The next release in the celebration of both Sotarans and Rutans is “The Children of the Future” fittingly featuring the Third Doctor and Sarah, the original duo who first faced off with the Sontarans 50 years ago, although this story you might be surprised to hear does not feature the Sontarans at all but is instead focused very much on the other half of the equation…
The story starts off with The Brigadier (Jon Culshaw) and Sarah Jane Smith (Sadie Miller) heading after The Doctor (Tim Treloar) after the former decided his old friend / scientific advisor was acting strangely, and Sarah agreeing (and forcing her way into the Brig’s car to join him!) They follow the Doctor for a while recounting stories of his odd behaviour before losing him, but thanks to a postcard in a nearby petrol station Sarah gets an idea of where they must be headed. After a quick chat with Stanley (Jeremy Ang Jones) behind the counter the two head to the ruins of Lindsay Castle, where Sarah and The Doctor had stopped Linx the Sontaran’s plans in the past (in more ways than one!) and sure enough soldiers are positioned all over the place and are ready to shoot on sight if it weren’t the intervention of The Doctor, who finally gives in the asks the two to follow him.
Rutans all over the shop! I’d complain about it “spoiling the twist” if it didn’t have the subtitle “Sontarans vs. Rutans” and all that…
There they meet Captain Saint (Nichaolas Boulton) who tells them that in 1994 a massive Sontaran Invasion has left the planet in peril but thanks to a time tunnel created by Linx’s old “Osmic Projector” leaking into the ruins of the castle he and his men have managed to flee to the past. There plan is to use their artificially increased strength and intelligence to breed with the people of the present to make a stronger humanity that can stand up to the invasion, but neither The Brig or Sarah are convinced. They’re told to leave, though not before The Doctor “reminds” Sarah about the shapeshifting Rutans that the Sontarans are constantly facing off against. Back at the petrol station The Brig and Stanley have a chat about how the young man has fallen out with a friend because his friend decided to continue in the army and while he left, Sarah reveals that everyone at the base has a face exactly like people in a specific copy of the newspaper from a few weeks ago. Together with The Doctor’s off-hand mentioning of Rutans being shapeshifters tips her and the Brig off that all is not as it seems back at the military base and together with Stanley, who the Brig promotes to temporary service, they head back to the Castle ruins…
It’s a fun story, not all-guns blazing action and instead more of a slow burn, but one that works really well, especially thanks to the great recasts really invoking the era, as per usual.
The Continuity:
Another look at the unused Boxset cover. Certainly more Sontaran than Rutan!
This takes place shortly after the audio story “The House that Hoxx Built”, which is saw The Doctor get a vision that he days in this incarnation are drawing to a close (something he mentions during the course of the story, much to my annoyance. Leave the retro-active continuity out of it please!) It also ties in with the previous story, though one from the this Doctor’s future, “The Battle of Giant’s Causeway” and directly links to “The Time Warrior”, the Third Doctor and Sarah story that saw the debut of the Sontarans that this series of stories is celebrating (plus the debut of Sarah, for that matter!)
Overall Thoughts:
“The Children of the Future” is another fine addition to both the Third Doctor audios and this former-boxset run of Sontaran/Rutan stories. A slower, more character focused story with a fun and exciting climax all the same. Let’s hope this momentum keeps up!
Upon returning to the ruins Sarah is captured and brought before The Doctor and Captain Saint but The Brig on the other hand sneaks down to the bottom of the Castle and finds the time tunnel and ends up activating it by mistake, sending himself to a Rutan ship. The Doctor soon follows after him, declaring him a “fool” for ruining his roose that the tunnel isn’t stable, leading to the revelation that the Rutans are invading Earth at several points (“two millennia apart”, connecting this to the previous story) and The Doctor was bluffing them about only being able to send troops one or two at a time.
As he tries to escape the Brigadier is met with two Third Doctors but manages to figure out the right one in time to escape before the tunnel vanishes completely. The Doctor apologises about not letting them in on it but admits he wanted to prove to himself he could handle the situation alone because he won’t be around much longer, though Sarah points out he dropped hints to her anyway to help them along. It’s also revealed that Stanley is a Rutan who committed the crime of splitting from the group mind and not wanting to fight, but showing some growth The Brigadier is happy to let him continue living a normal life so long as he checks in with UNIT from time to time.
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