By Owen Quinn author of thee Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
copyright BBC
Once again we look back at the long history of Doctor Who – coming up on 50 years young – and celebrate the characters, big and small, who have helped create the man and the myth. This week we go right back to the start to Vicki, who travelled with William Hartnell’s first Doctor.
In the wake of Susan’s departure from the Tardis, albeit forced on her by the Doctor, there was a gap in the crew. Ian and Barbara knew the grumpy old man was missing his granddaughter like crazy and it wasn’t long before they came across someone that might fit right in with them.
Vicki’s introduction came in the two-part story The Rescue. On a planet in the future, the Tardis crew came across Vicki and her friend, paralysed in a spaceship crash. They were being menaced by a spiky headed alien called Koquillion. In the end it is revealed he murdered the crew and caused the crash. Alone, Vicki was offered the chance to come aboard the Tardis and travel with them. In a way, it helped ease the Doctor’s loss and he quickly came to adore her. She was sassy for a girl from the future but often fell into the old writer trap of making her a screaming victim.
She faced the Zarbi on the Web Planet and the Daleks in the Chase which saw the departure of Ian and Barbara but they soon discovered that Steven Taylor had stumbled aboard the Tardis in the battle between the Daleks and the Mechanoids. She and Steven bonded quickly and they became the first companions to meet another member of the Doctor’s race though at this point no one knew they were called Time Lords.
The Time Meddler showed their playful side as they tried to figure out why modern devices were turning up in medieval England and it wasn’t long before they discovered another Tardis and the monk in question. In Galaxy Four Vicki learned the truth about the Rills and can be seen in an upcoming DVD release as episode three of this story has just be found after 47 years, giving us a clear look at this under-rated story about how appearances can be deceiving and the first time the Doctor had encountered an all-female warrior race.
But Vicki was soon to leave in the Myth Makers as the Trojan horse is wheeled out at the battle of Troy. The Doctor never could keep his mouth shut as he gives the Greeks the idea by accident. She falls in love and elects to stay behind, ironically dying thousands of years before she is even born, much to Steven’s dismay.
It is almost as if the discovery of this episode and the Troughton story Underwater Menace is a reminder from the fates that there were companions long before Rose and Amy that need to be remembered in the approaching fiftieth anniversary celebrations. Maureen O’Brien who played Vicki didn’t really associate herself with the role for a long time but others didn’t forget. She was part of the Missing Adventures range, in particular the Man in the Velvet Mask, and her character again expanded in other novels like Empire of Glass along with Steven. It’s a tribute to these characters that they are remembered and loved enough for modern writers to breathe life into them again for a brand new audience.
And, like the others, Maureen has featured in the Big Finish range as both Vicki in the companion chronicles and other characters. Vicki is as loved today as she was back then and we look forward to seeing more in the fiftieth anniversary. She’s always welcome.
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Once again Owen looks at the long history of Doctor Who and picks a character that was instrumental in the creation of the Timelord we know and love. This week… Nyssa.
Copyright BBC
Hailing from the peaceful union of Traken, Nyssa’s father Tremas was taken over by the Master and then the Master’s interference with Logopolis resulted in huge chunks of space dissolving including her world and everything she knew. She was brought to the Doctor by the Watcher who was revealed to be a future Doctor in the hours before the fourth regenerated into the fifth.
In many ways Nyssa, played by Sarah Sutton, was the perfect companion and Peter Davison has gone on record with this. She was gentle, loyal, a brilliant scientist and very independent. The Doctor trusted her completely, bowing to her skills in Terminus to recreate a cure for Lazer disease, a type of leprosy and in the Visitation was able to build a sonic machine to stop the Terrileptil android when it tried to take over the Tardis.
She was a very quiet soul and when she had a point to make, the Doctor knew to stand and listen. It was up to Nyssa to steer the Tardis away from imminent destruction in Castrovalva as the newly regenerated Doctor was in no state to help them.
A plot device not used to its full advantage was Nyssa’s telepathic abilities that were instrumental in Time Flight when the Xerephan race used her as a conduit to help the Doctor defeat the Master. When the chips are down, Nyssa was a strong girl who left the Tardis a woman who takes charge when everyone else falls apart. In Mawdryn Undead she deals with the badly injured Mawdryn who claims to be the Doctor and makes the decisions against Tegan’s advice. She cared deeply for her friends and is distraught when Tegan is possessed by the Mara. When she loses her in the market she blames herself.
But in Terminus Nyssa decides to stay behind to make it a proper hospital to cure Lazer disease. Infected herself, she is cured by a massive dose of radiation but knows this is a risky and unethical form of treatment. She leaves her friends for a greater cause in circumstances in which she may well die but she has to follow her heart.
But there has been a massive Nyssa resurgence in the last couple of years. She has been feature in novels in both the Doctor Who ranges. She meets the fourth Doctor In the future but cannot tell him who she really is because he hasn’t met her yet.
But Big Finish has used her in audio stories frequently but decided on a new twist. When they decided to reunite the old Davison Tardis team, it was decided it should be with an older Nyssa, one who has come through the Lazer experience and become slightly harder. It freshens the relationships between the old regulars and takes her character in new directions but her loyalty to the Doctor and her friends has never changed.
And for that, she is a great example of character evolution and daring to do something new keeps Nyssa in our hearts.
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
copyright BBC
We once again comb the massive history of Doctor Who and focus on the characters who created the Timelord we know and love… this week, K-9.
In an attempt to cash in on the success of the droids in Star Wars, it was decided that the Doctor and Leela would gain a robot companion in the shape of a dog.
We first met K-9 in the Invisible Enemy which saw the universe threatened by a virus that took over the Doctor. It was left to Leela and K-9 to keep the hordes at bay and the bond between them was obvious straight from the start.
As K-9 was a late addition to the show several scripts could not accommodate him and he was absent for a couple of stories being left inside the Tardis or contracting laryngitis but the public fell in love with the little dog. Voiced by John Leeson, who used to rehearse on set alongside Tom Baker and both actors became firm friends and helped the Doctor fall in love with the little tin dog. K-9 had his own personality with a dry humour and was the only one to beat the Doctor at chess – which didn’t go down well with the Time Lord.
Like any companion, K-9 faced death at many turns including death in a furnace and being smothered by Wolf Weeds in Creature from the Pit and being beheaded by Marshmen in Full Circle.
All together there are three versions of K-9. The first stayed behind on Gallifrey with Leela in the climax of Invasion of Time. It was revealed then that the Doctor had secretly built another version of his own with marked improvements on the original.
It has often been wanted by fans for a face-off between the Daleks and K9 but we never got it. For Destiny of the Daleks, he was trapped in the Tardis beneath a pile of rubble. However, in the Dogs of Doom comic strip we got what we wanted and the little dog was more than a match for the Daleks.
It is widely known Tom would have been happy to have John himself crawl about in a dog outfit as the prop dog was hard work and prone to all sorts of mechanical problems. But it all helped to endear the character to the masses. Like all dogs, K9 was a brave little soldier battling the giant stone Ogri to the point where he was badly damaged even though he made them turn tail. He also found a similar foe in the Pirate Planet in the shape of the Captain’s mechanical parrot who had a laser in its beak. In State of Decay it was up to K9 to communicate with the Tardis to find the ancient scrolls about the giant vampires, an old enemy of the Time Lords with whom they waged a war.
But incoming producer John Nathan Turner decided that having a super computer in the form of K9 was an easy get out clause for the Doctor and he had to go. In Warriors Gate, K9 was damaged beyond repair by the time winds in the void between E space and our universe. Only by passing through the Tharil mirrors could he be saved. Unfortunately it was a one way trip but he and Romana stayed behind to help free the Tharils from slavery.
And that was that until the emergence of a spin off show called K9 and company starring Sarah Jane teamed her up with the little dog, sent to her as a present from the Doctor. Again he was voiced by John Leeson but it never went to a series.
But the Juggernaught that is Doctor Who fills many arenas and the novels continued the story of K9.
He was the Doctor’s constant companion in the fourth Doctor comic strips and Big Finish brought version one and Leela to the fore in the Gallifrey audio series. But in David Tennant’s first season we find him reunited with both Sarah Jane and K9 in School Reunion. Here K9 was in a poor state, surprising given Sarah’s connections with UNIT and the Doctor managed to repair him for the battle with the bat like Krillitanes. And in one final selfless act this K9 was destroyed in an explosion when he took out the Krillitanes in one blow. But seeing t how upset Sarah was the Doctor conjured up a new more durable version, ensuring he would never get into that state again. This left Sarah and K9 to go off and have their own adventures in the Sarah Jane Adventures. However, in the first series he was trapped orbiting a black hole in another dimension, staying there to protect the Earth.
However it was K9 that managed to save the day at the end of Journey’s End by transmitting the Tardis base code to the Tardis in order to being Earth home to its original position in space having been stolen by Davros and the Daleks.
But it wasn’t long before K9 could return to Earth and be by his mistress’s side once more and engaging in a bitch fest relationship with Mr Smith, Sarah’s super computer. When her son Luke went to university K9 went with him and that’s where he is to this day but not before helping the Doctor one last time in The Wedding of Sarah Jane when the Trickster trapped them all in different points of time to destroy Sarah once and for all. Clyde has even been known to take him to school to cheat in exams.
There is even an Australian version of K9 where our familiar version is destroyed but regenerates into a futuristic version which can fly. Battling an array of outrageous villains, the series only went for one series but having never seen it can’t really comment on how successful or faithful it was to its parent show.
But that’s K9; even this generation kids fell in love with him all over again and you can buy a remote control version in large and small sizes. Mine’s still in its boxes and in our house that Christmas my son and I both got K9s, something I thought I’d never see.
Something tells me that little tin dog is going nowhere anytime soon.
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Doctor Who is widely regarded as the best and longest running sci fi show in the world, encapsulating everything from alien monsters, time travel, parallel worlds and virtually every sci fi idea in the universe including landing in a Land of Fiction in the Patrick Troughton classic The Mind Robber where fairy tales and comic book heroes were as real as you and me. It has referenced stories such as the Thing, Frankenstein and Sherlock Holmes to bring us memorable and classic tales that literally stand the test of time. However, there is one area of the world of imagination that has been categorically refuted and never, ever been seen as a legitimate field for storytelling. And bad enough for the Doctor to fluff away its existence but the denial has filtered into both the Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood which quite frankly has left me more than a little peeved off. How can a show that uses every sci fi convention in existence be completely closed to the idea of ghosts? Now let me say up front, I don’t believe unless I have had a personal experience. There are too many hoaxers out there and fake physics that use their “gift” to bleed grieving relatives dry. That is undeniable but there have been too many experiences in my life and those close to me that simply cannot be dismissed away by, “there is no such thing.” And in most of those experiences I cannot explain it other than I was interacting with dead relatives. Are all the tribes from all across the world telling lies? If in the 21st century we are so open minded to aliens and other possibilities, then why does Doctor Who as a concept deny the possibility of their existence? It is a subject that has me riled up big time and leaves me shaking my head in disbelief. True, life after death has not been proved scientifically but the fact energy doesn’t die, it changes form has. Humans are essentially bio electrical machines, something that as the Doctor’s favourite species, he should know. But in every Doctor Who story that ventures to this subject, it is explained by time fissures and weaknesses in the time space continuum. Handy enough explanations but ones that diminish the strength of the human mind and soul. In the classic fourth Doctor adventure the Image of the Fendahl, we meet Mrs Tyler, an old lady that has visions and can see things other people can’t. This could be evidence that the human brain is capable of things we can’t imagine and open a study into why only certain people have these abilities but no, the Doctor puts it all down to her living near a time fissure for years. Yet in the Pirate Planet the Mentiads are accepted by him as evolving humanoids that have the added extra of being telekinetic but can also see things that others can’t. Does this by definition mean that it’s ok for alien cultures to display these abilities but humans are too backward. Not really the right attitude from the same man that calls humankind indomitable. In the Awakening, we see that figures from the English Civil War are the result of the Malus’ creating them as weapons of defence against the fifth Doctor and friends. Was it a ghost that miraculously released the Doctor from the locked room in Image of the Fendahl, releasing him conveniently in time to save the day? In Army of Ghosts I thought my prayers would be answered but no, it was the Cybermen crossing over from the other universe. Yet the Doctor dismissed the possibility as the human mind wanting to believe in an afterlife and creating it in their own heads. This again diminishes the idea and the human mind as laughable and yet in the first Doctor adventure the Dalek tale the Chase they encounter both Dracula and Frankenstein in person not realizing they are in fact robots in a fun fair on Earth. Yet the Doctor is afraid as he believes the Tardis landed in a dimension where human imagination can create physical objects and scenarios. Is this where he stopped believing because it actually scares him to believe such a thing is possible from a simple human mind? If they can do that what else could they do if their brains were let loose? Maybe he tells people there is no such thing as ghosts as to prevent humans making the connection to the other side and creating havoc by breaking open one of the universe’s greatest mysteries. Queen Victoria puts it well in the tenth Doctor story Tooth and Claw involving a werewolf. She says a good ghost story gives hope of just a sliver of contact from the other side and people are desperate for that which is true and for once the Doctor looks like he is entertaining the idea for a change in his speech about her husband helping her from the other side with his foresight regarding building the werewolf trap. In fact when confronted by Azal in the third Doctor story the Daemons, soon to be released on DVD, the Doctor says he is the inspiration for the Devil but in the Satan Pit, he comes face to face with the real thing, a fact confirmed when he tells Donna of his fight with the Devil himself. So if one exists then by logic so does God and ghosts. Could this be a turning point in the man’s thinking, a point where he realized he really didn’t know everything as empirical fact? As a writer who brings as many ideas and conventions to make an entertaining story, I find this makes Doctor Who a narrow minded vision despite its 50 year run. Even the recent Peter Capaldi story Under The Lake and Before The Flood for a time the Doctor discovers ghosts really do exist only to have that opinion change by the end of the episode. Dammit I thought it was finally going to happen. Even when Sarah Jane denies the existence of ghosts in her show, it minimises the character for me. Here is a woman who has seen things through time and space most never will yet outright blanks a very human concept. Although I agree kids shouldn’t be frightened by ghost stories until they’re older, most of the world’s paranormal experiences come straight from the mouth of babes as it is a common belief their innocence allows them to see what we lose over time. And if I ever get the chance to write for the show in any capacity, I intend to break the tradition. There’s a whole other dimension the Time Lord has yet to explore.
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
In this series we look at the cast of thousands who helped make Doctor the Timelord, he is today.
copyright BBC
Of all the Doctor’s travelling companions, Victoria was the most vulnerable and delicate and bears a very special first for a companion.
She was the first person that the Doctor revealed he had a family too. This took place in the Tomb of the Cybermen in a quiet moment with the second Doctor, played by the brilliant Patrick Troughton. And I believe this was because he had taken Victoria aboard the Tardis because she was an orphan whose mother had passed years before and her father had been forced to work for the Daleks who later murdered him. She had a very sheltered upbringing and could ‘scream for Ireland’. And now, like the Doctor, she was alone in the world and he immediately became a father figure to. Maybe he had seen too many victims of the Daleks and walked away but this time was different. Somehow he saw a kindred spirit in Victoria and the safest place for her was the Tardis.
Played beautifully by Deborah Watling, Victoria struck up a good relationship with Jamie (above with The Doctor and Victoria) straight away. Ever the gent, Jamie was very protective of her and they enjoyed teasing the Doctor. She found future women’s fashions quite startling but slipped into them easily. And Victoria was part of the true monster golden era. She met the Ice Warriors, the Yeti and the Great Intelligence (who’ll sound familiar to anyone that watched this year’s Christmas episode: The Snowmen), Cybermen and met the Doctor’s double, Salamander, before facing the seaweed monster in Fury from the Deep. Incidentally, her dad, Jack Watling, also starred in the two Yeti stories.
Many of her stories have been lost or only exist partially due to the BBC’s policy of wiping tapes after broadcast as they saw no further use for them but hope always remains that they will return. Indeed, The Tomb of the Cybermen was lost up to a few years ago before being found, allowing us to finally see the scene where the Doctor admits to family. And in the last month, 47 years after broadcast, two more episodes from the stories Underwater Menace and Galaxy Four have been found. I have no doubt someone has the rest of the missing episodes somewhere; I even heard a rumour at a convention a long time ago that a collector has all eight episodes of Marco Polo but would never give them up. We can but dream… although we still have the audio recordings of those missing stories to enjoy. Indeed, 2 Entertain issued the Troughton adventure the Invasion by replacing the missing two episodes with animation matching the dialogue alongside the televised remaining ones. Maybe we will see Victoria’s missing stories like this one day.
Long before Bonnie Langford’s Mel, Victoria was the original screamer, a gift that was the weapon the Doctor used to defeat the seaweed monster. At the end of this story Victoria decided to stay behind (see video below), being adopted by her new family years after she was born. Indeed she has been mentioned several times in the programme eg Pyramids of Mars where Sarah wore one of her dresses and returning to the Children in Need skit Dimensions in Time where she was paired with the third Doctor.
As well as numerous novels that continued to explore and highlight Victoria and her era, she has become a main fixture of the Companion Chronicle series from Big Finish that tells stories from the companion’s perspective. To this day, Deborah sounds the same and captures Victoria effortlessly. She released her autobiography and the genuine love between her, Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines is there for all to see.
But Victoria did return once more alongside the Brigadier and Sarah Jane in the video adventure Downtime in which Victoria is now head of a company. But there is a problem as she is now possessed by the Great Intelligence who, using its robotic servants the Yeti, is once again trying to take over the Earth. This time however, Sarah Jane and the Brig are on hand to help save the day in what was quite a good adventure given the low budget and it was fantastic to see the Yeti in action once again.
Having met Deborah a couple of times over the years, she is still enthusiastic about her time on the show; a time that is fondly remembered by fans who saw it on original transmission and by those that desperately want those missing episodes returned. She and Frazer speak lovingly of Patrick Troughton and still have a great chemistry that entertains fans up and down the country.
And how nice to think that Victoria is alive and well in our time and still screaming her little lungs out at the first sign of trouble…
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
copyright BBC
The mother of Rose Tyler, Jackie is the first example of a companion’s parent taking centre stage in the show. Russell T Davies wanted to encapsulate how life with the Doctor affects those left behind and Jackie was our door to it. It was a good step because it was never something addressed in the classic show; indeed with the character of Peri who, in one reality, died when her body was taken over by an alien slug or the true one, and she became Queen Yrcanos on an alien planet. It always bothered me that her mother and step father would never know what happened to their daughter. In fact, that never sat right with me at all. The last person to see Peri alive was her stepfather who left her trapped in the middle of the ocean on a boat to stop her running off to travel the world with two men she met. Now we as an audience know that Peri tried to swim ashore, got into trouble and nearly drowned only to be saved and taken aboard the Tardis by Turlough. In the real world, Howard, her stepfather, would have returned to the boat and discovered she was gone. The assumption would be that she had tried to swim ashore and drowned, her body never to be found. Can you imagine the emotional repercussions? The man would have not only have to deal with the consequences of guilt but it would more than likely have destroyed his marriage as Peri’s mother would have blamed him. There was no talk of siblings so to her, her husband would have been responsible for the death of her only daughter. Although this issue was addressed in both comic strips and novels, that isn’t canon. And Jackie Tyler became the most important semi-regular character in the show’s history. She was the epitome of the greyer areas the classic show avoided. What happens to those the companions leave behind? And as much as Eccleston and Piper were integral to the success of the relaunch of Who, so too was Camille Coduri who played Rose’s feisty mother.
Jackie was widowed when Rose was a baby when her husband Pete was killed in a car accident. Left alone to raise her daughter in a council flat on the Powell estate, Jackie had a string of boyfriends including sailors. She tries to seduce the ninth Doctor when she first meets him but he quickly rebukes her which doesn’t go down well. She doesn’t trust this new man that her daughter seems so taken with and lets him know it. What we later discover is that Jackie has never gotten over the death of Pete, the love of her life and that her world consists of her and Rose and Mickey, Rose’s boyfriend (Noel Clarke). She probably imagined that this was what her life would be with Rose and Mickey getting married and the cycle of raising grandkids on the Powell estate starting again. However, she was in for one hell of a shock.
As I mentioned earlier, the consequences of Peri’s disappearance were never dealt with but in new Doctor Who, they were dealt with in a spectacular way.
In Aliens of London, Rose returns home to discover her mother is an emotional wreck and the flat is filled with missing posters of her. It has been a full year since she left to travel in the Tardis and the Doctor has gotten the dates wrong as he thought they returned the day after Rose left.
Her homecoming is not met with delight and joy as she discovers the full effect of her decision to leave Mickey that night and go off in the blue box. Jackie has the entire estate convinced Mickey has murdered Rose and buried the body where no one can find it. He has been through several heavy police interrogations and is now a virtual pariah, sealed up in his flat, living on his computer to find some way to prove his innocence. Jackie is the most vicious creature in the world; a mother protecting her child. She slaps the Doctor and gets the entire story out of her daughter. She has no guilt at all in almost destroying Mickey’s life and she hates the Doctor so much, she reports him as an alien to the authorities who swoop in and take him and Rose away. She wants him out of her daughter’s life forever as she sees how much she has lost Rose in such a short time. How ironic that it is Mickey who saves her from being killed by a Slitheen. And with the Auton attacks and Slitheen invasion, she sees the danger where Rose sees excitement and adventure.
Death is an all too familiar figure to Jackie and that figure has returned in the form of the Doctor to tempt her daughter away. She makes the Doctor promise to keep her safe and get her home rather than die out there in time and space which he keeps in the Parting of the Ways when he sends Rose back rather then have her face the Daleks. And strangely enough it is at this point that Jackie sees she is fighting a losing battle, especially when she discovers Rose met Pete. Could it be this is where she begins to thaw in her hateful attitude to the Doctor? He has kept his promise and given Rose the chance to talk with her father which inwardly impresses her. And she is more content this time to let Rose go with him. So when the injured regenerated Doctor is delivered on her doorstep, Jackie steps in doing what she does best, taking care of people. Although how she thinks a ham sandwich will cure him or why one of her boyfriends carries a Satsuma in his dressing gown are questions best left unanswered. In his tenth incarnation, she openly kisses him and welcomes him to her dinner table, something she would never have considered before. She is happy to see Rose happy as her happiness is all that matters to her, even if it is with an alien in a time travelling box.
To see exactly what Jackie deals with while her daughter is off travelling in time and space, she had an entire episode dedicated to her: Love and Monsters, in which guest star Marc Warren as Elton Pope, part of the group LINDA, is sent by the mysterious Victor Kennedy (Peter Kay) to find Rose Tyler. He gets close to Jackie who opens her heart as to how she feels about her daughter out there somewhere. We see a more vulnerable Jackie, a simple mother missing her only child but when she discovers that Elton is actually searching for Rose, we see the firecracker Jackie of old, fiercely protective of not only Rose but of the Doctor too. He is as important to her as Rose and Mickey and no one is going to hurt the latest addition to her family. And I believe she misses Mickey when Rose and the Doctor return to tell her Mickey has stayed in the parallel universe after their battle with the Cybermen. He may be gone but at least he isn’t dead which is what she fears the most. And it’s interesting to see her parallel universe self is a super rich spoiled bi@#h that dies alone when she is converted into a Cyberman. And the first one ever to retain her memories after she is converted. Even in a metal suit she is no pushover. In this reality, she and Pete were still married but had no daughter. They had separated but maintained the illusion of the happy family to keep the world at bay. It’s interesting to see what money did to this version of Jackie. In short, it’s an interesting foreshadow of what is to come.
Although she has no desire to travel in the Tardis, she gets her chance in Army of Ghosts when she is hijacked and ends up in Torchwood, impersonating her daughter alongside the Doctor. Nothing scares Jackie, not even a top secret all powerful organization but even she cannot imagine what that day will bring when both the Daleks and the Cybermen invade Torchwood, placing the entire world in danger. She is almost converted into a Cyberman but escapes and in one of the series’ most emotional scenes, she meets her dead husband from the parallel universe. And they run into each other’s arms. The Doctor has brought the love of her life back to her and she ends up in the parallel universe with him, living the life she always dreamed of and ending up having a son called Tony. And this time, money doesn’t turn her into a cow. She has Rose and Mickey round her and they are happy. She and Mickey are especially close given what happened between them and if you think for one second she mellowed, think again.
When Rose goes off through the dimensions, thanks to Torchwood technology, to find the Doctor, Jackie follows with Mickey in a battle that would take them against the Daleks and Davros, who stage a full scale invasion of Earth after they transport it into the Medusa Cascade. She will stop at nothing to save Rose, especially when every reality is in danger from Davros’ mad scheme. The parting scene between her and Mickey is subtle and underplayed and much more poignant for it. These are two close friends who have been through hell and back to find that life is much more than they ever thought. Both have dead loved ones brought back and a brand new hope for the future. When they return to Bad Wolf Bay with the human Doctor, not only is Rose’s journey complete but Jackie’s too. She knew that her daughter’s love for the Time Lord would never let her rest and to see them together at last is enough for her. Jackie Tyler has gone on a journey she never could have imagined. By stepping through the doors of a tall blue box, Jackie’s world of the Powell estate, the place where she once thought she would live forever and die, melted away to a life that brought the love of her life back.
Jackie Tyler, mother, bi@#h, tiger, lover, is as much a part of the Heroes of Doctor Who than anyone else, more in some respects. She could be your best friend but your worst enemy. And you couldn’t help falling in love with her. Jackie Tyler and Camille Coduri, we salute you.
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Copyright Legendary Pictures
It’s here at last! Ever since Skull Island I’ve been anticipating this one. While others have been already pissing on the concept, ‘Oh it’ll be twenty minutes of them fighting and neither bets the other.’ Do one and revel in the brilliance of a crossover of epic proportions. This is the type of stuff I grew up on and the thought of this still give me the chills just as it did as a kid. So naysayers, keep a lid on it because this is one rode I can’t wait to go on. March is just around the corner.
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Copyright CW
Coming 23rd February is the new CW show Superman and Lois. We knew from Crisis that Superman and Lois now had two sons in this new universe. To be honest I thought it was just going to be reun of Supergirl but this trailer gives us some surprising insights that show the creators wanted to do something different. The Kents have lost their jobs at the Daily Planet, it seems Clark’s parents are dad and somehow Clark is forced to reveal he is Superman to his two sons. Life doesn’t seem all that bright for the Kents and now a new threat has arrived, one that may break the Kents apart forever.
Posted by Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Shortly after the Civil War, the U.S. Army is commissioned to oversee Yellowstone Park in a bid to protect the wildlife within its bounds from trappers, miners and hunters. But some animals will always be considered more valuable than others, and some men will do anything to acquire wealth. Within days, two rogue cavalry officers furtively enter the park and steal a valuable white she-wolf from her den. Little do those men realize, however, that the she-wolf is also highly valued by her pack, and that they will do anything to retrieve her…
Three Wolves is a fable, told not through the eyes of men, but wolves, as they engage on a very dangerous quest to return the she-wolf to her den in the Unnamed Valley. It is a tale of hope and courage, of omens, dreams and superstition, and one in which you may at last be persuaded that wolves know more about nature and the earth than men.
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Copyright BBC
First introduced in the third story of the fifth season of the show, it has been years since the Doctor faced the Martian Ice Warriors. Fans have asked for their return for a long time and they almost had it several times. Of all the numerous Doctor Who monsters, they under went the best evolution. And now they are back about to battle the elventh Doctor and Clara in the show’s 50th year in Cold War. They have been redesigned yet retain their classic look. And we look back at their previous four appearances and give you the run down on the green giants.
The warlord Martians of the Doctor Who universe first appeared opposite the second Doctor, Patrick Troughton in 1967 (see video below). Created by Brian Hayles in an era where new monsters were literally spewing out of the show, the Ice Warriors are now classed as part of the golden era.
Their first story was aptly named the Ice Warriors. However as fans will know, this is in fact not the name of their species but rather the name given to them by the scientist, Walters, that found them buried in the ice ala the Thing. Jamie, Victoria and the Doctor battled to save a remote research station in a future Earth that has been consumed by a new ice age. The station is working to deal with the problem of massive glaciers when they find an alien frozen deep in the ice. It revives and kidnaps Victoria, played by Deborah Watling. It is revealed to be Varga, the captain of a spaceship still in the ice along with his squad. Mars is dead and they want Earth as their new home.
They made an immediate impact with viewers and fans alike. Huge lumbering reptiles housed themselves in reptilian body armour, the Ice Warriors spoke in a low hiss. Carry On star Bernard Bresslaw played the lead Ice Warrior. Given his height and build he helped burn the Martians into the minds of millions. The cover alone for the Target Novelisation of the story (left) is a pure work of art to this day and one of my personal favourites.
On the cover, their clamp-like hands are alive with energy but on the show they fired sonic guns. But nonetheless they were destined to return and soon. Visually, they were unlike anything that the Doctor had ever encountered. The Ice Warriors weren’t nimble or lithe but they were relentless. You could run but you could not hide. Fans trembled at the sight of Victoria, the innocent Victorian lady, trapped by falling ice, crying out for help as the monsters loomed down on her. This six-part story remains incomplete in the BBC archives but will be released this year on DVD using animation to replace the missing two episodes exclusive clips of which can be found on YouTube – we’ve put one below for an idea of what to expect.
They soon returned in Seeds of Death, broadcast in 1969, where they again fixed their clamps on taking over the Earth. Again written by Hayles (he would pen all four of their televised adventures), we visit Earth at the end of the 21st century and all forms of transport are now obsolete and replaced by a global teleport system controlled from the moon- the T Mat. The second Doctor, along with Jamie (Fraser Hines) and Zoe (Wendy Padbury), land in a museum. Before long the global system fails and the Doctor goes to the moon in a rocket to solve the problem. There he meets the Ice Warriors again only this time there is a second caste here. The Ice Lords, in this case, Slaar, are more humanoid, faster and the brains of the operation are revealed here. They have almost military-styled helmets and cloaks to give them their place of power. They are more articulate than their foot soldiers and are deadlier in many ways. Like Judge Dredd, no Ice Warrior of either caste has ever been seen without their helmets. Only the lower jaws and chin is visible suggesting they are reptilian beneath the battle armour which may also act as a body temperature regulator. It is in this story that the classic line ‘You can’t kill me, I’m a genius!’ is said by the Doctor to save his life from two Ice Warriors. Their plan this time is to transport seeds all over the planet using the T mat which they now control. The seeds will burst open, releasing foam which sucks the oxygen from the atmosphere. All human life will die, leaving the world open to Ice Warrior population. Indeed the Doctor almost falls victim to the foam but manages to escape. He discovers that the seeds are only part of the plan as a signal is leading a Martian invasion force to Earth. The Doctor manages to divert the signal tricking them into flying into the sun before stopping Slaar and his minions.
They would return to face the third Doctor, Jon Pertwee, in the Curse of Peladon in 1972. And this time they were in colour. But this time the game had changed. The Tardis takes the Doctor and Jo Grant (Katy Manning) to the planet Peladon where the Galactic Federation is working to bring Peladon into its ranks. However, forces are working against them by resurrecting the legend that is Aggedor, the great beast that will destroy all aliens before letting Peladon slide into alien ways. Lost in the catacombs of the palace, the Doctor and Jo meet an Ice Warrior and the Doctor thinks he knows who the enemy is. However this time round the Ice Warriors have given up their warrior ways and are peaceful ambassadors with the Federation. The Doctor must overcome his own prejudice to ally himself with them against forces trying to plunge Peladon back into the dark ages. Here we meet Ice Lord Izlyr played by Alan Bennion. Like the Klingons before them, Izlyr is the equivalent of Worf. He is a peace maker, wary of their violent past and dedicated to bringing peace to the galaxy. It isn’t hard to imagine them as the Judoon of the Federation. The huge green armour almost like a walking alligator is even more imposing here and it is in Izlyr’s conversations with Jo Grant that we see that the species as a whole has really changed. And unlike a Dalek, you believe they have. This immediately elevates them to real characters rather than another monster. And that scene where Izlyr sits beside Jo and comforts her when the Doctor is in danger lets the viewer know there is so much more to them than has been seen before. An Ice Warrior being concerned for another’s feelings defines them as people now. But in the subsequent sequel, the Monster of Peladon, this time with Sarah Jane Smith as the companion, the third Doctor meets a rogue splinter group of warriors that want to see a return to the old ways and intend on using the political situation on Peladon to do it. Alan Bennion again plays the Ice Lord called Azaxyr and he makes him completely different to Izlyr although they obviously look alike. Azaxyr has a fire within him that will only be quenched by the fires of war and conquest. It’s easy to see from the beautiful dialogue that there is a whole back story that occurred off screen that we are not privy to but can immediately picture. They have allied themselves with other factions within the Peladon hierarchy to bring about a new Ice Warrior empire. They are defeated as always and this was the last time we would see them.
At least on television screens.
There has been two attempts to bring them back. In the aborted Colin Baker season following the imposed hiatus by Michael Grade, the green giant would have returned in Mission to Magnus. This story would also have brought back the slug like Sil (Nabil Shaban), the Doctor’s enemy from Vengeance on Varos and Mindwarp. The story was almost lost but Target released it as a novel written by Philip Martin. In the aborted season following the show’s cancellation, it would have seen the seven th Doctor battle them once more and climaxed in Ace leaving the show for good. They would be mentioned in Castrovalva and again by the tenth Doctor in Waters of Mars. It seems that the enemy called the Flood, an entity that lives in water, was defeated by the Ice Warriors and sealed away to prevent them from ever rising again. He calls them a fine and noble race that built an empire from snow. It’s clear that the Doctor respects them as a race.
In comic strip form they would be the first monsters the seventh Doctor would face in A Cold Day in Hell. Here they are using a holiday planet’s weather control system to create a new home for themselves. Along with the shape-shifting penguin Frobisher and heat vampire Olla, they are once again defeated. Other appearances included an Ice Warrior being a companion to the eighth Doctor in a short-lived Radio Times comic strip written by Gary Russell. Ssard, along with human companion Stacy, would reappear in the BBC book Placebo Effect where they are now married. Long before the Daleks and Cybermen met in Doomsday, the Ice Warriors fought the metal giants in a comic strip in Doctor Who Weekly called Deathworld while a lone warrior, Harma, joined Dalek Killer Abslom Daak’s Star Tigers. The fifth Doctor had double trouble when the Ice Warriors and the Meddling Monk teamed up to create a new super weapon.
In novels they have been mentioned in The Last Resort, Fear Itself and Transit. In the seventh Doctor’s New adventures novel, new companion Benny, an archaeologist and an expert on Mars, joins the Doctor on a return trip to Peladon where the Ice Warriors are stirring up trouble again. Given their size and the diminutive stature of the Doctor, this would have been a great sight on television. Godengine by the late Craig Hinton delved deepest into the Martian history and is one of the most sought after books in the series. The final book in the New Adventures saw the debut of the 8th Doctor as the Ice Warriors invaded Earth. Teamed with companion Benny, it is spectacular with ships over London and a real end of the world adventure. It tied into the 3rd Doctor story Ambassadors of Death when it was revealed that the probe in that story had in fact made first contact with the Ice Warriors but it was all hushed up.
And as always Big Finish has featured them in several productions. In the Resurrection of Mars, the eighth Doctor and Lucie witness the mass slaughter of a human colony in preparation for the emergence of the Ice Warriors again who are in suspended animation beneath the surface. The fifth Doctor and Peri in Red Dawn saw the first true first contact between humans and the Martians as they defend an ancient warrior’s tomb. He would then meet them again in the Judgment of Isskar which not only features a search for the Key to time but also acts as their origin story. And he would lose companion Erimem after meeting them again in the Bride of Peladon. They would also feature in the seventh Doctor Frozen Time where, like in their initial television adventure, a group of them are discovered in the ice. Benny would meet them in her own series Dance of the Dead.
And now, finally, the eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) will take them on. The new design has been released and the clamp hands are gone, replaced by four fingers and a thumb. They still retain the classic alligator look though. Showrunner Stephen Moffat was reluctant to bring them back at all but writer Mark Gatiss persuaded him. So on a submarine somewhere in an icy sea, the battle will begin. The Cold War is back…
The Time Warriors and Beyond 
