Wrath of the Ice Warriors (audio story)

Wrath of the Ice Warriors was the second and final story in the audio anthology Beyond War Games, produced by Big Finish Productions. It was written by Andrew Smith and featured Michael Troughton as the Second Doctor, Jon Culshaw as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and Emma Noakes as Raven.

Publisher's summary
Plunged into the middle of a desperate mission by his new masters, the Doctor is delighted to be reunited with Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart of UNIT near Cape Wrath, Scotland. The Doctor's arrival coincides with the sighting of black cylinders in the sky and an attack on a trawler by a 'creature o' the sea.'

The Doctor quickly realises he is dealing with Ice Warriors and investigates with the help of the Brigadier and local crofter Sheena Flynn. With a space fleet lurking in the vicinity of Jupiter, the Doctor believes the Martians are planning a new invasion of Earth – but who is the true enemy?

Battle lines are drawn and the Doctor races against time to prevent Earth being caught in the crossfire.

Part one
Aboard the Sandpiper west of Cape Wrath, Tam Walsh sees black cylinders floating in the sky and, as he makes a transmission to nearby boats, watches as one is shot down. Skaar, an Ice Warrior, climbs onto the boat and pushes Walsh aside to get to his communication device, which he finds is useless to him, before diving into the sea with swimming lights which disappear along with him. Walsh and his men agree not to talk to anyone about the experience.

The TARDIS materialises in space near Jupiter and detects a repeating signal from Earth. The Doctor spots a flotilla of warships and calls out to Jamie and Zoe before remembering that they are no longer with him. He follows the beacon to a Ministry of Defence firing range at Cape Wrath and is separated from the TARDIS by live fire. He meets Sheena Flynn, who is painting nearby and offers to give him a lift to the military base, but a helicopter lands nearby and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart gets out.

Sheena returns home and the Doctor joins the Brigadier in the helicopter. The Brigadier shows him a black cylinder which Archie Anderson found on the north shore, impenetrable and covered in scorch marks, which the Doctor recognises as a stealth pod and is able to open. He surmises that it was shot down and tells the Brigadier about the signal and the flotilla near Jupiter, mysteries which they might be able to solve by finding the pilot.

Skaar forces his way into a lighthouse and questions Dougie about the location of the building's secondary power source before threatening to kill him if he does not run away. Although the lighthouse's radio is primitive, Skaar believes that it could suffice for his purposes. Dougie flees and tells Sheena what has happened; they watch Skaar leave the lighthouse carrying radio equipment and batteries and head to the army base.

The Doctor and the Brigadier go to the lighthouse to investigate Dougie's story, Sergeant-Major Roach taking men to surround the perimeter whilst they go inside. From the stealth pod's dimensions and the description given by Dougie, the Doctor believes that the pilot is an Ice Warrior, possibly a scout sent ahead of an invasion. The Brigadier gives the Doctor a transceiver radio and goes to lead the search for Skaar whilst the Doctor goes to speak with Sheena to "pick her brains" over local knowledge.

On the way to a bothy, Sheena's car radio picks up an interference signal caused by a nearby radio transmission. The Doctor believes that it is being transmitted by Skaar and attempts to tell the Brigadier, but his radio is blocked and he instead tells Sheena to deliver the message. However, Skaar appears and tells them that they made a mistake coming here before firing his sonic cannon.

Part two
to be added

Part three
to be added

Part four
to be added

Cast

 * The Doctor - Michael Troughton
 * Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart - Jon Culshaw
 * Zelanda - Katy Manning
 * Sheena Flynn - Lucy Goldie
 * Skaar / Tam Walsh / Dougie - Mark Elstob
 * Idnal / Ice Warriors - Nicholas Briggs
 * Raven - Emma Noakes

Continuity

 * The Brigadier would later allude to the Ice Warrior attack when interviewing Liz Shaw, telling her that there had been "two attempts to invade the Earth" since UNIT had been formed shortly before the Cybermen invasion of Earth. (TV: Spearhead from Space)
 * During a bout of post-regeneration trauma, the Fifth Doctor briefly reenacted his second incarnation's fight against the Ice Warriors with the Brigadier. (TV: Castrovalva)