The Ice Warriors

Well, it's been a long time since I continued my marathon, but I'm back now, and kick off my continuation with The Ice Warriors. This is quite a good serial, in my opinion, although it is a bit too similar to other Troughton serials, as it takes places mostly in a single area with no venturing outside.

The Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria arrive at the Brittanicus Base, the base of a large weather-controlling system which is holding back a large Glacier which is almost on top of the base. However, the scientist Arden uncovers a strange warrior in the ice and brings it back to the base, where it wakes up and kidnaps Victoria. Back outside in the ice, the Ice Warrior starts to dig out the rest of it's spaceship crew, and the rest of the story is a struggle between the Ice Warriors and the base staff.

There's another plot going on at the same time, which makes things far more interesting. Leader Clent has dismissed chief scientist Penley who is needed on-site to deal with all the problems, and the Doctor facilitates their reunion and it's a great moment when they put aside each others' differences and agree to work as a team.

This is a rare moment of character over plot in early Doctor Who, and it is most welcome. Otherwise, the Ice Warriors themselves are quite impressive, and it's slightly unfortunate that they spend most of the serial out in the ice, isolated from much contact with the other characters.

However, overall, it's a good story, lots of running around, an awful computer voice, some interesting characters, and the Doctor on top form as usual.

The Abominable Snowmen

Another great story introducing a new foe: the Yeti. Despite being quite slow paced and a bit too long in my opinion, The Abominable Snowmen ranks highly in relation to many stories of a similar era in Doctor Who.

The Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria arrive in Tibet to return an item the Doctor took from a monastery 300 years previously. However, since they've been away, an alien force known as the Great intelligence has taken control of the mind of the monks' leader and has created robotic Yeti to carry out the grand plan whilst scaring the monks into submission.

There are some creepy moments, from the monks' deadpan attitudes, although the Yeti themselves are a bit of a joke. It's a testament to the direction though, that you can forgive the bad monster costumes. They are, in my opinion, quite lovable.

Praise has to be given to the plot. It's cleverly written, makes good use of all of the characters, and where it needs to be is exciting and imaginative.

Overall, it's a huge thumbs up from me, and I can't wait to continue.