Episode #242 : Cold War

"It's an Ice Warrior! A native of the planet Mars. And we go way back. Way back."

Episode #242:      Cold War.
Companions:        The 11th Doctor and Clara Oswald.
Air Date:               13th April 2013.

In 1983, the tensest point of the Cold War, a Soviet submarine discovers a strange creature frozen in the ice of the Arctic. When one of the Firebird's crew breaks it free, it starts attacking. As the crew strikes back, the Eleventh Doctor warns them that the attack could be considered a declaration of war on the entire Ice Warrior race.

I'm a fan of bringing back the classic monsters to new Who and at long last we have a return of the Ice Warriors, and about time. Not only do we get a return of these Martian aliens but the episode expands upon them and gives us much more information than the classic third Doctor episodes ever did. Just a shame that the look of the actual Ice Warrior, Skaldak, has to be CGI rather than a man in a rubber mask but I can accept that given we have decent special effects these days to do it.

Having the story set during the Cold War and on a submarine brings back happy memories of a childhood favourite, Warriors of the Deep, which for all intents and purposes tells a very similar story to this just with Silurians and Sea Devils instead.

Cold War seems a story very much built around showcasing Clara over the Doctor. Our main hero is his usual top form but Clara gets most of the on screen fun, having to interact with Skaldak and running about the corridors of the Submarine. With other companions I might have grumbled a bit about that but Clara grows on you very quickly and I at least don't mind an episode where she gets most of the limelight.

As episodes go this is quite fun. It doesn't try too hard and it doesn't go the silly route, and unlike many of the modern adventures I can quite easily imagine any of the classic Doctors playing this adventure very well.

Episode #73 : The Monster of Peladon

"There's nothing "only" about being a girl."

Episode 73:   The Monster of Peladon.
Companions: 3rd Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith.
Air Date:        Six episodes. 23rd March to 27th April 1974.

The Doctor returns to Peladon fifty years after his last visit, to find Queen Thalira, daughter of the late King Peladon, on the throne. A tense labour dispute between Pel nobility and miners is worsened when apparitions of their deity Aggedor attack and kill several miners. The Galactic Federation desperately needs trisilicate for its war against Galaxy 5 and sends in brutal Ice Warrior troopers to ensure production. The Doctor discovers a devious plot at the heart of Aggedor's appearances.

The Monster of Peladon is a sequel to The Curse of Peladon story but sadly it plays out as just a rehash of that earlier story just with a couple twists. The Travellers arrive and are captured as unwanted aliens, there is a high priest who distrusts outsiders, Alpha Centauri returns as do the Ice Warriors. The only real differences here are that we find Queen Thalira on the throne, and this time the Ice Warriors are behind it all!

The previous story on Peladon was a play on Great Britain's entry into the EU. This story deals with a version of the miner's strikes that plagued the country in the early 1970's, and it is easy to see the similarities if you remember those times (and I only just do).

Sarah Jane gets to put on her feminist trousers in this story. She spends a fair bit of time trying to turn Queen Thalira from a figure head (female) ruler into a strong woman willing to stand up to the men around her who try and direct her actions. It is nice to see Sarah Jane getting some character development here but it soon gets in the nerves.

On a continuity level this story has as it's background a conflict with Galaxy 5, who were the villains of The Daleks Master Plan way back in the day for the 1st Doctor. It really is nice to see these references coming up now and again.

Episode #61 : The Curse of Peladon

"I don't understand you! One minute you're condemning the Doctor to death

and the next you're proposing to me!"

Episode 61:     The Curse of Peladon.
Companions:   The 3rd Doctor and Jo Grant.
Air Date:         Four episodes. 29th January to 19th February 1972.

The Doctor and Jo make a test flight in the TARDIS and arrive on the planet Peladon. Seeking shelter, they enter the citadel of the soon-to-be-crowned King Peladon, where the Doctor is mistaken for a human dignitary summoned to act as Chairman of a committee assessing an application by the planet to join the Galactic Federation.

The Curse of Peladon is another excellent story from the Jon Pertwee era. It has an excellent plot full of action, mystery and intrigue. The story deals with an attempt to thwart the planet Peladon from entering the Galactic Federation so that an other civilisation (and Federation member) can strip mine it for the vast natural resources that it holds. With three other Federation delegates attending, including the Ice Warriors, it can only be one of them despite an undercurrent of dissatisfaction from some elements of the Peladon rulership. All of which is skillfully woven together into a great storyline. Supposedly the story is based on the events of the time with the United Kingdom about to enter the EC at the time.

As mentioned, this story sees the return of the Ice Warriors as Federation delegates from Mars. They seem to have given up on their violent ways since last the Doctor encountered them though I still wouldn't trust them. There is no mention of their inability to handle heat so I guess castle Peladon is rather a cold place.

Both the Doctor and Jo get plenty of limelight in this story even though the Doctor seems overly harsh towards her at times. Jo gets some good screen time with King Peladon (played by David Troughton, son of second Doctor Patrick Troughton) and the Ice Warriors.

One question remains unanswered, even unasked in the story itself, if the Time Lords have removed the Doctor's knowledge of how to operate the TARDIS how did he and Jo get to Peladon? Did the Time Lords interfere to ensure that Peladon gets admitted to the Galactic Federation? Who knows? Yes, pun intended.

The events of this story continue, somewhat, in an upcoming sequel, The Monster of Peladon.

Episode #48 : The Seeds of Death

"You can't kill me... I'm a genius!"

 

 

Episode 48:   The Seeds of Death.
Companions: The 2nd Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot.
Air Date:        Six episodes. 25th January to 1st March 1969.

 

The TARDIS lands in a space museum on Earth in the late 21st century, where the Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe learn that contact has been lost between Earth and the Moon. In this era, instant travel -- T-Mat -- has revolutionised the Earth. Its people have lost interest in space travel. The Doctor and his companions travel to the Moon in an old-style rocket and reach the Moonbase, control centre for T-Mat, only to find a squad of Ice Warriors have commandeered the base and plan to use the T-Mat network to their advantage.

The Seeds of Death is a fantastic story. Certainly one of the best from this era of the show. Everything about it works, from the story itself, to the look of the sets and the ice warriors, and down to the acting. All in all, it makes watching it a real treat.

The story itself deals with an invasion of the moon, and soon to be the Earth, by a fleet of Ice Warriors. But first they must capture the moon and use the T-Mat (called transmat when reused in later stories) to transport strange fungus plants to Earth in order to make the planet more suitable for the invaders. This reminds in part of the red weeds from The War of the Worlds by HG Wells. The fungus only fails when you realise that it's just vast amounts of bubble bath and a few popping balloons.

One thing I love is just how much more characterised the second Doctor is in this story than ever before. This story really does bring forth my appreciation for the second Doctor than I usually feel in these old black and white episodes. Well worth watching.

There is one thing that I find odd however in this story. The Ice Warriors are a technologically advanced race; they can construct and fly starships through space, have powerful heat ray guns...etc, but are yet easily fooled into flying too close to the sun. Surely they would have realised something was wrong and changed course? They must know where Earth is in the solar system? That is the only problem I find with this story.

Episode #39 : The Ice Warriors

"In 2 minutes 38 seconds, you're going to have an almighty explosion!"

Episode 39:   The Ice Warriors.
Companions: The 2nd Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield.
Air Date:       Six episodes. 11th November to 16th December 1967.

The TARDIS arrives on Earth in a new ice age and the travellers make their way into a base where scientists commanded by Leader Clent are using an ioniser device to combat the advance of a glacier.
A giant humanoid creature, called an Ice Warrior by one of the scientists, has been found buried in the nearby glacier. When thawed, it revives and is revealed to be Varga, captain of a Martian spacecraft that landed on Earth centuries ago and is still in the glacier. Varga sets about freeing his comrades and formulating a plan to conquer the Earth - Mars itself is now dead.

The Ice Warriors is a story that feels much more like it should have appeared as a Star Trek story. It just has that Trek vibe rather than what I expect from Doctor Who. It even has some odd moments with the female "oooo" sort of singing over things. Very odd. But that aside, it is a reasonable story despite there being one or two moments where I found myself distracted because the story wasn't going anywhere. In places it needed more action.

This is the introduction of the Ice Warriors race who make a handful of appearances later on in the show, mainly for the second and third Doctors. These reptilians are the inhabitants of Mars which has lost its ability to sustain life. They came to Earth thousands of years ago and got stuck in the ice. Very ironic for a race people call Ice Warriors. They are aggressive conquerors but to me they seem a tad simplistic in how they do it. One last thing... although the costumes for the Ice Warriors are suitably iconic, they do often look bloody silly waddling around in them.

A reasonable story that introduces one of the lesser but also iconic villain races.