The Ice Kings

"There is a devil on board this ship."

Writer: Neil Bushnell

Format: Audio

Released: January 2023

Series: BBC Audio 15

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor

Synopsis

When Professor Irene Hyde's Monday morning lecture at St Luke's University is rudely interrupted by a man named the Doctor, it's the beginning of an adventure she could never have dreamt possible.

Soon they are hurtling backwards in time to 1806, where the crew of the trading ship Favourite, led by the 'Ice King' himself, Frederic Tudor, are being picked off, one by one, by a hideous monster that lurks in the shadows.

A head frozen in ice provides a further complication to matters, as the robotic Nekkre awakes determined to vanquished all-comers. With the Doctor seriously weakened, Irene must tap into hidden reserves of courage if they are to have any hope of returning to 21st Century England...

Verdict

The Ice Kings was a really strong BBC Audio adventure! After reading the preview for this story in Doctor Who Magazine a few months back, this was one I was really looking forward to which is unusual for me in this range. That’s nothing against the range itself, but it’s safe to say that to this listener it does not have the same allure or appeal as the Big Finish audios. I think the lack of a full cast and big picture feel is the reason, but the stories are almost always more than solid! I didn’t know much at all about the history in this story but I really enjoyed what was presented. I actually really liked the slow start as I thought for the most part the adventure was really well paced and built towards the conclusion. That’s exactly what you want. I was delighted and disappointed at the same time to hear Maureen O’Brien in the narrator role because one it’s just lovely to hear her in that position and she performed admirably, but then disappointed that she wasn’t playing her familiar character of companion Vicki! I’d have loved for the Twelfth Doctor to be reunited with Vicki, but alas that wasn’t to be. She took on the role of Irene instead which was more than fine and she was an enjoyable character. She was 58 and as far as the Doctor was concerned that meant her life was just getting started. But he tried his best to offend her first though by suggesting she was in her 70s! That was a funny moment and perfect characterisation for the Twelfth Doctor. I thought O’Brien’s impression of Peter Capaldi’s incarnation was slightly odd as he sounded almost too grumpy and downbeat for much of the story, but the familiarity was there which was welcomed. The Doctor interrupting Irene’s less than popular lecture concerning the titular Ice Kings was great stuff and his intrigue in the severed head with horns or antlers was very good. His offering to take her back to 1806 and find out the truth was audacious. The continuity with Nardole not being impressed by the Doctor popping away for 26 minutes was tremendous in keeping in line with what we saw during Season 10. I quite liked how this was set earlier than when we met Bill in The Pilot though with the Doctor well into his stint as a university lecturer at St Luke’s. I thought the way Irene described the TARDIS as sounding like a fairground and the console being likened to a carousel was magnificent and right up there with one of my favourite descriptions of it. It painted a beautiful picture of what is probably my favourite TARDIS interior. The story shifted gears once we reached 1806 as the Doctor recognised the Necra as being from the planet Skad and they were an intriguing robotic race that the Doctor had encountered before. His defeating them previously by programming them to kill each other was pretty impressive really and this was just the final straddler. Combining that with the mutated Torburgia creature provided a strong threat and explanation for the strange severed head, but I must admit I think this could have been even better if it somehow stayed a pure historical! It was just fun to explore a lesser known or publicised part of history. The action to stop the energy leak was good and I liked that it was Irene who did that by removing the control nobe that caused both the creature and the Necra to just stop. They could be thrown overboard then. I thought it tied things up nicely and I really liked the Doctor offering her another trip if she wanted one in the future. Or the past! The epilogue with Irene wanting to be a Dean of the university was nicely done and I liked that she challenged why she had been denied the opportunity as a woman. She wouldn’t take it anymore. Overall, a great listen!

Rating: 8/10