Subjects of War (TV Story)

***Subjects of War*** was the fourth serial of Season 33 of *Doctor Who*. It was written by Mark Gatiss, directed by Charles Beeson, and starred Stephen Fry as the Ninth Doctor and Emma Fielding as Lena Haigh.

It was the first regular story for Emma Fielding as Lena Haigh.

## Synopsis

The Space Vessel *Sekhmet* has a problem. It must carry a superweapon capable of destroying entire fleets in a single blast from one side of the galaxy to the other. The problem: doing so takes them directly through the battleground of the Rutan-Sontaran War.

The Doctor arrives partway through this voyage. The crew seem nice enough. They know what their mission is, and despite misgivings, it seems like it will be a success.

And then bodies start turning up. It is clear to the crew that it can't be their newcomer. However, if it is not him, then who- or what- could it be?

## Cast

* The Doctor - Stephen Fry
* Lena Haigh - Emma Fielding
* Captain Pyver - Richard Harris
* Corporal Olstead - David Calder
* Paxton - Bob Goody
* Ida - Sara Griffiths
* Sergeant Thornely - Sabina Franklyn
* Dexter - John Rogan
* Corporal Carter - Timothy Peters
* Private Jacobson - Darren Strange
* Commander Strokk - Christopher Ryan
* Major Vronn - Toby Aspin
* Soldiers - Gareth Preston, Aidan Cook, Bryan Robson, Trevor White
* Sontarans - Tom Finnis, Stephen Mansfield, Keith Dunne
* Voice of the Rutans - Nicholas Briggs

## Worldbuilding

### The Doctor

* The Doctor worked for UNIT in the late 20th century.
* The Doctor investigated murder mysteries with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle when he was younger. He had a very good record of catching the culprit.

### Technology

* The Hadron Cannon can wipe out an entire army within a second if fired correctly.
* A neural brainwave scan can detect brain tumours and register if a person is under a cloaking device or perception filter. It does not work well against Rutans.
* The Sontarans make use of a laser caster.

### Miscellaneous

* The Rutan-Sontaran War has been waged for close to 5,000 years.

*TBA*

## Notes

* In order to disorientate the crew, the Rutan turns the ship's lights up to "maximum headroom". This was confirmed by Mark Gatiss to be a reference to the infamous "Max Headroom Incident", which occurred during a showing of TV: *Horror of Fang Rock*, the last story to feature the Rutans.

## Continuity

* When confirming the Doctor's identity, Lena learns that the Doctor worked at UNIT in the 20th century (TV: *Spearhead from Space*) and that the Doctor changed his appearance at UNIT HQ. (TV: *Planet of the Spiders*)
* The Doctor muses that humans always find new and inventive ways to destroy themselves. (TV: *Remembrance of the Daleks*)
* The Doctor states that killing people off one by one after disguising themselves is a "typical Rutan tactic". (TV: *Horror of Fang Rock*)
* Commander Strokk represents the Fifth Sontaran Army Space Fleet. (TV: *The Time Warrior*)
* The Doctor remembers the Sontaran gambit with the Grail. (TV: *The Green Knight*)
* *TBA*

## Home Video & DVD Releases

### VHS

* This story was released alongside TV:*The English Way of Death* on VHS in 2000.

### DVD

* This story along with the other stories in Season 33 were released as *Doctor Who: The Complete Thirty-Third Season* in 2011.

### Blu-ray

* This story along with the other stories in Season 33 were upscaled in 1080i50 high definition and were released as *Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 33* in the UK.