Lords of the Red Planet

"The slaves turned into the masters."

Writer: Brian Hayles (Adapted by John Dorney)

Format: Audio

Released: November 2013

Series: Lost Stories 4.03

Featuring: Second Doctor, Jamie, Zoe

Synopsis 

The TARDIS crew land on Mars, home of the Ice Warriors, far back in its history. The Doctor is convinced it's much too early for them to meet their frozen foes... but the Doctor is wrong.

Far below the surface of the planet an evil scheme is in motion. A scientist works nights and day at the command of an insane despot. A despot intent on creating a terrifyingly familiar army. 

What exactly does Zaadur plan? What dark secret lies at the heart of the Gandoran mines? How far will the Doctor go to save his friends? In the deepest caves, the true Lords of the Red Planet are ready to emerge... Can anyone possibly survive their birth?

Verdict 

Lords of the Red Planet was a really great Lost Stories adventure! Upon researching after my listening, I was intrigued to find that this story was intended in the place of The Seeds of Death and whilst I did enjoy this one, I have to say I’m glad it didn’t get made in the end as that Season 6 tale is one of my all time favourites! This one was really good and I do love the idea of an origin story for the Ice Warriors. I’m not entirely sure I agree with it, but it did work well and was a tremendous concept! Visiting Mars before the Ice Warriors actually ruled it was brilliant and I really liked that Jamie was worried about where they were considering his knowledge of the planet and their past encounter with the Martian natives. Instead we met rather different inhabitants of the planet and they were headed by Zaadur who was a pretty ruthless villain. I thought she was really strong and the way she considered the Ice Warriors to be her super slave army was unexpected as an origin for an infamous Doctor Who monster. The Ice Warriors are right up there in monster folklore and whilst I did like this story, I’m not entirely sure the origin did them justice. I realise the statements are controversial but I think I can have both opinions! I loved Zaadur as an enemy though and the way she had controlled the society through the life drink was impressive. The reliance of the local inhabitants on that sustenance was a good aspect of the story and was a logical means of her gaining control. The fact even she was essentially created or rather augmented by her father in his quest to create the evolutionaries. They were of course the Ice Warriors and the fact that the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe technically named them as such was pretty amusing! Zaadur appreciated the name and knew that it fitted. I thought Aslor was a fine character as one of the failed experiments that meant he wasn’t quite an Ice Warrior, and the depiction of the voice being somewhere close to one was excellent. I was really impressed with that. Risor was a fine character as an Ice Warrior too and the relationship he built with Zoe was fantastic. His sacrifice at the end was admirable, but it’s incredible to think what had actually happened to the city at the hands of Zaadur’s orders. The devastation caused by her destruction and actually detonating the city was really unexpected. I certainly thought the Doctor was going to stop that so I was surprised by the scale of death that happened. She was of course focused on her ‘children’ in the form of the eggs and the Doctor’s passing the blame of the crates being destroyed felt a little wrong. He knew and helped initiate the result but because it was Zaadur who pulled the trigger he seemed to exonerate himself. I know she can’t be seen as good with the purpose for this new species, and the Doctor was happy to announce that it couldn’t last long with such a limited variety in the gene pool, but it just felt a little wrong for him to accept death on a scale like that. Quendril was another very good character and the emotional torment he went through in the story was powerful. He’d basically ruined the lives of his two daughters by experimenting on them and the results were very different. Zaadur ruled and the princess Veltreena was almost kept away hidden. Jamie’s relationship with her was very nice and I was shocked that she died too. That was handled with surprise and felt very real. The ending was a little surprising and the aforementioned sacrifice was good, but I felt a little let down that Zudaar got to survive. Overall though, a fascinating insight into the early years of the Ice Warriors and a welcomed visit to Mars! 

Rating: 8/10