The Ice Warriors (TV story)

The Ice Warriors was the third story of Season 5 of Doctor Who. Popular recurring villains the Ice Warriors first appeared in this story.

Synopsis
The TARDIS arrives on Earth at the time of a new ice age and the travellers make their way into a base where scientists commanded by Leader Clent are using an ioniser device to combat the advance of a glacier.

A giant humanoid creature, termed an Ice Warrior by one of the scientists, has been found buried in the glacier nearby. When thawed, it revives and is revealed to be Varga, captain of a Martian spacecraft that landed on Earth centuries ago and is still in the glacier. Varga sets about freeing his comrades and formulating a plan to conquer the Earth - Mars itself now being dead.

The scientists meanwhile realise that continued use of the ioniser could cause the alien ship's engines to explode. Their trusted computer is unable to advise them without further information, and it seems that disaster is imminent. The disaffected scientist Penley, supported by the Doctor, eventually decides to risk activating the ioniser. There is only a minor explosion, which destroys the Martians and, at the same time, checks the ice flow.

Plot
to be added

Cast

 * Dr. Who - Patrick Troughton
 * Jamie McCrimmon - Frazer Hines
 * Victoria Waterfield - Deborah Watling
 * Miss Garrett - Wendy Gifford
 * Clent - Peter Barkworth
 * Arden - George Waring
 * Walters - Malcolm Taylor
 * Davis - Peter Diamond
 * Storr - Angus Lennie
 * Penley - Peter Sallis
 * Voice of Computer - Roy Skelton
 * Varga - Bernard Bresslaw
 * Zondal - Roger Jones
 * Turoc - Sonny Caldinez
 * Rintan - Tony Harwood
 * Isbur - Michael Attwell

Crew

 * Assistant Floor Manager - Quenton Annis
 * Costumes - Martin Baugh
 * Designer - Jeremy Davies
 * Film Cameraman - Brian Langley
 * Film Editor - Michael Lockey
 * Incidental Music - Dudley Simpson
 * Make-Up - Sylvia James
 * Producer - Innes Lloyd
 * Production Assistant - Snowy Lidiard-White
 * Script Editor - Peter Bryant
 * Special Sounds - Brian Hodgson
 * Studio Lighting - Sam Neeter
 * Studio Sound - Bryan Forgham
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer
 * Visual Effects - Bernard Wilkie, Ron Oates

Story Notes

 * A real live bear was used in specially shot film inserts (as opposed to stock footage).
 * Miss Garrett's entire costume unexpectedly changes between the fifth and sixth episodes.

Influences

 * Archeological discoveries of the time, notably the Sutton Hoo dig, influenced the idea of a buried body proving to be an alien, with the Ice Warrior's space helmet being mistaken for a ancient helmet.


 * Notions about Mars, current in 1967 but now known to be false, also inform the programme, such as the nitrogen atmosphere of Mars which causes the Ice Warriors breathing difficulties on Earth.


 * The theories of a "nuclear winter" and "a New Ice Age" are the basis for the setting of the story. The disputes between the scientists seems to represent the debate amongst scientist over the validity of these theories. The idea of weather manipulation had appeared in The Moonbase and was also reappear in The Enemy of the World, which followed from this story.

Ratings

 * Episode 1 - 6.7 million viewers
 * Episode 2 - 7.1 million viewers
 * Episode 3 - 7.4 million viewers
 * Episode 4 - 7.3 million viewers
 * Episode 5 - 8.0 million viewers
 * Episode 6 - 7.5 million viewers

Myths

 * The base computer is called ECCO. (This name was invented by writer Brian Hayles for his later novelisation of the story.)

Filming Locations

 * Ealing Television Film Studios

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * Varga's head design changes after he wakes up.

Continuity

 * The Doctor is wearing his fur coat from the previous story, The Abominable Snowmen. Jamie also suggests at first that the Doctor has landed further up the mountain in Tibet, because the environment is still icy (ironically, no ice appeared on screen in The Abominable Snowmen).


 * The crew have to climb out of the TARDIS because it is lying on its side. The Doctor has to enter the TARDIS under similarly awkward circumstances in Time-Flight.
 * The Ice Warriors next appear in The Seeds of Doom.


 * NA: Happy Endings references the events of this story.

DVD, Video and Other Releases

 * This was released on video with a Mini-reconstruction of the two missing episodes(epsiodes 2 and 3). It also included a CD with the soundtrack of these episodes.

Target Novelisations

 * Novelised as Doctor Who and the Ice Warriors in 1976 by Brian Hayles.