Tyler ([info]blinovitch) wrote,
@ 2008-04-28 10:24:00
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Doctor Who: The Sontaran Stratagem.
Weak sauce. The Doctor does nothing but act smarmier than usual, Martha's played like a block of wood before she's cloned, UNIT's revision into gun-toting bullies is random and non-sensical (perhaps it's meant to subtly imply the Torchwood model of weirdness-handling is best), and that cliffhanger with the car and street of poison gas is so poorly blocked they could be two different scenes entirely.

Donna, of course, gets all the best lines and moments.

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[info]indefatigable42
2008-04-28 02:56 pm UTC (link)
Donna rocks even when she's hardly in the episode.

You'd think that UNIT's goons would be a little better trained in things like recognizing the signs of alien brainwashing. Or maybe some kind of protocol for whether or not to mess with weird technology you find in a basement.

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[info]nexstarman
2008-04-28 04:07 pm UTC (link)
geekage: several of the books explain how most UNIT troops (except for Sgt Benton, Cpl Bell and some others) are seconded from the regular army such as the RAF Regiment, Scots Guards or Coldstream Guards.

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[info]indefatigable42
2008-04-28 04:19 pm UTC (link)
Yeah, but what's the point of special forces if they don't get any special training?

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[info]blinovitch
2008-04-28 04:39 pm UTC (link)
So the Doctor can look down on them for being dumb guys with guns, I guess.

Or maybe budget cuts, if you want an in-universe reason. (And really, what sovereign nation is going to give their most creative and mentally flexible soldiers to a UN agency? More likely they'd be assigned to that nation's equivalent of Torchwood.)

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[info]nexstarman
2008-04-28 05:35 pm UTC (link)
It can be argued UNIT is not a special forces operation. They deal with unusual situations like hunting for meteorites, guarding nerve gas missiles and keeping people away from giant robots, but they don't stockpile alien technology (unlike C19 and Torchwood) and they don't liaise with the police. Whenever they need something serious they have to call the regular forces to deliver an air strike, or submit to oversight from Geneva, and the Brigadier is subject to the orders of regular army generals in Spearhead from Space and Invasion of the Dinosaurs. UNIT troops are just not up to the standard of SAS commandos, and they have checks and balances Torchwood does not.

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they don't call 'em UNIT for nothin
[info]derspatchel
2008-04-28 06:42 pm UTC (link)
UNIT Dude 1: OH MY GOD IT'S A RECTANGULAR METALLIC THING IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS ROOM
UNIT Dude 2: I'M SCARED
UNIT Dude 1: LET'S TOUCH IT OR SHOOT IT OR OTHERWISE FIDDLE WITH IT
UNIT Dude 2: I'M SCARED, SEE, I'M EMOTING SCARED
UNIT Dude 1: IT LOOKS LIKE A CHOCOLATE BAR, I'M GOING TO LICK IT
UNIT Dude 2: I'VE SOILED MY REGULATION ISSUE TROUSERS

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[info]swiftangel
2008-04-28 07:34 pm UTC (link)
At least Torchwood (London) was smart enough to only hire people who were resistant to psychic tamperings.

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[info]derspatchel
2008-04-28 06:40 pm UTC (link)
Apparently Atmos gives cars nigh-unbreakable windows, and the Sontarans don't think of using, oh, say, fast-acting poison gas instead of that slow stuff. And the Doctor would rather run out into the street and watch the cloud of poison gas rather than smash the goddamned car window and save one of the few characters in the episode I liked. Maybe Donna gets fed up and does that for the cliffhanger.

Now if they'd explained it as routing all the carbon monoxide that the invention is supposed to eliminate back into a sealed car, now, I could get behind that.

On the other hand, I really do like the Sontarans, and I like it when the Doctor works their psychology around 'em. Even so, a sneak attack on 400,000 people isn't very sporting or enemy-facing, is it?

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[info]blinovitch
2008-04-28 06:46 pm UTC (link)
I like that they're emphasizing the Sontaran mindset -- particularly the fist-pounding team spirit thing. It's giving them some nice character.

That the Doctor's pointed out this goes against their usual MO makes me think there will be a relevant Plot Twist in the next episode.

Donna's clearly the level-headed one who's meant to ground the Doctor when he's overwhelmed. She'll save the day and get totally hated on for being a mooing cow by the fans.

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