Are the Sontarons a joke now?

OhWhenTheSaintsOhWhenTheSaints Posts: 12,531
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With Strax seen as a comedy character are the Sontarons laughed at now rather than feared? Also have they become good guys now??

Same question for the Silurians.
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  • solenoidsolenoid Posts: 15,495
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    For CiN or RND sketches there is usually an element of comedy involved.
  • OhWhenTheSaintsOhWhenTheSaints Posts: 12,531
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    solenoid wrote: »
    For CiN or RND sketches there is usually an element of comedy involved.

    But the Sontarons have been a joke for a while. All that stuff about Strax being a nurse in A Good Man Goes to war.

    Have they and the Silurians become good guys?
  • davrosdodebirddavrosdodebird Posts: 8,692
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    The Silurians are always kind of good guys, so I don't see their reputation as being spoiled. However, the Sontarans being used for comic relief in series and out does tarnish their reputation, and IMO the more they are used as such, the more spectacular a story they need to restore the fear factor.
  • CD93CD93 Posts: 13,939
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    One Sontaran, One Silurian.

    Are the Daleks a joke because one of them believed they were making souffles all day long? I'll probably be flamed for it at some point, but I praise Moffat for doing something different with the races in this Universe. I don't see why every member of a species has to have the same attitude and goals in life - clones or otherwise.

    The Daleks and Silurians have had their restoration. The Cybermen are getting theirs later this series. Hold off until we actually have a Sontaran story, before anyone should claim they have been ruined.

    Although..
    The Baked Potatoes with legs have always been a little bit of a joke, to me anyway.
  • bbll22bbll22 Posts: 527
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    But the Sontarons have been a joke for a while. All that stuff about Strax being a nurse in A Good Man Goes to war.

    Have they and the Silurians become good guys?

    So one Sontaran, who is a nurse, not by choice but being imposed on by his race, now makes the whole Sontaran species a joke :confused: Strax is one Sontaran; he's not the template of how they all are now. I think its good to change them about a bit anyway. They're not that menacing a race really are they? This is a nice change for them all.

    It's same with Vastra and the Silurians. She's a one-off for them. She does good because of how the Doctor has affected her. The Silurians as a whole aren't like that.

    One supposedly jokey character for either race hasn't made the Silurians and Sontarans a joke. That's just nonsense to me. The two races are fine.
  • AbominationAbomination Posts: 6,483
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    They were always pretty laughable to some extent...I mean, Spuds in Spacesuits... c'mon :p

    But given they've only had one proper story in Nu-Who, and then the second was subsidised into SJA, there is clearly less of a place for them.

    Interesting though it is to see one-off characters that are a little broken away from the trends of their societies (Vastra and Strax), I struggle to care for them much as we already know the fate of one of them and they don't have the lasting impact of...say, Jackie Tyler :D If they are to be used as a sort of continuity for Clara it will be a very interesting new direction, but as one-off characters go, they do just reinforce the comedy aspect of their species.
  • sovietusernamesovietusername Posts: 1,169
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    I was never particularly bothered about the Sonatarans anway, always a bit rubbish, I thought
  • sovietusernamesovietusername Posts: 1,169
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    I was never particularly bothered about the Sonatarans anway, always a bit rubbish, I thought

    Sorry :o:)
  • Old Man 43Old Man 43 Posts: 6,214
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    They were always pretty laughable to some extent...I mean, Spuds in Spacesuits... c'mon :p

    But given they've only had one proper story in Nu-Who, and then the second was subsidised into SJA, there is clearly less of a place for them.

    Interesting though it is to see one-off characters that are a little broken away from the trends of their societies (Vastra and Strax), I struggle to care for them much as we already know the fate of one of them and they don't have the lasting impact of...say, Jackie Tyler :D If they are to be used as a sort of continuity for Clara it will be a very interesting new direction, but as one-off characters go, they do just reinforce the comedy aspect of their species.

    What do you mean that we know the fate of one of them?
  • solenoidsolenoid Posts: 15,495
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    But the Sontarons have been a joke for a while. All that stuff about Strax being a nurse in A Good Man Goes to war.
    Being a nurse of either gender or species is something to be admired, not sniffed at.
  • dorkjacksndorkjacksn Posts: 598
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    Old Man 43 wrote: »
    What do you mean that we know the fate of one of them?

    I assumed the poster is referrring to Strax's 'death' in AGMGTW. Though I dont think we've had any confirmation as of yet that the 7B episodes he appears in are set pre-Demon's Run, why would he be in Victorian London anyway if not hitching a ride back with Vastra?

    Or they'll be some cloney-woney explanation for why he isnt dead. Either way :D
  • CorwinCorwin Posts: 16,588
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    dorkjacksn wrote: »
    I assumed the poster is referrring to Strax's 'death' in AGMGTW. Though I dont think we've had any confirmation as of yet that the 7B episodes he appears in are set pre-Demon's Run, why would he be in Victorian London anyway if not hitching a ride back with Vastra?

    Or they'll be some cloney-woney explanation for why he isnt dead. Either way :D

    Given that Jenny knows about the Doctor which she didn't seem to when first introduced in AGMGTW it does seem like this episode is set after.

    So yeah most likely explanation is that Strax survived Demons Run and went back to Victorian times with V & J.
  • Shawn_LunnShawn_Lunn Posts: 9,353
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    A bit yeah.

    I can handle Strax being an ally but we need a Sontaran story soon that reminds us that they're actually the Doctor's enemies too.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 97
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    Re Strax it could be that he was seriously wounded but didn't die.

    Strax and Vastra are individuals which makes a change as aliens etc often lack individuality.
  • ryanr554ryanr554 Posts: 4,013
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    I don't think the sonatarans on a whole are being used as a joke. You have got to remember thet they are not like Daleks or Cybermen as they can feel all emotions rather than just hate. A Sontaran can actually be a good character, not all of them have to be war crazy.
  • Sara_PeplowSara_Peplow Posts: 1,579
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    Looking forward to seeing them again. Wonder if they will mention Amy and Rory ?.
    Plus how did they find out he is still alive?. First he was "dead" and now he has erased himself from history. Noone knows who he is or was. Unless they have really good memories.
    Answers on a post card please Moffat!.
  • nattoyakinattoyaki Posts: 7,080
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    I think so, personally.
  • AbominationAbomination Posts: 6,483
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    Old Man 43 wrote: »
    What do you mean that we know the fate of one of them?

    We know how Strax meets his maker. Timey-wimey can be a good plot device, but as with River Song it does remove the mystery and anticipation as to where the character will end up.
  • CorwinCorwin Posts: 16,588
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    Looking forward to seeing them again. Wonder if they will mention Amy and Rory ?.
    Plus how did they find out he is still alive?. First he was "dead" and now he has erased himself from history. Noone knows who he is or was. Unless they have really good memories.
    Answers on a post card please Moffat!.

    The Doctor has not gone around the whole of Time and Space and wiped everyones memories.

    People who have met him will still remember meeting him.
  • Benjamin SiskoBenjamin Sisko Posts: 1,921
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    I think the Sontarans have been a joke since the Colin Baker days personally... even TSS/TPS (Series 4) was tricky to take too seriously. :D
  • Sharon87Sharon87 Posts: 3,698
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    Corwin wrote: »
    The Doctor has not gone around the whole of Time and Space and wiped everyones memories.

    People who have met him will still remember meeting him.

    Correct in my view anyway. He's erased himself from records, but he can't make everyone he's met forget him now, that'll take him ages! He wouldn't want to erase his friends or allies memories anyway!
  • TRT1968TRT1968 Posts: 2,164
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    CD93 wrote: »

    Although..
    The Baked Potatoes with legs have always been a little bit of a joke, to me anyway.

    I thought that the Sontarans had a bit of a chip on their shoulder...
    ...but then I realised it was just Sontaran dandruff.
  • nebogipfelnebogipfel Posts: 8,375
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    ryanr554 wrote: »
    I don't think the sonatarans on a whole are being used as a joke. You have got to remember thet they are not like Daleks or Cybermen as they can feel all emotions rather than just hate. A Sontaran can actually be a good character, not all of them have to be war crazy.

    I must admit I'm not terribly familiar with all the stories of Sontarans showing a wide range of emotions. They mostly seem to prepare for war and then go to war.

    The humour of Strax isn't that he thinks he is,being funny. It's that what he says is funny. His paranoia making him see enemies where there are none. Like Caligula declaring war on the ocean.
  • bennythedipbennythedip Posts: 2,343
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    the sontarans have never been that great an enemy.imo they served their purpose in the time warrior and the sontaran experiment.all you have to do is bash them on the back of the neck to incapacitate them.moffat has done to the sontarans what they did on star trek deep space nine turning the ferrengi into comic characters.
  • IanPIanP Posts: 3,661
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    The Silurians became a joke as soon as they turned up looking nothing like Silurians. They and the Sontarons have not been handled well by the new series. At least they've realised their mistake with the Dalek redesign and kept the old ones as the focus for their most recent outing.
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