I have always said in previous Doctor Who reviews that I want more grittiness to them, I want more scariness but I love that the Sontarans are still used as these potato headed baddies that have a lot more humour than horror. The fact that they invaded the Crimean war just because one of them wanted to ride a horse was a brilliant inclusion.

In this episode the Doctor is thrust into the Crimean war and is there to help the English soldiers who are not battling against Russia this time but Sontarans as Russia no longer exists. This is the first real time that we see that the flux has affected not only our current world but our past as well, and how that will affect our characters and our storylines.

Of course we see that the English soldiers are very gun-ho and don’t mind fighting to the death against the Sontarans, which we know the Doctor has never been a fan of with the human race. There were a lot of interesting happenings going on in this episode as well as the companions disappearing and being taken by the ‘time demons’ that we met slightly in episode one, and seem to be at the big baddies for this season. However the more I think back to it the more I don’t remember parts of this episode bar the big important points.

This felt like the usual Doctor Who episode that we have come to know with including someone famous from history. It is interesting as it gives you some insight into that time but also follows the same sort of cookie-cutter standard storyline that we have come to know. It did of course have the exciting cliffhanger at the end, of the companions being used and possibly dying by the ‘time demons’ but that of course has to wait for episode three. And as I said in my previous review, that seems to be the M.O of this season, where they will sprinkle in little things into each episode but you have to wait again and again and again to find out the real story.

It is a perfectly fine episode. The Sontarans are really enjoyable and I really like watching them however, as I know that more exciting things are coming in terms of the Daleks and Weeping Angels, I am just in this constant state of waiting for that to come. And with the fact they are being teased means that I know they are coming and so my full attention isn’t on the episode I’m watching at the present time, but what will come in the future, which does muddy my excitement somewhat.

What do you think of War of the Sontarans?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding