10 Criminally Underrated Doctor Who Stories

by Patch Huish

1. The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky

Doctor Who The sontaran stratagem
BBC

Overshadowed by the other outstanding offerings in Series 4, this terrific two-parter is packed with everything you could possibly want from a Doctor Who story, whether you’re a full-on fan or a more casual viewer.

For dedicated lifelong fans, this episode emulates the feel of a classic Jon Pertwee story, with the Doctor working alongside UNIT to thwart an alien invasion of Earth by the Sontarans, a classic-era foe who return to the series with a brilliant updated design and their thirst for war intact. There’s plenty of continuity for newer fans too, with a surprise companion comeback in the form of Martha Jones, cheeky references to beloved revival-era episodes (“are you my mummy?”) and other returning elements such as the Valiant, UNIT’s suspiciously helicarrier-esque airborne vessel.

Despite the generous amount of gleeful geekery involved, this two-parter is surprisingly accessible for casual viewers. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, with a fun tongue-in-cheek atmosphere and heaps of great gags (“We have an intruder!” “How did he get in, in-tru-der window?”).

However, it still knows how to amp up the tension when needed: The Tenth Doctor’s swaggering arrogance comes to the fore as he is matched against multiple clashing personalities, making for climactic confrontations with UNIT, the Sontarans, and smug teen genius Luke Rattigan.

If that wasn’t enough, this story also features plenty of well-directed action scenes, some spooky moments involving Martha’s clone, clever concepts such as the ATMOS sat-nav system which takes control of cars, and a satisfying resolution that ties it all together. This high-stakes episode is a low-key classic with universal appeal, and it deserves to be remembered alongside the greats.

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Patch is a pop culture enthusiast and purveyor of puns. He writes about media in a vague attempt to justify the alarming amount of time he spends consuming it. Nobody's convinced... but nobody's told him that yet. He spends his spare time working on Portal 2: Desolation, an ambitious fan-made sequel to Valve's beloved puzzle games.