Thin Ice is an audio play based on the unproduced story Ice Time, which was originally scheduled as one of the stories making up Doctor Who's planned Season 27, which was supposed to air in 1990. However, the cancellation of the series made the proposed Season 27, and this story, unused.
Publisher's summary
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...
Plot
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
- Seventh Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
- Ace - Sophie Aldred
- Markus Creevy - Ricky Groves
- Lt Raina Kerenskaya/Sezhyr - Beth Chalmers
- Hhessh - Nicholas Briggs
- Major Maxim Alexandrovitch Felnikov- John Albasiny
- Adjudicator/Vitali Semyonovitch Wolshkin/Glarva - Nigel Lambert
- Yevgeni/Yasha Lemayev - John Banks
References
- This story features the Ice Warriors. The last time they were featured in an audio drama was in BFA: Mission to Magnus, another of the Lost Stories featuring the Sixth Doctor and Peri Brown.
- Ace is unfamiliar with the Russian words "glasnost" and "perestroika". The Doctor notes that they would not become well known in the West until several years after her native time.
- The Doctor, Ace, Markus 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, the first person and the first woman in space respectively, on the podium. The Doctor explains to Ace that the celebration of the October Revolution is held in November because Russia was still using the Julian calendar, which was eleven days behind the Gregorian calendar, in 1917.
- At the end of her visit to London in 1967, Ace is disappointed that she has not seen a single hippie.
- The Ice Warrior Lord Hhessh has grown fond of fish fingers.
Notes
- This story deals with Ace's departure as it was meant to happen, though the Virgin New Adventures and DWM comic strips both had other endings for her. However, she did not leave. Discussion between the various parties involved with the production resulted in the conclusion that Ace would never have left anyway.
- Ice Time, the unproduced television story on which this story is based, was set in 1960s London.
- This story takes place in November 1967, the same month as the original broadcast of DW: The Ice Warriors in which the eponymous aliens made their debut.
- This audio drama was recorded on 30 September and 1 October 2010.
Continuity
- The Doctor claims to have never delivered a baby before. He would do so again in Ireland in September 1649. (BFA: The Settling) He would later claim to have delivered the Mongol military leader Genghis Khan, whom he described as a "sweet baby." (NA: Tragedy Day)
- This is the second time that Ace has visited London in the 1960s. (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks)
- Immediately after the events of this story, the Doctor and Ace travel to October 1989 where they are reunited with Markus Creevy and Colonel Felnikov as well as the former's then twenty-one-year-old daughter, Raine. (BFA: Crime of the Century)
Timeline
- Thin Ice takes place immediately after DW: Survival.
- Thin Ice takes place before BFA: Crime of the Century.
External links
- Official Thin Ice page at bigfinish.com