This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: The Cradle of the Snake

As someone who isn't always a fan of the Sontarans, I was pleasantly surprised by this story. When the Sontarans are played straight, they're usually quite boring. The idea of a militaristic clone race is a cool concept but the Sontarans themselves are ultimately just silly. That's why they work really well in comedies.

And a comedy this story is, instead of the usual team of angry and serious Sontarans we get a band of misfits who are unknowingly being sacrificed to end a curse. This team of Sontarans manages to be so unique, each member is disinct despite being clones and their dynamics with both each other and the TARDIS crew are really fun to hear.

Speaking about the TARDIS team, this is a very enjoyable outing for them and they each get time to shine;

• The Doctor, probably the most boring of the bunch here. He gets his own little sidequest to save the rest of the team but otherwise he's inconsequential to the story and Davison's performance is not particularly remarkable here.
• Nyssa, her role in the story is quite passive, but that doesn't stop her from having some great moments with Tegan and it's revealed that she has a husband and two kids named Adric and Tegan
• Tegan, following on from the last story where she got quite a large role, she similarly gets a large role here and gets praised as a hero by the Witch Guard. Janet Fielding gives a great performance and her reaction to the Sontarans is great.
• Turlough, I'd say he's the best character in this story, getting to sympathise with a cowardly Sontaran. There's a brilliant moment where he orders the Sontaran about using his rank and you really feel a sudden change from Mark Strickson showing a less seen side of Turlough

Overall, this is an otherwise unremarkable story elevated by it's excellent use of the Sontarans and a generally fun atmosphere.  It's an inoffensive, comedic romp and one that I thoroughly enjoyed for the whole two hours.

Next Story: Kiss of Death