“Steam in the subway, earth is a afire.” If no one else is going to sing Duran Duran with David Warner in Russian while trapped at the bottom of the ocean with one of Elon Musk’s cousins, I will! This is genuinely one of the few episodes of Mark Gatiss’ writing in Doctor Who that I enjoy fully. Yeah, maybe the CGI snake-ish thing that has been in the Ice Warriors all along is a bit naff, but otherwise, I don’t believe there is much to complain about with this base-under-siege episode.

Oh, that’s right, that is why everyone absolutely dislikes it. The base-under-siege trope is a bit of a tired one when it comes to Doctor Who, as it is about half the bloody episodes at this point. We’re talking “42,” “The Doctor’s Daughter,” “Midnight,” “The Waters of Mars,” “The Rebel Flesh,” and a few others to come. They are never good episodes because of the confined environments. However, they can be good despite that. “Dalek” was a nice twist on the theme and it might get flack but I appreciate “Planet of the Dead“. I do greatly embrace a bit of “The End of the World.” I may be over-exaggerating with the suggestion that it is more than half the episodes out of the 800+, though there are quite a few in New-Who.

I spent the majority of last week detailing why I found last week’s episode, “The Rings of Akhaten,” so frustrating. Here was Clara looking after a child, comforting her in a time of need, and learning that the Doctor doesn’t let a “god/”parasite rule over defenseless people. Don’t worry, there aren’t any kids this week. It’s all burly Russians with English accents at the height of the Cold War aboard a nuclear submarine with two of the greatest warriors that time and space has ever seen. What could go wrong? I must say, despite his somewhat minor role throughout the episode, David Warner’s Professor Grisenko is one of many highlights throughout this play war.

Though he is a Russian, he isn’t built up as a mustache-twirling villain or anything of the sort. Instead, he is a man of science, science and Ultravox. He is basically the bridge between two of the conflicting sides (the Russian commander and the Doctor) to work with Clara to point out there is a bigger threat both need to work together and focus on. See, I am bringing it back to Clara because despite my repeated mention of her “let’s kill kids!” thing, she can be a good-ish companion when she’s not encased in so much mystery you don’t know if she’s human sometimes. Last week she was being warm and inviting with a kid, and now she’s doing the same routine with an old bloke no one seems to listen to. I wonder why?

That isn’t to say the rest of the cast aren’t proving themselves though. Liam Cunningham stands out wonderfully as a beardy-weirdy captain that is a little headstrong and understanding, while Tobias Menzies continues to be the actor that needs to be fired out of the submarine in place of a torpedo. Neither actor is one I cross too often when watching shows. I’m not a fan of the romanticized historical fiction of Scotland in the adaptation of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander for which Menzies played a villain for a while. Nor am I much of a fan of the series the two featured in for a short while, Game of Thrones. I’d argue the two are best known for their more serious British-centric drama show and film roles, which is quite unmistakably not my thing.

I hate to say it, given it may sound needlessly hate-filled or anything of that description, but Menzies is specifically the sort of actor you type-cast as the undermining groveler that (as an audience) you want to punch. Again, I don’t like saying it, but he just has one of those smarmy faces and acts well enough to make you believe every single bit of it. Meanwhile, Cunningham, with his somewhat trademark grey beard of varying length and face that is wind-cracked with stories only a seaman can tell, brings the captain protecting his insubordinate crew, stowaways (kind of), and confronting two foreign beings not of this planet. As two of the main supporting cast, they stand up well in their roles.

Skaldak on the other hand is a little more superficial. It is something that is a little more apparent with Classic-Who villains. They may not have had the greatest depth to begin with and when returning they need to stay similar to the source. That’s not all damning in faint praise, some such as the Daleks made the transition well despite the merchandising of the copper pepper-pot/dustbin Nazis. My point is the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Zygons, the Sontarans, and the list goes on a little further, all were superficial warmongers bent on domination, the Ice Warriors continuing this trend isn’t always helping the case for returns. Hold the angry comments for a second, because I actually like Skaldak and the whole presentation of the Ice Warriors for being fresh enough.

My point is you can have a villain that may be a little shallow in regards to their background, most of the time in the show. However, unlike all the other species of aliens I’ve already mentioned (including the Zygons), the Ice Warriors haven’t come back time and time again since 2013. Their sparing use and Skaldak being our only visual example of an Ice Warrior since 1974 results in a better reception than I would have to, say, another Cyberman episode/series. Yeah, I am looking at you, Series 8 (and a bit of 10, if I am honest)!

I’ve previously said that I am drawn to the colorful, planet-hopping, adventure episodes, and it is true. That makes an episode set in such a dark, dank, and confined setting a surprising breath of fresh air in terms of enjoying the episode. The set design, costumes, and even the more cartoonish moments with Skaldak give it a hint of Classic-Who with a bit of HD-spice to the flavoring. It is no secret that Gattis and Moffat (one in the same) are fans of Doctor Who and have been for decades. Their novels and other work either reference or surround Doctor Who, and their styling of episodes are telltale signs.

Despite never being a fan of the world-domination, grand stakes three episodes in, and further examples of the escalation of threats being bumped up out the gate, somehow I still enjoy the story of pending nuclear war all the same. If anything was to be picked at and prodded, it would have to be the fact the episode might be very Classic-Who in styling but lacked the length to give enough meat for everyone to chew on. Once again, Clara is given the reins to take up a leading role while Smith’s Doctor directs in the corner. I don’t mind that sometimes, but we’ll see it come up a lot soon. In the end, it is a solid episode and one of Gattis’ best (next to “Victory of the Daleks“). It is paced rather quickly but doesn’t overstay its welcome reintroducing an old foe from Mars.

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Doctor Who "Cold War"

7

Score

7.0/10

Pros

• It means nothing to me. (Oh Vienna!)
• A return that isn't overwhelming.
• Cunningham and Menzies are wonderfuly cast.
• David Warner, period.

Cons

• A bit short on time and of places to go with characters.
• A little too dark, maybe?