"I will not be Empress of a dead planet."
Writer: Andrew Smith
Format: Audio
Released: July 2022
Series: Second Doctor Adventures 1.02
Featuring: Second Doctor, Brigadier
Synopsis
Plunged into the middle of a desperate mission by his new masters, the Doctor is delighted to be reunited with Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart of UNIT near Cape Wrath, Scotland. The Doctor's arrival coincides with the sighting of black cylinders in the sky and an attack on a trawler by a 'creature o' the sea.'
The Doctor quickly realises he is dealing with Ice Warriors and investigates with the help of the Brigadier and local crofter Sheena Flynn. With a space fleet lurking in the vicinity of Jupiter, the Doctor believes the Martians are planning a new invasion of Earth – but who is the true enemy?
Battle lines are drawn and the Doctor races against time to prevent Earth being caught in the crossfire.
Verdict
Wrath of the Ice Warriors was an excellent story to conclude Beyond War Games and with it the first series of Second Doctor Adventures! I absolutely love the idea of another adventure with the Second Doctor and the Brigadier teaming up after the events of The Invasion and whilst we know this happened at some point because of The Five Doctors, it was terrific for them to be the sole pairing and focus here. Sadly, Patrick Troughton and Nicholas Courtney weren't around to reignite that relationship but I thought Michael Troughton and Jon Culshaw did a stellar job in brining both characters back to life. The writing of their relationship was tremendous and I was so impressed with the chemistry between them. After the experience that was The Final Beginning, it was nice to have a more traditional type of story whist maintaining the continuity with Raven and the CIA so having the Brigadier alongside the Doctor was just lovely. I enjoyed the setting of Cape Wrath very much and it was a little sad for the Doctor to be wishing he had Jamie alongside him. He was still getting used to travelling solo, but it doesn't appear that will be the case for long judging by the end-credits scene! The emergence of the Ice Warriors was really good and I liked the twist that Skaar was not actually rescued, but taken as part of a war between rivalling factions of Ice Warriors. That was a fun idea and a new take on the Martian race that worked really well. The true villain of the piece came in the form of Lady Zelanda who was a tremendous Ice Queen and played so joyously by Katy Manning. It was really refreshing to hear her in that role and she did a sublime job. A top enemy. Sheena was another fantastic character and it was fun for her and the Doctor to spa off when it came to the Time Lord knowing she was in league with Zelanda all along. I clocked it straight away when she wanted the coordinates of the Ice Warrior sighting written down rather than read aloud, so I was glad that the Doctor was onto her all along as well. She didn't seem too evil in her actions as she had been made promises by Zelanda and assured that her attentions were not bad towards Earth. That was true in part as she didn't want to invade Earth, but actually head back to Mars and take what she thought was her rightful place as Empress. However, her stasis had been a lot longer than she anticipated and the Mars she returned to had been ravaged by the Red Dawn and there was no race left to rule. That was a startling and impactful realisation for the Ice Queen, but the fact that we got to go to Mars was terrific and the Brigadier pairing off with Skaar and coming to the rescue at the end was lovely stuff. The fate of Zelanda in falling to her doom whilst Sheena was saved was a harrowing end for a villain that had quite the emotional tale! Now, getting to that end credits scene and the revelation that Celestine was the Emperor of the Daleks was quite sensational! I'm very excited to hear where things move forward with this series now, especially with the indication that the Doctor will be linked up with an old companion. Overall, a fantastic adventure!
Rating: 9/10
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