The Ice Warriors

Directed by

Base Under Siege, Earth Invasion, Spaceship, The Doctor Falls

Runtime

150 minutes

Time Travel

Future

Tropes (Potential Spoilers!)

Location (Potential Spoilers!)

Brittanicus Base, Earth, England

Synopsis

The TARDIS arrives on Earth in a new ice age. The travellers make their way into a base where scientists, commanded by Leader Clent, are using an ioniser device to combat the advance of a glacier.

A giant humanoid creature, called an Ice Warrior by one of the scientists, has been found buried in the nearby glacier.

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6 Episodes

One

First aired

Saturday, November 11, 1967

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

6.7 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria are brought to a base which is attempting to halt the flow of the Second Ice Age.

Two Missing

First aired

Saturday, November 18, 1967

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

7.1 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

Varga revives and takes Victoria hostage as he works to revive his crew while the Doctor and Jamie find Penley stealing medical supplies.

Three Missing

First aired

Saturday, November 25, 1967

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

7.4 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

Jamie and Arden venture out to rescue Victoria only to find the rest of the Ice Warriors are now active.

Four

First aired

Saturday, December 2, 1967

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

7.3 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

The Doctor leaves the base to try and find Jamie and Victoria while Storr tries to do a deal with the Ice Warriors.

Five

First aired

Saturday, December 9, 1967

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

8 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

The Doctor and Victoria are both held prisoner by the Ice Warriors as Varga decides to take over Brittanicus.

Six

First aired

Saturday, December 16, 1967

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

7.5 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

The Doctor and Victoria attempt to force the Ice Warriors to surrender control of the ioniser before the ice flow destroys them.

Characters

Second Doctor

Patrick Troughton

Jamie McCrimmon

Frazer Hines

How to watch The Ice Warriors:

Watch on iPlayer

DVD

The Ice Warriors

VHS

The Ice Warriors Collection (VHS)

Reviews
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9 reviews

I think I've found my problem with the Second Doctor era: I really dislike the dialogue. I struggle to pay attention to *any* conversation between two characters that are not the Doctor or Jamie. I get bored easily.

Azurillkirby

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Review last edited on 14-03-25

Should of been four episodes instead of the 6. Just like the previous story, The Abominable Snowmen, it is slow and over long. But that story had a better villain and the animation helped my enjoyment. I don't mind the Ice Warriors, but they are better in future stories than here.

Scottybguud

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Review last edited on 11-03-25

The Ice Warriors doesn't have enough plot to fill six episodes but makes up for this by loading up on utterly unintelligible voices. From the computer to characters communicating over radio to the Ice Warriors themselves, I can recommend this only with subtitles

greenLetterT

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Review last edited on 2-03-25

“What are your qualifications for existence ?”

C’est bien fait.

C’est une autre base assiégée, mais je suis quand même assez friand de son world-building, et de son monde froid et dévasté.

Mais comme l’humanité du futur a l’air ici un peu moins humaine, et que sa technologie est défiée par une nature plus que jamais hostile, toute l’histoire est bizarrement imprégnée d’un vrai sentiment d’urgence.

Et la musique très hollywoodienne contribue en plus un peu plus assez fortement à ce sentiment.

Dogtor

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Review last edited on 17-11-24

At the start of The Second Doctor's tenure, someone high up decided that 4-parters weren't worth it, and that the production teams should focus of stories with 6+ parts where possible. That, as you may know, is a sentiment which didn't stick, and stories like this are exactly the reason why.
It is long, drawn-out and boring having only enough story for 4 parts.
The only notable thing about it is that it introduced the Ice Warriors and the only thing which I found interesting about it was Peter Barkworth's performance as a man who is half machine.
That is, for the first 5 parts, small change, just a short 2-and-a-half-hours!! But after you have battled your way through those five parts (my record is somewhere in the vicinity of 4 months) you are treated to a lovely bit of Doccy Who, with action and spectacle, for the time. Stakes and consequences, tension and release, the good stuff, shame the rest of it is so boring.
Also, side-note, the scientist's costumes are fantastic, the Ice Warrior talking effect is horrible and the computer is unintelligible.

4/10

RoseBomb

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Review last edited on 19-09-24