Cold

"But then I saw another shape. A tall shape that didn't fit in. It was already covered in snow but when I went over to it and rubbed at the snow it was blue underneath and made of wood! I tried to see more but the storm really closed in and I had to get back to the Hut. The strange thing is, Anna, there was no such box there before. And even stranger, the box was humming."

Writer: Mark Gatiss
Format: Short Story
Released: 1st August 2008
Printed in: Doctor Who Storybook 2009

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Donna

Synopsis

Two mountain climbers discover a wounded Ice Warrior who was responsible for the flu pandemic after World War One. But an invasion may now be on the way, some one hundred years later...

Verdict

Cold was an interesting read. I was excited by the prospect of both Mark Gatiss writing the story, and an appearance from the Ice Warriors! Now, the story wasn't bad but it sadly failed to reach my high expectations. I didn't like the format with basically the whole story being narrated by characters and from their own perspectives, although Donna's account was really good as she was writing back to her grandad, Wilf, about the thrills of travelling in the TARDIS. Her description of Issaxyr, the Ice Warrior, was tremendous. For a Short Story, it took far too long to introduce the Doctor and Donna but once they arrived everything was good again! Prior to their appearance, the only good thing was the finding of the TARDIS by one of the excavation team members, as described in my opening quote. The highlight was seeing a sense of evilness returned to the Ice Warriors with many hints of their century old plan to take over Earth. And even once he learned that the Martian plan had been foiled, Issaxyr still planned to take over the planet with an ancient and stored invasion fleet. But the Doctor quickly foiled those plans simply through explanation. The virus that the Ice Warriors had introduced had mutated and defeated the immunity system of the Martians, killing them all. And suddenly, Issaxyr was devasted. The Doctor felt his pain, and returned him home in the TARDIS! Who would of thought the Doctor would be giving a lift to an Ice Warrior? A good story, but again, the Ice Warriors weren't quite evil which isn't good! The Peladon Tales, Red Dawn and Cold War just aren't comparable with the serials where the Ice Warriors were evil villains; The Ice Warriors and The Seeds of Death. The reference to the latter was subtly brilliant! I also liked the Planet of the Ood reference. A good story, with hints of the Ice Warriors returning to their evil, and in my view, intended roots!

Rating: 7/10