It’s not every day you find a screen-used, Classic Doctor Who prop, let alone one that has such an iconic image as the Ice Warrior, but that's exactly what Toybox Treasures' Matthew Doe did!

It was the monsters that first cemented Doctor Who’s popularity and carried it through the earth-shattering change in lead actor in 1966. Patrick Troughton’s era is renowned for its monster stories and indeed, his second year is known as ‘The Monster Season’ for good reason.

Along with the latest adventures with the Daleks and Cybermen, a parade of new aliens graced TVs everywhere – none more long lasting in impact than The Ice Warriors. They were so successful in their debut story that a return was swiftly arranged for Troughton’s last season in The Seeds of Death. The Pertwee era relied less on the past – despite three Dalek stories, the Cybermen didn’t return until the Fourth Doctor had arrived. However, the Ice Warriors did return, not once but twice in consecutive years with Curse of Peladon and Monster of Peladon in 1973 and 1974 respectively. And of course, they have returned in the modern series – facing down Matt Smith in Cold War and returning against Peter Capaldi this year.

Speaking on the find, Toybox Treasures' Matthew Doe said:

"As a prop collector and dealer, I often receive emails starting “I’ve got a screen used….” Unlike 90% of these emails, this one led to an incredible discovery – a screen-used Ice Warrior head that could be the only known surviving classic Ice Warrior head in existence. Not only that, but one of the very first made in 1967, the so-called ‘big head’ version.

We were actually on our way back from London, having met up with the lovely Sue Moore (modelling genius behind many 80’s monsters), when I received a call asking me if I’d like to meet up to discuss the Ice Warrior. This was arranged for the following morning. (We had travelled well over 800 miles in the past couple of days buying props for clients, so to cut down on travelling we opted to spend another night at a hotel for a welcomed break and an easier journey the next day)

And it was the real deal – despite clearly suffering the ravages of time, this was one of the very earliest Ice Warrior heads, used in both Troughton’s and Pertwee’s era. This is one of those moments you dream of as both a prop collector and Who fan.

I needed to know from a collector’s point of view, the best way forward for the Ice Warrior’s head. Should the head be restored or preserved? What kind of reception would it get? I am very fortunate to have a group of friends that I can call upon for advice so I contacted Mick Hall, Colin Young, Graham Flynn and John Tobin (for those who don’t know, these guys are what we call the dog’s dangles of Dr Who prop collectors – the world’s leading Doctor Who prop guys!). After a lot of discussion and thought, I decided the best way (and only way) forward was to call Mike Tucker who I am fortunate to know and proud to call a friend. Mike Tucker was really the only person for the job- a Bafta winner for his work on the series, he’s well respected within the industry having worked for BBC’s Visual Effects department and now owning The Model Unit – and he’s one of a tiny group of people to have worked on both the classic and modern series.

After consulting with Mike, and taking into consideration the collectors of the Doctor Who world, I decided it had to be be preserved (every time we touched the Ice Warrior latex was falling off in our hand) and it hand to be done quick. The worst outcome for this historical item would be for it to fall to pieces and cease to exist so within days of picking it up we drove to Ealing Studios to drop this off so Mike could start work.

If you haven’t had a chance to speak to Mike then do please make the effort and go to one of his public appearances/talks – I promise you will have a most enjoyable time listening to his experiences in film and TV, and both eras of the show we all love.

As any prop collector will tell you, props made to last a few weeks decades ago and which were used more than once, in this case over 7 years apart, are going to suffer damage. Add in that a lot of the Ice Warrior head is latex which doesn’t like hot lights – present in the studio and later at the Blackpool Exhibition – and you’ll see the problem.  The head needed a lot of work if it was to survive for future generations of fans to appreciate.

But if I went down a full restoration route it would mean that the head quite frankly would no longer be 100% original; currently having the odd repair here and there; with a result of bearing no resemblance of what was screen used. And that, was out of the question. Actually doesn’t that turn props into Replicas when most of it has been replaced? At what point does it remove that original factor? Perhaps that’s an open discussion for us over on the Facebook group. A future owner can still go down a restoration route but for me, the focus was on Preservation. "

Preservation work:

In preserving the Ice Warrior’s head, all existing pieces were used, colour matching the age and sometimes having to remove layers of paint. It’s a lot harder in some cases to do this than just fully restore a piece. Here’s a list of some what we have had done and in doing so have kept it’s original aspect.

·  Removed by hand the silver paint which was applied during exhibition, this covered the orange eyes in which it had from it’s time in the 1974 episode “Monster of Pela Don” with Jon Pertwee. – There was actually some of the green film attached to the inside from it’s 1967 Ice Warriors Appearance.

·  Using existing latex pieces that had fallen off to repair the side mouth, this meant we kept everything original we used no new pieces of latex.

·  Repositioned mouth. Due to one piece of the cheek missing, this had unfortunately lowered the mouth, so again using original latex pieces put back into position, this made the mouth whole again.

·  Matching paint to cover where needed. There are two layers of paint on the Ice Warrior; firstly when it was seen screen used, and then a brighter paint colour was added when used for the Doctor Who exhibition in the early 80’s

Doctor Who Magazine:

Matthew Doe spoke to Richard Moleworth of Doctor Who Magazine about the prop. Richard had gone to an in depth review of the Ice Warrior for his article in Doctor Who Magazine, and leaving no stone unturned in his research of the ice warrior. Purchase Doctor Who Magazine Issue #513 for an exclusive interview with Mike Tucker from The Model Unit.

DWO managed to grab a few more questions with Matthew Doe regarding the find:

Items like this don’t turn up very often. What did you think when you firs heard about the Ice Warrior head, and how do you choose between scepticism and belief?

Love at first sight? OK, no really, something that's really hard to fake in this game is age, so to start with, does it feel right, smell right, and are the materials of an age is the first thing. I think when you have got past that barrier with a prop from the 60's, you can then start looking at screen matching it, although we are talking poor quality recordings from the 1960's, so screen matching an item can be really hard unless you have access to promotional shots. Luckily with a combination of behind the scenes photos / on screen and the radio times photos, we were able to start tracing its pedigree history right from the go. It was also the first time I had the pleasure of speaking to Richard Molesworth; wow - no stone was left unturned with Richard. He was doing the interview and report for Doctor Who magazine about its history and really brought the whole Ice Warrior to life.

As far as finds go, how far up there is the Ice Warrior head in your collecting history, so far?

I've sourced things from a screen-used Cyberman Chest Piece to a 6" Screen Used Dalek, but this is pretty up there with the Dalek I think; it's one of the oldest pieces I have owned - I mean there isn't really that many years of Doctor Who before '67. So things are going to be limited what can be found now.

Is there a dream prop / costume that you’d love to find one day (Ice Warrior head aside)?

Dream prop, maybe - I think like any Doctor Who fan it would be a full sized Dalek but - I would probably go as far as something really iconic and easy to display like Bill's cane or Pat's recorder. I've had a fair share of my full size Daleks, two words "DUST TRAP" - I think we will leave that there. 

Be honest…have you tried it on, yet?

Actually I haven't - it's so fragile, trying to undo the leather straps and put around my head, I think I would break it trying.

If you could take a round trip in the TARDIS, anywhere in time and space, where would you go and why?

Help with world peace and save lives? Who wouldn't, if we are talking the Doctor Who world - probably go back and stop the tapes from being wiped - Grrrrr ! As most of the people who read this, Doctor Who is a large part of most of our lives, eat & sleep it, so why not, lets rescue some tapes!

[Sources: Toybox Treasures; DWO]

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 192: The Ice Warriors, Episode Six

Dear diary,

Long-term readers of The 50 Year Diary will know that I like to keep a track on the Doctor's development of the Sonic Screwdriver. Every now and then, you get a moment in a story which - with hindsight - could be leading the the creation of our favourite Time Lord get-out tool. We've seen the Doctor using sound waves to open locks before now via his recorder, but today is the moment that I think he starts putting two and two together, and gets to work on the sonic.

There's a lovely moment when the Doctor is trying to disrupt the Ice Warrior's weapon so that he can turn it on them. Sat on the floor, coated in cables, the Doctor tries to explain his plan to Victoria - 'The gun seems to work on the basis that sound waves produce reverbs in the objects in their path'. Obviously, this is a pretty good description of what the Sonic Screwdriver does at its most basic level (I'm still thinking of it more as a handy lock-picking device than the all-purpose tool we get in the more recent adventures), and I'd not be surprised if it's thinking about the Ice Warrior's weapon that starts the Doctor really thinking about creating his trusty friend.

In A Christmas Carol, the Doctor tells Kazran that he stayed in his bedroom inventing a new type of screwdriver, and we know from the Series Six DVDs that the Doctor has a number of adventures while his companions are sleeping. I'd not be surprised if he's going to be spending the next few nights shut in his TARDIS bedroom developing said screwdriver. I've not seen Fury From the Deep (where we'll be seeing the device for the first time), but I'm hoping that it's going to tie in nicely.

Anyway! Episode Six provides me with one last chance to praise how heartless these Ice Warrior chaps can be. My notes are full of scribbles about the way their acting ('surrender, or I will blow up your base') and the way they interact with the 'good guys' in the story. 'You'll live to regret this', one is told, to which he replies, coldly, 'At least I will live to regret it'. Perhaps my favourite moment has to be Vaaga establishing which members of the base's crew he needs to keep around to successfully free his ship. 'What are your qualifications for existence?' he asks Clent. I might adopt that question for people I come into contact with!

I've also not really mentioned the simply fantastic guest performances that we've had across these last six episodes. I did initially worry that I'd not be able to look at Perter Sallis in the part of Penley without picturing Wallace and Gromit (in the event, though there's the occasional line where Wallace's tones are instantly recognisable, I found myself thinking much more of Last of the Summer Wine), but he turns in a brilliant appearance. Equally, Peter Barkworth gives us one of the programme's finest performances, and it's especially evident here in the final moments of the episode.

One other thing that I've not mentioned, but I've been meaning to for a while, if the relationship between Jamie and Victoria. We all know that Jamie is completely smitten for her (indeed, he sets off to rescue her from fates unknown in The Evil of the Daleks having only seen one picture of her that he thinks is beautiful), but I'm wondering now… does Victoria have a romantic soft-spot for the highlander, too?

'There is a vague risk that it will kill everybody. Clent and Penley included…' the Doctor admits to her as he prepares the sonic weapon for its first attack. 'AND JAMIE?!?' Victoria replies (in a moment that put me instantly in mind of Watling's cameo from Dimensions in Time), obviously desperately worried for the boy. The pair of them have spent most of The Ice Warriors desperate to get back to or save each other, and they seem to be more focussed on their fellow companion than on the Doctor.

Maybe it's simply that they know the Doctor well enough to know he'll take care of himself - especially in this tale where he's more commanding than we've seen from this incarnation before. It's reasonable to argue that they could have something of an older brother/younger sister relationship, and they both feel a strong sense to care for each other. Or it's possible that there's love in the air. What do we think? Are Jamie and Victoria an item?

a 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 191: The Ice Warriors, Episode Five

Dear diary,

It has to be said that the design of this story is really 1960s in some places. It's evident right through the look of the Ice Warriors' ship, from the little TV screens in the walls to the large circle motifs that are dotted all around. It must have been in fashion when they left Mars.

Perhaps even more obviously, though, you've got the costumes of the base personnel. They're some of the most 'out-there' costumes that we've had in the series so far, and they're certainly not dull! In my mind, the bits that show up as white here are probably all different garish colours (probably denoting rank. For some reason in my mind, Clent's outfit is a bright blue and the female technicians are all orange), with those black patterns stretched across them. I'm assuming it's so that when they're out on the glacier, amongst the snow, they can be easily spotted. Well, that's my reasoning for it, anyway.

I'm also impressed by the headsets they wear when operating the computer - strange visor-like things which come up and over the head, forming a kind of 'shield' in front of their eyes. It's a typically 1960s science-fiction idea (although it's not been stated on screen wether they display data to the wearer, or if they just act as a shield, possibly to negate the effects of staring at this 'advanced' computer for so long each day), but it doesn't seem to sour of place in a world where we have things on the horizon such as Google GLΛSS. If anything, they just look like an oddly stylish version of that same invention!

One of the things that I'm finding myself really enjoying in this story (actually, it's probably the thing that I'm enjoying the most, currently) is just how much Patrick Troughton has become the Doctor that I think of as the second Doctor. His character has been there right since his very first episode, but we've watched it develop and evolve since his run-in with the Daleks on Vulcan. Here, there's a priceless moment as he enters the Ice Warriors' ship, having been let out of their air lock for satisfactorily answering questions. 'Thank you very much. Very civil of you,' he says, striding into the ship, before he looks up at the sheer size of an Ice Warrior, and turns to hurriedly leave with an 'Oh my lord!'

Equally, there's something about the idea of the Doctor using a stink bomb in an attempt to escape from the ship that feels so right for this incarnation. it put me in mind of the Tenth Doctor's escape from a Pyrovile through the use of a little yellow water pistol, and I think there's a very clear through-line between these two events. Here, it feels like the kind of thing I can see the Doctor doing in one of the TV Comic stories, with a finger pointed toward the top of the panel as he explains that the stink bomb may well be deadly to an alien.

Oh, and also, how cosy does it look when the Doctor (in his over-sized furry coat) gives a big cuddle to Victoria (in her little cloak with the fur collar)? You just want to cuddle up with them and enjoy the sensation!

a 

a  a

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 190: The Ice Warriors, Episode Four

Dear diary,

I’ve just realised that I’ve not done my cheer for alternative ways of doing the titles in this story! It’s been a little while since we had something a bit different from the norm, and I guess that, technically, I should have been titling the last few entries as ‘The 50 Year Diary, Day XX, The Ice Warriors, ONE’. While I quite enjoy it when we have occasional different looks to the episode titles, it really doesn’t look right for the programme. Maybe it’s because I got so used to the standard look during the Hartnell era?

Something that I have mentioned already for this story is just how great the Ice Warriors themselves look, but having an actual moving episode to watch them in makes it worth mentioning again. They’re fantastic, aren’t they? I’ve never noticed before all the little movements they make of their heads when speaking, but it really does add something to the characters. Equally, I’d never spotted how flexible their arms are. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know how weird that sounds, but I think I’ve become so used to the action figure of the Ice Warriors that I’d assumed their arms were made of a kind of hard carapace like their body armour. In many ways, I'd never realised just how lizard-like they are in this story. I've always thought of the creatures as being a type of lizard (it's the scales, and the hissing voice which seems to suggest a forked tongue) but I'd never realised that they were actually played as such.

It’s also worth noting just how well the direction here is serving them. There’s lots of tight close-ups on the faces, which really allows us a good look at the make up design (though it does also reveal that the lips don’t look quite right when the creatures are talking, sadly). We also get a lot of close ups on the armour itself, which shows that off rather nicely, too. I think I quite liked Derek Martinus’ direction of The Tenth Planet, too, so perhaps it shouldn’t come as any great surprise to me to see him doing well here.

One thing about the Ice Warriors that I have to confess I’m less than impressed by is (what I’ve called in my notes) ‘Big Head Warrior’. The Ice Warrior with the especially large head is an image I know from images taken during this story’s recording, and it’s never looked quite right to me. I’d always assumed that there must be a reason in-story that this one particular Warrior had such a different outfit… but I don’t think there is one. Certainly, I’ve not noticed any reason being mentioned.

It's not the only thing from The Ice Warriors that I know quite well from the photos of the story. I've previously mentioned the images of the Ice Warrior towering over Victoria in the store room, but here we've got a scene which was captured perhaps one of the most iconic photographs from this era of the programme - Victoria being chased through the ice cave by the (Big Head) Ice Warrior. I'm still stunned that the DVD cover to the story doesn't have the image on there (though it is still a gorgeous design - one of the best that the range has ever had, I think.)

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 189: The Ice Warriors, Episode Three

Dear diary,

There’s something quite nice about how ruthless these Ice Warriors seem to be. Creating a trap for the base personnel, we’re told that if they come looking for Victoria, the Ice Warriors can destroy them. If they don’t come looking for her, then they can deduce that there aren’t enough humans to pose a resistance to their plans.

Only… what is their plan? I think I’ve missed something here. Ice Warrior A (I love their voices, but it’s almost impossible to pick out individual names with the quality of the soundtrack on this recon) is found frozen in the glacier, having been trapped there since the last ice age. He resolves to find and thaw out the rest of his kind, as their ship crashed there. He kidnaps Victoria and forces her to show him how he was revived.

They then take the technology, locate his comrades, and wakes them up… so that they can build a trap for the humans. I think I must have missed a line of dialogue somewhere, where we find out what this lot have against us.

And yet, it doesn't really matter. Much as I'm not entirely sure what's actually going on, and as much as the two missing instalments have dented my early enthusiasm for the story, I'm still enjoying it. I think it's fair to say that this is the first time that I've really appreciated just how much animating the missing parts of the story will be of a benefit to the tale - hopefully they'll help bridge this period of the story better than the recon has.

Yes, I'm sorry to say that today still hasn't endeared me to the ides of the recon. To begin with, I tried to listen to it as though it were just a soundtrack (I placed the macbook nearby while I did the washing up, so I could sort of see the story playing out of the corner of my eye, but I was really just listening to it), the problem with this, though, is that without the linking narration, half the time I just didn't have a clue what was happening when the dialogue wasn't around to fill the void. In the end, I resorted to actually watching it again, but by then I'd already given up a bit.

It seems to be that - as ever - it's Patrick Troughton that's carrying me through this one. As usual, he's been given plenty of great dialogue to speak ('He's a scientist and a bit inclined to have his head in the cloud. You know the type…' he says of Penley. 'I certainly do!' comes the reply from our favourite time-travelling Scot). There's another moment when the Doctor makes a big deal out of the importance of being passed a pencil, which left me grinning like a loon.

It's not just confined to the Doctor, either. I don't know if it's just me, but it really does seem over the last few series, there's been a real increase in how much of the dialogue I'm jotting down in my notes. Highlights from today include a discussion of humanity and its reliance on machinery ('Robotised Human. Fully extinct.') and the description that Clent doesn't need personnel - he needs a mirror.

Still, I'm glad to be moving back into actual moving episodes again tomorrow. I think doing these two episodes as reckons may have hindered my enjoyment somewhat, so I'm hoping Episodes Four through Six can really revive the promise that the first did. If nothing else, I'm keen to re-watch this story at some point in the future with the animated episodes - so it must be doing something right…

a 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 188: The Ice Warriors, Episode Two

Dear diary,

Oh, I agonised over how best to experience this episode. Earlier in the year, I picked up all the narrated soundtracks in bulk – most of them are available from the AudioGo website as (extremely reasonably priced!) downloads. The couple that I couldn’t get as downloads were collected together as part of ‘The Lost TV Episodes’ collection Volume 5. At the time, The Ice Warriors was scheduled for release on DVD in around April time, so I didn’t bother picking up the soundtrack for that one.

And then… I completely forgot about it! The DVD release date was shifted back to later in the year, and I didn’t even think to pick up the soundtrack. Today, then, when it came to scrolling through my iTunes looking for the episode, I was thoroughly confused before I realised what I’d done. A search online told me that The Ice Warriors is one of the few soundtracks that you can’t pick up via a legal download, and it’s only available on CD. Panic!

For a while, I seriously considered using the recon from the VHS. I’d ripped it to a disc when copying my video anyway, so it was already sat in the DVD drive of the Mac. The problem? It condensed both Episode Two and Episode Three into the space of about 20 minutes. I know I cheated by skipping Episode Four of The Highlanders in favour of the Target reading, but it felt like a step too far to actually put the two episodes together here – after all, the whole idea of The 50 Year Diary was to do one episode a day, every day.

Thankfully, a panicked request on Facebook revealed that a friend had a copy of the Loose Cannon reconstruction for these two episodes, and since he lived close, I was welcome to pop round and borrow it. My thoughts on recons have been pretty clear throughout the course of this marathon – loved the one for Marco Polo, but by the time I’d reach3ed the Crusade, I couldn’t bear the thought of them. I’ve come to the conclusion that I much prefer the soundtracks. Still, needs must and all that!

Now, let’s get this out of the way first, and then I can talk about the episode itself: I’ve not changed my mind on the recons. There’s plenty in this one that looks pretty good (the moving snow on scenes outside was a lovely touch, for example), but I find that my mind wanders just that little bit too much when I’m watching them. I’ll be using a recon for tomorrow’s episode again, but I think I’ll be sticking to the soundtracks for the rest of this season’s missing parts.

As for the episode itself, I think it was a bit of a comedown from yesterday’s instalment. I don’t know how much of my more muted reaction came from being put off by the recon, or how much was a result of my expectations being raised by my enjoyment of the first episode, but it just didn’t strike a chord with me in the same way.

It does have to be said, though, that the design of the Ice Warrior is gorgeous. It’s no wonder that they didn’t alter them radically when bringing them back to the series this year, because they’ve pretty much got it spot on right from the word ‘go’. There’s some shots of the creature in here which I’m fairly certain were taken from The Seeds of Death, but there’s also still images that show how great they’ve always looked. The voices, too, are fantastic from the very start, wit that great hissing sound to them. The images of the Warrior towering over Victoria in the storeroom are ones that really embedded themselves in my mind as a teenager when I first saw them, so I'm glad to see that their height really is effective in the story, too. It’s also nice to see a creature that’s remained so similar across all these years.

The Seeds of Death is the only ‘classic’ Ice Warrior story that I’ve ever seen, and that was a good few years ago. It was surprising to me, then, when Cold War made such a reference to the creatures being a kind of Cyborg, with a fully mechanical ‘suit’ of armour. I’m thrilled to see that, actually, it’s always been a part of the creatures, right back to this story. Yesterday, the Doctor mused that there was some kind of electrical apparatus frozen in the ice with the Warrior, and today he tells the scientists ‘'This headpiece is no warrior's tin hat! It's a highly developed space helmet!’

I’m also really enjoying that, for at least a little while, the Ice Warrior isn’t the main danger to the Doctor, or the crew of this story’s base-under-siege. The threat comes from the idea that there could be a kind of alien spaceship buried somewhere in the glacier, and that the Ioniser could accidentally ignite its fuel supplies, causing one almighty explosion. I’m hoping that this strand of the story won’t be forgotten as the story progresses (especially now that more Warriors have been located), though I’m fairly willing to bet that using the Ioniser against either the Warriors or the ship will end up forming a vital part of the tale’s resolution…

I’m really looking forward to the release of this one on DVD – I think there’s a very good story in here, and I look forward to a chance of watching it without the distraction of the recon…

a 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 187: The Ice Warriors, Episode One

Dear diary,

In what’s probably a historic moment, this is the last time that I’ll need to dust off an old VHS tape to enjoy a story, since The Ice Warriors won’t be released for another couple of months on DVD (Technically, I did the ‘dusting off’ weeks ago. I copied the VHS over to a disc, since I don’t have a TV in Cardiff – let alone a VHS player!). The biggest shame about this is that I won’t be able to see episodes two and three recreated with animation, but the DVD range has been good to me with timings this year, so I can’t really complain.

The Ice Warriors is another of those stories that I don’t really know all that much about. I can probably deduce the villains of the piece from the title alone, but that’s about all I’ve got. Oh, and that they find one of those titular creatures frozen in the ice. There you go, that’s the extent of my knowledge. That’s a good thing, though! I came to The Abominable Snowmen knowing how highly some fans rated it, knowing about the monastery, and the Yeti, and the Intelligence. I think knowing so much how I was meant to enjoy it ruined the story a little for me. I loved this episode, though! I mean, really loved it. I don’t know what I was expecting (and that’s the point, really) but this wasn’t it.

The first thing that really struck me… it’s an age before the TARDIS turns up, isn’t it? Before that, we’ve got plenty of establishing shots of the ice (with appropriately un-nerving music accompanying. It’s almost like they’re making up for the lack of it in the last story), a good look at the set up of the control room, complete with exposition to bring us up to speed, and the discovery of the ‘warrior’ in the ice. It’s not often that we spend quite so long in a story’s setting before the Doctor arrives.

When he does turn up, though, they don’t waste time. We’ve got the TARDIS turning up on its side (it’s almost strange that we’ve managed to make it to mid-Season Five before this happens), and a chance for Troughton and Hines to really engage with some great physical comedy. The Doctor stands on Jamie’s head, and then Jamie kneels on the Doctors hand. It’s an opportunity for some more close-ups of Troughton pulling faces, but here it’s being used light-heartedly as opposed to for the effect of terror yesterday. It’s almost like the programme is reassuring us that the Doctor is all right.

And isn’t he just?! Within seconds of entering the control room of the base, he’s following its leader around, repeating the numbers as they’re read from the machines. The Doctor’s worked it out in no time ('In two minutes thirty-eight seconds, you're going to have an almighty explosion!’), and then taking control of the situation, giving orders to the workers in an attempt to save them all. Clent – the base’s leader – is of course left to stand around shouting after the Doctor, telling him he cant do this, or mustn’t do that. It’s a role we’ve had present in this type of story since The Tenth Planet, but it feels so right when this attitude directed at the Second Doctor.

Over the course of this season, we really are seeing Troughton’s Doctor evolving even further into the man that we know from the later stories. He’s almost entirely dispensed with his bumbling routine once inside the base, as the stakes are too high – it’s right down to action. His charm still shines through, though, when the commander still won’t believe his calculations, and the Doctor suggests they run it through the computer to check. ‘2 minutes, 37 seconds’, the machine calculates, to which the Doctor replies, ‘Ah. I was a second out. We can’t all be perfect…’

While I’m on the subject of the Doctor, he looks just right in that big furry coat, doesn’t he? I didn’t really get a chance to look at it properly in the surviving episode of The Abominable Snowmen, but I really like it here. No wonder it’s so synonymous with this incarnation. How come we’ve not had the action figure with coat, yet?

I’m really pleased by my reaction to this one, and I’m hoping the story can hold my attention throughout – it could be one of those wonderful treats, where a story I don’t really know much about turns out to be fantastic!

a 

Character Options have sent DWO details of their upcoming 'Cold War; 1983' Time Zone Playset.

Collect and build the universe of Doctor Who with these 3D card diorama playsets that feature different time zones visited by the Doctor in the hit TV series. You can travel between different time zones or clip the sets together to build bigger ‘zones’. The playsets are in scale with the Doctor Who 3.75-inch action figures so you can create your own adventures or simply display your collection. There are two Time Zone playsets to collect… 

Cold War; 1983 - In the cold waters of the Southern Arctic Ocean a Russian nuclear submarine is returning from patrol.  As the ‘Cold War’ between the Americans and Russians drags on, tensions run high as the crew constantly run missile launch simulation drills. Also on board is a high ranking Russian scientist with a rapidly thawing block of ice - a block of ice which contains a mysterious creature. When the creature revives, breaks loose and rampages through the ship, the Submarine loses all power and starts to sink, plunging deeper with every passing second. The TARDIS materialises on board and, with mere seconds to spare, the Doctor saves the submarine but leaves it stranded and crippled 700 metres down. But that is the least of his worries when the Doctor realises they are up against one of his oldest and coldest enemies. Cold War Time Zone Playset includes 1 exclusive Ice Warrior ‘Creature’ figurine. One supplied. For ages 5 years and over.

Key Features:

•  3D card diorama playset
•  Clip the sets together to build bigger ‘zones’
•  In scale with the Doctor Who 3.75-inch action figures
•  Each playset includes 1 x exclusive accessory or figurine

+  The 'Cold War; 1983' Time Zone Playset is released in May 2013, priced £9.99.

+  Preorder this product from Forbidden Planet!

[Source: Character Options]

DWO's spoiler-free preview of episode 7.8 Cold War:

The Ice Warriors haven’t had the most lucky experience with Doctor Who over the years. After appearing in two 1960s stories, and two 1970s stories, they somewhat disappeared from the show. In the 1980s, two planned returns for the creatures were both scuppered when the series was cancelled. They’ve shown up plenty of times in comics and novels since then, but this is their first appearance in televised Who for 39 years. That’s one hell of a nap.

The Doctor and Clara - headed for Vegas, but getting the direction a little wrong - arrive on a Soviet submarine in the mid-1980s. Following an expedition to the North Pole, the sub is carrying a very precious cargo: a creature found perfectly preserved in the ice. As curiosity gets the better of the crew, disastrous consequences await them...

Coming after two adventures set in big, open places - filled with panoramic views of modern London, or overlooking an alien vista with a parasitic sun - the most striking thing about Cold War is the claustrophobia of the episode. The feeling of being trapped on an submarine, with a vengeful alien bearing down on you really comes across, and director Douglass Mackinnon really sells the feeling of entrapment, and ramps up the tension as time runs out for the Doctor and the crew. 

Praise also needs to be given for just how... wet the set is throughout. Almost every scene features the sub leaking from somewhere, with water streaming down the walls. Visually, it’s quite unlike anything we’ve seen in the programme before - and it’s gorgeous.

Of course, the thing that everyone is waiting on this episode for is the reappearance of an Ice Warrior to the series. It’s pleasing that the design of the creature remains true to what we’ve seen in the series before now, and proof that some Doctor Who monsters are so fantastic that they don’t need a big overhaul to make them acceptable to twenty-first century viewers. We see the advancement of the Ice Warrior, though, and it performs a trick that even the Doctor hasn’t seen one do before.

Ice Warrior aside, this is another important step for Clara as a companion - her first trip back into history. Following on from last week’s episode, it helps to establish the rules of the programme again for a new companion, and an audience that might have joined since Amy Pond ventured into World War Two in 2010 (in another script by Mark Gatiss, who pens this week’s instalment). There’s plenty of opportunity for Clara to learn about life in the TARDIS: it can get very real sometimes. 

Elsewhere, David Warner as Grisenko steals the show, puncturing all the end-of-the-world macho-ness with a wonderfully fun performance, roaming the corridors of the submarine singing the hits of the day. Warner’s character is fairly representative of the story as a whole. For all the danger of the Ice Warrior and the threat to the world, Cold War is a very funny episode, filled with great dialogue that really gives the cast - and especially Matt Smith - a chance to shine. 

Five things to look out for...

1) It’s probably a mammoth.

2) An Ice Warrior isn’t the only Second Doctor-era invention to appear in this episode.

3) The Doctor is always serious. With days off. 

4) Polar Bears are cuddlier than Ice Warriors.

5) It’s not a mammoth. 

[Sources: DWO, Will Brooks]

There's sssssomething very sssssspecial in the new isssssue of DWM!

The new issue of Doctor Who Magazine hits shops Today (Thursday 4th April), and features full previews of next few episodes to hit your screens over the next few weeks – and writer MARK GATISS tells DWM how excited he was to bring back one of Doctor’s Who’s iconic monsters in Cold War:

 “The Ice Warriors are back where they belong and I’m absolutely thrilled! Whilst absolutely respecting the source, the source has huge gaps in which you can invent. I was talking to a couple of members of the crew, and they had no idea the Ice Warriors were an old monster. It’s very powerful. You don’t need to know they first appeared in the 60s.

I thought, 'Why don't we put the Ice Warriors on a sub?'" Mark continues. "And suddenly it all clicked! The submarine set is amazing. Fantastic! The moment it's all lit and full of steam, it's incredibly believable."

Also in this issue:

HIDE AND SEEK - JESSICA RAINE, soon to be seen as Doctor Who’s original producer Verity Lambert in An Adventure in Space and Time and star of Call the Midwife, reveals all about guest-starring in the forthcoming episode Hide – and how she believes in ghosts!

WHERE THERE’S A WILLS - ANNEKE WILLS looks back on her time as glam-girl Polly, companion to the First and Second Doctors – and how thrilling it was to be present at the first-ever regeneration.

THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES - As The Ice Warriors return to menace The Eleventh Doctor, DWM winds back the clock to 1967 and the Doctor’s first encounter with the Lords of the red planet. Discover a wealth of fascinating facts about what happened to The Second Doctor, Jamie and Victoria when they fought Varga on Britannicus Base as THE ICE WARRIORS is thawed out in The Fact of Fiction.

MAN AT THE TOP - Doctor Who lead writer and executive producer STEVEN MOFFAT answers more of your questions – including what Blink and his his other stories were originally called...

ROAD RAGE - The Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones get stuck in traffic when they travel into the future for a visit to New Earth. THE TIME TEAM get caught in the Gridlock, but what will Will, Emma, Chris and Michael make of it all?

TRIBAL DANCE - The Doctor faces his past in more ways than one as the Hunters are revealed to be the unearthly Tribe of Gum! The Doctor, Ian and Barbara attempt to unravel the mystery in Part Four of our epic comic strip, HUNTERS OF THE BURNING STONE, written by SCOTT GREY and illustrated by MARTIN GERAGHTY.

SECOND HELPINGS - it’s 2006 and Doctor Who has become the most talked about show on TV! DAVID TENNANT is the new Doctor, BILLIE PIPER plays Rose – and the sky's the limit on the trip of the a lifetime. DWM's trip through five decades of adventure reaches Series 28 in COUNTDOWN TO 50!

PRACTICAL PARENTING - What do you do when your children swap Time Lords for another interest? JACQUELINE RAYNER soothes the fevered brow of Doctor Who-loving parents everywhere in RELATIVE DIMENSIONS.

CAUGHT IN A VACCUUM - The Watcher ponders the triangular nature of one of Doctor Who’s greatest design innovations in A History of Doctor Who in 100 Objects, jumps to the left for a Rocky Horror-themed Six Faces of Delusion and dazzles with more entries from the Stockbridge English Dictionary. Its WOTCHA!

PLUS! - All the latest official news, reviews and previews from the worlds of Doctor Who, prize-winning competitions and crossword, and, much, much more.

+  Doctor Who Magazine Issue #459 is out Out Now, priced £4.75.

+  Subscribe Worldwide to DWM from just £17.99 via Unique Magazines!

+  Check Out The DWO Guide to Doctor Who Magazine!

[Source: Doctor Who Magazine]

Our friends over at SFX Magazine have unveiled the first full promo shot of the New Series Ice Warriors.

The Classic Series villains will return in Series 7B, Episode Three (7.8), which is rumoured to be titled; 'The Cold War'.

Check Out DWO's Guide to Series 7B, below:

W = Written By / D = Directed By:

7.6: The Bells Of St.John - [W: Steven Moffat / D: Colm McCarthy]
7.7: The Rings of Akhaten - [W: Neil Cross / D: Farren Blackburn] - Rumoured Title
7.8: The Cold War - [W: Mark Gatiss / D: Douglas Mackinnon] - Rumoured Title
7.9: Phantoms Of The Hex - [W: Neil Cross / D: Jamie Payne] - Rumoured Title
7.10: Journey To The Centre Of The TARDIS - [W: Stephen Thompson / D: Mat King]
7.11: The Crimson Horror - [W: Mark Gatiss / D: Saul Metzstein] - Rumoured Title
7.12: The Last Cyberman - [W: Neil Gaiman / D: Stephen Wolfenden]
7.13: Untitled - [W: Steven Moffat / D: Saul Metzstein]

Watch the preview for Series 7B, below:

[youtube:0q7xbDpym0Q]

[Source: SFX Magazine]

The BBC have released a new promo image and some further information regarding Series 7B of Doctor Who.

The series is set to return to BBC One on Saturday 30th March 2013 in a modern day urban thriller, finally confirmed today as 'The Bells of St John', as the first official image is revealed (pictured-right), giving fans a sneak peak at what to expect from the epic new series. Eagle-eyed fans will also spot a sneak peek at the revamped Ice Warriors, in the promo image. For the less eagle-eyed out there, DWO have put together an image (also pictured-right) featuring all the Ice Warrior portions of the promo image.

Written by Steven Moffat, 'The Bells of St John' will mark the official introduction of the Doctor's newest companion, Clara Oswald, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman.  Having already made two appearances last year, the opening episode will be the first time fans get to see the Clara that will accompany The Doctor across the series' eight adventures.

Set in London against the backdrop of new and old iconic landmarks, The Shard and Westminster Bridge, 'The Bells of St John' will also establish a new nemesis, the Spoonheads, who will battle The Doctor as he discovers something sinister is lurking in the Wi-Fi.

Steven Moffat, executive producer and lead writer, said:

"It's the 50th year of Doctor Who and look what's going on! We're up in the sky and under the sea! We're running round the rings of an alien world and then a haunted house. There's new Cybermen, new Ice Warriors and a never before attempted journey to the centre of the TARDIS. And in the finale, the Doctor's greatest secret will at last be revealed!  If this wasn't already our most exciting year it would be anyway!"

Featuring a movie a week from a ghost story to an underwater siege to a period drama, the new series will also introduce new monsters, as well as bringing back fan favourites The Ice Warriors and The Cybermen.

Meanwhile the series' stellar list of guest stars include: Celia Imrie; Warwick Davis, Jessica Raine, Dougray Scott and Tamzin Outhwaite, as well as for the first time on screen together, mother and daughter Dame Diana Rigg and Rachael Stirling.

Check Out DWO's Guide to Series 7B, below:

W = Written By / D = Directed By:

7.6: The Bells Of St.John - [W: Steven Moffat / D: Colm McCarthy]
7.7: The Rings of Akhaten - [W: Neil Cross / D: Farren Blackburn] - Rumoured Title
7.8: The Cold War - [W: Mark Gatiss / D: Douglas Mackinnon] - Rumoured Title
7.9: Phantoms Of The Hex - [W: Neil Cross / D: Jamie Payne] - Rumoured Title
7.10: Journey To The Centre Of The TARDIS - [W: Stephen Thompson / D: Mat King]
7.11: The Crimson Horror - [W: Mark Gatiss / D: Saul Metzstein] - Rumoured Title
7.12: The Last Cyberman - [W: Neil Gaiman / D: Stephen Wolfenden]
7.13: Untitled - [W: Steven Moffat / D: Saul Metzstein]

Watch the preview for Series 7B, below:

[youtube:0q7xbDpym0Q]

+  The Bells Of St John will air on 30th March on BBC One at Time TBC in the UK.
+  The Bells Of St John will air on 30th March on BBC America at Time TBC in the USA.
+  The Bells Of St John will air on 30th March on Space at Time TBC in Canada.

[Source: BBC Media Centre]

Lost episodes of Second Doctor adventure The Ice Warriors are being animated for DVD release, doctorwho.tv has confirmed.

Animation studio Qurios have been commissioned to recreate the missing episodes two and three, which see Ice Warrior leader Varga revive, kidnap Victoria and defrost his glacier-bound army.

“We’ve been discussing the various ways Qurios could reconstruct these episodes for over three years” said Dan Hall, Managing Director of Pup Ltd Media Consultancy, producer of the DVD. “So it’s really, really satisfying to finally see them animated. Qurios have a great track record in excellent and innovative animations”.

When asked about using a different animation studio to previous releases, Hall replied:

“Doctor Who has had many different visual styles thanks to changing directors, designers and production methods. We wanted to mirror this in our choice of animation partners”.

Qurios Entertainment’s previous work includes visual effects for sci-fi sitcom Hyperdrive, puppet comedy Mongrels and titles for Doctor Who DVD extra series Who Peter. Veteran producer of the classic Who range, Chris Chapman has overseen the animation, Niel Bushnell is the producer for Qurios and the animation director is Chris Chatterton.

See an exclusive “work in progress” clip, below, where the Doctor tries to convince Leader Clent that temperamental humans - even the recently fired scientist Penley - are still far better than machines:

+  The Ice Warriors will be released on DVD on 26th August 2013, priced £20.42.

[Source: doctorwho.tv]

SFX Magazine have exclusively revealed that Classic Series villains, The Ice Warriors, will return in Series 7 of Doctor Who.

Speaking to SFX in an exclusive interview, Executive Producer, Caro Skinner, had the following to say regarding their eturn:

“We’ve got the most fantastic episode by Mark Gatiss, where we are bringing back the Ice Warrior… on a submarine! It’s a really wonderful kind of ‘bunker’ episode, and a classic monster which Mark has brought his own inimitable twist to.

We wanted to bring them back because they’re wonderful! In the mix of stories that we were planning for this year it felt as if doing something very bold with a monster that hadn’t been seen for a while would be really cool. Mark is an enormous fan of the Ice Warrior stories and came up with the idea. The sense of a monster of that scale and that size trapped in a really small, contained environment such as a submarine was a really brilliant story to be able to tell. And obviously we’ve had a huge amount of fun going back to the traditional designs and recreating them, bringing the Ice Warriors back to life again.

They were such a beautiful original design, and are genuinely really scary in terms of what they look like as they’re coming towards you in that armour. Letting a huge Ice Warrior loose at the heart of a classic Hunt For Red October style submarine movie was exactly the kind of story that the Doctor should get mixed up in.

They’ve got really scary voices as well. I spent quite a lot of time on set trying to hiss like an Ice Warrior...”

Armed with lethal sonic technology, the reptillian warmongers first tangled with Patrick Troughton’s Doctor in 1967′s “The Ice Warriors”, returning two years later in “The Seeds Of Death”. Jon Pertwee’s incarnation encountered them in 1972′s “The Curse Of Peladon” and 1974′s “The Monster Of Peladon”. Traditionally seen as one of the show’s 'Big Four' pantheon of monsters – along with The Daleks, The Cybermen and The Sontarans – the militaristic Martians won a throwaway mention in 2009′s “The Waters Of Mars” but have remained unseen in the 21st Century series.

Watch a clip from The Ice Warriors, below:

[youtube:HMGJCssAXL0]

[Source: SFX Magazine]

BBC Books have sent DWO the covers and details for the forthcoming Classic Series, Doctor Who Target reprints.

Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet

Written by: Gerry Davis - Introduction by: Tom MacRae

The TARDIS brings the Doctor and his friends to a space tracking base in the Antarctic - and straight into trouble.  A space mission is going badly wrong, and a new planet has appeared in the sky.

Mondas, ancient fabled twin planet of Earth has returned. Soon its inhabitants arrive. But while they used to be just like the humans of Earth, now they are very different.   Devoid of emotions, their bodies replaced with plastic and steel, the Cybermen are here.

Humanity needs all the help it can get, but the one man who seems to know what's going on is terminally ill. As the Cybermen take over, the Doctor is dying...

This novel is based on the final story to feature the First Doctor, which was originally broadcast from 8 to 29 October 1966.  This was the first Doctor Who story to feature the Cybermen. Featuring the First Doctor in his very last adventure as played by William Hartnell, and his companions Ben and Polly.

Doctor Who and the Ice Warriors

Written by: Brian Hayles - Introduction by: Mark Gatiss

The world is in the grip of a second Ice Age. Despite a coordinated global effort, the glaciers still advance.  But they are not the only threat to the planet.

Buried deep in the ice, scientists at Britannicus Base have discovered an ancient warrior. But this is no simple archaeological find.  What they have found is the commander of a spaceship that crashed into the glacier thousands of years ago.  Thawed from the ice, and knowing their home planet Mars is now a dead world, the Ice Warriors decide to make Earth their own...

Can the Doctor and his friends overcome the warlike Martians and halt the advance of the glaciers?

This novel is based on a Doctor Who story which was originally broadcast from 11 November to 16 December 1967. This was the first Doctor Who story to feature the Ice Warriors. Featuring the Second Doctor as played by Patrick Troughton, and his companions Jamie and Victoria.

Doctor Who and the Day of the Daleks

Written By: Terrance Dicks - Introduction by: Gary Russell

UNIT is called in when an important diplomat is attacked in his own home - by a man who then vanishes into thin air.  The Doctor and Jo spend a night in the 'haunted' house and meet the attackers - who have time-jumped back from the 22nd century in the hope of changing history.

Travelling forward in time, the Doctor and Jo find themselves trapped in a future world where humans are slaves and the Daleks have already invaded.  Using their ape-like servants to Ogrons to maintain order, the Daleks are now the masters of Earth.

As the Doctor desperately works to discover what has happened to put history off-track, the Daleks plan a time-jump attack on the 20th century.

This novel is based on a Doctor Who story which was originally broadcast from 1 to 22 January 1972. Featuring the Third Doctor as played by Jon Pertwee, with his companion Jo Grant and the UNIT organisation commanded by Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

Doctor Who: The Three Doctors

Written by: Terrance Dicks - Introduction by: Alastair Reynolds

A mysterious black hole is draining away power from the Universe. Even the Time Lords are threatened.  The Doctor is also in trouble.  Creatures from the black hole besiege UNIT Headquarters. The only person who can help the Doctor is... himself. 

The Time Lords bring together the first three incarnations of the Doctor to discover the truth about the black hole and stop the energy drain. 

The Doctors and their companions travel through the black hole itself, into a universe of anti-matter.  Here they meet one of the very first Time Lords - Omega, who gave his race the power to travel through time.  Trapped for aeons in the black hole, he now plans to escape - whatever the cost. 

This novel is based on a Doctor Who story which was originally broadcast from 30 December 1972 to 20 January 1973. Featuring the first three Doctors as played by William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee, together with Jo Grant and the UNIT organisation commanded by Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

Doctor Who and the Ark in Space

Written by: Ian Marter - Introduction by: Steven Moffat

The survivors of a devastated future Earth lie in suspended animation on a great satellite.  When Earth is safe again, they will awaken. But when the Doctor, Sarah and Harry arrive on the Terra Nova, they find the systems have failed and the humans never woke.

The Wirrrn Queen has infiltrated the satellite, and laid her eggs inside one of the sleepers.  As the first of the humans wake, they face an attack by the emerging Wirrrn.

But not everyone is what they seem, and the only way the Doctor can discover the truth is by joining with the dead mind of the Wirrrn Queen.  The price of failure is the Doctor's death, and the end of humanity.

This novel is based on a Doctor Who story which was originally broadcast from 25 January to 15 February 1975. Featuring the Fourth Doctor as played by Tom Baker, and his companions Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan.

Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster

Written by: Terrance Dicks - Introduction by: Michael Moorcock

Centuries ago, a Zygon spaceship crash landed in Loch Ness.  Now, with their home planet destroyed, the alien creatures plan to take over Earth.  Their most powerful weapon is a huge armoured dinosaur-like creature of terrifying power that they brought to earth as an embryo - the Loch Ness Monster. 

The Doctor, Sarah and Harry soon discover that the Zygons have another weapon. They can assume the identity of any human they capture.  Who knows which of their friends might really be a Zygon?

UNIT faces one of its toughest battles as Broton, Warlord of the Zygons, puts his plan into action and the Loch Ness Monster attacks.

This novel is based on a Doctor Who story which was originally broadcast from 30 August to 20 September 1975. Featuring the Fourth Doctor as played by Tom Baker, with his companions Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan and the UNIT organisation commanded by Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

+  The books are released on 10th May 2012, priced £4.99 each.

+  Compare Prices for this product on CompareTheDalek.com!

[Source: BBC Books]