Doctor Who: Series 7 - Cold War

A good story with a great return for an old enemy.

This episode saw the long awaited return of the Ice Warriors and their first appearance in the new series format. It really worked well to give to the classic image with the design of the suit, while adding new elements with the reptile inside leaving the suit to attack the crew of a Soviet Union submarine in the middle of the Cold War. This use of the creature outside the suit allowed for it to be seen as something more scarier and dangerous, while not showing too much of it to ruin the mystic of what could be inside. Similar to the reintroduction of the Daleks in Dalek, this episode combines old and new to create and re-imagine a classic enemy.

Meanwhile, I liked how this episode saw Clara trying to deal with the danger that travelling with the Doctor brings to her and other people. Her relationship with the Doctor remains strong as Clara discovers more about him and the TARDIS. In turn, I like how the Doctor is very strong in the face of the lone Ice Warrior Skaldak, especially when convincing him to not fire the nuclear weapon that would change history and also gave a little bit of humanity to Skaldak when he hesitated and allowed them to live.

I also liked the character of Professor Grisenko who added a good bit of comedy that worked well to make the episode more diverse and at the same time not taking away from the tension that is built through the shots used. Moreover, I thought how Lieutenant Stepashin tried to negotiate with Skaldak like how would use to happen in the classic series before being killed.

Matt Smith and Jenna-Lousie Coleman are great and carried the episode well, while Liam Cunningham, David Warner, Tobias Menzies and Spencer Wilding also gave good performances and the voice of Skaldak provided by Nicholas Briggs was really good and creepy.