Born to Die

There is nothing wrong with the Sontaran race!

Skole

Synopsis

When a trip to the planet Taxodon goes wrong the Doctor finds himself with mere hours to prove himself innocent of murdering a Sontaran. As more die, the Doctor and Charley need to uncover the cause and why the Sontarans are even on this planet… if they have time.

Review

Born to Die will always hold a special place for me, as it was released the same day that I went to see Colin Baker, Terry Molloy and Nicola Bryant in The Hound of the Baskervilles. This is the first time that I’ve seen any Doctor Who cast members in the flesh, so I was very excited!

Whilst The Children of the Future put the focus purely on the Rutans, Born to Die does the same for the Sontarans. The war between the Sontarans and the Rutans is one that has fascinated me because I don’t think I really understood how a war between these two different races would work, but Born to Die, and in fact the rest of the releases in this mini-series so far have done a good job of conveying this. Tiegan Byrne shows how the Sontarans are constantly seeking out tactical advantages, like the Nox’s ability to camouflage, to try and give themselves the edge in this never-ending conflict. Byrne gives us a story that is set up as a murder mystery, with the Doctor and Charley finding a dead Sontaran, and the trail of bodies only continues to grow as the story goes on. The story also taps into ideas of how destructive colonisation is as the Sontarans set about destroying this world of Taxodon and trying to utilise its resources to bolster their war effort.

In a story mainly focused on Sontarans, it is good to have some variety in their voice actors. Whilst Dan Starkey is great as Big Finish’s go-to Sontaran voice, this story would feel rather flat if all the Sontaran parts were played by him. To that end, it’s good to hear him joined by Christopher Ryan, who originally played Sontarans alongside Starkey in their return to the show in The Sontaran Stratagem and The Poison Sky, along with Jon Culshaw. Culshaw’s performance as Skein works well as the Rutan infiltrator into the Sontaran ranks, feeling as it does, slightly out of place when surrounded by Sontarans voiced by familiar voices like Starkey and Ryan, which works well for the eventual reveal. If I do have a bone to pick with this story, it is in the moments of Sontarans fighting other Sontarans, which do feel a little bit incoherent and difficult to follow. That being said, I think that the reveal that the Rutans have been able to perfect their shape-shifting abilities in order to perfectly mimic the Sontarans feels like a logical step. Those Sontarans who have been affected with the Rutan contaminated chemicals find themselves so conflicted that they take their own lives. The Doctor does think that a Sontaran-Rutan hybrid might be the path towards peace, but as Skole points out, they would just find a way to wage war on these hybrids as well.

Whilst I’ve not got to the point of Charley leaving the Eighth Doctor and joining the Sixth Doctor in my reviews for this blog, I have heard some stories with her and Colin Baker, including this one, where Charley knows more than she’s letting on. This is an interesting dynamic, and it is certainly an interesting and fun dynamic between the Doctor and companion, having them know more than the Doctor thinks they do. Having met both the Sontarans and the Rutans in The Battle of Giant’s Causeway, Charley knows both well enough to know the Sontarans’ probic vent weakness. As much as Charley tries to cover up for the fact that she knows more than she should, she cannot help but slip up from time to time.

This is a good story for the Sixth Doctor and Charley though. The Doctor has got a lot to get outraged about, allowing Colin Baker to get his teeth into good speeches about the futility of this conflict. Whilst the Doctor and Charley are suspected of murdering the first dead Sontaran they find, the Doctor is able to dig up a piece of Sontaran law, the Sunset Law, which means that he has time to find the killer. With the Sontarans insisting on keeping Charley as security, the Doctor is instead given Skole as a companion for this story, and the dynamic between the two is quite good fun. This is something that has previously been mentioned in The Children of the Future, where the Third Doctor found it in the Rutans’ files on the Sontarans, so it is nice to see it actually put into place here. Meanwhile, Charley is interested in preserving the indigenous species of the Nox, helping them to bust out of Sontaran imprisonment. I did find the voices of the Nox a little wearing, however, they are not featured all that much, so it was something that was easy to look past.

Verdict: Born to Die is another fun entry into the Sontarans vs Rutans storyline. It is a bit incoherent in the more action packed scenes, but it is otherwise a very accomplished debut Doctor Who story for Tiegan Byrne. 7/10

Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), India Fisher (Charley Pollard), Jon Culshaw (Skein), Christopher Ryan (Trax) & Dan Starkey (Skole).

Writer: Tiegan Byrne

Director: Ken Bentley

Music: Joe Kraemer

Sound: David Roocroft

Release Date: 12th March 2024

Cast List

• Jon Culshaw has played numerous roles for Big Finish, including the Brigadier, Kamelion and the ‘Tremas’ incarnation of the Master.
• Christopher Ryan has previously played Sontarans in The Poison Sky, The Sontaran Stratagem and The Pandorica Opens, as well as playing Sontaran roles for Big Finish.
• Dan Starkey has appeared in numerous roles, both on television and for Big Finish, most notably Strax.

Best Quote

The Battle of Giant’s Causeway

The Children of the Future

Previous Sixth Doctor review: Mind of the Hodiac

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