Doctor Who [4]

If last weeks episode seemed in many ways like a return to classic Who this weeks was the cement in that assumption.
What we have here is a classic 2nd Doctor base-under-seige story for which his era was famed.
So it is appropriate that there are some very classic nods. The biggest of course being the return of the Ice Warriors, or at least an Ice Warrior- but at least he is an important one, Grand Marshal Skaldak.

But he is not the only nod to Classic era, the Doctor and Clara's arrival- they thought they were going to Vegas and ended up on a Russian submarine in the middle of the Cold War- is very reiminscent of the first and second Doctors time on the Tardis when she was broken and there was no way to know where you would materialise next and they often turned up smack bang in the middle of something.

And speaking of the TARDIS, it is the convention in these sort of episodes to get rid of her somehow or make her unavailable to the Doctor.
In this episode she just leaves on her own accord shortly after arrival, as soon as the gunfire starts in fact, the explanation being that the Doctor has finally repaired her HADS (Hostile Action Displacement System), which first cropped up in the 2nd Doctor story The Krotons and was never mentioned again. You have to hand it to episode writer Mark Gatiss, he knows his Who.

So onto the plot, and probably the weakest element really in that there isnt much of one.

A Russian submarine carrying nuclear missiles also has on board a Professor (wonderful underplayed by David Warner) who is obssessed with Duran, Duran and Ultravox, and who has what he thinks is a frozen mammoth extracted from the ice. It is if course the Ice Warrior- this is exactly how the first Ice Warrior in their first appearence in Who was found too. Another nod backwards.
The Ice Warrior, thinking its race dust, or should that be 'dussst', gets upset and loose and starts picking off the crew and threatening nuclear meltdown until the Doctor and Clara save the day.

It really does boil down to being that straight forward and there for me lies its problem.
This looks, feels and all but smells like a classic 2nd Doctor story, with one major difference, in the 2nd Doctor's time this would have been at least as long as a modern two-parter to build up the characters of those on board the ship.
This episode doesnt have the time to do any of that.
So as a result the Ice Warrior is thawed out by a submariner we dont know anything about whose only reasoning for doing so is not wanting to wait till they get back to see what it is.
The second officer is set up as a nasty bit of work and then is caught by the Ice Warrior and he makes an offer of allegiance- but then it goes nowhere. In classic era he would have been your classic traitor to be unmasked in the last act.

In short it felt like a classic-lite. I was pleased enough with the meal Gatiss served up but I wasnt satisfied with it and kept thinking there must be another course.

As to the Ice Warrior himself, well they havent changed to much in outward appearence- they still look like a humanoid tortoise complete with shell- alhough the confined space of the submarines as a location did work in its favour.
Its a well directed episode too with good use of the lighting and of creating a sense of a contained space.

We get a bit more Clara development in there, as she bravely acts as mediator in the conversation with the Ice Warrior and then later when she witnesses the dead bodies and realises its not a fun game all the time.
And it is nice to see an old fashioned resolution, using words, no gadgets, no sonics, just the power of words and clever thinking, backed up with a willingness to do what must be done no matter the personal price.

So a fairly easy episode to review after last weeks, as it was all the right things but just in too small a measure.
A bit like the confined claustophic submarine it is set on the script too felt to closed in. It needed the space for the other characters to develop and grow and there just wasn't time for it in 44 minutes.

ps I dont know if the 'rubber' monsterhands were a delibrate nod back to classic Who or not, but they looked it!

Things of note- its the first time we have seen under the helmet of an Ice Warior- given the slightly ropyey cgi should probably have left iton.
Why did the Doctor have a Barbie doll in his pocket and was it only me who found that slightly creepy?

A 7 out of 10 for me- there is absolutely nothing wrong with it, but then again there is nothing outstanding either.

But, crammed into it was just enough of what we needed to know, an odd object is found under/in ice, taken onboard a Russian sub, Thaws to reveal strange creature, creature is threatened,calls for back up,assumes companions are dead, takes command to destroy threat, Dr rattles brain to resolve problem, Clara wakes up to reality that life isnt all fun ! Alien pals find Iceman & take him home, Dr & Clara save the day ! Pad it out with a quirky 80s music lover, frightened young mid-shipman,dubious 2nd in command & trigger happy captain, lots of water, a few undetonated bombs, trapped in a sub, what more could you ask ?