us know in the comments!
^E
Happy Things:
- Kat
- Lynne – Doctor Who‘s Alex Kingston Has Penned a River Song Novel!
- Liz – Season 8 Blu-ray release!
- Deb – Animated Fury from the Deep on BBC America!
Extra-special thanks to this week’s editor, Steven Schapansky of Castria!
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Comments on: "Remember The Time Warrior" (10)
I’m stunned! Liz picks an underrated story, the first two words of the title of which are “The Time”… but the next word *ISN’T* “Monster”?!? =8oO
I feel strangely betrayed. =:o(
OK, aside from that… She’s absolutely right, of course. =:o} TTW is a perfectly formed little drop of Robert Holmesiness. Kevin Lindsay is the definitive and best Sontaran; The voice he created is fun to do (pro tip: Try to keep you chin as still as possible, as if a huge rubber mask was wrapped around it. You have to work to articulate more with your lips, while keeping up that low-pitched husky voice), and the Sontaran space-armor (with him in it) is nice and easy to draw, or – as I found out at school a few years later – to model in clay. (As long as you make the legs sturdy enough, otherwise it’ll snap at the knees and fall backwards while it’s in the kiln. =:o\ ). Lis Sladen hits the ground running as Sarah; Dudley Simpson has a ball with the music, and *yes*, the dialogue is delicious! It was always a favourite to listen to in my pre-teen years.
Also, if you’re an eleven-year-old boy of short stature and you’re get a new coat for scool which is very thickly badded and zips up the front, then voila, you *are* a Sontaran any time you need to escape the grim reality of the long slog from home to school and back. And especially when you go on day-trips to country houses with big stone-walled gardens. =:o}
Fun Fact: Bob Holmes’s pitch for this story was sent in the form of a military report from the Sontaran Hol Mes, addressed to the Terran Cedicks, explaining what happened to his missing Commander, Lynx.
That *is* a fun fact!
What? The first pseudo-historical? I beg to differ! “The Time Meddler” and, to an extent, parts of “Evil of the Daleks” have this story beat for that honor.
Yay! I’m glad you all liked this one. It’s always been a fave of mine, and I could never quite understand why it wasn’t more highly regarded.
I also love season 11 as a whole, but that might be down to nostalgia because it’s the first season I saw in its entirety on original broadcast. I think I’d seen odd episodes here an there but for one reason and another, 1973-74 was when Doctor Who became appointment viewing in my house, and an essential element of Saturday tea-time for ever after!
I think the moment when Linx removes his helmet to reveal his tattie heid was the first Doctor Who cliffhanger I can remember, and I’m pretty sure it gave me nightmares! You can laugh, but it was pretty strong stuff for a three year-old! I also have very strong memories of the dinosaurs in ‘Invasion of’ and the Daleks in ‘Death to the’. I still have a lot of affection for that one, although I can understand why it’s not one of the best. Still, it was the first time I’d seen the Daleks in Doctor Who and they managed to make an impression.
Regarding the hairy ears: why do you think they called him “Lynx!”
Hello! I just wanted to tell Liz there ARE US EastEnders fans! We used to get it over our PBS channels (The same place we saw most of classic Dr. Who). We know about Dot Cotton and her iconic cigarettes, Nasty Nick. etc. She’s played ‘old’ for so long, seeing her as a younger woman is shocking!
Robot feels so much like a first-companion-story!
We’ve got Sarah Jane going around doing her own investigation, and the story spends a lot of time with her. Plus, the doctor isn’t around for the earlier sections.
I think you could totally turn Robot into a first story for Sarah Jane from the stuff that’s already there – aside from the chaos it would cause in the timeline!
[…] Doctor story “The Sontaran Experiment”. We also take a side journey to revisit “The Time Warrior” as well as “The Sontaran […]