The Ice Warriors
The Second Doctor faces Martian Ice Warriors in a new Ice Age.
The Ice Warriors is the partly missing third serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast in six weekly parts from 11 November to 16 December 1967. It introduced the Ice Warriors, a recurring alien species inspired by the discovery of a mammoth in ice and the writer's interest in life on Mars. The serial has received positive critical response, with the Ice Warriors and cast performances highlighted, though two of its six episodes remain missing from the BBC archives.
Quick Facts
- Doctor
- Patrick Troughton – Second Doctor
- Companions
- Frazer Hines – Jamie McCrimmon; Deborah Watling – Victoria Waterfield
- Director
- Derek Martinus
- Writer
- Brian Hayles
- Script editor
- Peter Bryant
- Producer
- Innes Lloyd
- Composer
- Dudley Simpson
- Series
- Season 5
Facts from the source article.
Plot
The Second Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria arrive at a scientific base in a distant future where Earth is in a new Ice age. The base is managed by a computer system that dictates the actions of its members. The Doctor assists the research team, led by Clent, with an ioniser device that slows the advance of glaciers over Great Britain. Scientist Arden discovers an alien Ice Warrior frozen in a block of ice; the Warrior, Varga, revives and takes Victoria hostage. Varga reveals he is from Mars and has been frozen for millennia. He revives other Ice Warriors and orders them to excavate their spaceship. Jamie and Arden discover the excavation, but the Warriors ambush them, killing Arden. Two scientists who left the base, Penley and Storr, take Jamie to their home; Storr goes to reason with the Warriors and is killed. The Doctor rescues Victoria as Varga prepares an assault using a sonic cannon. Penley brings Jamie back to the base. The Doctor kills one Warrior, Zondal, but Zondal activates the cannon as he dies, causing minor damage. Varga threatens another blast unless the humans surrender. A peace meeting fails due to technician Walters attempting to shoot the Warriors. Varga dismantles the ioniser reactor to power the Warriors' ship. The Doctor and Victoria adjust the sonic cannon to harm only Ice Warriors, while Penley alters the base's temperature and atmosphere to discomfort them. Varga and the Warriors retreat but disable the cannon. The Doctor and Penley recalibrate the ioniser to destroy the spaceship; the ship explodes, destroying the Warriors and the approaching glacier. The Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria depart as plant life emerges through melting snow.
Production
In early 1967, the Doctor Who production team sought a new bipedal alien race to complement the Daleks and Cybermen, with some accounts indicating the new species was meant to replace the Daleks. Writer Brian Hayles created the Ice Warriors, inspired by his interest in life on Mars and the 1901 discovery of a mammoth preserved in ice by the Berezovka River. Hayles was commissioned on June 26, 1967, to write a six-part story set during a second Ice Age. The storyline followed a format used by producer Innes Lloyd and script editor Gerry Davis, featuring a small cast confined on a small set while attacked by a monster. Victor Pemberton worked as temporary script editor but left soon after, feeling scripts lacked quality and that Hayles was resistant to edits. Derrick Sherwin then took over as script editor. By July 6, it was unclear which story would open the production block following The Tomb of the Cybermen. Originally intended as the season's first story, The Ice Warriors was moved to follow The Abominable Snowmen, and a line referencing the prior serial was added.
Broadcast and reception
The serial's first episode aired in an earlier time slot than usual due to the BBC's Festival of Remembrance coverage. Viewing figures improved over the prior serial, The Abominable Snowmen, and the story garnered a decent audience appreciation rating. The serial was still offered for sale by 1974, but by 1978 it was marked for destruction by the BBC and believed destroyed; its videotapes were thought destroyed by 1969. In August 1988, recordings of the first, fourth, fifth, and sixth episodes were recovered from a cupboard in Villiers House in Ealing during a move by BBC Enterprises. The surviving episodes were later aired at various events. Paul Cornell, Martin Day, and Keith Topping gave the serial a favourable review in The Discontinuity Guide (1995), highlighting the setting, guest cast, and Ice Warriors. David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker praised the Ice Warriors and guest cast in The Television Companion (1998), though felt the setting lacked a good sense of relation. Patrick Mulkern of Radio Times praised the main cast but felt the story's message about overreliance on computers did not age well. Ian Berriman of SFX found Penley and Clent's characterisations weak and the Ice Warriors' motivations questionable, but praised worldbuilding and set design. John Sinnott of DVD Talk felt the story slow-paced and focused too much on the computer conflict, with logical holes, but praised Troughton's performance, set design, and the Ice Warriors. Paul Mount of Starburst praised the cast and Ice Warriors but found the story overly long. The Ice Warriors' popularity led to a sequel story and their recurrence as a species.
Commercial releases
Target Books published a novelisation by Brian Hayles in March 1976, republished in 1978, 1979, and 2012. An audiobook narrated by Frazer Hines was released in 2010. The serial was released on VHS in 1998 with reconstructions of missing episodes using an unofficial soundtrack and tele-snaps; another VHS release included it among other stories with missing episodes. Off-air soundtrack recordings narrated by Hines were released in 2005. The serial was included in a collection of stories with missing episodes in 2012. Incidental music from the story appeared in a 2013 collection. The serial was released on DVD on 26 August 2013, with parts 2 and 3 recreated in animated form by Qurios Entertainment, designed to resemble the original in quality. On 13 June 2021, the soundtrack with Hines narration was released on vinyl by Demon Records.
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