DVD review (region 2)
Starring David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Freema Agyeman
Release date Out now

Sontaran shenanigans, an eternal war and an Agatha Christie mystery in these season 4 adventures…

The latest New Who volume kicks off in rip-roaring style with The Sontaran Stratagem, which sees the first appearance of the honour-fuelled warriors since The Two Doctors. It’s fast moving and frequently very funny (“He looks like a baked potato….A talking baked potato!”) with well drawn supporting characters and a nice contemporary twist (killer GPS!). The Sontarans, under the command of Christopher Ryan’s General Staal, make for engaging baddies, but the story does feel a little stretched in the concluding second-part, The Poison Sky.

The Doctor’s Daughter is the weakest episode here. This entirely predictable adventure sees The Doctor, Martha and Donna land on a planet in which humans (or at least human-esque aliens) and the piscine Hath are locked in an eternal battle. Martha isn’t given anything especially interesting to do to warrant her presence as a second companion (though there’s a vaguely touching moment in which a Hath she’s befriended sacrifices himself so she can live), and the episode wastes the potentially interesting idea of The Doctor encountering his own daughter (the product of a soldier-breeding machine). And, after the sight of ruined buildings and talk of terraforming, the ‘twist’ in the tale makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

The volume rounds off with The Unicorn and the Wasp, which sees The Doctor and Donna land in 1920s England and become caught up in a murder mystery involving a giant wasp and Agatha Christie. If you can overlook the slightly ropey CG wasp (an old skool ropey puppet would have been far more preferable!) and a ridiculous, tiresome final 10 minutes, this is great lightweight fun, featuring an excellent performance from Fenella Woolga as the mistress of murder mysteries. James Skipp

VERDICT: 7/10
There’s much to enjoy here, though The Doctor’s Daughter rather lets the side down.

Click here to buy Doctor Who: Series 4, Volume 2 at Forbidden Planet (forbiddenplanet.com)