Poll: 7x08 Cold War review and discussion

Discussion in 'Doctor Who' started by Lonemagpie, Apr 13, 2013.

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Rate episode 7x08 Cold War

  1. Geronimo!

    27.4%
  2. NIce Warrior!

    53.2%
  3. lukewarm

    16.9%
  4. Will spring never come?

    2.4%
  5. Dive Dive Dive!

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  1. Lonemagpie

    Lonemagpie Writer Admiral

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    Is it wrong of me - actually of both Lesley and me - that our main thought about tonight's upcoming DW isn't "ooh, Ice Warriors" or "oo, Gatiss", or even "Ooh, David Warner," but is in fact "Hey, Davos Seaworth - talk about typecasting!"

    Anyway, only a couple of hours to go, and I wanted to post the above, so may as well open the poll thread!
     
  2. Gov Kodos

    Gov Kodos Admiral Admiral

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    Gov Kodos on Mohammed's Radio, WZVN Boston
    I am really looking forward to this. I love submarine movies, the claustrophobic situations are fantastic for drama. Add in Ice Warriors and it sounds like a fun episode.
     
  3. Konata Izumi

    Konata Izumi Commander Red Shirt

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    Expectation's a well-constructed thriller with characterisation like in Victory of the Daleks but effective plot and not scary enough unless a kid.

    Who knows what will happen.
     
  4. TommyR01D

    TommyR01D Captain Captain

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    UK
    My only concern about this episode is that all BBC descriptions call the setting "a Russian submarine", whereas it should be "a Soviet submarine", which it so far seems only Wikipedia has amended.

    That may sound like a nitpick, but it may be a sign that they are planning to do the whole episode -called "Cold War"!- pretending that there was no such thing as the USSR or communism, which would be really disappointing, as there are so many great angles you can take with the episode's premise which that would spoil.

    I hope we see at least one Hammer & Sickle flag somewhere, or maybe a small Lenin statue.
     
  5. JoeZhang

    JoeZhang Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 9, 2008
    concern unfounded. :-)
     
  6. Ar-Pharazon

    Ar-Pharazon Admiral Premium Member

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    Maybe "cold war" is more about the ice Warrior than the time period.
     
  7. JoeZhang

    JoeZhang Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Jan 9, 2008
    It's clearly meant to taken both ways.
     
  8. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

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    It could just be that they realize today's kids aren't as familiar with the term "Soviet" anymore.
     
  9. JoeZhang

    JoeZhang Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Jan 9, 2008
    The episode itself renders the conversation irrelevant.
     
  10. DalekJim

    DalekJim Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Wish the ending was a bit less Disney as I really liked the grittier, Saward-esque feel to most of the episode but it was a solid story.
     
  11. zarkon

    zarkon Captain Captain

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    Mar 24, 2011
    Muuucccccchhh better then last week. Clear resolution based on what went on during the episode as opposed to an arsepull, and David Warner was (as always) great.

    Also - Great Intelligence, Ice Warrior, HADS.

    anniversary year is troughton year
     
  12. Serial thread killer

    Serial thread killer Vice Admiral Premium Member

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    Not a bad ep, but did anyone else think the Sub was a little wide to what you normally see on TV?
     
  13. JoeZhang

    JoeZhang Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Jan 9, 2008
    Yes, they discussed this in the Radio Times, it was because it would be hard to do some of what they wanted to do with a 'normal' sized vessel.
     
  14. The Badger

    The Badger Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Im in ur Tardis, violating ur canon.
    Much better than last week. Very 'Alien' in places, hunting something nasty through a confined space, but Doctor Who has 'borrowed' ideas from other sources before. The redesign of the Ice Warrior looks even better on screen than in still pictures.

    Good performances all round, good music (and not intrusive this week). Skaldak's face when seen was decent CGI, though not entirely convincing. The exterior shots of the sub were excellent.
     
  15. Skellington

    Skellington Part-time poltergeist Rear Admiral

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    Missed the start, but gave this a Nice Warrior! based on what I did see. This was a very good old-school romp and for my money the best of the 2013 batch so far. Good to see Warner and Cunningham on the show, and I thought I detected one or two minor nods to Warner's prior association with the franchise. Jenna-Louise Coleman continues to impress, too.

    I thought of the HADS the moment the TARDIS started wheezing. Hasn't been used on-screen since The Krotons, if I recall. That and the setting gave this what I can describe as a Troughtonesque feel.

    The Ice Warrior impressed. Great use of the voice, and nice to see Gatiss doing something new with the concept by having this one out of armour. Speaking of Gatiss, I think this is probably his most robust Who episode to date.

    Did anyone take note when the Ice Warrior mentioned the "old times" and it seemed to put the Doctor almost off-kilter? It took me back to Lady Peinforte's conversation with the Doctor in the 25th anniversary story Silver Nemesis, which I think is being added to the iPlayer catalogue today. In that story Peinforte referred to the "Old Time" on Gallifrey, a time of chaos, and raised what we now think of as the First Question. Could be nothing, of course.

    It did seem to have a bit of an Earthshock vibe with the confined setting and the hapless redshirts being essentially turned to mush/chunks.
     
  16. DalekJim

    DalekJim Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I liked that the threat was taken seriously. It was worse in the RTD era but Moffat is often equally as guilty of just making the whole situation a joke to try and appear subversive (Let's Kill Hitler being the worst offender!). It was nice to see our heroes scared of a tough enemy for a change.
     
  17. Lonemagpie

    Lonemagpie Writer Admiral

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    A fun Dr Who, though not as deep as last week's, but then they can't all be, can they? That said, it was, how shall we say, built entirely from references to other DW stories and various movies. On the plus side, it *just* avoided triggering me to tears at an early point (and probably just by editing - I suspect if the time slot was a few seconds longer it would have - and would have pissed me off as that'd have been three weeks running), and Warner and Cunningham were fantastic.

    I can actually nitpick the sets and militaria to quite a degree this week, though - I've been aboard a cold war era former Soviet sub, and they're nothing like that bloody spacious (I know, a production necessity), nor do they have smooth floors, refer to the control room as the bridge, nor have FN Browning Hi-Powers as the crew's sidearms. Though it's nice to see the AKs (or more likely Norinco copies) actually used in the correct period, rather than the year five billion for a change...
     
  18. diankra

    diankra Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    If we're talking about niggles, I 'mm also not sure that the missile could still launch while on the surface if they'd been prepped for launch at depth, the 'five thousand years' line would mean that Skaldak was frozen one to three thousand years before Varga (your Ice Warriors dating may vary), and that Martian shiip was a darn sight more capable than the ones Slaar had a century-ish later (byut then, most Troughton era alien fleets were unrealistically rubbish, still dependent on 1950s navigation tech).
    All niggles... a good solid 7 or 8/10 monster at large story. The sort of thing that comes top of the polls in a weak season, second from last in a great one, mid-range in most.
     
  19. Ghost Bones

    Ghost Bones Captain Captain

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    It was ok. Unobjectionable. The atmosphere was there and the sets were completely convincing (the question of "isn't this a bit big for a sub" didn't occur to me, but I am thick). A shame the story itself was a bit perfunctory. Good performances too.
     
  20. Flibble

    Flibble Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Aug 24, 2003
    Best episode of the 2013 episodes so far. I never even considered that the Ice Warrior could leave its armour that was a good twist. Looking forward to the next episode!