Doctor Who: The Sontaran Stratagem

They've tried to bring back a few of the classic monsters in the new series of Doctor Who, and though they've overdone the Daleks somewhat, they've otherwise been quite successful in their attempt. My hope for the next classic monster was the Sontarans, and when they had the Rhino-like Judoon, who were similarly militaristic and heavily helmeted and armoured, I thought that would be the closest we'd get. But huzzah! Here they are. Christopher Ryan, who most of us geeks know as Mike TheCoolPerson and Dave Hedgehog, plays the head Sontaran, under a big layer of make-up, and does it brilliantly. Great job, Chris!

It was a good episode, too. Martha Jones returns, as a high-up in UNIT. And of course that also means UNIT returns! What used to be known as the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce are now the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, but basically they're the British Army with red berets on. No references to Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart at all, but that's okay, they did hint at the Doctor's past involvement with them, and they were still good to see properly. They'd made minor background appearances before, but here they're front and centre.

We also revisit Donna's family, and they're put in some peril at the cliffhanger, and there's a good level of humour in the episode too. Brilliant stuff! I look forward to the conclusion next week, eagerly.