Doctor Who: The Eternal Battle

This is another in a number of Sontaran-themed stories that Big Finish brought out at roughly the same time. As in the others, it manages to make more of the race than simple foils or comic relief. In this case, it doesn't do so by adding anything new to them, but by presenting them as the victims of the situation, fighting off the real monsters on a distant planet.

This could quite easily have been a pro-military story as a result, and, indeed, much is made of the Sontarans' heroism and code of honour. (One is reminded a little of the way Klingons were often treated in Star Trek: The Next Generation). But, in fact, it's a story about the futility of war, with the real foe being unstoppable by anything as simple as shooting at them and even the potato-headed warriors being worn down by the pointlessness of it all.

Romana and the Doctor share about equal parts of the story, which also features K9 in a smaller role that mostly consists of him being over-literal about things. The obvious gender-imbalance necessitated by using the race of cloned warriors so prominently is partially offset by having most of the few non-Sontaran guest characters be women, although these are minor parts without much depth to them.

Whether the final resolution is also a weakness is likely a matter of taste. It's the sort of thing that's entirely appropriate for '70s Who but that feels dated over forty years on. Homage or cliche? It's probably both, but for me, this and the dialogue between the Doctor and Romana are capturing the feel of this era of the TV show's existence. Which surely is the point.