Average User Rating: 80% (13 Reviews)
4 / 5	"Hello Dad!" S. D. J. Parry "Cap'n Steve" (Kent, U.K.) - 2 June 2008 Doctor Who's fourth season continues with a definite upturn in both quality and direction with the next batch of episodes. The two part `The Sontaran Stratagem' and `The Poison Sky' sees the return of those classic Who villains to plague our Timelord once again. Martha calls The Doctor back to Earth when a UNIT operation to infiltrate and shut down ATMOS satellite navigation systems goes ahead. The simultaneous crashing of cars around the world, all using ATMOS, and a series of unexplained events lead UNIT to believe that there is an extraterrestrial presence behind the system. The story is not too bad but there are several problems with the execution. While it's nice to see the Sontarans again, they don't seem to do much, plotting and scheming in the shadows rather than just fighting it out. The battle between the Sontarans and UNIT forces was quite good but too short and it never gave you the feeling that the Sontarans were a great military power. The final sequence has been lifted right out of `Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea' or for those that remember it, `The Centurions' episode `The Sky Is On Fire' and as such it feels like a cheap end to what could've been a great dramatic moment. The writers also seem to have turned Martha from the strong character we saw develop throughout season three to a more ineffectual, two dimensional and screaming emotional sidekick which is a real shame. Great to see Bernard Cribbins back again though and his moments with both Donna and The Doctor are excellent. `The Doctor's Daughter' is a nice and well plotted self contained episode. The TARDIS deposits The Doctor, Martha and Donna on the war torn planet of Messaline. They are captured by soldiers and a tissue sample is taken from the Doctor in order to generate a clone soldier, his `daughter'. When Martha is captured by the amphibious Hath, The Doctor tries to unravel the cause of the war, while dealing with the sudden shock of becoming a `father' again. The story is well written and gives an insight into The Doctor who has previously only mentioned his family in passing. His reaction to Genny (played by 5th Doctor Peter Davison's daughter!) is excellent and the interplay between him, Genny and Donna is hilarious. The Hath are one of the best alien creations of the series to date and the relationship that develops between Martha and Peck is touching. The end of the story is rather predictable but still entertaining and no doubt the ramifications of this will return at a later date. `The Unicorn And The Wasp' is quite possibly the best episode of the current season to date. The Doctor and Donna arrive in 1920's England at a garden party where one of the guests is none other than Agatha Christie! When a murder occurs in the house, the Doctor, Donna and Agatha find themselves trying to uncover who the killer is before more people meet an untimely end. This is classic Who stuff and has been written by someone with an obvious passion for Christie novels (see how many titles you can spot!) and a great murder mystery. The pre-titles sequence is a hilarious parody of Cluedo and the story satisfies on all levels. The CGI is up to its usual standard and used to good effect and the whole episode feels like they've finally figured out the formula this year for a damn good Who adventure. Let's have more of the same please! This season has started to settle down after the tenuous beginning but the writer's still need to tone down the `angry Donna' bit and to stop making jokes about them being taken for a couple, it's beginning to wear thin now as they do it nearly every show. This collection of episodes stands head and shoulders above the first disc and lets hope that this trend continues to the huge end of season finale that we all know is just on the horizon.... Read Full Review »
4 / 5	Great stuff Mr. D. New (Blackpool, United Kingdom) - 23 June 2008 Doctor Who series 4 volume 2 contains four episodes. I know alot of people have given Catherine Tate (very unfair) stick, I think she is great as Donna Noble in Doctor Who and has an excellent on screen chemistry with David Tennant. The first story is the two parter The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky which sees the return of the Sontarans (who appeared in the classic stories The Time Warrior, The Sontaran Experiment, The Invasion Of Time and The Two Doctors). Also making a very welcome return is Martha Jones superbly played by Freema Agyeman. This story moves at a cracking pace with UNIT playing a major part. It's just like the good old days in the Jon Pertwee era. Next up is the much hyped Doctor's Daughter. I have to say that I didn't enjoy this story very much. The plot was rather predictable with an obvious ending. I have a nasty feeling we havn't seen the last of the "Doctor's Daughter". Things were back on track with The Unicorn And The Wasp in which the Doctor meets Agatha Christie. Now I am a great Christie fan and it was nice to count all the book titles included in the script. I even own a copy of the book Death In The Clouds with the giant wasp on the cover (painted by popular cover artist Tom Adams). This is the vanilla edition with no extras but it does not spoil your enjoyment - great stuff.... Read Full Review »
3 / 5	Should have been a 3 story disc. Music lover. (England.) - 8 July 2008 I think they've made a mistake here, tacking on the wonderful Agatha Christie related story, almost as an afterthought on the end of the three Martha episodes. The Unicorn and the Wasp is far superior (in my view) to the preceding stories, and would have fitted in much better with the two stories following it, about the library. The actress playing Agatha Christie here, certainly was a masterpiece of casting as she really does look like her, but the Sontaran episodes do not go with this at all, and I feel they were the worst episodes of the whole series, (every time I see a Sontaran, I think of Phil Mitchell from Eastenders!) though the Doctor's Daughter story was a little better, only for the inclusion of the fish people though, not for the 'daughter' who I found really annoying, though not as annoying as I usually find Martha, though if anything she was at her best in the Doctor's Daughter story, certainly not as intolerable as I found her in the last series with all that silly mooning around drooling over the Doctor who was obviously not interested in her, and who could blame him?! She was so drippy. This whole series should really have been all about Donna and keep bringing Martha back was taking the spotlight off her, I hope they find a way to return Donna to her rightful place as best companion the Doctor has ever had! ... Read Full Review »
5 / 5	the best episodes to date!!! S. J. Pinder "scifihorror fan" (Cornwall,UK) - 1 June 2008 the sontaran stratagem-10/10-an amazing first part that puts the viewer right on the edge of their seat...and gets them caught up in the action(and what a lot of action there is...WELCOME BACK MARTHA!!! the poison sky-10+/10-the best episode ever made on the show, the doctor has to make the ultimate sacrifice,Martha(and the doctor) must face her clone who is aiding the sontarans destruction of earths life, and Donna provides the funniest line ever "oh yes...back of the neck"hilarious!! the doctors daughter-9/10-acting as a continuation from the previous(epic) two parter Martha,Donna,and the doctor are transported to a new earth in the future where there is a war between a race of aliens and humans...Georgia Moffet provides a role that may have caused controversy for fans disputing over the episodes title...you have to watch to find out just who she is. the unicorn and the wasp-10+/10-another amazing episode...its just hilarious and feels like watching a real Marple mystery and is quite brutal too(surely to earn this dvd a '12'certificate)and one of the funniest scenes ever!!!. I'll be getting this volume without a doubt:)i'm sure you will find it equally as spectacular as i did.... Read Full Review »
5 / 5	Sontar-HA Mr. C. J. Deacon - 15 June 2008 This is a great DVD to buy with 4 outstanding Doctor Who episodes. These are: (Two parter) The Sontaran Stratagem, Poison Sky, The Doctor's Daughter and The Unicorn and the Wasp. My favourite being the two parter with the Sontarans. The Sontaran Stratagem: Yay the Sontarans are back! The Doctor is called by Martha Jones asking him to come back. Martha is working in a situation that the doctor has never seen her work before. Martha gets cloned into a bad version of herself! It has great scenes and spookty scenes with of course lots of humour. Ending with a great cliff-hanger with CO2 gases shooting from cars and Donna's grandad Wilf trapped in a poisonous car! I give this 10/10 Poison Sky: Continuing from The Sontaran Stratagem with gases in the sky chaos is fleeing the city/world. This is a very good episodes which is very gripping all the way through. I would give this a very respectful 10/10! The Doctor's Daughter/The Unicorn and the Wasp: Doctor's Daughter maybe not as good so I give it 7/10 but the Unicorn and the Wasp I give 9/10... Read Full Review »