The Eternity Cage

The War Doctor #3.2

Released: 6 October 2016

Listened: 9/1/22

How about we bring in another outside group who want in on the Time War, but nobody else wants them? Yeah, the Sontarans, but both sides can safely ignore them because they don’t have any temporal weapons…until now. They’ve used them to kidnap Ollistra, and they’re willing to give her to whichever side offers an alliance. So Ollistra’s aide Heleyna recruits the Doctor to lead a strike team to rescue her. They get some rather unexpected help from a boy named Kalan, who’s remarkably helpful, even in dangerous situations, but he says he really wants the Sontarans off his planet. Dan Starkey plays the Sontarans, and he’s excellent as always, but honestly they’re in over their round heads, and they don’t know it. The real story comes from the mystery of who the traitor is, and there’s an obvious candidate, which means it’s not them. Ollistra tries gamely to use her manipulation skills on the Dalek Time Strategist, but to no avail. In fact, she’s on the wrong foot most of the time in this story, which is a shame, because Jacqueline Pearce is awesome, but less so when she’s not being cunning. Heleyna is played by Honeysuckle Weeks, who brings unexpected strength to the character when she has to shut somebody down. Unfortunately, this again feels like a middle story, so it’s not all that memorable.