Doctor Who retro review: The Sontaran Experiment (Fourth Doctor story)

Today, we look back at classic Doctor Who serial The Sontaran Experiment, from Tom Baker’s first season as the Doctor. How does it compare to their previous story?

Slotted between two of the greatest Doctor Who stories ever (i.e. The Ark in Space and Genesis of the Daleks), The Sontaran Experiment is a rather unusual Doctor Who story for its time.

First, it’s only two episodes long. Most serials around this time were between four and six episodes each. In fact, The Sontaran Experiment is the only two-part story of the Seventies altogether.

Secondly, it’s filmed completely on location. A lot of Doctor Who stories during this time included a mixture of studio-based filming and location.

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Both reasons are connected to the fact that producer Philip Hinchliffe wanted to avoid telling too many six-part stories. Six-part stories were very common in the Third Doctor’s era. The problem with the format is they very easily run the risk of going on for too long.

So Hinchcliffe changed the format to include only one per season. He also took the resources usually allocated for such stories, and split them in two. The previous story, The Ark in Space, focused on entirely studio-based recording. The Sontaran Experiment, meanwhile, was shot entirely on location.

But what of the story itself? How well does The Sontaran Experiment use this format?

A darker Sontaran story

Surprisingly well, as it turns out. For one thing, when they made the story, they avoided the trap of using a quarry as the location. It’s a cliche that a lot of classic Doctor Who stories used quarries for alien worlds. It’s also a rather true one, unfortunately.

So it’s refreshing that the makers avoided the rather easy trap of using a quarry to show a devastated Earth in the future. Instead, we’re treated to nice green fields, to show the Earth recovering from the devastation.

The rich green setting also does a great job of contrasting to the darkness and bleakness of The Sontaran Experiment. Because make no mistake, this story has more than a hint of darkness and grittiness to it. There’s a strong focus on torture, both physical and psychological. So it’s certainly not as light as the openly fun The Time Warrior from the previous season.

Considering that it’s only two episodes long, it’s a bit of a surprise that Styre the Sontaran doesn’t show up until the end of part one. Especially as the title pretty much gives away what the villain is. So we only really get one full episode of Kevin Lindsay playing a Sontaran.

Thankfully, the build-up is definitely worth it. Styre is a great villain, doing what he does not for purely sadistic purposes, but just to gather knowledge. That kind of dedication makes him both more believable and more terrifying than some other Doctor Who monsters.

Kevin Lindsay

Once again, Kevin Lindsay does a great job capturing all the key aspects of the Sontarans and making them a believable race. It’s sad to think that this was his last performance during the year he died. Over four decades on, and his performance is still one of the very best for the warrior race.

The Sontaran Experiment is in many ways a low-key story. With just two episodes, one single Sontaran featured and limited location work to use, there wasn’t a great deal for the production team to use.

However, it’s a very strong story, possibly one of the best that regular Classic Series writers Bob Baker and Dave Martin ever wrote. Perhaps it’s because of the focus on the small-scale that makes this story work. Another great Sontaran story, and one that added to the darker tone of Tom Baker’s first season.

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Have you watched The Sontaran Experiment? What did you make of it? Did you enjoy the darker tone compared to The Time Warrior? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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