Daniel Mansfield reviews the first part of Big Finish‘s Sontaran celebration!

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It’s been fifty years since the Sontarans made their first appearance in Doctor Who and, to celebrate, Big Finish are releasing a four-part series chronicling the war between the potato-headed invaders and their shapeshifting enemies, the Rutans!

The first instalment in Sontarans VS Rutans is The Battle of Giant’s Causeway by Lizzie Hopley, which sees a temporal tidal wave bring the Eighth Doctor, Charley and C’rizz to Ireland, 55BC. There, they discover a platoon of Sontarans who believe that they are Roman legionnaires, and a group of Celtic druids who can raise the dead. It’s a story full of some great imagery, feeling really visual despite the obvious lack of, well, visuals. Part of this is down to Sean Longmore‘s stunning cover artwork, which brings Hopley’s script to life beautifully, but also due to the dialogue, which conjures up the setting and events without ever feeling forced.

Another of this story’s successes is the return of C’rizz! It’s been fifteen years since Conrad Westmaas last appeared as the Eighth Doctor’s Eutermesan companion, and I must say it’s great to have him back. When this release was announced, I’m ashamed to say I’d never heard any of C’rizz’s stories, but I listened to The Creed of the Kromon last week in preparation for this and I absolutely loved it (a controversial opinion, apparently!).

Although I don’t know much about C’rizz’s character just yet, I thought Hopley wrote him really well here, and the comparison between his camouflage abilities and the Rutans’ shapeshifting was nicely done. It’s a shame he’s split off from the Doctor and Charley for much of this story, as I don’t think we got as many interactions between the trio as we could have, but it was also good for him to have his own little storyline too, and Westmaas’s performance was great throughout. Here’s to more of C’rizz in the future!

Now, onto the Sontarans. I often feel Sontaran stories don’t do much new with the characters, but that’s certainly not the case here. While we’re familiar with the idea of slightly different Sontarans cropping up (Strax, I’m looking at you!), Hopley takes things to a new level here by giving us Roman Sontarans – or Sonturians, as she brilliantly names them. Dan Starkey and John Banks do a great job at balancing the slightly absurd nature of their characters with their more serious, dangerous side, very much bringing to mind the kind of Sontarans we saw in Flux.

The cast is rounded off by Michelle Fox as Noorie and Amanda Hurwitz as Valmoira. Fox has some great scenes with Westmaas, imbuing her performance with remarkable vulnerability, while Hurwitz is a sinister presence throughout, perfectly capturing her character’s mercurial, unknowable nature.

Joe Kraemer handles the music here, and does an excellent job. A particular highlight is the opening TARDIS scene, where his frenetic score pairs perfectly with David Roocroft‘s sound design to show the chaos of the temporal tidal wave. Roocroft’s work on the Rutans is also impressive, perfectly recreating their harsh, electronic voices.

Overall, The Battle of Giant’s Causeway is a story with a strong premise, some excellent performances and some intriguing teases for the rest of the Sontarans VS Rutans storyline. I felt it did lose its way a little in the final third, but it’s still a really enjoyable listen. Recommended.

The Battle of Giant’s Causeway is available on CD or as a download from http://www.bigfinish.com