TV Review: Doctor Who: S07E08

TV Review: Doctor Who

Series 7, Episode 8: Cold War

Air date: April 13th 2013

Doctor Who has covered rather a wide variety of settings in its 50 years of existence, such as distant alien planets, World War II, pirate ships, a country made entirely of glass, 18th Century Cardiff, a Dalek asylum, the Wild West and most commonly modern day London. 

Yet none have seemed quite as authentic and claustrophobic as this week's offering Cold War, which sees The Doctor and Clara trapped on board a sinking Russian submarine carrying a host of nuclear weapons - and one of The Doctor's oldest enemies. 

No, it's not a Dalek, although this episode does have a lot in common with 2005's excellent episode (aptly titled Dalek) in which an alien creature thought to be the last of its kind rotted away in loneliness with nothing but scared and violent humans for company. In this case, that creature is an Ice Warrior, a gargantuan extraterrestrial knight from Mars. 

So let's start with the positives of this episode which was written by none other than Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss. The submarine setting is a superb idea for the return of the Ice Warriors, thanks to the claustrophobic, breathless corridors. As the sub slowly but surely fills with water and The Doctor's urgency rises, we too feel as though the air is thin thanks to the frantic pacing of the episode. It's not quite as action packed as the trailers would suggest (but then, when are they?) but the essence of Doctor Who is captured in Cold War thanks to the relative simplicity of its Alien-versus-humans story. 

Helping to push said story along are the lively supporting cast, most notably Liam Cunningham of Game of Thrones fame as the captain of the sub. Thankfully, despite being Russian, the crew on the submarine aren't portrayed by actors attempting dodgy pantomime-Russian accents (as would surely have been the case if this episode was filmed in 2005). Sure it's still cheesy now and again, but there are the odd nods to movies like Alien as the crew are picked off one by one by an unseen entity from the ceiling. 

As for The Doctor himself, he (and by extension Matt Smith) acts as the leader of a company under siege, which leads to some exciting dialogue when informing the crew about his old enemy ("This is an Ice Warrior. And we go way back"). Ultimately, though, this season's episodes are becoming a little frustrating due to the fact that The Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver is the be-all-and-end-all of every conundrum. In the "Tennant Years", as they shall forever be known, the Screwdriver was only used for opening doors and scanning unusual tech. Now it seems able to do everything from tie shoelaces to disarm nukes. 

Still, Cold War managed to wrap itself up nicely which is more than can be said for last week's episode, and despite some tonal inconsistencies it keeps up the pace pretty well. 

Now for a nag about this season of Doctor Who in general. In previous years, each episode has paved the way, adding more clues to an overall story arc, such as the Ninth Doctor's Bad Wolf event, the disappearance of planets in 2008's The Stolen Earth storyline and even the consistent hints that "He will knock four times" for the Tenth Doctor's regeneration. 

Yet this series feels disjointed, random and disconnected thanks to show-runner Steven Moffat's determination to provide the audience with a "blockbuster" episode per week. Therefore, the writers must feel under pressure to go as big as they can go, which inadvertently causes them to fall into genre clichés.

The seventh season of Doctor Who has, like the sixth before it, been split into two parts - 5 episodes from September last year, a Christmas special and then the final seven episodes in a row this Spring. As a result, Amy and Rory, the former companions of The Doctor, have been completely forgotten about following their departure in episode five which was way back in October, along with River Song. Perhaps I'm just being too picky, but I much prefer the more linear seasons and with this one leading up to the 50th Anniversary Special, one would hope that more and more clues as to its story will start being laid.

Summary

Cold War is a decent standalone episode of Doctor Who which falls into the series' history quite nicely. The return of the Ice Warriors is an exciting prospect, and it would definitely be good to see them again especially now that the likes of the Sontarans and the Silurians have been turned into comedy characters. Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman continue to have good chemistry on screen, and the supporting cast keep the claustrophobic feel of the episode remaining authentic. It's just a shame that Cold War has no addition to any overall story arc for season seven, a season which (despite a death-defying mystery involving the new companion) is sadly lacking in any consistency so far. Here's hoping that as we get closer to the 50th Anniversary, Doctor Who regains its basic roots. 

7/10 - Good

Next episode: "Hide"

Air date: April 13th