The Sontarans blasted back into the world of Doctor Who in 2008 after a prolonged absence, and immediately introduced a fresh generation to some of the most uncomplicated, yet dangerous villains that the Time Lord has ever had to face. Honourable warriors, and yet deadly to the last, this Bred For War boxset brings together the four stories featuring the Sontarans from the classic era of the show.

We'll get the weakest one out of the way first. The Invasion Of Time is too long, and sees the worst depiction of the Sontarans in the show's history. It's a story with some merits, but it's nowhere near the highlight of this box set.

Instead, it's better to spend your attention on The Sontaran Experiment , a short adventure from the Tom Baker era. It's flawed, but still very good, filmed entirely on location. This helps, and the adventure clearly benefits from breaking away from the usual maze of corridors.

The Time Warrior , which introduced the Sontarans for the first time, is the undoubted highlight here. Starring Jon Pertwee as the Doctor, and introducing Sarah-Jane Smith to the show, it's a well-written, strongly-realised adventure, and a must for fans of the classic series.

The Two Doctors , meanwhile, stars Colin Baker and Patrick Troughton, and it's a bit of a muddled affair. It's great to see Patrick Troughton's return to the show, and it's certainly a harsher, slightly nastier adventure than we're used to seeing from Doctor Who . But the narrative doesn't gel particularly well, even though the Sontarans again prove themselves as one of the most underrated villains in the show's history.

All of these stories have also enjoyed individual releases, but if any are missing from your collection, then the Bred For War box set is certainly worthy of your time. And let's hope that we've not seen the last of the revived Sontarans either. The Doctor's world might not be better with them in it, but on our side of the television, they're one of the finest races of monsters he's ever had to face.

Two stories based around the character of Tegan, this union of Time-Flight and Arc of Infinity is an interesting double header for any Doctor Who enthusiast. Both stories see Peter Davison in the title role.

Time-Flight 's big selling point is neither Davison's Doctor nor Janet Fielding's Tegan. Instead, it's Concorde, as the Doctor gets Tegan to Heathrow Airport, only to discover that the infamous supersonic jet is caught in a muddle with a time corridor. And while truthfully the story wrapping round this concept isn't top of the range Who , it's still both entertaining and easy to watch, and good fun all round.

Arc of Infinity , meanwhile, takes the Doctor back into the midst of the Time Lords, only to discover that one of them has chosen him to be the victim of a strange creature. This creature can only survive by bonding with a Time Lord, and when the High Council of Time Lords rules that the Doctor has to be killed, the scene is set for an interesting mystery, that also sees Tegan fall into dangerous hands too.

The two stories in this Doctor Who boxset are, to be fair, fairly loosely linked, but while neither comes from a particularly classic era of the show, both have plenty to make them worth watching. Of the two, Arc of Infinity is the better, but backed up with the usual top notch extras, this is a boxset that few Doctor Who fans will want to be without. -- Jon Foster

Crystalline aliens lurk in their ship in the vicinity of the shield which keeps Gallifrey safe from its enemies and the Doctor, in his Tom Baker incarnation, is engaged in highly suspicious negotiations with them. As he takes his seat as President of the Time Lords' Council and displays ever-increasing signs of paranoia, expelling Leela (Louise Jameson) to the barren area outside the Time Lords' Citadel, could it be that he has turned to the dark side? Or is this all a cunning plan?

This is one of the most inventive of the Doctor's adventures back home on Gallifrey, with nicely judged portrayals of the senior Time Lord bureaucracy, some suspenseful journeys through the further reaches of the Tardis' interior and a surprise appearance by particularly unpleasant old enemies. The real point, though, is Tom Baker's performance, more barnstorming than ever before, at times blazingly angry and at times even more terrifying when soft-spokenly whimsical; this is a story line that reminds us that the various incarnations of the Doctor are impressive as well as charming. -- Roz Kaveney