Just to remind: Series 1 would see the return of the Daleks, with the Cybermen held back to Series 2. The Master would be the returning villain for Series 3.
But who to bring back for Series 4?
Back in the mid-1970's, when Target produced its Doctor Who Monster Book, the Ice Warriors were regarded as the bronze medallist monsters, having been seen on screen in four stories - The Ice Warriors, The Seeds of Death, The Curse of Peladon and The Monster of Peladon - and there was no reason to believe they wouldn't be back again soon.
A relatively new alien that had already notched up two appearances in quick succession were the Sontarans, with The Time Warrior and The Sontaran Experiment. By the time the series had come to an end in 1989, they had made two further appearances - in The Invasion of Time and in The Two Doctors.
When it came to considering a returning alien for Series 4, Russell T Davies decided that the Sontarans had more potential - not just dramatic impact, but of comedic value due to their diminutive stature, coupled with their warmongering ways. RTD had recalled the impact of the first ever unmasking reveal - discovering that a Sontaran's head was the same size and shape as its helmet - and he wanted to replicate this image for a new generation of viewers.
As the Judoon had already been designed with black leather uniforms, and large black helmets, a rethink on the costume was planned - with the designers opting for blue instead of the usual black and silver.
Only one classic story had seen a whole squad of Sontarans - The Invasion of Time. There had only been a single Sontaran in their first two stories, and the fourth featured only a pair of the aliens. RTD wanted to see a whole army.
The story sees the return to Doctor Who of Martha Jones. Freema Agyeman had already featured in a trilogy of episodes in Torchwood's third series. This had all been planned from the outset - despite idiotic rumours about her having been sacked after one series on the parent programme.
She spends most of the programme out of action - replaced by a clone copy.
The idea that Sontarans were a clone species did not originate with Robert Holmes, their creator. That Field-Major Styre looked similar to Commander Linx, was mere coincidence - due to the same actor playing both. Styre isn't identical to Linx - he's a different skin colour, with different bone-structure and - more importantly - a different number of fingers. Ironically, Styre is happy to confirm that he is identical to the Sontaran previously encountered by Sarah.
Stor, Stike and Varl look nothing like Linx or Styre, and the number of fingers varies from story to story.
Linx mentioned mass hatchings - which people have taken to imply clone batching, but this is not explicit.
We only see two helmet-less Sontarans in these episodes - and they are not identical. It is only later that we will see that the pair have identical copies - one representing a senior officer class, the other a more junior one.
Their home-world is given as Sontar, which had been established in spin-off media though never mentioned on screen.
The probic vent on the rear of their collar remains a weak point for Sontarans - first established by the Third Doctor in The Time Warrior.
These episodes were the first time that UNIT had featured prominently in the revived series. They had been seen in Aliens of London and been referred to since, but only here do we get to meet individual officers and soldiers, and Martha is now a member - as established in her Torchwood episodes.
Private Jenkins shares a name with the UNIT soldier who was tasked with delivering "five rounds rapid" at Bok in Devil's End, so might well be his offspring. (In the same way that Osgood might well be related to the soldier of that name who we also met in The Daemons).
It had been hoped that Nicholas Courtney might make an appearance, but he was too ill at the time of filming.
His character is now said to be knighted and on some sort of diplomatic mission to Peru, to explain his absence. In a couple of stories following his appearance in Terror of the Zygons, the Brigadier's absence was explained by him being in Geneva.
The aerial aircraft carrier Valiant makes a return - identified as belonging to UNIT in The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords.
When everyone dons gas-masks, the Doctor asks "Are you my mummy?" - a reference to the gas-masked 'Empty Child' of Series 1.
The Sontaran cordolaine signal mirrors a weapon employed by The War Machines - which disabled gunfire.
General Staal mentions Martha's weak thorax - referencing Linx's similar observation about Sarah Jane Smith.
RTD had contemplated using the name Rattigan for the villain of Partners in Crime - the character who became Miss Foster. He had used the name for the main family in his 1990's soap Revelations.
RTD's original plot for this story involved tampering with the ozone layer. Instead of the ATMOS in cars, the chimneys in people's houses would have a device which the Sontarans interfered with to attack the layer. RTD changed the plan to sat-navs as he thought children would relate to them more than chimneys. Pollution and the environment were, as now, popular concerns.
At one point all the ATMOS workers were going to be clones.
For the second time this series, we get a glimpse of Rose Tyler (on the TARDIS scanner), foreshadowing her return.
This is the second time Billie Piper, Freema Agyeman and Catherine Tate have all appeared in a single episode, though it is the first time that they feature as the Doctor's trio of companions (Freema having played a different character in Doomsday).
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