Written By: Mark Gatiss
Directed By: Douglas MacKinnon
The Story: The Doctor and Clara come face to face with an Ice Warrior known as Grand Marshall Skaldak on a Russian Nuclear Submarine in 1983.
The Verdict: The Ice Warriors return to DOCTOR WHO on TV for the first time since 1974 – and oddly enough, they just happen to make their return in a real cracker of an episode, chock full of scares, action, gags and fan boy love!
Mark Gatiss constructs a fantastic little story that draws heavily on films such as ALIEN and PREDATOR, and in the process retools the formerly bulky and ineffectual Ice Warriors for the 21st Century! The design stays true to the original, but the concept of what an Ice Warrior is, what it believes, and how it thinks is cleverly explored and subverted here, making the Ice Warriors simply one of the best rebooted classic monsters (take that Macra!).
Matt Smith and Jenna Louise-Coleman are on fine form this week, Smith in particular delivering as a more restrained Doctor, yet still with the occasional glow of humour. Guest stars Tobias Menzies, Liam Cunningham, and David Warner are all great as the submarine crew, with Warner in particular a fantastic bit of casting as the eccentric Grisenko. However, it’s voice artist Nicholas Briggs as the voice of Skaldak who surprises most, giving great gravitas and power to the monster, making us truly believe this Ice Warrior is one to fear!
COLD WAR is a dark, claustrophobic little base-under-siege story that, whilst light on plot, is both chilling and highly entertaining. The Ice Warriors get a great reintroduction that tinkers with their story, but only enough to make them fresh and new and scary. Yes there are slight flaws in the narrative (the TARDIS disappearing is a little conceited, but the reason why will please Whovians well versed in TARDIS mechanics), but overall COLD WAR is tense yet tremendous fun, and easily one of Mark Gatiss’ best episodes for the show so far.
Best Bit: The reveal that Skaldak is not in his armour is very, very creepy (largely because we Whovians only imagined they could actually do that)! A great little twist moment, and one that sets the episode into top gear for the remainder of it’s running time.
Great FX: The opening shots of the North Pole and the reveal of Skaldak’s true face at the end of the episode are just some of the fantastic visual effects this week! It’s a darn shame this is the last year the Mill will be contributing effects shots for WHO, as their work here is simply superb!
LMAO: More singing this week, this time 80’s pop tunes as sung by David Warner. His concern about the future and as to whether Ultravox will still be together is a very funny subversion of a conversation about time travel and the future that often comes up in DOCTOR WHO.
Trivia: David Warner previously played the Doctor (twice!) for Big Finish’s DOCTOR WHO UNBOUND audio plays.
Star Performance: Nicholas Briggs as the voice of Skaldak – as previously mentioned, it’s a powerful and intimidating voice, and Briggs works wonders here, particularly in the moments where Skaldak crawls through the Submarine completely unseen!
Best Line(s):
The Doctor: Professor I could kiss you!
Grisenko: If you insist.
(Awkward Pause)
The Doctor: Later.
THN’s Doctor Who Series Blog returns next Saturday.
