The Doctor’s next mission sees him arrive on Earth and encounter a very familiar face…

With the premise established in the first story, there’s an opportunity for producer Mark Wright and his team to create some rather different Second Doctor stories – and the first one we get sees him back on “contemporary” Earth (in inverted commas because it’s set somewhere between Invasion and Spearhead from Space, but no year is, unsurprisingly, given) caught up in UNIT’s encounter with the Ice Warriors. (If you are on the mindset that needs this to be explained, it’s referenced in Castrovalva, as well as Spearhead itself – this is the second invasion that UNIT has dealt with.) Andrew Smith brings the Doctor and the Brigadier back to Scotland, although there’s a lack of kilt referenced!

Each episode is quite long, which allows us as listeners to get ahead of the characters in terms of who’s trustworthy or otherwise (one character is a little too blatantly painted as not playing straight with everyone), and there’s a few quite familiar plot developments, notably in the last episode. That said, it’s a fun tale and another opportunity for Michael Troughton to hone his performance in his father’s role, with the scenes between him and Jon Culshaw’s Brigadier often sparkling. We also get two strong central performances from the Ice Warriors, courtesy of Mark Elstob and Katy Manning, and a “one-story” companion, Lucy Goldie’s Sheena Flynn.

By the way, don’t stop the story when you reach the closing credits – there’s a very important scene to follow…

Verdict: Appropriately broad storytelling strokes makes for an enjoyable romp. 8/10

Paul Simpson

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