Doctor Who: The King of Sontar

The Doctor and Leela arrive at an underground research base on a distant planet shortly after it is captured by a Sontaran general. The plot is fairly straightforward, concerning an attempt by the general to conquer the universe with a new and greatly enhanced clone line. (Incidentally, the scientific explanation of how this happened makes no sense, but it's irrelevant to the story).

While the Doctor and Leela are separated early on, and the story deals with their different approaches to what is essentially the same problem, most of it unfolds pretty much as you'd expect. It's good to see the Sontarans used seriously for a change - the general is voiced by Dan Starkey, who plays Strax in the TV series, but it's an entirely different performance. There's also a nice touch with some bonding between Leela and a Sontaran who has found himself opposing the general, but that's about it.

The real strength of the story, though, only comes through in the last ten minutes or so, as the central characters disagree on the best way of solving the longer term problem of the threatened invasion. This section is a great character piece, and something that probably wouldn't work so well with any companion other than Leela, posing a central moral question about who is right - and leaving the answer open.

It remains to be seen how much this will be followed up in further episodes of the season, but it does appear to be setting up a character-based plot arc, and that's something that has potential.