Can the Ice Warriors' return to Doctor Who make an atomic impact four decades on? Our verdict on the best episode of the new run yet!Remember how I mentioned last week that after two good-rather-than-great episodes of Doctor Who had opened the run, and that the show needed to find its next masterpiece to get fully back on top of the TV pile? Well, consider it found. Mark Gatiss' offerings for the BBC's science-fiction drama have been varied at best in the past, with episodes such as The Idiot's Lantern and Night Terrors often having a minor impact at best, but Cold War was an absolutely stunning reprisal of one of the show's classic foes, a true return to form for Who in 2013.
At the heart of this third episode's shining success is without a shadow of a doubt the return of Mars' most fearsome foes to the series. The Ice Warriors have always been a long-awaited returning monster for modern Doctor Who, yet until now it was understandable why Steven Moffat had refused to allow those cold-blooded adversaries the chance to return to the spotlight. Until now, it seemed as if the Ice Warriors could only ever be remembered as cumbersome, noisy monsters which simply represented the weaker days of the show's 60s and 70s run, the 'cardboard costume of the week' type of foe which just simply wouldn't hold up today. Thankfully, Gatiss pitched the concept of Ice Warriors on a submarine along with the inspired Alien homages to Steven for Season Seven, bringing us a beautiful and terrifying rendition of the final member of the Doctor's 'Top Three' greatest foes.
There have naturally been comparisons in abundance to Rob Sherman's 2005 reintroductory tale Dalek from past reviewers. Initially, such parallels might worry future viewers that Who was losing its edge, and yet Gatiss proves here that couldn't be further from the case, only going so far as to extract the idea that a lone Ice Warrior who believes his race extinct could still be one of the deadliest forces in the universe. Jenna-Louise's Clara was placed in a very different kind of claustrophobic danger to what Billie's Rose met eight years ago, and in contrast to the titular Dalek's self-sacrifice at the end of that pretty fantastic adventure, the viewer has to wonder if Skaldak would truly have taken his claw off of the button should his people not have arrived to 'save the day'. Certainly, that's a disturbing thought in the midst of what could have happened should such a sudden impulse have occurred for one of the two sides involved in the Cold War, and it strikes an intriguing parallel of honor between a lone, desperate Martian and the wider race of proud warriors who are not apathetic to the concept of mercy. Douglas McKinnon's direction of both the submarine and the Warrior within it must be commended too, for thanks to him the much-vaunted 'blockbuster' feel intended for Season Seven was here in full force!
While Nicholas Briggs and the man inside the Warrior must of course be commended aesthetically for their work as Skaldak, the human cast of this week's adventure were all on top form as well. It was a real treat having Game Of Thrones' Liam Cunningham along for the ride as a suspicious but conscientious Russian captain, along with the hilarious and poignant Brit star David Warner bringing us a classic turn on a whimsical member of the crew who simply retains the optimistic desire to make it out of the tense 1980s conflict alive. This reviewer often finds that it's episodes such as these, those which focus on basic human emotions of hope and loyalty in the midst of an overwhelming likelihood of destruction, that showcase fully why Doctor Who remains such a unique and engaging component in the realms of British television half a century on from its initial broadcast, regularly innovating and shocking the viewer in ways we could never have possibly imagined. Where else could Hungry Like The Wolf be a source of comfort on the brink of nuclear war, eh?
There's no such thing as a perfect production, of course, and Cold War does a great job of hiding one or two miniscule shortcomings. Though the CGI budget on Who is generally spectacular thanks to a lot of confidence on the BBC and the production team's part, I couldn't help but wonder whether Skaldak's true form might have been better served hidden in its supreme Alien-style guise in the shadows rather than being shown in full form, since nowadays there's been such a brilliant variety of alien designs that Skaldak can't help but look a tad like Kudlak from The Sarah Jane Adventures despite some design differences. It's also arguable for some fans that the Doctor's sudden reinstatement of the classic HADS (Hostile Action Displacement System) from the 1968 Second Doctor story The Krotons was a little convenient in terms of getting rid of the TARDIS for an episode, although there have been plenty of similar 'get out clauses' to ground or remove the TARDIS from the equation in stories across the show's fifty-year past.
Such minor missteps are virtually negible in this case, though. Whereas The Bells Of Saint John suffered a little from lacking some of the ambition of past mid-season openers, and The Rings Of Ahkaten made slight misuse of its seemingly central antagonist, Cold War features no such achilles heel to drop it below the status of a full-marks worthy instalment. It's fantastic to see Doctor Who back at the absolute top of its game in the midst of its 50th Anniversary, reminding fans long-term and new alike why the show remains such a hit by reviving one of its classic foes in an immensely innovative way. We've got five episodes- Hide, Journey To The Centre Of The TARDIS, The Crimson Horror, Nightmare In Silver and The Name Of The Doctor- still to come, and judging by this, the adventure is only going to keep getting more and more exciting....
5/5
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