The Chrome Legion

The Chrome Legion is the second episode of the first season of the BloodLoomis Productions' Lego Doctor Who Series. It was written and directed by Cameron Hughes, and was uploaded on 25th September 2015.

In the episode, the Doctor takes Jess on her first trip in the TARDIS to the year 6000, where they discover a city in the grip of two mysterious visitors calling themselves the prophets. After some investigation, they discover that these prophets are in actuality the last surviving members of an elite group of the Sontarans, old enemies of the Doctor.

The episode marked the first appearance of the Sontarans in the series, and the first time a monster from the television series appeared in the series. It was one of the least popular episodes of the first season.

Plot
For her first trip in the TARDIS, the Doctor takes Jess to the year 6000. Upon leaving the TARDIS, the two of them are held at gunpoint by a raving man who claims that the people in the city are blinded by the prophets. The Doctor tries to get more information out of him but the man is shot and killed by a law enforcement officer, who says that anyone who defies the prophets must be terminated.

The Doctor decides to investigate the prophets by asking people around the city. They meet a friendly man, Anthony Banderas, who tells them that the city used to be a dump before the prophets came. They fell out of the sky one night and have been providing technology for the people of the city. Anthony offers to take the Doctor and Jess up to their mountain temple so they can meet them. They go there, and the Doctor is struck by the prophets' strange behaviour, and is worried by the fact that they say they will install a military cannon in the city.

Later, the Doctor examines Anthony's medicine cabinet and retrieves a potion given to him, and many others in the city, by the prophets. He studies it in the TARDIS and is horrified to discover it is a lethal drug that kills in a matter of hours. He works on developing an antidote while Jess goes out into the city to warn the people. Whilst outside, one of the prophets captures her. In their temple (in fact a crashed spaceship), the prophets unmask themselves as Stine and Vire, two Sontarans belonging to an elite force known as the Chrome Legion, genetically engineered to be superior to the ordinary Sontaran. Their ship crashed into the mountain and they set about forming the city into a base of operations to use to fight the Rutans.

The Doctor visits Anthony, wondering whether Jess was there. When he says that she isn't, the Doctor decides to head up to the mountain. Anthony tells him that people are dying all over the city as a result of the potions the prophets gave them. The Doctor tells him to meet him at the mountain to put a stop to the prophets' plans. The Doctor arrives at the mountain and taunts the Sontarans. They order him to help them or they will kill Jess. The Doctor assumes it is a ruse and does not comply, but they do seem to kill her. The Doctor, shocked at the death of his new friend, agrees to help them.

They reveal that it was a ruse after all, and that Jess is alive. The Sontarans are told that the people of the city will be safe, as they were warned about the potions, forcing them to contaminate the city's water supply. The Doctor threatens them with some coronic acid he produced in the lab, and uses the antidote to purify the water. Anthony arrives and kills the two Sontarans, who murder him in return. The Doctor is distraught at this and leaves with Jess in the TARDIS, mulling over the catastrophe.

Continuity
In the TV series, the Sontarans had last appeared in The Two Doctors, although it is likely the Doctor faced them many times after that. Coronic acid was also first seen in ''The Two Doctors. The Doctor mentions the events of Warriors of the Deep'' when trying to persuade Anthony not to use guns against the prophets.

Writing
The story was created as a simple one to introduce Jess to the idea of time travel. The Sontarans seemed a good fit for a returning villain. Originally the story was very different. In it, the Doctor would go to the year 6000 but discover it is a barren wasteland, which it shouldn't be. They would discover that it had been decimated in the war between the Sontarans and the Rutans, with the last survivors of the Chrome Legion believing the war to be continuing when in actuality it ended years before.

Filming
This story took longer to film than  'The Minus Men' due to a lack of enthusiasm for it halfway through. The sets were considered a highlight, particularly the faulty Sontaran ship.

Trivia

 * The Chrome Legion's armour is actually those of Stormtroopers from Star Wars.
 * Anthony is from the north of England, yet his surname is Banderas.
 * The Sontarans would appear again in the season, although on that occasion they were in their regular black armour.
 * This is the weakest episode of Season 1, as said by multiple people.