The next Rutans vs. Sontarans story is “Rendition”, and it’s technically a Second Doctor adventure, it’s just I normally put stories that feature multiple Doctors in the style of the oldest Doctor present, which in this case is the Eighth Doctor even if he is just a mysterious cameo. “Rendition” is an odd story, featuring the Rutans under a microscope as a bunch of them have found themselves outside of the war and cut off from the host mind. Let’s take a look!
The Doctor (Michael Troughton), Jamie (Frazer Hines) and Zoe (Wendy Padbury) arrive on a space station in the middle of the Rutan-Sontaran war that’s full of injured Rutans being looked after by Nurse Marva (Lucy Scott), who claims she put in a call for help but didn’t think anyone was going to come as the space station was on its last legs and the war was just on the horizon. They all meet the patients and to their surprise they seem more docile, and less inclined to go back to war, even hosting poetry meetings much to the Doctor’s delight. Jamie is less enthused, especially when a Rutan takes his form out of some sort of instinct, but even he recites some war poetry from his own time to the delight of the Rutans.
While this is going on Zoe is sent to repair the station and later repair its shields while The Doctor tries to do something about the on-coming Sontaran ship and evacuating the Rutans as even though this is a medical frigate the Sontarans won’t hesitate to shoot it down once they find out Rutans are on board. While Zoe is down in the engine room though she finds a Sontaran visitor, along with another stranger more willing to help…
The story has a strange melancholy about it, but it’s not bad. The main cast do a great job with the odd material anyway but if you’re expecting more action heavy storytelling you’ll be disappointed.
The Continuity:
Really good cover, even if it does make it look far more action packed than it actually is…
Not much to say here, beyond the obvious Rutan and Sontaran presence and the fact it strongly connects to the other Rutans vs. Sontarans stories, which might seem obvious but the previous “Sontarans vs. Rutans” thread of stories were mostly loosely connected…
Overall Thoughts:
“Rendition” is a slower affair than you might be expecting, taking a look at the dreary but often oddly uplifting subject of war poetry, with a bit of Doctor Who hijinks thrown in, obviously. Wasn’t really my cup of tea but I can hardly call it bad, so I’ll just say I doubt I’ll be listening again…
Not actually much to say here. Zoe’s mysterious stranger is The Doctor (Paul McGann), not that she ever finds that out, and together they fix the ship and repel the Sontarans using some technobabble, which allows Zoe’s Doctor to evacuate the poetry reciting Rutans to somewhere safe away from the conflict. As the Second Doctor and his crew depart the Eighth Doctor approaches Nurse Marva, who stayed behind in a suicidal effort. The Doctor calls her Melmoth and encourages her not to give in and to continue her experiments as they will eventually bare fruit…