The Sontarans ( son-TAR-ən) are an alien species that appear in the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who and its spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures. In-universe, they are a clone race bred to fight a never-ending war against a species known as the Rutans. They first appeared in the 1973 serial The Time Warrior, where a Sontaran uses time travel technology to try to return to his home planet. The Sontarans have gone on to be recurring antagonists within the series. A Sontaran named Strax serves as a supporting character and as a member of the Paternoster Gang. The Sontarans were created by writer Robert Holmes, who conceived of the Sontarans after reading the 1832 war treatise On War. He was also inspired by the history of the Vietnam War. The Sontarans' design would change throughout the years, with different Sontarans being portrayed by a variety of different actors. Some critics found the Sontarans to be among the more successful and popular alien species on the show, while others thought they were under-used or taken less seriously in the series.
Appearances Doctor Who is a long-running British science-fiction television series that began in 1963. It stars its protagonist, The Doctor, an alien who travels through time and space in a ship known as the TARDIS, as well as their travelling companions. When the Doctor dies, they are able to undergo a process known as "regeneration", completely changing the Doctor's appearance and personality. Throughout their travels, the Doctor often comes into conflict with various alien species and antagonists. The Sontarans are a clone race that hail from the planet Sontar, and are bred for war from birth. They are engaged in a constant, never-ending war against a species known as the Rutans. They have a culture dedicated almost solely to war, where dying in battle is the ultimate honor among their race, as is entering a battle without a protective helmet. They also have a war chant consisting of the phrase "Sontar-ha!" Sontarans only have a single weak point: a "probic vent" on the back of their neck, through which they receive energy. A single hit here can result in heavy damage. Sontarans are physically shorter than humans due to their homeworld planet having high gravity. Sontarans are capable of genetically modifying themselves, even allowing them to produce breast milk. Sontarans only have one gender and are also sexist against women by nature, associating womanhood with weakness.
Television
The Sontarans first appear in the 1973 serial The Time Warrior, where a Sontaran named Linx crash lands on Earth in the past and attempts to use time travel technology to fix his ship and return to combat. A Sontaran named Styre appears in the 1975 serial The Sontaran Experiment, where in the far future he seeks to test the strength of humans left to survive on an Earth ravaged by solar flares. The Fourth Doctor kills Styre and stops a further Sontaran invasion. The Sontarans then appear in the 1978 serial The Invasion of Time, where the Sontarans, under commander Stor, lead an invasion of Gallifrey, the Doctor's home planet; they are defeated by the Doctor. They next appear in the 1985 serial The Two Doctors, where a pair of Sontarans named Stike and Varl plan to obtain more powerful time travel technology from human scientists, but end up being killed by their allies, the Androgums. In the show's 2005 revival, the Sontarans appear in the two-part story "The Sontaran Stratagem" and "The Poison Sky" (both 2008). They try to xenoform Earth into a new cloning planet, but the Tenth Doctor destroys their ship, halting the invasion. The Sontarans make subsequent cameos in the episodes "The End of Time" (2009–2010), "The Pandorica Opens" (2010), and "Face the Raven" (2015). They later appear as antagonists in Doctor Who: Flux, the 2021 series of the revival, first appearing in "The Halloween Apocalypse" (2021). As part of a scheme to conquer Earth from all points in time in "War of the Sontarans" (2021), they change the timeline of the Crimean War, but are defeated by the Thirteenth Doctor and her allies. The Sontarans later invade Earth again during "The Vanquishers" (2021), where they use humans to pinpoint the location of the flux, a destructive anti-matter wave. The Sontarans aim to use the flux to wipe out the Daleks and Cybermen but end up being destroyed by it and the Doctor. A former Sontaran commander named Kaagh, a survivor of the invasion of Earth from "The Sontaran Stratagem" and "The Poison Sky", appears in The Sarah Jane Adventures serials The Last Sontaran and Enemy of the Bane. In the former serial, he tries to return to Sontar, but later ends up allying with antagonist Mrs. Wormwood to conquer the universe in the latter serial. Kaagh later sacrifices himself after he realises Wormwood will betray him. Another Sontaran named Strax appears as a supporting character in the main television series. Debuting in the 2011 episode "A Good Man Goes to War", Strax was punished for cowardice by his people, who forced him to serve as a nurse. Strax would later join the Silurian Madame Vastra and human Jenny Flint as part of the Paternoster Gang, serving in a comedic role as their butler. Strax subsequently appears in "The Snowmen" (2012), "The Crimson Horror" (2013), "The Name of the Doctor" (2013), and "Deep Breath" (2014).
Spin-off media The Sontarans appear in several media spin-offs for the series, including novels, comics, audio dramas, and video games. The Sontarans also appear in the spin-off films Mindgame and Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans.
Development
Classic era
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