Doctor Who Flux: 10 Huge Questions After The Vanquishers
6. How Come The Cybermen And The Daleks Were So Easily Fooled?
One of the least plausible aspects of The Vanquishers was the portrayal of the Daleks and Cybermen. Both races were far too easily fooled by the Sontarans. Neither could be described as gullible and there’s little chance they would ever come together without it turning into a fight to the death. The only other time we’ve seen an effective alliance of the Doctor’s most feared enemies is when they think the Doctor is going to destroy the universe through the cracks in time. They form an alliance to lock him away in the Pandorica (The Pandorica Opens).
The universe is threatened with extinction again, so it’s a similar context here. The need to survive overrides the desire to be the dominant species. The Sontarans offer a viable solution, a temporary alliance would make good strategic sense. But it’s a huge leap from taking such a pragmatic decision to blindly, unquestioningly walking straight into the trap.
We have to assume that the Sontarans took steps to counter
any questions their rivals might ask of them, and that behind the scenes the
Daleks and Cybermen had already made their plans to destroy the Sontarans once
they’d reached the safety of Earth.