I mention all this by way of introduction to the subject of Cold War. An episode that I most certainly had high hopes for. The return of the Ice Warriors has been something I've been looking forward to for quite a while. And while the memory may or not cheat the fact is that often the picture I have in my head of how a particular monster should work is not always the same as that of the actual production team.
But you know what? Cold War is basically everything I could have wanted for an Ice Warrior episode.
Except maybe more of this.
From the very beginning you know we're in for a real treat this time around. Because we have honest to goodness MODEL SHOTS. I almost didn't notice at first, but slowly it dawned on me. That submarine wasn't CGI. It was actually real. I love me some genuine physical effects work, and this was all great stuff. Whilst I have great respect for the effects that have been achieved for the show with CGI, you just can't beat a good quality miniature.
Although you CAN beat a poor quality one. To death if needs be.
One overzealous idiot with a blowtorch later everything's gone to hell and the TARDIS materializes right in the middle of it. Naturally. Of course it rapidly materializes again pretty quickly. But to be fair it's pretty difficult to write a tense and claustrophobic base under siege tale if everyone can just leave. Funny thing is when that happened my first thought was something like "Oh, the HADS must have kicked in. How awesomely old school is that?" And, as it turns out I was right! First time for everything.
Mind you, it does seem to have some rather.... unexpected side effects. I mean, last time it was activated we got...
There are some things you just never get tired of seeing. This is most of them.
And this time it coincides with a rather drenched and clingy look for Clara. It's just as well they never had to use whilst Amy was around. There are some things that a tea time slot on a Saturday evening were simply not meant to know. Anyway, moving on....
So the set up is nice and direct, with the setting all very well realized. Tight (ish) claustrophobic corridors, lots of steam and dripping water and wonderful use of lighting throughout. Really, this is how Warriors Of The Deep should have looked, all dark and industrial.
Then of course there are some things that only I will never get tired of looking at.
But of course it's in the realization of the Ice Warrior itself that real triumph of this story lies. And don't just mean in the physical sense. The suit looks fantastic of course. Certainly on of the more successful updates. It's basically the same as it ever was, just slightly shinier and not made in the 60's. No, it's the CHARACTER of the Ice Warriors that things are so spot on. A powerful race of warriors with a strong martial code and their own sense of honour. One that above all else you DO NOT want to fuck with. They're both civilized and extremely dangerous. The thing that always elevated them above simply being another plodding monster was that layer of civilization they gained in the Curse Of Peladon. The trick is in maintaining that whilst still illustrating the more savage and ruthless aspects. Something that is done pretty much spot on here. Skaldak isn't so much of a villain as an antagonist. As the Doctor says, he's not a monster, he's a soldier.
Of course one of the best things about maintaining this aspect of the Ice Warriors character is that enables the Doctor to live up to his purported pacifist leanings. You have to admit that there is a marked tendency for him to be coming up against things that must be fought. So to have an antagonist that he just might be able to reason with, that is worthy of his respect, makes things a lot more interesting for both the monster AND the Doctor. Which is win win really.
Getting back to the Ice Warrior himself for a moment we should probably talk about how the episode moves things forward for them. By going backwards. WAY backwards. Because not only does it build on elements from the old stories, it also uses elements from the original scripts that never even made it into the episodes. Did you know that in the original story the Ice Warriors were written as being far more mechanical than they originally turned out? There were mentions of bits of their armour glowing when sending a signal, or cables extending fromtheir hands to operate a captured human computer system. And now after 40 something years these elements have finally made it to the screen. Explicitly stating that the armour is biomechanical in nature is not really a great leap to make. I mean, did anyone REALLY think they were just walking around naked all this time?
Pictured: A giant green alien penis. Also Alpha Centauri.
No. Ice Warrior armour has in fact always been just that: Armour. they're basically space knights. Even if none of them are called Rom.
Look it up.
But it's perhaps the obvious realization that they're wearing armour that leads to perhaps the most controversial aspect of the episode. Although by controversial I actually mean "a friend pointed out that certain elements of fandom will probably have a rage at but those guys will flip out over anything so screw 'em". The idea that maybe the Ice Warrior could take it's armour OFF.
As to why certain people will hate it, well... They've never done it before. But certain people will hate anything. But there's far more reasons why it DOES work. Firstly of course there's the fact that it's never been done before, so it's new and exciting and adds something to the monster. Then there's the fact that it works really well for the story. Fact of the matter is there's only so much room in a submarine. Even a plus sized fictional one. A giant armoured monster can only stomp around for so long before he's run out of places to stomp. But a lithe and fast something in the ducting can run around doing stuff and getting into places that a martian in full plate simply can't. But perhaps best of all is the fact that once it's out of the armour, WE NEVER SEE THE CREATURE. They could have gone all out and spoiled everything but they didn't. The unknown is always scarier, and all we get is a pair of hands and a shadowy visage. This is all great stuff. Indeed the only real complaint I could muster would be that they perhaps should have kept the helmet on during the final scene so that we never really get a proper look at Skaldak himself. But that would rather defeat the purpose of things there, tying back all the cold war themes of nuclear staring competions to the final confrontation between the Doctor and Skaldak.
Now, I admit that the final resolution might seem a bit Deus Ex Machina, but it does kinda fit. It's only once Skaldak starts to doubt the whole revenge thing that he's then rewarded with a new hope. And be fair, that martian saucer is fucking BOSS.
Anyone else fany a game of Monsterpocalypse?
Of course there's still a lot more to discuss. Although she doesn't really have much to do I think this is a good episode for Clara. It's not often we see anyone take time to be shocked by the kind of horrific death that tends to follow the Doctor around, so she gets bonus empathy points if nothing else. And David Warner is adorably brilliant throughout, particularly in his characters attempts to help Clara out. But then of course he is. He's DAVID FUCKING WARNER. The violent deaths are really well done as well, with just a hint of blood and horror but not lingering over anything graphic. It all sits just right.
All in all this is one of those episode that just WORKS. It's utterly replete with old school charm and is undoubtedly a highlight of the modern age of Doctor Who. After a somewhat shaky start the latest series has really come in with a winner. And if they can keep up this level of quality then it's going to be one hell of a time over the next few episodes.
And best of all, they now have an Ice Warrior suit. So there's no reason one can't crop up in a space bar somewhere. Not that I'm saying it HAS to be Harma from the Absolom Daak comics you understand.
But, you know, couldn't hurt...
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