Doctor Who (TV Series) Cold War (2013) User Reviews

A Giant is unearthed from the Ice, big story.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 9 September 2015]

1983, A Soviet Submarine is poised to launch a Nuclear attack, but they've discovered and released something buried deep in the ice.

Talk about acting heavy weights, Liam Cunningham, James Norton and David Warner, I can't think of many shows that would turn their noses up to having these three top quality actors.

I've given Gatiss lots of stick for some of his episodes, Victory of the Daleks had been awful, but Night Terrors had won me back, and this again was a big success.

The update on the design itself of the Ice Warrior was I thought superbly done, the suit itself and the beast inside, brilliantly realised.

There is a huge amount of tension from start to finish, it never lets up til the very end. The setting gives it a real feeling of claustrophobia, the confinement works well.

Who's the real villain of the piece Skaldak or Lieutenant Stepashin?

Is it me or are these episodes getting shorter? barely 40 minutes.

It was an excellent episode, with new concepts and new ideas. I liked that they decided to set in during the cold war (makes a change from the 1940's!) I think the Ice Warriors were brilliantly re- introduced, hopefully we get more of them one day. 8/10

The Icelizard Cometh...

[Xstal · 8/10 · 26 December 2021]

The Ice Warrior Skaldek is discovered. From well below the ice he's been uncovered. In his suit of racing green. On a Russian submarine. Won't be long before the Marshall has recovered

Like some crew his attitude's belligerent. After many years wrapped in refrigerant. Not just a fighting wizard. Quite eye-catchingly a lizard. He's escaped, prepares for battle and starts to hunt

To avert nuclear war they need a plan. Negotiation and a moratorium. Is there any compromise? In those piercing red eyes. A cold war fought against Martian reptilian .

Finally an episode worth to watch.

[laura-bonaventura1 · 8/10 · 28 April 2014]

After 2 seasons and half something is happening in Moffat's vision of The Doctor. I was expecting a lot so I was disappointed beyond imagination, but finally Mark Gatiss gave me some hope.

Some time ago I wrote here that there tons of sci-fi books, movies etc. that it's nearly impossible to write down something completely new. Here there's some of the Old Doctor Who such as the Ice Warriors (which is certainly appealing also for the new generation of fans), some "The Hunt for Red October" and some "Alien". There are probably a hundred other well known stories cited here and I am certainly not mad with the writer for that: one thing is citing, which is what Gatiss does here, another completely different story is copying.

Some action, some logic (or a bit of common sense, call as you like it, I just know I missed it for a long time), some humor: finally a honest and dedicated attempt to write good sci-fi.

The episode itself deserved a 7.5/10, but when you can manage to have Warner and Cuunningham together you easily get more.

One Of The Better Moffat / Smith Era Stories . That's Not Saying Much Though

[Theo Robertson · 7/10 · 14 April 2013]

The Ice Warriors are one of the most highly regarded monsters of the classic series of DOCTOR WHO . Created by Brian Hayles for the 1967 story The Ice Warriors they made three reappearances in 1969 , 1972 and 1974 . They are unique amongst the other all time classic monsters because every story they appeared in were written by their creator Hayles , unlike the Daleks , Cybermen and Sontarans . This meant the Ice Warriors had an internal continuity and consistency somewhat lacking in other recurring alien races seen in the show . With their reintroduction in NuWho from Mark Gattis this has all changed and one possibly suspects not for the better

This is a very traditional story , often described as " A base under siege " that came to prominence in Season five of Classic Who . Set upon a Soviet nuclear submarine in 1983 it's a reminder of the bad old days when the Cold War was in great danger of heating up in to thermo-nuclear conflict that would destroyed the human race . I can clearly remember those days with Nina's 99 Red Ballons , and Frankie Goes To Hollywood Two Tribes in the pop charts and TV movies like THE DAY AFTER and THREADS reminding everyone that the end might extremely nigh. Classic DOCTOR WHO made its own geo-political statement with Warriors Of The Deep from 1984 which - pardon the pun - didn't set the world alight . Certainly Cold War is a few notches up from Warriors and the story is an improvement on much of what we've seen in the Smith/Moffat era

However one can't help thinking there's something lacking with this story . It's never as bleak or as doomladen as the subject matter demands . As I said for those of us living in the 1980s World War Three occasionally seemed like a question of apocalypse when rather than apocalypse if and the mood isn't helped by David Warner's comedy character with an obsession of western music . Would a Soviet intellectual in his seventies be keen on synth pop anyway ? If this type of character is distracting then wait till Matt Smith doing his comedy zany prat falling routine turns up . Sorry guys but this type of story calls for a much more brooding Doctor in the role and we got that with Eccleston and to a lesser degree with Tennant when he reigned in his mockney geezer persona . Here the eleventh Doctor seems at odds with this type of story

Likewise both Clara and the Ice Warriors seem out of character . Clara seems entirely different from the character we've been introduced to since Asylum Of The Daleks and could be any type of cypher companion from the classic show and that's always the problem when episodes are written around the character - when a story becomes plot driven it feels like you're watching an entirely different character who merely exists to have exposition and plot turns explained to them by The Doctor . The Ice Warriors themselves could be any alien race and despite the gimmick - and that's all it is , a gimmick - of them being revealed outside their protective they could be any alien race and perhaps the production team should have made up their own alien race for the story

As it stands Cold War is one of the better stories from the Smith/Moffat era and is certainly head and shoulders above the previous two episodes - but that's not saying much . Certainly the episode would have worked much better as an Eccleston story and one can't help noticing that plot wise it's similar to Dalek from Season One. One also can't help noticing how much better Eccleston was as The Doctor

The Hunt for Red Planet Warriors

[boblipton · 10/10 · 13 April 2013]

Mark Gatiss' script reintroduces the Ice Warriors from the original series, the warrior class from the dying planet Mars, and fuses them with a version of "The Hunt for Red October" on a Soviet nuclear submarine in the 1980s. That may sound like a pointless hodgepodge, but bear in mind that Doctor Who is science fiction and below the surface of the best episodes lurks a symbolic message. Here, it is about the conflict between ideology and personality: the Ice Warrior who believes himself the last of his race and so bound by his warrior's code; the submarine's captain who does his job, but is privately tired of war; his second officer who longs for a war, regardless of the consequences; and David Warner as a research scientist who is a pop music fan. Warner's performance is the standout, but Gatiss' scripts tend to have great star turns and Warner has a lot of fun with the role.

The story is exciting and terrifying in its appeal to a real world threat that still lurks in the psyches of the members of the audience who grew up during the Cold War: the helpless fear that someone would push the button and the world would end, with nothing we could do about it.

I've commented before on the great job that the cinematographers have been doing this season. Here it's Suzie Lavelle in her first episode. She has taken the monochromatic spotlight gels originated by Ernest Vincze and used a combination of fish-eyed lens, a jittery moving camera and the narrow corridors of the leaking, sunken submarine to underline the paranoia. It's a brilliant effort. Although she is not shown as the director of photography of any other episodes, I hope we get to see more of her work.

Meh

[wolfordcheyenne · 7/10 · 26 March 2020]

I liked the idea of the episode taking place in a confined space. I also liked the subtle homage to Aliens, with the claustrophobic spaces and flashing lights. The only major problems I had with it was the concept of the Ice Warrior and it's immediate decision to start a world war. Also, how stupid was that crew member that thawed the Ice Warrior? Nobody with common sense would do that.

An Ice Warrior in the Cold War

[Tweekums · 9/10 · 13 April 2013]

It is 1983 and a Soviet submarine is conducting drills at the North Pole. A professor has found something frozen in the ice; he suspects it is a mammoth but it is in fact something far more dangerous; a Martian Ice Warrior. A crewman impatient to discover what is in the block of ice thaws out the Ice Warrior and it causes the boat to start an uncontrolled dive. At this moment The Doctor and Clara arrive on the Tardis; somewhat off course as they were aiming for Las Vegas! They are understandably treated with suspicion by the Soviet crew but when they are confronted by the Ice Warrior they have no choice but to work together as the Warrior considers their actions an attack and he is determined to have his revenge; not just on the individuals responsible but on the whole of humanity!

After last week's fantastical space set adventure we get a much darker episode from the pen of Mark Gatiss; the setting gives the story a claustrophobic atmosphere and the way the Ice Warrior picks off crew members one by one gives the episode an 'Alien' feel… although it obviously isn't that scary; it is a family show after all. Many of the crew are killed but we don't actually see the results; just the reactions of others that leaves the viewer imagining that something horrible happened to them. There were some moments of levity such as the professor's love of '80s pop. This episode included some fine guest actors; including Liam Cunningham and David Warner who brought some gravitas to the proceedings as the captain and Professor. I liked the fact that the Ice Warrior was not a traditional monster; he was there to be reasoned with not defeated. Overall this was a fine episode with a good number of moments that were quite scary for a family show.

Disappointing (slight) re-imagining of the Ice warriors ...

[andrew-huggett · 6/10 · 9 July 2015]

Nice to finally see a 'base under siege' story in the 'new Who' series – unfortunately it's a little disappointing. At least we get to see the return of the Ice Warriors and an intriguing glimpse of the creature outside of it's armour 'shell' (which turns out to be cybernetic and remote controllable in design). I regretted that the vocals were no longer whispery and hissy as in the original concept – also the Ice Warrior did not have the distinctive movement as the originals. I also preferred the slightly more organic look of the original costume with the matted hair growing out of the neck line. There are homages to both the 'Alien' films and 'The Thing' (Ice Warrior thawed out of a block of ice). Not bad. I enjoyed it but felt it could have been a lot better.

Ice Cool Thriller

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 10/10 · 19 February 2019]

I really enjoy simple base under siege stories if they are done well and this one is done really well. It features the return of an adversary that dates back to the 2nd Doctor era in the Ice Warriors and it presents them in a way which is respectful and coherent with that established lore but also makes it work for modern audiences with some fresh aspects.

Cold War is written by Mark Gatiss who loves to hark back to horror themes and try to bring scares of the past to new audiences. He succeeds in using ideas from horror greats like The Thing and Alien and marrying them in a way that works and provides scary thrills for a new, family audience as well as a satisfying entertainment for established science fiction fans.

The story has an Ice Warrior brought unknowingly on board a Russian nuclear submarine during the Cold War in 1983. This setting is claustrophobic, exciting and well presented. The themes of the war and of decisions between negotiation or aggression are thoughtful and appropriately used. The TARDIS translation idea is used well here too as is the traditional aim of the Doctor to avoid loss of life. Altogether the story is thrilling, absorbing and thought provoking.

The cast is tremendous: Movie veteran (and Big Finish contributor) David Warner is as wonderful as he usually is and is a fantastic coup to attract as a cast member. His acting in the role of Professor Grisenko is faultless and adds huge gravitas and quality.

Liam Cunningham, another superb actor who later became widely known for his role as Ser Davos in Game of Thrones, is marvelous as Captain Zhukov.

Another future Game of Thrones actor Tobias menzies is also great as Lieutenant Stepashin. Ironically he went on to play a middle-aged Prince Phillip in The Crown after Matt Smith had played the young Prince Phillip.

James Norton who would later become a brilliant star of many big TV productions such as War and Peace as well as the brilliant Happy Valley, is excellent in an early role as crew member Onegin.

Even a small role of a crew member Piotr is impressively played by future star of such big shows as The Crown and BBC's Les Miserables, Josh O'Connor.

Matt Smith and Jenna Louise Coleman play their regular roles suitably enjoyably and skillfully. The whole cast is magnificent and makes this as perfectly acted as it could be.

The story may be subtle and not as dramatic in the end as some might hope but for me the ideas and themes of avoiding conflict, the nicely intelligent script, the awesome cast and the effective thrills of a creature lurking in a submarine picking off victims then threatening nuclear annihilation make this a top class adventure.

One of the best of the Moffatt/Smith era in my opinion.

My Rating: 10/10.

My Series 7 Episode Ranking: 1st out of 14.

"Cold War" is a tepid story

[dkiliane · 7/10 · 5 April 2019]

Through the Doctor's usual piloting skill (or possibly lack thereof) or perhaps the TARDIS' penchant for landing him where he is most needed, he and Clara (dressed for Vegas) find themselves onboard a Russian submarine in the 80s. As if that weren't bad enough, there's a Martian Ice Warrior aboard.

So basically we have "Hunt For Red October" meets "Doctor Who" which sounds much cooler than it actually is. The setup is quite intriguing, and much of the acting is top notch - - David Warner certainly steals the show as an eccentric Russian scientist tasked with bringing back to Russia what he thought was frozen mammoth remains, but of course, in reality was Skaldak(?) the Martian Ice Warrior. How one gets those confused I don't know.

Unfortunately the execution is played off as an "Alien" rip-off in a submarine, but with none of what truly made that movie amazing. The political thriller aspect with the option for nuclear war falls rather flat, too. There are some genuinely creepy moments but the story was hopelessly predictable and forgettable, like most Mark Gatiss penned Doctor Who episodes. 7/10

an improvement on the dross so far

[doorsscorpywag · 4/10 · 14 April 2013]

A half decent episode but an improvement from a very weak base. The opening episode was poor but last weeks was diabolical and possibly the worst episode ever in Dr Who History. I have seen them all since the series began and can't recall anything worse than last week.

At least there was very little singing this week. A lost Ice Warrior seems very much a lazy rip off of the lost Dalek episode.

That has been the trouble since RTD left, very bad and very lazy writing. The cast have been decent and it's not the acting. Matt Smith is doing a good job of expanding on the Doctor that Patrick Troughton first introduced. His strangeness is a strength of the programme. If only he was given some decent scripts. JLC is doing a decent job as a companion but again she can't make a silk purse out of the sows ear of the scripts she is given.

Getting big name guest stars may be a good idea but not if you don't hire someone to write them a decent script.

The sub idea was good at first glance but soon reverted to being dull and stupid because of weak writing.

That has been the bane of Matt Smith. He is not getting the service RTD gave the last two Doctors. They were given strong scripts to showcase their talent. Smith is being given tripe to work with. Where this ridiculous in-joke of Doctor Who? is going heaven knows but it needs to go somewhere worth the effort.

What is wrong with some people

[warlordartos · 10/10 · 14 April 2021]

The rating for this episode is far too low. I though this episode was brilliant at the very least 8/10 i'd probably give 9/10 but am giving 10/10 because 7.1 (at the time of writing this) is way too low.

The only problem with this is the Submarine diving for no reason at all (hence why i'd give a 9/10 rather than a 10/10). Sure Clara seems to ask, a whole episode too late; about speaking different languages but it's something that is resolved withing 20 seconds or so, nothing too time consuming and therefore forgivable.

Beside from these minor inconsistencies the episode itself was rather great. I really enjoyed seeing the Ice Warriors again after so long (I'm surprised they weren't used earlier). Definitely the best episode of season 7 so far.

Cold War

[MrFilmAndTelevisionShow · 9/10 · 12 April 2021]

Finally an evil villain who isn't completely without a shred of morality. I liked this episode very much.

I love how the Doctor always taking people on holiday ends up completely off course but always where he needs to be, not always where he intends to be. I wonder how many times they've done that, had the Doctor promise a companion they'd go to location A but end up in location B instead because the Tardis deemed it important. You'd think after a thousand years of life the Doctor might have learned to pilot the Tardis perfectly every time.

The Hunt for Red Alien E.T.

[boerelul-261-104555 · 1/10 · 14 April 2013]

This episode was a mixture of the Hunt for Red October, Alien, Aliens, E.T, Predator, Starman, Star Trek and The Thing from Another World. It takes place somewhere under the North Pole on a Russian submarine, which carries nuclear weapons and has only a handful of crew, rather than the standard 150 or so. Due to a 5000 yr old Martian being defrosted from a standard cube of ice, the submarine sinks to a depth of 700 metres, but luckily it manages to remain exactly horizontal on the edge of an abyss or so, this in order to make the filming of this episode an easy job. What would have happened if the submarine had landed on its side or nose? The Submarine is large enough for the Tardis to land in. The Tardis, by the way, then disappears again to the South Pole. The alien initially is easily subdued with a Tazer stick, but thereafter can't be restrained anymore. The submarine is leaking seawater (it's raining all the time), but many of its people/crew inside remain dry and there is no flooding. The alien escapes from his special suit and hides in ceilings and behind walls of the submarine, from where he systematically picks out and eliminates crew-members. Most crew-members, who try to find him, still ask the question ''is anybody there?''. The alien's distress-call goes unheard, so it's time for him to launch the nuclear warheads. Then a rhetoric takes place, so in the end the alien doesn't press the ''red button'' and his E.T. ship arrives just in time to absorb him. Guess his friends must have been hovering about in the area for 5000 years, just in case he would let off a distress signal. Meanwhile it keeps on raining in the submarine, which doesn't flood. The submarine is sucked upwards through the thick ice to the surface of the North Pole thanks to a tractor beam from the alien ship. Rather than admiring the alien ship above him, the captain of the submarine laughingly approves a lift for the Doctor to the South Pole. The End!

another dud

[simonrosenbaum · 1/10 · 5 June 2013]

After last weeks appalling episode we have another very dull and insipid story that goes nowhere very fast. Great actors like David Warner are completely wasted. Like last week the story is very weak. I'm not in the least bit surprised that Matt Smith has decided to call it a day and leave this sinking ship. I really don't see much of a future if they can't improve things greatly. We just want a bit more thought to be put into it with a decent (or even half-decent) story like there has been in previous series. I've only seen the first three maybe it improves but I'm starting to think I'm never going to see a good episode again.

Cold War

[studioAT · 3/10 · 24 August 2023]

This episode went to pieces for me the moment the man appears singing 'Vienna'. It broke all the tension that had been built up successfully prior, and took us out of the moment. It's also 'Doctor Who' chasing a really easy joke, and surely it should be aiming to be smarter than that.

So no, not a good episode, and Clara seems to be losing her spark with every passing episode.

Matt Smith just about holds it all together, he always seems to, but even he must have been tiring at this point with the clear dip in writing quality that he was having to deal with.

It's a shame, this second half of series seven began with a bang.