Doctor Who: Cold War

A nice solid episode this. 'Cold War' is another good example of how to update and bring a classic Who villain into the modern world without diluting anything that made the monster great in the first place. Just like Season 1's 'Dalek' in fact, which pretty much wrote the mathematical formula for how to bring an old DW nemesis back: it was a self contained story that focused on ONE of the aforementioned species (a case study if you will) and focused on the core concept of what made them great in the first place and not only brought them back effectively but also built on what had came before. 'Cold War' copies this formula to the t, and it's why it's so successful in my opinion.

'Cold War' is essentially your classic base under siege story, one that Doctor Who is very familiar with. The episode is set in a very defined, often claustrophobic space (in this case a submarine set in 1983, at the height of the Cold War) and features a band of survivors either a) trying to escape or b) stopping whatever is after them from getting in and picking them off one by one. In this case it's b) with the monster in question being the Ice Warrior, and boy does it kick some ass. The claustrophobic interior of the submarine is a great setting for the episode (and light on the budget as well I expect) and is packed full of steamy vents, water leaks and flashing lights. Writer Mark Gatiss, an avid horror fan takes advantage of this and uses it to full effect, making the Ice Warrior 'Grand Marshall Skaldak' come out of his shell (literally) and cause mayhem all over the sub, slaughtering crew members in a manner not unfamiliar to that of a horror slasher villain and threatening to start nuclear war. Sure you can compare the scenes where the Ice Warrior is scurrying around in the air vents to be a DIRECT rip-off of the Alien series, but if you're going to steal from something then you might as well steal from the best right? Besides, it's a good and effective trick that caught everyone off guard at the time (it was genuinely one of those 'Oh...F*CK! moments for me) and made for some good Saturday night viewing so what's not to love? They use this trick well and I was actually surprised to see how many deaths there were in this ep. 

He's behind me isn't he? *SIGH* Of COURSE he's behind me, they're ALWAYS behind me.

Going back to one of my main criticisms with Moffat's Who, the element of threat has been rather downplayed this era with nary a death shown on-screen. Sure the villains talk big but when do they actually kill somebody nowadays? One of the reason's why 'Dalek' was so successful in it's revival of the titular pepper-pots was that it established how deadly they were, in fact that episode must have one of the highest body-counts in the show's history (the death per minute ratio was waaaay up). Mark Gatiss knows DW, and a deadly villain = an effective one so he makes sure a few crew members get slaughtered along the way. One scene in particular had rather gruesome implications, with the Doctor implying that the Ice Warrior had killed two of the submarines officers and tore them apart to inspect their insides. While Clara's reaction to this afterwards was oddly muted (I get she was disturbed seeing a dead body for the first time but come on, THEY WERE LITERALLY RIPPED. TO. SHREDS! LIKE JACK THE RIPPER RIPPED. TO. SHREDS. EMOTIONS PEOPLE!) it was certainly a horrible implication and definitely reinstates the Ice Warriors as a deadly foe. 

Another thing that's important when it comes to a revived monster is it's look. An updated design should preferably keep as much of the original design intact bar a few aesthetic changes here and there. And as far as the design of the costume goes, it looks great and I'm happy to say it doesn't differ too much from the original design (unlike the Silurians, although I can get behind that decision to change them so much), with the only real difference between the old series and the new series being that this Ice Warrior doesn't have Lego-like pincers. The new voice, done by Nick Briggs (who also does the voices for the Daleks, Cybermen and the Judoon!) loses the unique whispering sounds of the old Warriors (but he does put emphasis on the 'ssssss's' at least) and goes for a more loud Judoon-like voice, but I'm not really bothered about that one, because they were barely audible in the old series and a whispering voice does not match the 7 foot gargantuan shown on-screen.

Typical British weather...

While I've spent most of this review rambling over the Ice Warrior (which is to be expected as it's the focus of the episode) what about the other aspects of this ep? 

Well the plot isn't exactly the most complicated thing I've seen on TV but this is a base under siege story and they're not normally the most complex affairs when it comes to story. So yes, it's pretty much 1. monster breaks loose and 2. tries to end the world but that's not necessarily a bad thing as long as it's executed well, which it is. As far as the cast goes Matt Smith is still great as the Doctor and Clara gets a bit more to do so the leads are still on top form. I liked David Warner's performance as Professor Grisenko, he provided some much needed light heartedness to affairs (and I was SO sure he would die by the end!) and Liam Cunningham turns a rather bland character into something more memorable. Everyone else on the sub were unfortunately red shirts but there's only so much you can do in a 45 minute episode and developing a few supporting characters while letting the rest be cannon fodder is ultimately for the best. As for the special effects there wasn't a lot to go on but the outside shots of the submarine looked nice (all model work) and the Skaldak's CGI face was well done so yeah, everything was solid. The only real thing that seemed a bit naff in the entire episode was the cheap claws that came down from the vents to grab people, it didn't match at all with Skaldak's CGI face but whatever this is nitpicking at it's finest and could contribute it to being part of Doctor Who's charm. 

It's nothing new or ground breaking but that's ultimately why 'Cold War' works, it sticks to what it knows is an effective formula and executes it brilliantly. It's a solid base under siege story that successfully does to the Ice Warriors what 'Dalek' did to the Daleks i.e make them awesome again. Now after this fairly self contained episode can we get a proper, full on Ice Warrior story full of high stakes and drama next time (akin to 'The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood') Mr Moffat? Cos' that would be amazing. 8/10.

Positives:

+ Solid base under siege story
+ Successfully brings back the Ice Warriors
+ Atmospheric set design
+ A few good supporting characters
+ The villain is deadly

Negatives:

- Really fake looking claws!
- Kind of an alien rip-off 

Nothing like a classic model shot!