'The Sontarans' is unfortunate in the sense that, timeline wise, it has the bad luck of being the act to follow up the absolute powerhouses of the Sara Kingdom companion chronicles, 'An Ordinary Life', and 'The Anachronauts'. It still manages to hold its' own, but the fact that to me it feels like a relatively generic sontaran story does let it down when compared to those more gripping, more original plots.

In my opinion, what really saves 'The Sontarans' is just one small part, and that's the conversation between Captain Daphne Papas, and Sara. Sara had a rough start in terms of garnering viewer sympathy, considering when introduced, she shoots her brother in cold blood. Throughout 'The Dalek's Masterplan', she's given some development that leads the viewer to see why she chose to act in the way she did. However, this is built on even more here, adding more tragedy to the events of 'The Destruction of Time'. Here, she gets to talk about her past with someone who has far more shared experience than Steven or the Doctor, which leads to the reveal that she joined the Space Security Service at eight. It's a really lovely well-written moment, and by far the thing that has stuck with me from this audio.

Bear with me, because this is an audio I have far too many thoughts about.

I think I should get out of the way the fact that I didn't enjoy this audio much the first time I listened to it...but that was because I hadn't been paying attention, or listening to it while multitasking, and I think this is a story that really demands the listeners full attention.

I was a huge fan of the POV switches in this between Steven and Sara. Whilst it could have became quickly repetitive, I didn't find this to be the case, instead, I really enjoyed hearing those inner thoughts and feelings when things played out, and how they differed between them both. It should be noted here too just how impressive that, between Jean and Peter, it felt as though you were listening to a full-cast audio with how they diversified their performances for the supporting characters.

Whilst the first parts of this story worked really well in keeping the listener hooked, and more importantly, curious as to the ultimate resolution, the real reason for my five stars comes from the latter half - when Steven and Sara arrive in Berlin, during the time of the Berlin Wall. This had such an excellent build up of tension through it, and listening to it for the second, third, or fourth times (if you're like me), you can clearly see where the threads are beginning to unravel in the lead up to that reveal.

When discussing that reveal, and why it makes 'The Anachronauts' so brilliant, it's impossible to avoid this idea inserted in by Big Finish in these adventures filling the gap in 'The Dalek's Masterplan' of the romantic tension between Steven and Sara (which is arguably most explicit here). I absolutely adore this writing decision, and I think it is a positive for both characters. Steven's interactions with romance are brought from simple comments on attractiveness (Galaxy 4 comes to mind) to a far more fully developed concept, in which he is conscious of his feelings for Sara, but is unable to believe that they are reciprocated. No matter how you choose to interpret Sara's feelings on the matter, the topic being brought up in respect of her leads to some excellent introspective character development (especially the moment where she talks about needing Steven to not feel like a monster in light of Bret's death).

The reveal that Steven's mind has created this prison of Berlin brings every loose end together. Every moment where Sara seemed out of character, or something didn't quite add up is explained by the tragic scene in which he confronts this created 'Sara', leading to that awful gut-twisting conclusion ('and...she doesn't love me'.) There is no joke to be made of Steven's feelings here, as other pieces of media featuring him have relied on. This is pure heartwrenching tragedy.

If any poor individual follows me on twitter, it's clear that I like this audio a whole lot. It's a lovely piece of character driven content for both Steven and Sara (most importantly the latter, who was criminally underutilised by the original run), with them stranded in England in the 1950s. I think it's impossible to talk about what makes an ordinary life so great, though, without mentioning our incredible supporting cast of Audrey, Joseph, and Michael - the incredibly kind and welcoming family that help our companions get (somewhat) settled in this new time and place. They're incredibly interesting and well-fleshed out in their own right (less so with Michael, but that's purely due to his role in the overarching plot that it's up to Steven and Sara (and the Doctor) to resolve.

My one criticism that I have of this audio is that it potentially tries to do too much, and then ends up almost doing too little. I think this story would have functioned well being slightly shorter, but closer to that tried and true 'pure historical' format. I'd like to spend more time looking at the similarities between Sara and Steven and their hosts, especially Audrey and Michael who have found themselves, like our companions, in an unfamiliar place. That, however, is not enough to take away from my overall enjoyment of this audio - and I'll remember Steven and Sara's attempt at cooking for a very long time. Maybe that's enough!