The Fugitive Doctor is on the run from Division, and arrives on the planet Sontar with an offer…
In 2024, a four-part Big Finish series took us into an endless battle: Sontarans vs Rutans. Of the two, we’re more familiar with the militaristic clone warrior Sontarans than the shape-changing Rutan host, and the series lent more in that direction while showing both sides of the conflict.
Now, a sequel series shifts the emphasis to Rutans vs Sontarans, but the format remains the same. Rutans vs Sontarans consists of four monthly releases, each starring a different Doctor. The action begins with Jo Martin’s Fugitive incarnation, followed by tales for the Second, Sixth and Eighth Doctors.
As well as starting the series, this first episode also serves as a prequel to ‘The First Sontarans’, Andrew Smith’s adaptation of his planned Sixth Doctor Sontaran story. Made for audio in 2012 it introduced the Kaveetch, Sontar’s indigenous population, who created the clone warriors only to have the troopers turn on them and hunt them down.
However, those events are still to come – we’re earlier here in a time when the Kaveetch Empress Annaz Zachar still rules, and no one has heard of the Rutans.
Betrayal at the House of Sontar
Events kick off as the Doctor arrives, on the run from her Division masters and promising the Kaveetch scientific secrets to aid their time experiments in exchange for their protection. An uneasy agreement is made, but there are competing agendas within the Kaveetch.
Their Empress (Abi Harris) is keen to take the advantage, but the leader of her military, General Stahl (Nigel Fairs), is more cautious. Also in the mix is the Kaveetch scientist Meredit Roath – with Anthony Howell reprising his role from ‘The First Sontarans’. Additionally, Jonathon Carley (better known as Big Finish’s War Doctor) is on hand as Vrag, and both he and Nigel Fairs are perfect as traditional, Linx-like Sontarans.
This is a great tale for Jo Martin’s Doctor, who feels as though she is doing something quite out of character for the Doctor. That’s until we’re reminded that this is not the Doctor we know at all!
In Summary
It’s virtually impossible to review John Dorney’s tale without spoiling the twists and turns, but suffice to say that setting it in the Fugitive Doctor’s time gives the whole affair a feel of pre-history. This is before Doctor Who as we know it, with Division pulling strings and the Sontarans yet to become the stomping warmongers we recognise. Indeed, they’re technically the Sontar Astro Navy at this point, the Sontar A N, and cloning has yet to become a method of their production.
The tale is quite talky, with plenty of plot and intrigue as it sets up events that have universal implications and provocatively dares to place the Doctor right at the heart of them.
All in all, ‘Betrayal at the House of Sontar’ is a lot of fun and a great start to the series.
Doctor Who: Rutans vs Sontarans: Betrayal at the House of Sontar is available from Big Finish.
Next time: Rendition
The series continues in May 2026 with ‘Rendition’ by Tim Foley.
At the edge of the Sontaran-Rutan War, a large medical ship lingers in space. The Doctor and his friends find a group of strange survivors aboard planning something unusual to save their commander.
What new powers do the Rutans possess? What secrets does the Lockhart hold? As the conflict creeps closer, the Doctor must work out how to rescue those no longer versed in war…
Michael Troughton stars as the Second Doctor, with Frazer Hines as Jame and Wendy Padbury as Zoe. The cast also includes Tom Alexander, Lucy Scott and Jonathon Carley as the Sontarans. Plus, Paul McGann appears as the Eighth Doctor.
Doctor Who: Rutans vs Sontarans: Rendition is available to pre order from Big Finish now.
Check out our reviews of the four episodes of Sontarans vs Rutans here.
