Doctor Who/Recap/1985 JFIGSA Fix With Sontarans

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Dear Jim,
I like Dr. Who very much because I have got Colin Baker's Doctor Who suit made by my Nan and a tent TARDIS. Please could I see Colin Baker and go inside the TARDIS.
Yours sincerely Gareth Jenkins (Age 8).

For the uninitiated, there was a show in Britain where children essentially wrote in to have their wishes fulfilled, no matter what they were. A set of children were chosen each week to somehow have this come true, and the result was known as Jim'll Fix It. One such child sent in the above letter.

Ladies and gentlemen, "A Fix with Sontarans".

The story begins with Colin Baker's Doctor bumbling around the TARDIS, desperately fiddling with the center console while he mumbles things. With a flash, former companion Tegan Jovanka (having left the Doctor earlier) is somehow now on the TARDIS. Throwing aside most problems with the Doctor having regenerated again (handy, as Tegan saw this happen before), the Doctor quickly announces that Sontarans [1] have invaded his TARDIS somehow and are going to blow it up. With a bomb. And that he needs help, but didn't mean for her to show up. While arguing with Tegan some more, the Doctor accidentally smacks the same controls again and summons the mighty, the powerful...

...approximately 8-year-old Gareth Jenkins, dressed in a smaller version of the 6th Doctor's outfit. Gareth quickly agrees to help set a trap for the Sontarans, and Tegan is asked to help out by...getting Gareth a box to stand on. Nice one, Doctor. The Doctor and Gareth then press a lot of buttons, mostly consisting of the Doctor saying lines and Gareth repeating them exactly back as he does the action. Within seconds, the Sontarans storm the control room of the TARDIS...and are shocked to hear that this child is the Gareth Jenkins.

Yes, apparently, Gareth Jenkins will foil a Sontaran plot to take over the Earth in the distant future of 2001, and decide to kill him now to change that. Makes sense, at least. Of course they don't, as Gareth springs the trap — a steam jet that makes the Sontarans puke green blood and melt horrifically. Yay.

Host Jimmy Savile then shows up and gives Gareth an award while smashing the fourth wall into bits.

This mini-episode provides examples of

  • Absentee Actor: Nicola Bryant wasn't available to be Peri, so they got Janet Fielding to reprise her role as Tegan instead.
  • Ascended Fanboy: The whole point of this damned thing.
  • Canon Discontinuity: Later writers of Doctor Who Expanded Universe novels for the franchise try to pass this off as a nightmare suffered by the Doctor.
  • I Kiss Your Hand: Jimmy Savile does this to Janet Fielding. What a pimp.
  • I'm Melting: The fate of the Sontarans.
  • Jerkass: The Sixth Doctor whenever he's talking to Tegan. One wonders why she didn't snap back as much...
  • Name's the Same: This Gareth Jenkins is not the same one that works for Big Finish.
  • Old Shame: Anyone who was involved in this from the Doctor Who side, it seems. Gareth Jenkins himself, now in his mid-thirties, has reportedly been spotted at conventions and is surprised to be recognized, so it doesn't seem to have done him any lasting trauma.
  • Something Completely Different
  • Shout-Out: The Sontaran leader is Group Marshal Nathan. His subordinate, who is not named on-camera, was referred to as "Turner" in the script.
  1. ↑ This special was broadcast during The Two Doctors' transmission period, which explains why the Sontarans also appear here.
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