What is "rutan"

Rutan may refer to:

• Rutan, Iran, a village in Hormozgan Province, Iran
• Burt Rutan, American aircraft designer
• Dick Rutan, American test pilot, and brother of Burt Rutan
• Erik Rutan, American metal guitarist and producer
• Rutan (Doctor Who), a member of a fictional alien race from the British television series Doctor Who
• Rutan, a planet in the Star Wars universe.

Rutans are a fictional extraterrestrial race from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. They have been at war with the Sontaran Empire for more than 50,000 years, (though another account claimed 10,000 years, though it is not known whether this Rutan was using a human timescale) and this war dominates both cultures to the exclusion of all else. The Rutans only appeared on television in the serial Horror of Fang Rock, in which a single Rutan is encountered, though they are mentioned in some serials featuring Sontarans ( The Time Warrior, The Sontaran Experiment, The Two Doctors and " The Poison Sky", as well as The Last Sontaran and Enemy of the Bane episodes of Doctor Who spin off The Sarah Jane Adventures).