Doctor Who Series 7 Episode 8 - Cold War - Review

Starring: Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Liam Cunningham & David Warner

Written By: Mark Gatiss

Directed By: Douglas Mackinnon 

Cold War is an episode that both myself and many others were particularly looking forward to. Why? Well, the major hook of this episode is the return of the Ice Warriors. Yes, the Ice Warriors! Last seen in The Monster Of Peladon in 1974, and for some bizarre reason, the Ice Warriors have never returned to the TV series since. 39 years later, and the fan-favourites are finally back. But is there more to this episode than just the return of the Ice Warriors, or is that all it has to offer?

The Doctor and Clara land in 1983, on a Soviet submarine at the height of the Cold War. The submarine have discovered an animal frozen in the underwater ice, and suspect that they have found a mammoth. However, when the ice is thawed, Grand Marshal Skaldak of the Ice Warrior race awakes from a sleep of 5,000 years. Believing that he is the last of his kind, Skaldak has nothing to lose, and begins working to launch nuclear missiles that will bring about Earth's destruction.

First of all, even if this episode hadn't featured the return of the Ice Warriors, Cold War is still an incredibly solid entry to the series. It wasn’t anything extraordinary, and if it weren't for the Ice Warriors, there wouldn't really be anything new here, but it was a classic base under siege sci-fi story nonetheless. Already, I can say that this episode is Series 7's strongest so far. Mark Gatiss has returned to write this episode, and the tight compact Soviet submarine setting is very reminiscent of the WWII cabinet war room setting from one of his previous episodes - Victory Of The Daleks. To allow room for the Ice Warrior, the submarine is obviously bigger than those in real-life. However, the space still feels compact thanks to Douglas Mackinnon making sure that there are always multiple people or objects on screen at the same time. The Cold War is a rich period of history, so it's good to see it put to good use here, and some of the most entertaining parts of the episode come about when characters make references to life in the 1980s.

The biggest fault of this episode is easily the lack of developed characters. With the exception of Captain Zhukov and Professor Grisenko, most of the supporting characters are two-dimensional and serve no purpose other than to be killed by Skaldak. Captain Zhukov's role is more prominent in the first half of the episode, particularly in his arguments with the Doctor. However, my favourite supporting character was easily Professor Grisenko. It’s another sympathetic and likeable role for David Warner and I really loved him here. The Professor makes for a nice change to the more serious characters onboard the submarine, and him asking Clara about the future of Ultravox is a really sweet moment.

Of course, what this episode will really be remembered for, is reintroducing the Ice Warriors to the series. Really, the only disappointing thing about their return, was how they returned. The only reasoning given for thawing Skaldak out of the ice is that "Life's too short to wait", and this feels like a pretty feeble excuse. But anyway, unlike other villains from the classic series that have made a return, the Ice Warriors haven’t undergone a massive re-design. Instead, the armour that they wear has had a slight upgrade, and the voice has been changed from a hissing one, to a deeper and gruffer one. The decision not to re-design the Ice Warriors too much is something I really appreciate. I love the Ice Warriors in the classic series and I’m really glad to see that their slight re-design was actually an improvement rather than a hindrance! Their new armour is a marvel and a stunning design, and a big congratulations has to go to the production team for their work. As for the voice, I wasn’t really a fan of the original hissing reptilian voice of the classic series, so the deeper gruffer voice suits them much better and Nicholas Briggs is again fantastic at providing the voiceover. As for Skaldak as a character, Mark Gatiss has done a wonderful job at establishing them as a threat, not just to the Doctor, but to the whole planet. The fact that the Ice Warrior onboard, Skaldak, is one of the best warriors that Mars has ever produced gives the audience the chance to see the Ice Warriors at their deadliest. Clara gets a brilliantly-written scene of interaction with Skaldak, as he’s chained up and she and the Doctor begin negotiating. (Spoiler Warning!) However, the end of the scene reveals that the creature inside the armour has escaped, and it’s just the armour that’s chained up. This scene is fantastic on repeat viewings as the second time around, you can see that something isn’t quite right with Skaldak, largely thanks to Douglas Mackinnon's great direction.

A first for the Ice Warriors, this is the first time that we see one leave its armour. While I did like the fact that out of armour, they are fast, quick killing machines, I was more grateful for the fact that we only caught really quick, fleeting glimpses of the body. This is why I found it a shame when we saw Skaldak's face out of his helmet. Many people have praised this part, but I personally preferred the sense of mystery. Seeing the true face of the Ice Warrior, for me, has broken a taboo of the show. If our favourite Martians will be returning in the near future and I really hope they do, please do NOT show their faces again - keep the Ice Warriors in their armour, as it suits them far better. Taking the Ice Warriors out of their armour may work as a one-off, but it won't work if it keeps happening.

Incidentally, I was glad to see that Clara is seeing the darker side of life with the Doctor and what it's really like, as this is the first time that she’s seen a dead body. Not only a dead body, but one ripped to shreds by Skaldak. Jenna-Louise Coleman does a brilliant and commendable job playing Clara in these scenes, even if the character herself is still in crucial need of further development. As for Matt Smith, he does a great job as well, but there's not really a huge deal for me to say that hasn't been said before, as we didn’t exactly see anything new from the Doctor in this episode.

Overall, Cold War is a very solid story that makes for very entertaining TV. Although there are some noticeable problems, particularly the fact that most of the supporting characters are barely touched upon, the good heavily outweighs the bad in this story. The reintroduction of the Ice Warriors has been spectacularly well-handled, thanks in no small way to an amazing re-design, Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman are still working really well together, and the episode itself looked very cinematic. Maybe it's just me, and this is in no way a complaint, but is Series 7 becoming one big tribute to Patrick Troughton's era of the show? With the return of the Great Intelligence and the Ice Warriors, not to mention the HADS, you can't escape all the references. But as for Cold War, it was a very good episode, and in my opinion, the best of Series 7 so far.

  

Cold War



8/10