| THE ICE WARRIORS by Brian Hayles |
| Story 39 Synopsis: Earth is in the midst of a new Ice Age. The TARDIS arrives in an area threatened by the advance of a glacier. A figure has recently been discovered in the ice, and is taken back to the Base. The Doctor is suspicious, but causes trouble with the Base's leader. The ice figure comes to life, and kidnaps Victoria. It tells her it is Varga, leader of the Ice Warriors, from Mars. It revives three more of its fellows, and plans to attack the Base, and make the prevalent ice conditions permanent. The Doctor goes looking for Victoria, and learns of Varga's plans and intentions. He manages to rescue Victoria, and uses the Ioniser from the Base to blast the Ice Warriors and their spacecraft. |
| Review:- Earth's future doesn't look too warm and comfortable at all. After an encounter with Yeti in Tibet, there are more monsters lurking in the snow and ice... this time the neighbours have come round. Like many alien races, they have a motivation and a look and drama, but unlike many, they have a strong enough reason to come back time and again. Mars is our closest planet, and it's not a big surprise that it has a thinking race of people living there, too, and what do you know? They're as imperialistic as humans! Whilst superficially a contrast between the humans and the Martians, this is as much about the difference between those humans reliant on machines, and the few who have dropped out of the society, and returned to the land. This is the kind of idea that was becoming topical in 1968, and here it is Penley who remains valuable in spite of his seeming rejection of society. The Ice Warriors are quite an impressive bunch. Arguably this is as good as they ever get, with Varga able to command respect from his men, and dignity through not being alone. It is always worthwhile to contrast this debut with that of the Sontarans later on in The Time Warrior. In many ways, they seem similar races, although only very superficially. The Ion Base staff are pretty much the same stock of characters that we see before and after in other base-under-siege stories, led by a leader who ought to know better, but seemingly doesn't. But then again, when faced with the extraordinary, who would manage better? This is one of the key questions the series poses. Jamie and Victoria get little to do except fall victim to the Martian menaces. The Doctor, fortunately, is in good form. He has a good foil to work with in Leader Clent, and has a simple mission in protecting Earth and the humans from the aliens. He does at least try to find out what the Ice Warriors want, even if he wants them to get it somewhere else. On the whole, it's a bit padded, but a straightforward story that does a good job of introducing a new race to the show's ranks. |
| Disclaimer: I've read the book. |