Doctor Who: 10 Most Embarrassing Episodes For Once-Formidable Villains

3. The Sontarans In "The Sontaran Experiment"

Doctor Who Sontaran Experiment In this nondescript Tom Baker story, there's only one Sontaran instead of battlefleets of thousands in which they usually travel. We barely see him at all until the end of this oddly short two-parter, having spent most of his time off screen, torturing astronauts. The spider-like Patrol Robot is far more interesting and menacing than lumpy old Styre of the Sontaran G3 Military Assessment Survey, who gets beaten up readily by the Doctor in hand-to-hand combat €“ certainly not something the 4th Doctor was known for. Lately in the series we've witnessed the further degradation of the once-proud Sontaran race with the Paternoster Gang and the civilized Sontaran, Strax, which has filled the show with off-handed jokes (Sontarans are really dumb! They have goofy potato heads! They like to fight!) at the expense of their dignity. Although in between these two poles, they did manage to get off a rather clever scheme to rule the Earth in "The Poison Sky", so maybe we will see them restored to their former bloodthirsty glory. Or not.
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Hi there, What Culture-ers! I'm William Graff, a 40-year old freelance writer from the wilds of Capitol Hill in beautiful Denver, Colorado. I enjoy many things such as beer, Doctor Who, The Simpsons, record collecting, stand-up comedy, long aimless walks, and of course the Broncos, which is required by law if you live here. I appreciate all feedback for my writing, but I prefer cash and/or deleted Smiths singles in lieu of praise. Rock on!