The Ice Warriors This story is not known to exist in its original format (6 black-and-white 25-minute TV episodes) in its entirety. DVD NTSC Region 1 DVD PAL Region 2 VHS Video & Audio CD NTSC A NTSC B PAL

(Doctor Who Story No. 39, starring Patrick Troughton) written by Brian Hayles directed by Derek Martinus produced by Innes Lloyd music by Dudley Simpson 6 episodes @ 25 minutes each Story: The Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria land in the year 3000 A.D. amongst the British members of a world wide project to use ionization to hold back the advancing glaciers of a new ice age. Is their leader Clent responsible for making their chief scientist Penley abandon the project? What is the nature of the mysterious armoured warrior they have found frozen in the ice?

DVD Features include:

• Four digitally remastered complete original episodes (#1, 4, 5, 6)
• New animated recreations of the two missing episodes (#2 & 3), synchronized to the original television sound.
• Plus extra features:
  • Audio commentary for episodes 1, 4, 5, & 6 by actors Frazer Hines (Jamie), Deborah Watling (Victoria),
    Sonny Caldinez (Turoc), designer Jeremy Davies, and grams operator Pat Heigham.
  • Audio commentary for episode 2 using archive recordings of writer Brian Hayles, director Derek Martinus,
    actors Bernard Bresslaw (Varga), Peter Barkworth (Clent), Wendy Gifford (Miss Garrett),
    costume designer Martin Baugh, and make-up designer Sylvia James.
  • Audio commentary for episode 3 by Patrick Troughton's son Michael.
  • "Cold Fusion" making-of featurette (25 min.) with Hines, Watling, Caldinez, Davies, and Bernard Bresslaw's son James.
  • "Beneath the Ice" (11 min.) on the making of the new animated episodes.
  • Frazer Hines interview part two (2004, 14 min.)
  • Pop-Up Production Note Subtitles
  • Photo Gallery (4 min.)
  • Older VHS recreation of episodes Two-and-Three (1998, 18 min.)
  • Blue Peter Design-a-Monster competition (1967, 10 min.)

The VHS Packages include:

• Four complete episodes: #1, 4, 5, 6
• a special 18-minute sequence recounting the missing episodes 2 and 3.
• The full-length sound from episodes 2 and 3 on audio CD, without narration.

Another good monster story pits humans against a battle-hardened alien species, with lots of harsh nature elements thrown in to randomize things. "The Ice Warriors" also manages to tackle a thematic struggle, surrounding the relationship between Penley and Leader Clent and the nature of working in groups.

The TARDIS landing is original, and no effects were skimped on concerning the police box anywhere in the story, however it's a bit dodgy artistically - going for the funny bone of the long-time fan, and doing little to give newer members of the audience any clue as to who the main characters are or what they're about. A further early scene gives us more of what we need: Victoria's advice not to dance into danger allows the Doctor to show that his curiosity is a stronger driving force, one of his definitive ones at that.

Jamie and Victoria fair best in the early episodes, especially the first, where their values and viewpoints clash humorously. The Doctor is his typical commanding-heroic self, fully capable of solving all of the problems in this time-space location. However, instead of merely giving these people a fish to feed them for the day at hand, he more maturely teaches some of the local characters how to fish, thus feeding them for a lifetime. Interesting dynamic.

Pat Troughton's Doctor is in fine form throughout the adventure. The role of Penley seems to be just slightly out of Peter Sallis's range, either physically or in terms of personality. I can't decide which, but something just doesn't ring right about it. Apart from that, I think Sallis's attempt at Penley is pretty good and gets the job done at the end of the day.

Peter Barkworth does a remarkable performance as Leader Clent, the chief antagonist amongst the good-guys. Such a role is becoming an archetype for Doctor Who's base-defense stories - as such Clent is one of the more interesting ones. Barkworth takes him very believably into hysteria and back again while the character continues to be credible and watchable. The outbursts are quite reasonably motivated and one of the biggest aids for the Clent character are right in the script - he often recognizes his own mistakes after the fact and can discuss them rationally, allowing him to earn back much of the trust he may have lost.

What is the chief conflict between Clent and Penley? Well, I could spoil that for you here, but I'll save that kernel for the in-depth analysis version of this review. Let Clent and Penley argue, however, and they pile a lot of red herrings on top of this, clouding the issue to no end. Side issues obscure a main one, as complexly as it would in real life.

With our secondary hero Penley being such an important character, it boggles the mind as to why the 18-minute recreation of episodes "two and three" on the official VHS videotape release manages to cut out every single scene of Penley from episode two! His presence is important for continuity reasons, as well as helping the atmosphere in key places.... Many of these old stories are padded, in which case scene trimming usually works better than scene discarding, but "The Ice Warriors" works much better with episodes two and three at their full length. I also can't say that I'm keen on the narrator's voice or the quiet visual transitions in and out of the communicator lying in the snow, both of which break up the mood and pace of the story a little too much. Besides, the communicator isn't a recognizable "Ice Warriors" artefact until AFTER one has seen episode four, making it a poor identification device for preceding episodes. This is likely a moot point now that a full-length version has been construction for the DVD release, but back then at least the original intact soundtrack was also included on CD, so no fan had to totally miss out on such good bits.

Let's not forget the Ice Warriors themselves. Varga's voice is unmistakeably Bernard Bresslaw's, as the accomplished "Carry On...." comedy actor leaves an inimitable mark on the role of lead Ice Warrior, getting good support from his second in command Zondal. Sonny Caldinez, who plays the archetype Ice Warrior in the three sequels, is sadly relegated to a third rate Ice Warrior costume for the limited role of Turoc. Varga and Zondal steal the show this time around.

The music starts out in questionable taste with a high-pitched vocalist piercing our ears over the opening titles of episode one, but things improve after that, until Dudley Simpson has managed to deliver one of his most creatively interesting and inventive scores to date. The titles for the remaining five episodes have a much better musical backing, and particularly of note is a suspense track debuting in the third episode, which swipes in something like Tristram Cary's Dalek Ambush music and continues with variations of hollow percussion notes, soft moody musings, and much more careful dashes of our vocalist's skills. A very powerful cue, nicely dominating episode four with memorable repetition.

Derek Martinus does some particularly good direction during the suspense / action scenes in the middle episodes, and episode four boasts a brilliant shot sequence introducing a key effect, while other portions give us a beautiful display of superimposition effects of the period that manage to look realistic and be an accurate prediction of future popular technology. The very end of the story is not too strong visually - crying out for some effects shots which are sadly nowhere to be found. Character resolutions take over and work fairly well, ensuring a satisfying finish.

"The Ice Warriors" represents a rather typical outing for the monster season, a good strong story with an above average execution. By no means perfect, but most enjoyable nonetheless.

Audio CD - Doctor Who - The Ice Warriors.

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