So when I was watching the newest Doctor Who episode, “The Rebel Flesh” (Season 6, Episode 5), I felt like I had seen something like the flesh vat and the gangers before. I didn’t dwell on it at the time, but later it hit me: the Sontaran cloning pool! It was featured in “The Sontaran Stratagem” and “The Poison Sky” (Season 4, Episode 4 and 5) when Martha was cloned.

. Here are some comparison pictures:

Flesh Vat (The Rebel Flesh) 

Cloning Pool (The Sontaran Stratagem) 

Flesh Harness (The Rebel Flesh)  

Cloning Pool Harness (The Sontaran Stratagem) 

Ganger: White and smooth-looking (The Rebel Flesh)  

Clone: Also white and smooth-looking (The Sontaran Stratagem) 

Flesh Vat Bubbles: With a bonus hand! (The Rebel Flesh)  

Cloning Pool Bubbles: Also with a bonus hand! (The Sontaran Stratagem) 

Ganger Jennifer trying to reconcile her memories and identity (The Rebel Flesh)  

Clone Martha also trying to reconcile her memories and identity (The Poison Sky) 

Now, I’m not saying that the cloning pool and the flesh machine are exactly the same, but I do think they are similar in some ways. It makes me wonder whether the Flesh were created with a basis in Sontaran technology. Or whether the Sontaran clone pool was based off the Flesh. I doubt that the show will connect them in any way, but I thought it was interesting to look at the parallels.