Day 893 - Cold War

At last! It's the return of The Ice Warriors to Doctor Who! Last seen in the third Doctor story, The Monster Of Peladon, these creatures from Mars had been intended to come back several times during the shows history but every time something had happened to prevent this. I believe they were due to come back for Season 23 before the show was forced to go on hiatus and instead the story was replaced by the season long arc of The Trial Of A Time Lord. Then they were intended to come back for season 27 but the show was axed after season 26. As such, these Martians had always seemed cursed somehow.

But finally we have a full on Ice Warrior story in the new series. Set aboard a Russian submarine during the Cold War, with an Ice Warrior on the loose it makes for a very claustrophobic story. The submarine has been damaged and is trapped on a ledge under the water. If it falls any further then it will be crushed. 

Speaking of the submarine, this is the return of model shots to the series. There may have been some model shots before this one but for the main part most effects are now done using CGI. I've always preferred the model effects as they just seem so much more real. The submarine effects under water are superb.

One problem with this episode is there is just so much dripping water all the time! Whilst this creates a great atmosphere it doesn't half make you need to go for a pee all the time!

As for the Ice Warrior itself, it's fairly very loyal to the original design of the creature. The only two differences that I could pick up on were that the hand look more like hands now instead of the "Lego man" claws that they used to have, and also there doesn't seem to be any hair sprouting out from around the neck area. I'm not sure why they got rid of the hair, maybe it's specific to Skaldak and he just waxes or something.

The world is on the brink of war with the Russians and Americans in a nuclear stalemate. When Skaldak is attacked by a member of the submarine crew then he decides to take revenge on all of humanity by firing the first missile which will start the war. In many ways the plot reminds me of Warriors Of The Deep, except with out the crappy looking Myrka! 

This episode also has another impressive cast. Most notable to me was David Warner as the professor who has recovered the Ice Warrior from the North Pole. He has some great scenes with Clara where it is clear they are both very scared and he is gently trying to calm her down. Also it's cool because not long ago I listed to a Doctor Who audio play where David Warner played an alternative version of the third Doctor. 

Keeping up the references to the past from the previous episode, in this one we have a reference to the era of the seconds Doctor when the TARDIS disappears of its own accord. It turns out that the Doctor had reinstalled the HADS (the Hostile Action Displacement System) which allows the TARDIS to automatically relocate should it come under attack. The only time we have seen this happen before and the only time the HADS was mentioned was in the second Doctor story, The Krotons. To new honest, it seems like a pretty flawed idea to install such a system on your ship. As in this case, the TARDIS disappears and leaves them stranded at the bottom of the ocean!