THE SEEDS OF DEATHOur Patrick Troughton month of Doctor Who re-watches is continuing today with The Seeds Of Death. This 1969 adventure was the second story to feature the classic Ice Warriors, an infamous set of foes known well for their raspy voices and slow movement patterns. Indeed, the episodes stand testament to this, featuring a whole host of slow-paced chases to befit these rather clunky alien foes. It's a wonder that so many fans are so keen to see the residents of Peladon return, as this'll be a helluva journey for the writer endowed with such a responsibility.
Seeds is quite a simple Who story, focusing on a human group's attempts to reach the Moon using a new spaceship devoid of supplies and the Ice Warriors' control over them. Naturally, such a premise means that the Time Lord spends about two of the six episodes basically trying to convince the inhabitants of the base that he means them no harm, a common trait among the early classic adventures. For viewers watching in 2013, then, there's rather a dull sense of needless filler content and repetition here, something which considerably hampers any chance of this being an iconic adventure.
Nevertheless, The Seeds Of Death at least achieves its job of reintroducing the Ice Warriors with a bang. Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines in particular excel as the Doctor and Jamie McCrimmon respectively, and it just goes to show that even in the face of completely unrealistic scenarios, Doctor Who's lead stars can thrive nonetheless- see Love & Monsters and The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People for evidence of that in its fifty-year history...
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