Salvation Nine

Why would anyone want to save the Sontarans?

Navarch

Synopsis

The Doctor happens upon an unusual outpost – and discovers it is about to be annihilated.

To save Salvation Nine, he must rally a people for whom war is an alien concept and protect the future of the Sontaran race!

Review

One of the strengths of Big Finish is that they are able to take an established villainous race, like the Sontarans, and do something new with them. Salvation Nine is one such story, which shows us a group of Sontarans who have lost their instincts for war over time to the extent that they have become a new species.

Salvation Nine shows a new side to an antagonist of the Doctor, who, at the time of release, had been around for nearly 50 years. It is a really well-written story, compelling and funny in places. Timothy X Atack is a writer who is definitely worth watching, as he tells stories that push concepts and characters beyond what one would usually expect. Among his credits is Blood of the Time Lords, a Fourth Doctor story which explores Time Lord lore. Salvation Nine is no different, pushing what we know about Sontarans. It’s nicely paced, and a fascinating exploration of whether people can ever change. We start in media res, with the Doctor already having met the Niners on Salvation Nine before visiting Navarch. The agrarian society that the Niners have set up on the titular planet is so alien and unrecognisable from Sontaran ideals. They even get to grow old rather than dying in battle. The Niners’ ancestors may have committed genocide in the past, killing the indigenous people of Salvation Nine, but they are here and now, peaceful people. It would be easy to tell a story about evil colonising Sontarans – it is harder to tell a story that shows how their descendants eventually changed. The existence of the Niners is the perfect example of adding to history – the Sontarans remain unchanged, but they stay as a nice little wrinkle. It is a really delightful production all around. It does not really let up for a second and is a really well-paced. The score and the direction are really good too.

The Niners are grown out of the ground, like potatoes, and wear organic clothing. They are ultimately peace-loving and have no idea of how to handle weaponry. They are also a cheery bunch, with them cheerfully greeting the Doctor being a disconcerting but quite funny part of this story. As with the Sontarans, the Niners are mostly voiced by veteran Sontaran actor, Dan Starkey, who does fantastic job of voicing them, in particular Lopps, who is the main Niner we have in this story. We also have Josie Lawrence, playing Gaznak, a female Niner. The story reveals that Sontarans’ clone DNA contains both male and female genes, and the female genes assert themselves when they get older. As an elderly Sontarans are few and far between, they are rarely seen, which is a nice idea that the story throws into the mix. Starkey also plays Field Marshall Henx, a ‘true’ Sontaran, who is brought into the fray to confirm that the Niners are not recognisable as the warrior race. This ultimately saves the Niners from being killed by the Exo-Marines deployed by Navarch. The Exo-Marines have a fearsome reputation of indiscriminate slaughter.

There’s only really one other role in this story, which is that of Navarch, who is played by Pooja Shah. She is the head of an army who is tracking down Sontarans. Whilst the Niners do not have the characteristics of the warrior race, they do share their DNA, and so their search has led them to the moon, Salvation Nine. Navarch is deeply distrustful of the Sontarans, believing that the Niners are all part of a trap devised to catch them off guard, and the Doctor struggles to convince her otherwise. It’s a good portrayal of what is arguably the main antagonist role, and Shah does a good job in the limited amount of scenes that she has. Of course, the Doctor is eventually able to convince her, thanks to Henx disavowing the Niners and preventing them being killed.

The Doctor does refer to having an encounter with the Sontarans in Planet of the End, and it is a foe that is nice to tick off the list for the Ninth Doctor to meet. I would welcome another story with the Ninth Doctor. This would allow the Doctor to meet a race that remind him of his path through the Time War. Eccleston has become an adept audio actor and his ability to recapture his Doctor feels effortless. He’s particularly good when he is angry with the Niners for their ancestors killing the native population of Salvation Nine. He gets chances to balance the lighter and darker sides of his Doctor here, with bits like the running through the corridors of Navarch’s ship being a particularly funny moment. The Niners potentially give him hope for being able to move on from his past as a warrior and become a light-hearted traveller through time and space once more.

Verdict: Salvation Nine puts a neat little twist on a Sontaran story by introducing a pacifist iteration of the creatures and begs the question of whether they can ever change their ways. Eccleston, Dan Starkey and guest star Josie Lawrence shine here. 9/10

Cast: Christopher Eccleston (The Doctor), Josie Lawrence (Gaznak), Pooja Shah (Navarch Al-Hanin), Lily Bevan (Antinav Floris) & Dan Starkey (Sontarans).

Writer: Timothy X Atack

Director: Helen Goldwyn

Music: Howard Carter

Sound: Iain Meadows

Release Date: 17 August 2022

Cast Notes

• Josie Lawrence also played Professor Margo Hodgson in The Merfolk Murders.
• Lily Bevan played Emily Brooke in The Waters of Mars.

Best Quote

Look at you now – top job. Own quarters, nice furniture, massive window, lovely view of the planet you’re about to set fire to, murdering countless people.

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