The Ice Warriors

‘Computer says no…’

There is a ‘Second Ice Age’ (although there have actually been about six, and we are actually living in one at the moment!) and Britain has been engulfed by the Arctic Ice Cap. The Britannicus Base uses its ‘ioniser’ to help hold it back and refers to the base computer for all actions. Scientist Arden finds a huge body encased in ice and brings it back, believing it to be a prehistoric man. But the reality is more dangerous than they imagine.

The Ice Warriors introduces one of Doctor Who’s most famous adversaries. The titular Martians look fantastic, towering over the humans and speaking with their eerie sibilant rasp. The fact that the movement of their lips do not match the dialogue is deliberate and adds to their alien-ness. The costumes are first rate and actually make each of them look slightly different. Although they are a bit lumbering, they definitely deserve their iconic status.

Apart from the monster threat, a major concern of the script is an over reliance on computers. The base personnel trust their computer completely, as do most of humanity. There are those who reject this and are in exile (maybe self-imposed) from society. They believe that mankind is losing its intuition and problem-solving ability in the face of automation. This techno-fear is a charming relic of the 60s. Nowadays, no-one trusts computers implicitly because they are prone to viruses and breaking down- the vast majority of computers aren’t even used to compute any more! The neo-Luddites (or ‘scavengers’)are portrayed somewhat simplistically. Storr has a distrust of all technology, even considering helping the Ice Warriors purely because they pit themselves against the base. He dies, of course. There are also environmental concerns. Earth's plant life has largely been destroyed to make way for housing, which results in an Ice Age, rather than global warming(!)

The techno-fear and environmentalist aspect forms a background to what is essentially another ‘base under-siege’ story. Rather disappointingly, plot outlines for season 5 have returned to this story type a bit too often and if a story is to be saved, it is through other means. Apart from the instant impact the Ice Warriors themselves have, the main asset of the story is the superlative cast. The base leader whose obstinacy impedes the Doctor is a character who pops up time and time again. In this story, that character (Leader Clent) is played by the extremely talented and underrated Peter Barkworth. He makes this very clichéd type worth watching at all times, and we see Clent as a character making believable decisions according to his personality and situation, rather than a plot-derived construct to push the story along. Peter Sallis puts in a strong performance as Penley, the brilliant scientist who has become a scavenger.

Derek Martinus again directs excellently, getting good performances from the whole cast and making interesting shot choices. The design work is exemplary- the decision to locate Britannicus Base in a listed building is very interesting visually and conceptually intelligent. The base personnel are costumed in simple blacks and whites in the white control room, which makes anyone who does not belong (the TARDIS crew, the Warriors and the scavengers) stick out visually. Troughton is as superlative as always, though the fact that Jamie is incapacitated for so long makes one miss the rapport between Hines and Troughton. There is, however that flirtatious scene with Victoria and Jamie, which is delightfully played and Victoria is cheeky enough to stop her crying becoming irritating.

All in all, well worth a look.

NEXT: The Enemy of the World