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Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans
UK 1994
produced by Mark Ayres, Kevin Davies, Gary Leigh (executive) for DreamWatch Media, Reeltime Pictures
directed by Kevin Davies
starring Jan Chappell, Brian Croucher, Carole Ann Ford, Sophie Aldred, Rory O'Donnell, Michael Wisher, Toby Aspin, Tom Finnis, Jonathan Saville, Keith Dunne, Derek Handley, Julian Jones, Stephen Mansfield
written by Terrance Dicks, music by Mark Ayres, special effects by Ian Scoones, special makeup effects by Stephen Mansfield, Susan Moore
Sontarans, Rutan, Doctor Who spin-off
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Captain Lisa Deranne (Jan Chapell) commandeers a spaceship taking part
in an interstellar solar race, and her crew is made up of the rich and
famous who have nothing better to do with their time and money than to
play space-sailors. Then though, the ship is entered by a batallion of
Sontarans, an alien race that has been at war with the Rutans - another
alien race - forever, and now they suspect a Rutan spy aboard Captain
Deranne's ship. They are right of course, but the problem is that Rutans
are shapeshifters able to take on the form of whoever they have killed -
and thus both the Rutan and the Sontarans soon start killing the human
crew of Captain Deranne's ship. The Rutan however is better at it, and
even starts killing Sontarans - and thus has no problems taking on their
form as well. Eventually, Captain Deranne and Steg (Toby Aspin), commander
of the Sontarans, form an alliance to fight the Rutan, based on promises
Steg has no intentions of keeping. However, his treachery doesn't pass
unnoticed by Captain Deranne, and ultimately she and the only other human
survivor Kurt (Brian Croucher) are pitted against him, even manage to kill
him ... which is when the Rutan stops by, bids everyone farewell, and
prepares to leave in the Sontaran ship. With his dying breath, Steg tells
Captain Deranne how to place a bomb in the ship with the Rutan and even
saves her life when she almost fails to make it out in time. He lives just
long enough to see the Rutan's ship go up in an explosion, then dies in
the knowledge he has defeated his enemy, while Captain Deranne and Kurt
emerge as the real winners. More than anything else, this film
is an hommage to British science fiction television from the 1970's,
series like Doctor
Who or Blake's 7 -
so it's no surprise that the cast is made up from regulars on both these
series, plus both alien races originated on Doctor
Who. And as an hommage, Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans
is pretty successful, everything from the low budget sets to the slightly
stagey direction, from the retro-futuristic costumes to the 70's style
special effects is reminiscent of the shows it's paying tribute to. Taken
by its own merits though, the film is also pretty basic in its narrative,
and even a tad unimaginative - not bad, mind you, just nothing special ...
but to tell you the truththis is of course a movie made by fans and for
fans, so the nostalgia factor might be much more important than the
originality factor concerning this one.
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