A Fix with Sontarans - 1/10

The fact this has Jimmy Savile in it just makes it so uncomfortable to watch.

The actual little story that happens here is nothing special and it's just a nice thing for Gareth Jenkins but the ending to it - it's just simply disturbing. The fact Savile has been on a TARDIS set angers me so much and this minisode will always be remembered for the fact.

I will say the Season 22 boxset re edit with the demon removed is nice but me personally, I can't shake the feeling that surrounds this little adventure.

Overall A Fix with Sontarans gets a 1/10 not because of the story itself really, it is just the aptly described 'monster' that appears at the end that makes it so intolerable. Maybe one day the connection to that awful man will be fully separated but as of right now I just can't do it.

Rot in the Deepest Darkest Corner of Hell Jimmy Savile.

Why is anybody rating this more than ½ a star. It has Jimmy Savile in it.

WHATS GOING ON?????

A Fix With Sontarans is an odd watch now due to the Jimmy Saville scandal. When it was initially broadcast in 1985, it would have been to an audience unaware of the vile behaviour the presenter was getting up to backstage. Yet weirdly, as though the writer Eric Saward had somehow boarded the Doctor's TARDIS and been shown the future where the sex scandal had come out, Tegan (Janet Fielding) actually refers to Jimmy Saville as 'monstrous'. Never could anything be more accurate than that.

With Tegan being present in the minisode, you would think the Doctor involved would be Peter Davison. Well no, it isn't. It's Colin Baker. This is explained by a contrived reason of a 'matter transporter', which feels more 'Star Trek' than 'Doctor Who'. The Doctor explains that there are a couple of Sontarans onboard and asks Tegan to help him. She agrees, but accidentally teleports a human kid called Gareth Jenkins onboard, who turns out to be a future military leader who defeats the Sontarans in 2001. Again, all very contrived (including the reason for Jimmy Saville's presence, which expectedly feels forced into the plot). Overall, it's a fun minisode though especially watching with the knowledge that Jimmy Saville is actually 'repulsive' (as the Doctor remarks).

Gareth Jenkins is a brilliant young actor too. He more than holds his own alongside Colin Baker and Janet Fielding. It doesn't feel like he's only there because he wrote in to Jim'll Fix It but he of course was. Colin Baker and Janet Fielding have great chemistry too, despite the pair not being a Doctor/companion combination before. It would have made more sense to use Nicola Bryant as Peri, although there is a theory going around that Janet Fielding was used because she knew Jimmy Saville was a dodgy character through her husband (who was a journalist and friends with Princess Diana) and could therefore protect Gareth against any strange behaviour.

Overall, A Fix With Sontarans is a harmless enough story but parts of it feel very contrived. Gareth Jenkins is brilliant though and it was right about Jimmy Saville being monstrous and repulsive. It's just odd that Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka was chosen as the companion and not Nicola Bryant as Peri.

Essentially a sketch for the Children's show [REDACTED]. While there is a cast of familiar faces, in retrospect that isn't a good thing. While overall, the sketch isn't terrible, the shadow of [REDACTED] presenter leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth. For completists only, really.