Salvation Nine

The Ninth Doctor Adventures Series 2 #2.1

Released: 17 August 2022

Listened: 10/9/22

This is the first story of the set known as “Into the Stars.” In contrast with the last box, which was entirely set on Earth, none of these stories are. The Ninth Doctor never met the Sontarans, and this is certainly an interesting spin on the typical Sontaran story. The Doctor stumbles upon a moon that’s about to be attacked by a human fleet, because there’s a colony of Sontarans there. Thing is, the Doctor took a look, and these Sontarans have been here so long they’ve forgotten their history and evolved out of their warlike natures. Or have they? The Doctor, especially this Doctor, isn’t going to fall for that so easily, and a lot of the story revolves around his trying to figure out what happened and whether it’s a feint. Timothy X Atack mines this for just about all the humor he can, which is a good bit. Dan Starkey, of course, is playing the Sontarans, and given the opportunity to play another Strax-like one, he grabs on with both hands. The human captain, whom the Doctor has to stall while he figures out what’s going on, is well portrayed too. She has no reason to believe these Sontarans are different, and no reason to trust the Doctor either, so all her actions are logical given what she knows. It’s nicely plotted, and keeps you guessing, and I’ll never say no to Dan Starkey Sontaran comedy.