Mark Gatiss Talks The Return Of The Ice Warriors

This Saturday’s episode of Doctor Who unleashes old school menace the Ice Warriors. It’s a tale written by Mark Gatiss, who spared a moment from 50 ^th anniversary docudrama An Adventure In Space And Time to talk Martian comebacks with SSSSSSSFX…

I’ve been badgering for years! I love them, and I’ve always thought ‘There’s something to do there’, because, weirdly, there are only four appearances. They’re a big monster but they haven’t been in it since ’74. Also, unlike a lot of monsters, there are huge gaps, because there’s not much information. They’re baddies and then they’re goodies and then they’re baddies again. There are a few little hints, but I felt there’s loads of room there to explore what Mars was or is or will be and all that sort of stuff. But I had a particular idea, which is what sold Steven on it this time…

The redesign is very faithful.

I insisted on it. They’re a brilliant design, and I thought it just won’t be the same otherwise. They’ve been beautifully, subtly reinvented, but it’s absolutely an Ice Warrior.

Why do you think they’re so effective as villains?

I remember them because they were in the two Pertwee stories, the Peladon stories. We always used to call them “A once proud race” – I now can’t find the origin of that phrase! I used to think it was in Target books… I love that idea of a militaristic race, with a history, and that’s what I always think Doctor Who used to do so well: hint at those little things. “The Cybermen substituted it with another goal – power!” All those lovely things. I just thought it was a lovely idea, and also the fact that they’re cyborgs. They look like reptiles but they’ve got augmentations. It’s also Mars, which I think is great, this idea that there is this massive civilisation which they used to represent, which fell, and there are scattered pockets of them… I think it’s a great idea and a great, great design, really one of the best.

Nick Setchfield

Doctor Who “Cold War” is on BBC One on Saturday at 6pm

Read our preview of spoiler-free preview of Cold War

Watch the "Cold War" trailer

Nick Setchfield is the Editor-at-Large for SFX Magazine, writing features, reviews, interviews, and more for the monthly issues. However, he is also a freelance journalist and author with Titan Books. His original novels are called The War in the Dark, and The Spider Dance. He's also written a book on James Bond called Mission Statements.