by Ken Parker
This DVD was released in the UK in
August and September in the US and includes 4 of the 6 episodes of
this 1967 Doctor Who story. The remaining 2 'missing'
episodes were restored using the original soundtrack recording and
newly commissioned animation. It is the first story to feature the
Ice Warriors, who would return to the series 5 more times to date.
This is one of only a few Doctor Who
stories that I have only seen once and so it was a thrill to see it
again, for the first time in a few years since its release on VHS in
1998. 4 of the 6 episodes had been found in 1988.
The story is pretty basic with the
usual technology vs. nature motif and base under siege theme. The
idea that technology is the human races savior or destroyer is very
interesting in this story and is examined in a few different ways.
Not only are the humans reliant on technology to keep back nature
(glaciers) but it relies heavily on computers, something that almost
results in their downfall. It is fascinating to see the different
sides of faith in technology from Storr, who outright hates
technology to Penley, who has become fed up with it to Leader Clent
and to a greater level, Miss Garrett who is so faithful to everything
the computer says.
The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria are
thrown into the middle of all this but things are worse when the
discovery of an alien ship embedded in the ice hampers the task of
keeping the glaciers from advancing on civilized areas. Even worse,
the inhabitants of the ship awaken and are not very happy.
As usual the Doctor's team is split up,
interact with various characters, come back together and so on. I
didn't find “The Ice Warriors” to be the most original story but
it wasn't that bad. Especially of interest to me was the look and
design of the serial. Everything from the Ice Warrior costume to the
sets, the ice caves, the haunting music and uniforms of the
scientists, everything is fairly unique and well thought out. The
Ice Warriors are one of my favorite Doctor Who alien designs
but I feel their best stories are to come.
There are a few shortcomings that you
would think are normal for Doctor Who but stand out a bit more
in this one. Victoria hiding from the Ice Warriors is almost as bad
as when the Daleks pass through a doorway and doesn't see the human
hiding behind it. This is even worse as she is hiding against the
white ice walls. 
I will have to say that I am not a big
fan of any animation that has been done for Doctor Who.
Certainly I have accepted the fact that several stories were released
and the animation is okay but I rarely am able to keep up with the
attention as I would with the real story. I know this is not the
case with most, it is just a personal opinion I have – especially
with this story that has two episodes animated in a row.
The animation is not bad and does what
it needs to do but either those episodes were boring to begin with or
the animation just was too distracting.
The video and audio quality of the
restoration is superb as usual. The commentary is interesting as
Fraser Hines (Jamie), Deborah Watling (Victoria), Sonny Caldinez
(Turoc) and designer Jeremy Davies and grams operator Pat Heignham do
the episodes 1,4,5 and 6 while interview clips are used during the
animation.
The making of documentary and the
second part of the Fraser Hines interview segment are interesting.
The making of the animation is well done as well. A Blue Peter
segment and the original VHS links with Watling and Hines are also
included along with the usual production notes and photo gallery.
I enjoyed this DVD but was surprised
that I was not as excited by the story. It was fairly good with some
great moments but I have seen better out of all the main characters
in other stories. I will say I love the look of it though.
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