DVD Region2: pub: BBC BBCDVD 1811. 49 minutes 2 episodes with extras. Price: under £ 6.00 (UK) if you know where to look)) stars: Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen and Ian Marter

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Before I got down to watching this two-parter, I re-watched 'The Ark Of Space' again which I reviewed last year. The two stories are connected and considering that, unusual for 'Doctor Who', they weren't six-parters, it would have made more sense to have them in one volume than two.

The Doctor, Sarah Jane and Harry Sullivan teleport down from the Ark space station to see the state of the Earth after the evacuation ten centuries previously to avoid a cosmic catastrophe. As the Doctor repairs the T-Mat station, Sarah and Harry go off to look around. Harry falls down into a gully and looking for help, Sarah encounters a crazy astronaut. The Doctor, meanwhile, having been attacked by another astronaut who unfortunately slips off a cliff and is captured by the remaining astronauts thnking him responsible for the death. He discovers they'd been stranded there and think that a returning population to Earth from hibernation is all myth. They are also under threat from a lone Sontaran who is systematically catching and experimenting to discover human weaknesses before an invasion is initiated. It is up to the Doctor and his companions to stop it being carried out.



For 'Doctor Who' of this period, this is the first and only outside broadcast made in the murky climes of Darkmoor in Devon. I have to confess I've only ever passed through the place a couple times in my life. A bleak cold spot and forever in drizzle or rain. The audio commentary explains that video instead of film recording hid just how much rain was coming down sometimes. It did, however, make for a moody place with opportunities for scenes that didn't depend on endless running down tunnels. With such a short story, it was able to take advantage of all this to make it memorable.

It's hard to believe that the Sontarans have only have had only five stories in 'Doctor Who', including the more recent one. Yet, like the Daleks and Cybermen, are instantly recognisable and haven't changed much over the years. The major extra of this DVD is looking at the first four appearances, explaining their agenda and motives as well as what it was like to create and appear in these stories.

It would be all to easy to ignore this story because of its length when really you should be rejoicing because it works before moving onto the next big significant story which introduced a certain Dalek creator and effectively completes the twelfth season on DVD.

GF Willmetts