When the Classic era of Doctor Who ended in December 1989, there were loose plans for what would form the 27th season in 1990. Thin Ice was due to be the story (back in 1990) where Ace would have been written out of the series. Written by Marc Platt I didn’t really know what to expect from this story because all I had heard was what was mentioned (briefly) in the documentary of the Survival DVD. The Doctor and Ace arrive in Russia in 1967 where they encounter Ice Warriors who have been in hiding for nearly 40 years. They are after a relic that is hiding in a vault and the story is essentially around them retriving it and then it all goes wrong when Raina has the helmet on and becomes an Ice Warrior called Sezhyr but we discover that she’s pregnant and what we get in an instant pregnancy which will come back to the next story.
This is a relatively straight-forward story for Marc Platt and that is a refreshing change. Platt’s track record went through a bit of a dip with stories such as The Skull of Sobek but recently he has undergone a resurrection in form and this stories continues that with a story that has a lot happening and never gets bogged down in anything. I thought that the characters in this story were particularly strong and no-one under performed. I found Ricky Groves to be a bit annoying at first but soon got past that and thought that his performance was very good and added a bit of comedy to a story that at times is very serious. Beth Chalmers is also good as both Raina and Sezhyr. I thought she was better as the Ice Warrior but still good throughout.
Both Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred are very good in this story and it did take me a while to get use to a McCoy story without Philip Olivier. Since 2004, every Seventh Doctor story with Ace has had Hex in it and this is perhaps one of the things that gives the story a different feel. Aldred is very strong in this story as she has to do a lot of the drama stuff as Ace is being considered to join the Timelords. I did like how Ace was really miffed that the Doctor had set her up as it mirrored the annoyance that Ace felt against the Doctor in The Curse of Fenric and she felt that the Doctor was testing her like he did in Ghostlight and Curse of Fenric. The final scene with these two was a very emotional and well acted scene and a good ending to the story.
If I do have an issue with this story then it’s the ending. When watching the documentary on the Survival DVD about this story then I was under the impression that Ace would go onto the stay on Gallifrey but for some reason Platt or Big Finish have lost their nerve and had the Doctor and Ace fallout before patching up and leaving into the audio sunset. Personally I think this was a missed oppertunity as they had a chance to give the character of Ace the send off that she deserved and some closure because it’s always been one of my biggest gripes that she didn’t get a send-off despite being one of the best female companions of the 1980’s.
Despite that slight disappointment, Thin Ice is a exiciting story that uses the Ice Warriors in a different way yet still remains true to what they were like in their earlier adventures. It’s a great start to this Seventh Doctor series of Lost Stories and hopefully the rest will live up to this standard.
This is a relatively straight-forward story for Marc Platt and that is a refreshing change. Platt’s track record went through a bit of a dip with stories such as The Skull of Sobek but recently he has undergone a resurrection in form and this stories continues that with a story that has a lot happening and never gets bogged down in anything. I thought that the characters in this story were particularly strong and no-one under performed. I found Ricky Groves to be a bit annoying at first but soon got past that and thought that his performance was very good and added a bit of comedy to a story that at times is very serious. Beth Chalmers is also good as both Raina and Sezhyr. I thought she was better as the Ice Warrior but still good throughout.
Both Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred are very good in this story and it did take me a while to get use to a McCoy story without Philip Olivier. Since 2004, every Seventh Doctor story with Ace has had Hex in it and this is perhaps one of the things that gives the story a different feel. Aldred is very strong in this story as she has to do a lot of the drama stuff as Ace is being considered to join the Timelords. I did like how Ace was really miffed that the Doctor had set her up as it mirrored the annoyance that Ace felt against the Doctor in The Curse of Fenric and she felt that the Doctor was testing her like he did in Ghostlight and Curse of Fenric. The final scene with these two was a very emotional and well acted scene and a good ending to the story.
If I do have an issue with this story then it’s the ending. When watching the documentary on the Survival DVD about this story then I was under the impression that Ace would go onto the stay on Gallifrey but for some reason Platt or Big Finish have lost their nerve and had the Doctor and Ace fallout before patching up and leaving into the audio sunset. Personally I think this was a missed oppertunity as they had a chance to give the character of Ace the send off that she deserved and some closure because it’s always been one of my biggest gripes that she didn’t get a send-off despite being one of the best female companions of the 1980’s.
Despite that slight disappointment, Thin Ice is a exiciting story that uses the Ice Warriors in a different way yet still remains true to what they were like in their earlier adventures. It’s a great start to this Seventh Doctor series of Lost Stories and hopefully the rest will live up to this standard.
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