The Time Warrior

The Time Warrior is a great introduction story for anybody to get into Classic Who, or Who in general; it doesn't require any prior knowledge about the show as everything is explained. Sarah Jane is off to a great start, Lynx is a great addition, Pertwee on fine form as always. The 4 episodes fly by and is a cracker of a watch :)

The advent of Sarah-Jane Smith in this episode is possibly the best ever companion introduction (it is at least on a par with Ian, Susan and Barbara in the very first episode ever of Doctor Who). Her reaction to her first time travel experience is convincingly sustained and is side-splittingly funny.

The humour is a real feature of this episode and sets-off well the more dramatic aspects of the plot. The medieval setting scores highly too.

An episode of firsts, first is the best is definitely the case with the Sontarans and this is their first appearance. Great concept and realisation.

Top shelf 3rd Doctor viewing.

The Time Warrior is a landmark story for two reasons. It introduces Sarah Jane Smith and also the Sontarans.

A Sontaran named Linx crashed in medieval England and agrees to help out a local war lord named Irongron and provide him with advanced weapons so he can repair his ship. To do that, Linx builds a time machine to steal scientists from the twentieth century to repair his ship.

The Doctor goes to a scientific meeting at UNIT’s behest to find out what’s happening to the scientist when he meets Sarah Jane Smith. Unbeknownst to him, Sarah Jane stumbles into the TARDIS and comes with him to medieval England.

Overall, this works great as an introductory story for both the Sontarans and Sarah Jane Smith, as well as being just a very fun tale overall.

The reason the Sontarans became so popular is because in their first story, Linx demonstrates how the Sontarans could be both a serious menace and a source of comic relief. The Sontarans over the top love of violence is funny, but the fact remains that Linx is still a dangerous warrior who you have to take seriously as a threat due to his strength and technology.

Sarah Jane Smith showed a break from the previous female companions when (upon first meeting her), the Doctor asks her to make coffee and she refuses. She’s a much bolder and Independent person than prior companions like Jo, Polly and Victoria. She at first things she stumbled into some sort of fair. However, as she becomes aware of her surroundings, she manages to quickly gain influence over a local baron and take very decisive action. This first story showed right from the start what a great companion she could be.

The plot is enjoyable and fun. Irongron makes for a great secondary villain (although he’s much more of a pure comic villain.) The Doctor has some good moments, using his Akido and comedy skills to get past the guards. The location shooting looks nice.

There’s not much against the Time Warrior. There are some weak special effects and some of the performances by a few minor characters are weaker. Overall, this is an incredibly entertaining story.