Pureblood ( comic story ) Pureblood was a four - part Seventh Doctor comic story published around the 1992 - 1993 holiday season . It showed " ancient " , non - cloned Sontarans , gave readers a rationale for why the Sontarans evolved into a clone race , and also served as a prequel to " The Sontaran Experiment " . Indeed , it offered a plausible explanation why Styre would have been seemingly unacquainted with Earth or human s in the distant future , even though Sontarans must have collected extensive data on the planet during the events of " The Poison Sky " , among others . " Pureblood " is also important for furthering the then - close ties the " Doctor Who Magazine " comic stories were trying to forge with the Virgin New Adventures books by introducing Benny into the strip . While those fans who had never read a New Adventures book might have been completely confused by the sudden replacement of Benny for Ace , those who had been dutifully following along would have picked up on a number of continuity beats between the two ranges . The story contained some of the earliest visual depictions of Benny . Penciller Colin Howard ' s interpretation long predated either Lisa Bowerman or Adrian Salmon ' s involvement with the character , leading to a Benny quite dissimilar to the " Big Finish Benny " . Plot . Sontara , the home world of the Sontaran s is about to fall . Their mortal enemies , the Rutan s , are the apparent cause of their demise , but Marshal Stave and his men have little time to analyse the situation . They have only enough time to load the racepool into his flagship , the " Warburg " , and get into the comparative safety of space . The ship narrowly escapes as Sontara explodes . Elsewhere in the galaxy , the Seventh Doctor and his new companion , Bernice " Benny " Summerfield , arrive on the orbital genetics laboratory called the " Pandora Spindle " . Though owned by the Lauren Corporation , it ' s affiliated with the Terran Federation , if only because its crew are dominantly human . No sooner have they surprised one of these humans than the " Pandora Spindle " is attacked and occupied by a Sontaran assault force . The Sontarans want to turn the world the humans are researching , Pandora , into a new homeworld . However , a Rutan spy who had been masquerading as the human Modine contacts the Host ' s allies — pureblood Sontaran s who see the clones as weak and impure . With the " Pandora " now about to be beset by both Rutans and Pureblood Sontarans , the Doctor quickly hatches a plan to save the Sontarans , turn back the Rutans and help the humans with one fell swoop . He convinces Marshal Stave that if he can broker a peace between him and his distant cousins , and then defeat the Rutans , all he ' ll need is one tiny little favour in return . The Marshal agrees , so the Doctor presses Benny into service . She goes off to the brig where the humans are keeping their Rutan " guest " . The Doctor , meanwhile , materialises the TARDIS onboard the lead Pureblood ship and takes a surprise audience with Vord . He tries to convince the leader that the Rutans are deceiving the Purebloods into destroying the clone Sontarans . Vord is sceptical , having no reason to think the Rutans his enemy . The Doctor therefore chooses to offer proof . He establishes communication with Benny , who is by now face to face with Modine . In full view of the Purebloods , she gets the Rutan spy to disclose the full Rutan plan , which includes the destruction of the Purebloods after they kill the clones . Vord changes his tune almost immediately , and he joins the Doctor in the TARDIS for a quick hop back to " Pandora " . There , the two Sontaran groups reconcile and turn their might against the Rutans , who are successfully repulsed . Marshal Stave then gets the Doctor ' s bill . In return for this victory , the Doctor wants Stave to breed out of the racepool all memory of human ity , thereby giving humanity a relief from Sontaran encroachment for centuries to come . The Sontaran agrees , cognisant of the fact that he has a lot of rebuilding to do . Stave transports the humans on " Pandora " back to Terran Federation space , and begins the long process of rebuilding the Sontaran Empire , using the planet beneath the station as their new home world . As she slips back into the TARDIS , Benny isn ' t convinced the Marshal will keep up his end of the bargain . The Doctor is more optimistic , because he ' s already lived through it . As he tells his new assistant , " Earth " will " be spared Sontaran interference for a long time . Until a Field - Major called Styre comes along , actually . "