Doctor Who Series 7.9: Cold War

[Albino Boo]

Also, the other big issue I had with the episode is an exceptionally minor, and very nerdy one, but I'm pretty sure those Soviet sailors were carrying American Browning Hi-Power pistols. Yeah, like I said it's a nerdy issue and I know the BBC isn't exactly able to lavish its shows with appropriate props, but it still irked me.

I'm not sure what they used, but the Soviet TT-30 was derived from the Browning and the later Makarov doesn't look that different.

 

[saintdane05]

Ice warriors confirmed for best monster.

 

[Froggy Slayer]

Also, the other big issue I had with the episode is an exceptionally minor, and very nerdy one, but I'm pretty sure those Soviet sailors were carrying American Browning Hi-Power pistols. Yeah, like I said it's a nerdy issue and I know the BBC isn't exactly able to lavish its shows with appropriate props, but it still irked me.

What bugged me was that he was threatening to fire the missles from the bottom of the sea.

They're rockets, not torpedos. They have to be fired close to the surface. Like no more than 50 meters.[/quote]

The Ice Warrior probably wouldn't have known that yet.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Is it me or is the Doctor being sidelined in favour of Coleman's character?

 

[BrotherRool]

That was a really cool episode. Very solid classic Doctor Who (in fact they've been very traditional this side of Christmas. Meet companion episode. First trip on the Tardis to somewhere incredibly exotic. Then trapped in a small space with a rampaging alien. We should be getting a two parter next or something and then a historical piece (this one doesn't really count) and we'll have the set. Maybe plug in a weird episode too, like Midnight.


This was another excellent episode for Clara, the actress is an absolute chameleon, wasn't expecting her to pull off small and scared so well and it was nice to see another side from cocky and quick talking.

EDIT: No two parter planned The Crimson Horror sounds like it's going to be the weird episode at least =D May or may not be a proper period piece

 

[Sparrowsabre7]

I liked the episode, I thought the Ice Warrior had a really cool design, even his cheesy CGI face at the end.

The actual plot read kind of like a less dark and gritty version of the Christopher Eccleston episode "Dalek' with the characterisation of the Ice Warrior not being quite as good, seeing as he, for some reason, prioritises causing a planetary apocalypse over his own return to his colony for poorly explained reasons. Also it wasn't very scary.

I liked the episode though, I like how they've finally drawn attention away from Clara and the 'stupidly powerful godlike beings being defeated easily' plot, and just focused on the classic scenario of "Humans trapped in a small space with The Doctor and another alien.", except this time leaning a bit more on the whimsical side.

I thought that too RE Dalek. I felt they managed to do the same thing too: make a silly looking villain feel scary. There was a big debt to 'Alien' too, with the readouts reflecting on the warrior's helmet near the end and the rarely seen but for glimpses true form of the warrior.

 

[UrinalDook]

I'm not sure what they used, but the Soviet TT-30 was derived from the Browning and the later Makarov doesn't look that different.

Yeah, I did actually wonder about the TT. The Chinese copy of it strangely looks even more like the Browning. It would still be massively out of date by '83 though, and I dunno - I think the Makarov looks pretty different. It's a lot stubbier and doesn't have that characteristic taper on the underside of the muzzle. Like I said, it's really not that big a deal on the scale of things. I guess I noticed it so much because I'd already made my mind up before the episode even started that the BBC would get the guns wrong.

What bugged me was that he was threatening to fire the missles from the bottom of the sea.

They're rockets, not torpedos. They have to be fired close to the surface. Like no more than 50 meters.

Oh yeah, I'd forgotten that. I actually voiced my disbelief of that bit to the two friends I was watching it with. Naturally, they rolled their eyes at me and told me to just enjoy the cheesy Saturday night kids show. But still, the whole 'instant peril, just add nukes' thing really does bug me; people don't seem to realise that if something goes wrong with a nuke, it more often than not ends up not working rather than 'backfiring' explosively. Fiction writers are fiction writers, though, not military historians.

For clarity's sake, I feel I should reassert the fact that despite all I've said, I still enjoyed the episode as a bit of casual TV. Game of Thrones it ain't, but it's fun nonetheless. Now I've just got to wait and see if Defiance is finally going to bring some decent sci-fi back to TV.

 

[Little Woodsman]

however I haven't seen much of them in the old series so can anyone tell me how they relate to the Grand Marshal in this episode?

The Ice Warriors have been in a number of old episodes, most notably in my opinion, with the Second Doctor in the 'The Seeds of Death'. The design is pretty much the same for a few tweaks (the hands used to be less flexible), but this episode was great for seeing them outside of the armour. There was another Grand Marshal in 'The Seeds of Death', different to the one here, but it seemed like this new one was lost before the Doctor originally came into conflict with the Warriors. I think all the episodes in the older series take place in the far future.

In a couple of stories from the Pertwee era (Monster of Peladon & Curse of Peladon) it is also revealed that the Ice Warrior civilization eventually joins part of an inter-species confederation dedicated to maintaining peace & order in
the galaxy.

 

[Encurtidos]

Is it me or is the Doctor being sidelined in favour of Coleman's character?

I have to agree with you, shouldn't it be the Doctor who is thinking of the solution?? Clara seems far too perfect to be a companion, its upsetting

 

[Childe]

I liked the episode, I thought the Ice Warrior had a really cool design, even his cheesy CGI face at the end.

The actual plot read kind of like a less dark and gritty version of the Christopher Eccleston episode "Dalek' with the characterisation of the Ice Warrior not being quite as good, seeing as he, for some reason, prioritises causing a planetary apocalypse over his own return to his colony for poorly explained reasons. Also it wasn't very scary.

I liked the episode though, I like how they've finally drawn attention away from Clara and the 'stupidly powerful godlike beings being defeated easily' plot, and just focused on the classic scenario of "Humans trapped in a small space with The Doctor and another alien.", except this time leaning a bit more on the whimsical side.

It wasn't poorly explained. He thought that he was the last of his species since his distress signal wasn't answered.

 

[Cowabungaa]

I liked it but I didn't think it was that good. The Grand Marshall especially could've been better characterized. The ending especially felt rather rushed. He went from "Let's blow up Earth for honor and die a martyr" to "Ah who cares anyway" way too quickly and without much reason. The Doctor's speech didn't sound all that convincing and neither did his red setting threat.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Is it me or is the Doctor being sidelined in favour of Coleman's character?

I have to agree with you, shouldn't it be the Doctor who is thinking of the solution?? Clara seems far too perfect to be a companion, its upsetting

Well 'upsetting' isn't the word I would use, more disconcerting. After all the show is called "Doctor Who" not "Clara Oswin." Besides, I'm not all that familiar with classic Who, but didn't the last time they had a Companion who was the equal of the Doctor it not go well?

 

[Thaluikhain]

Oh, as an aside, interesting that 1983 is now considered to be a historical setting.

Also, as it happened, on 5th Jan 1984, the BBC started showing "Warriors of the Deep", a story about a bunch of ancient lizards taking over an underwater missile base to launch everything and turn the cold war hot.

 

[Albino Boo]

I'm not sure what they used, but the Soviet TT-30 was derived from the Browning and the later Makarov doesn't look that different.

Yeah, I did actually wonder about the TT. The Chinese copy of it strangely looks even more like the Browning. It would still be massively out of date by '83 though, and I dunno - I think the Makarov looks pretty different. It's a lot stubbier and doesn't have that characteristic taper on the underside of the muzzle. Like I said, it's really not that big a deal on the scale of things. I guess I noticed it so much because I'd already made my mind up before the episode even started that the BBC would get the guns wrong.

What bugged me was that he was threatening to fire the missles from the bottom of the sea.

They're rockets, not torpedos. They have to be fired close to the surface. Like no more than 50 meters.

Oh yeah, I'd forgotten that. I actually voiced my disbelief of that bit to the two friends I was watching it with. Naturally, they rolled their eyes at me and told me to just enjoy the cheesy Saturday night kids show. But still, the whole 'instant peril, just add nukes' thing really does bug me; people don't seem to realise that if something goes wrong with a nuke, it more often than not ends up not working rather than 'backfiring' explosively. Fiction writers are fiction writers, though, not military historians.

For clarity's sake, I feel I should reassert the fact that despite all I've said, I still enjoyed the episode as a bit of casual TV. Game of Thrones it ain't, but it's fun nonetheless. Now I've just got to wait and see if Defiance is finally going to bring some decent sci-fi back to TV.

Well I don't know if and/or when the soviet navy replaced the TT but what I do know that navies tend to lag behind in small arms. The Royal Navy was still carrying cutlasses in the late 70s and was using the sterling smg until the mid 90s.


As to the missile problems. Not only can they only be launched from no deeper than 50ft underwater but the sub was under ice and you can't launch through ice.

 

[Colour Scientist]

I know I'm a bit late to thread but I've only just watched the episode and I actually quite liked it. It was definitely an improvement on last week's episode anyway.

I liked the characters of the Captain and the Professor and I loved that the Doctor and Clara were genuinely trapped in the Sub. The Ice Warrior was a pretty decent bad-guy/not really a bad-guy.

Still not sure what to make of Clara, she kind of flits between heroic and pathetic so hopefully they'll eventually find some kind of medium.

At least they didn't say "doctor who" or anything about fucking bow ties.