Cold War

Dear Gary—

Cold War is basic Doctor Who story telling; a taut, tense, action packed base under siege tale with a returning classic alien; a refreshing change.

The Doctor and Clara miss their intended target of Las Vegas by just a touch, landing instead on a sinking Soviet submarine at the North Pole in 1983. As if that isn’t enough, this sub happens to have an Ice Warrior on board that for some inexplicable reason a clueless crewmember releases from its block of ice. Let the fun begin.

I love the subtle redesign of this latest Who monster that has been dusted off for the new series. However I’m not sure how I feel about letting the creature out of its armor. I’m disappointed in the spindly arms and hands; they’re too cliché little green Martian for my taste. But I am impressed with the head; I’m just uncertain if the head rhymes with Ice Warrior.

It does make sense for the narrative to have a more fleet and agile adversary within the confines of a submarine. A bulky, armor clad foe would be too big of a target or would make quick work of the frightened sailors. Either way there wouldn’t be much room for suspense and the story would be over in short order.

The Captain and the professor are solid characters and Lieutenant Stepashin makes a convenient fall guy. The Doctor and Clara are as good as ever; Clara in particular. She seems to be out to prove herself to the Doctor in this episode and she succeeds, displaying the courage and resourcefulness necessary for a Doctor Who companion.

I don’t have much more to say about this one. It is a sound entry but not particularly memorable. I think perhaps it suffers in its confines. There isn’t enough time to fully explore any of these characters and the political situation of the time is simply used as backdrop. In viewing it my mind tends to wander off to a couple of Classic serials that aren’t nearly as good but are arguably more colorful.

For starters, Warriors of the Deep. This underwater base-under-siege during a period of undefined cold war is similar in plot if not in execution. It is long and lumbering, but it is (unintentionally for the most part) a laugh riot.

Next to mind is Battlefield, not for the plot so much but for the Doctor’s final plea to Morgaine as she holds her finger on the button ready to launch a massive nuclear strike. We can believe that Morgaine is swayed by the Doctor’s ‘there is no honor in nuclear war’ argument because we have had four parts to get to know her. The character of the Brigadier plays a large part in our understanding of Morgaine, and that is mainly where Cold War misses out. Imagine how much richer the script would be if the two veteran soldiers, Captain Zhukov and Grand Marshal Skaldak, had some meaningful interactions. It would have added great depth to these characters and much more power to Skaldak’s mercy. Time constraints, however, only allow for snatched references to Skaldak’s daughter and fleeting interchanges between the Grand Marshal and the Doctor and Clara. We have to take Skaldak’s nobility mostly on faith.

Action, reestablishing the Ice Warriors, and the Doctor/Clara dynamic; these are the focal points and the story succeeds in them while managing to squeeze in some nice moments of humor along the way.  (“I’m always serious . . . with days off.”)

“Saved the world then,” Clara summarizes. “That’s what we do.” It is a long, long way from Doctor number one, but that indeed is what the Doctor does these days. He saves the world, mostly the Earth, week in and week out.

Week in and week out, Gary; I carry on .. .