Ice Time (TV Story)

***Ice Time*** was the first serial of Season 27 of *Doctor Who*. It was written by Marc Platt, directed by Nicholas Mallett, and starred Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor and Sophie Aldred as Ace.

The story marked the final appearance of Ace, who left at the end of part 4.

## Synopsis

Moscow 1967. The Doctor and Ace have arrived behind the Iron Curtain, and the Soviet Union is seeking a new weapon that will give it mastery in the Cold War.

What is the secret of the Martian relics? As the legendary War Lord Sezhyr returns to life, the Doctor is faced with some of his oldest and deadliest enemies.

The fate of Earth – and the future of Ace – are now intertwined...

## Cast

* The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
* Ace - Sophie Aldred
* Sam - Tom Georgeson
* Raina  - Julia Goodman
* Sezhyr - Michael Fillis
* Hhessh - Martin Wilkie
* Felnikov - Richard Marner
* Adjudicator - Frank Finlay
* Glarva - Derek Handley
* Yevgeni - Nick Gillard
* Vitali - Nigel Lambert
* Yasha - Peter Meakin

## Crew

* Writer - Marc Platt
* Assistant Floor Manager - Judy Corry
* Costumes **-** Ken Trew
* Designer - Nick Somerville
* Graphic Designer - Oliver Elmes
* Incidental Music - Keff McCulloch
* Make-Up Designer - Joan Stribling
* OB Cameramen - Nigel Slatter, Paul Harding
* OB Lighting - Ian Dow
* OB Sound - Doug Whittaker
* Production Assistant - Valerie Whiston
* Production Associate - June Collins
* Production Manager - Gary Downie
* Script Editor - Marc Platt
* Special Sounds - Dick Mills
* Studio Lighting -  Henry Barber
* Technical Co-ordinator - Richard Wilson
* Theme Arrangement - Keff McCulloch
* Title theme - Ron Grainer
* Video Effects - Derek Hendon
* Videotape Editor **-** Hugh Parson
* Vision Mixer - Susan Brincat
* Visual Effects Designers - Malcom James, Dave Chapman
* Producer - John Nathan-Turner
* Director - Nicholas Mallett

## Worldbuilding

### Culture

* The Doctor claims to have last visited the Kremlin centuries earlier.
* Ace anachronistically questions whether Roger Moore, rather than Sean Connery, is the current James Bond. Sam Cunningham says that Moore is the star of the television series *The Saint*.
* The Doctor, Ace, Sam and Raina attend the ceremony in Red Square marking the fiftieth anniversary of the October Revolution on 7 November 1967. They see Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova.
* Ace is disappointed that she has not seen a single hippie.

### People

* The Ice Warrior Lord Hhessh has grown fond of fish fingers.
* Lt. Raina Kerenskaya is from Kiev while her grandfather was a fur-trapper in the Ukraine. As of November 1967, she is fifteen weeks pregnant.
* Sezhyr is a hero of the Dust Rebellion.
* Sam Cunningham is an Arsenal fan.

### Technology

* The Orb of Alikyr is a piece of Ice Warrior technology.

### Locations

* Hhessh considers Moscow to be cold, like his native Mars.

## Continuity

* The Doctor claims to have never delivered a baby before.
* Ace yet again visits 1960s London. (TV: *Remembrance of the Daleks*)
* Immediately after the events of this story, the Doctor travels to October 1988, where he meets Sam and Raina's daughter Raine. (TV: *Crime of the Century*)
* Hhessh mentions "rival factions" of Ice Warriors, and that the militaristic force on Earth are the last "true" Ice Warriors. The Third Doctor had previously encountered one of these pacifistic factions on Peladon. The Eighth Doctor would later also do so. (TV: *The Curse of Peladon*, *The Monster of Peladon, Legacy*)
* Ace refers to Perivale (TV: *Ghost Light*, *Survival*) and Fenric. (TV: *The Curse of Fenric*)
* Ace says she knows what it's like to be a long way from home. She was some 2 billion years from her own time when she first met the Doctor. (TV: *Dragonfire*)

## Home Video & DVD Releases

### VHS

* This story was first released on VHS in 2002.

### DVD

* This story along with the other stories in Season 27 were released as *Doctor Who: The Complete Twenty-Seventh Season* in 2005.

### Blu-ray

* This story along with the other stories in Season 27 were upscaled in 1080i50 high definition and were released as *Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 27* in the UK.