The Poison Sky (2)

Season 4, Episode 5, Aired
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Episode Summary

Location: Earth
Date: 2009
Enemies: The Sontarans
The Sontarans continue their evil plot and begin to "choke" the Earth. The Doctor and Donna, now teamed with Martha have to stop them! Can they save Earth before it's too late?
8.6
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Fan Episode Reviews (13)

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  • Part 2 and it's looking good...and by "it" I don't mean Martha...she's still as ugly as a dog turd covered in chipmunk crap...

    8.0
    "Great"
    By CodenameV, Apr 15, 2010 Report Abuse
    Here we are. Part 2 of the 22 year later return of the Sontarans. The first part was extremely entertaining and had only a few minor letdowns. This week, however, we have much of the same.

    The cliffhangers are all resolved within the first 5 minutes, as they should be, and we kick into overdrive with the second part as the Doctor attempts to save the world from the poisonous gas unleashed by the Sontarans. And that's about it. There's not much else to it.

    We're given an "emotional" scene between Martha and her "evil" clone, which saps all drama from the episode with it's sheer rubbishness. We have the usual arrogant prick General who can't take the Doctor's advice. And we've got annoying kid with crappy American accent. But that's it for the bad.

    On the good, we've got a near tearjerking scene with Bernard Cribbins, whom I love. As well as that we've got an interesting cliffhanger, a decent twist involving the annoying American kid, and some decent jokes - especially the references to "Are you my mummy" and the Brigadier.

    And we have a blink or you'll miss it Rose moment. When the Doctor sends his message to the Sontarans/Donna, Rose flashes on the TARDIS screen for just a moment, a look of terror on her face as she screams "Doctor" mutely and then gets cut off. Interesting stuff.

    Overall, a decent second part. It does the opposite of what most 2-parters this early in a season do. It doesn't better the first part, instead it stays pretty much the same. The trailer for next week's episode looked good, but I do have a twitch of anger everytime I hear the phrase "Doctor's daughter". And Martha's back next week...ugh!

    Part 2: 8/10

    Overall storyline: 8/10moreless

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    2 2

  • A dim ending to what I thought was a good start

    5.5
    "Mediocre"
    By dalekmonster, Jun 22, 2008 Report Abuse
    Alright this is going to be simple. The ending was absolutley crap! The kid blows up the ship which saves the Doctors life.Crap! Seriously this is one of the worst two parters ever. The first part had alot of hope and potential to make a good second part. But they failed. Ok good points. Donna was a great part once again and Martha didn't do bad. In fact most of the actors did allright it was just a bad script. Bad points. There are way to many of these. The clone bit was a complete waste of time. I just went to get a biscuit and I had missed nothing at all! Why do the sontarons try to kill everyone. And whats the point of fighting back! The army was a pointless part the cloning was pointless and that guy was pointless. This is the worst episode of the season so far. I have heard Midnight is meant to be appauling but I haven't seen it yet. Still could be the worst episode joint with 42.moreless

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    0 4

  • Disappointing but still good

    8.1
    "Great"
    By AvatarBlue, Jun 05, 2008 Report Abuse
    A good setup wasted in my opinion. The Sontarans ultimately proved not to be as dangerous as percieved. Their plan within a plan though was quite intelligent and interesting.

    Some of the effects of the Sontaran space cruiser were excellent. Locations were more or less as the previous episode and fairly mundane. Infact all the present or near present day locations just fail to inspire.

    The first act picks up from where the last episode finished, and does a decent job, but the build up to the finale is just poor and lose perspective. Alot of the scenes have been done before in a different guise. I dont doubt that youll be going through the motions as you wait for the inevitable Dr. Earth saving finale.

    Even Bernand Cribbins almost dying doesnt really bridge the gap to the intensity level it should have been at!

    That aside, its a fairly watchable episode, that will have the younger generation coo-ing at the Dr's efforts to save the planet.

    There have been better stories even this season, and Im sure there will be more to come

    Lastly I just want to say something positive about Tate. Welldone to her for actually toning down the character/acting when it was needed to just support Martha and the Dr. in this episode. Its made me change my mind about her inclusion in this series! Hopefully, youll get more chances to shine!moreless

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    3 0

  • The sontarans are choking the earth

    7.4
    "Good"
    By exterminator25, May 21, 2008 Report Abuse
    The sontarans have revealed their plan. They are using their poisonous gas inside the Atmos cars to choke the earth and the gas will help their clones arise! The Sontarans capture the doctors tardis with donna inside (donna got her own tardis key) and the doctor instructs donna to get off the ship with the doctors expertise. Luke Rattigan finds out everything the sontarans promised him were lies and he escapes with the teleporter. The doctor finds out the truth about marthas clone and saves martha. The doctor purifies the sky on earth by burning it and goes to the sontaran to do the same, but luke swaps places with the doctor at the last minute.moreless

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    1 1

  • Winds down to an obvious conclusion

    6.1
    "Fair"
    By inakaguy, May 12, 2008 Report Abuse
    So, the two parter finishes in a way that could have been predicted about 10 minutes in to the first episode.

    Martha's clone is revealed, but of course he Doctor was too clever to have ever been fooled. One of the things that bothers me about this new series is that the Doctor always knows the answer to everything.

    Unit walks around firing bullets as ineffectually as always. The insanely brilliant, yet idiotically stupid kid is betrayed and sacrifices himself in a heroic attempt to make everyone forget that they've consistently wanted to punch him in the face for the last 90 minutes (if only for his ridiculous mid-Atlantic accent). Martha has a nauseatingly mawkish scene with her evil clone, which on the face of it is both unlikely and pointless as they both have the same memories.

    And Donna does the family thing that seems to be a pre-requisite for every companion in the new series.

    Absolutely nothing original or unexpected in this one.moreless

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    0 3
 

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • General Staal tells the the Doctor "You impugn my honor." This is similar to what Stike said to the Second Doctor in The Two Doctors: "you are not a Sontaran, so you cannot impugn my honor." Edit
    • Despite General Staal's comments in the previous episode about the thin fabric and exposed skin of the UNIT troops, Sontaran battle armor surprisingly offers little protection against the UNIT weapons. One would think that a race that has been at war for millenia would be better protected. Edit
    • Just before Donna first sees the Doctor on the video screen in the TARDIS, Rose can briefly be seen on the screen. She appears to be silently calling out to the Doctor and/or Donna. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • Overnight UK viewing figures for this episode were 5.9 million, with the final viewing figure at 6.53 million. Edit
    • International Air Dates: United States: 30 May 2008 Australia: 3 August 2008 New Zealand: 10 August 2008 Turkey: 6 March 2011 Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Donna: (To The Doctor just after he saves her) Have I ever told you how much I hate you?! Edit
    • The Doctor: Now, does anyone know what this gas is yet? Martha Clone: We're working on it. Captain Price: It's harmful, but not lethal until it reaches eighty percent density. We're having the first reports of deaths from the centre of Tokyo city. The Doctor: And who are you? Captain Price: (saluting) Captain Marian Price, sir. The Doctor: Oh, put your hand down. Don't salute. Colonel Mace: Jodrell Bank's traced the signal, Doctor, coming from five thousand miles above the Earth. We're guessing that's what triggered the car. The Doctor: The Sontaran ship. Colonel Mace: NATO's gone to def-con one. We're preparing a strike. The Doctor: You can't do that! Nuclear missiles won't even scratch the surface. Let me talk to the Sontarans. Colonel Mace: You are not authorised to speak on behalf of the Earth. The Doctor: Oh, I've got that authority; I earned that a long time ago. (Accesses the communications array with the Sonic Screwdriver) Calling the Sontaran command ship under jurisdiction two of the intergalactic rules of engagement, this is the Doctor. Donna: (watching from inside the TARDIS, Rose briefly appears on the screen, unseen) Doctor I'm here, can you hear me? General Staal: So, Doctor, breathing your last? Colonel Mace: My God, they're like trolls. The Doctor: Yeah, lovely bit of diplomacy that, thanks. So General Staal, since when did you lot become cowards? General Staal: How dare you! Colonel Mace: Oh, and that's diplomacy? Edit
    • Donna: You gonna come with us? We're not exactly short of space. Martha: Oh, I have missed all this, you know. I'm good here, back at home, and I'm better for having been away. (Showing her engagement ring) Besides, someone needs me. Never mind the universe, I've got a great big world of my own now. (As Martha turns to leave, the TARDIS doors slam shut and it takes off) Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Donna Noble: Back of the neck! After hitting a Sontaran's probic vent, Donna exclaims this, which is an allusion to football where a player scores a goal and the phrase 'back of the net' is said by fans. Edit
    • The Doctor: Avanti! The term avanti is Italian for Let's Go/Onwards, in the same way that The Doctor's catchphrase Allons-y is in French. The Doctor is using it here as a way of confirming his suspicion that Martha is a clone. The real Martha would have picked up on the different word. Edit
    • Butler Institute When the news reports are showing the cities of the world engulfed in the poison gas, the scene from New York shows a building with Butler Institute written on it. The Butler Institute is from the New Adventures novel 'Cat's Cradle:Warhead' set in New York in the near future. Edit

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