Doctor Who:
The Tenth Doctor Adventures 2.3:
Cold
Vengeance
written by
Matt Fitton
Well, this
is a wishlisty one, isn't it? The Ice Warriors, the one big classic
monster RTD never really got around to, versus the Tenth Doctor and
Rose. Also, its set on a space station that's a massive freezer
centre which is nostalgic for me because Dragonfire
was one of the first Doctor Who
stories I ever watched and I maintain a nostalgia for it that borders
on denial of its actual quality to this day.
Is
it weird that this felt like the most “authentic” recreation of
the show in 2006? Part of it is the claustrophobic setting: a mostly
deserted moonbase freezer centre that would be extremely budget
efficient if it were physical sets and locations. Then there's the
fun selection of people on board: as well as the Ice Warriors we have
a robot manager, two interstellar refuse collectors; and, a pair of
space pirates trying to raid the place for caviar. It all rather
reminds me of Planet of the Dead
except with Rose in it and with me enjoying it.
If
I had to choose a least favourite episode from the RTD run its Planet
of the Dead. Great idea, dull
execution.
It
might sound odd after how I began reviewing this set to say that this
was me favourite story in the set. It is, as I say, nostalgic and
very much based on executing the formula of the 2006 series. There's
even a fantastic broody confrontation between Tennant and Nicholas
Briggs' Ice Lord about the morality of war and the sacrifices
commanders ask their soldiers to make. Rose gets to be plucky and
determined, running around with her own one-off companion. Just about
the only thing that isn't pure 2006 is the fact these are clearly
Moffat-era Ice Warriors but they had to be since the old style ones
are a bit... basis, shall we say?
I guess I
just ended up resigned to the fact that this box set wasn't going to
push the characters too much. If we're being honest it was probably
inevitable. One of the problems of going back to these seasons is
that the characters had pretty complete arcs so what actually is
there to do with Rose Tyler or the Tenth Doctor? Don't get me wrong
I'd like to see Big Finish try harder to find new places to push the
characters but I do understand why it might not feel like the best
option. The previous Tenth Doctor Adventures
set did manage to do new things with Donna but then Donna's arc
wasn't as involved or, dare I say it, complete as Rose's so there was
more blank space to fill.
As a
nostalgia fix, I can't fault this box set, its pure RTD: a modern set
story with Jackie Tyler; a celebrity historical; and, a classic
monster. Its all there.
Its just a
frustrating pity it all that's there.
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