For the glory of Sontar! The BBC have confirmed that trad Doctor Who baddies the Sontarans are set to return next season. The spud-headed, warmongering clone race first tangled with Jon Pertwee's incarnation in the 1974 story The Time Warrior, then returned to torment Tom Baker in 1975's The Sontaran Experiment and 1978's The Invasion of Time, where they dared to subjugate the Doctor's homeworld of Gallifrey. They were last seen in 1985's Colin Baker/Patrick Troughton team-up The Two Doctors - unless you count their turn in Jim'll Fix It sketch A Fix With The Sontarans, but come on, that would just be mad.
We're still awaiting a title for David Tennant's encounter with these old school faves, but we do know that the Sontaran leader will be played by former Young One star Christopher Ryan, last seen in Who playing the slug-like Mentor Kiv in Trial of a Time Lord. "I'm absolutely delighted to be appearing in this new Doctor Who," says Ryan, clearly up for being submerged beneath prosthetics. "The last time I appeared in Doctor Who was in 1986. Colin Baker was the Doctor and I was still a Young One."
Personally we're not willing to bet on the outcome of a showdown between the massed might of the Sontaran Empire and an angry Donna, but we just know it's going to be messy.
