'Cold War' (Story Code 7.8) by Mark Gatiss

“This planet. This angry planet. Both sides locked in a never-ending stalemate. I now have all the information I require. It will take only one minute to begin the process to end this… cold war.” – Grand Marshal Skaldak

1983: The Cold War, when the military forces of Russia and America are poised on the brink of nuclear destruction. Aboard a Soviet submarine at the North Pole, Captain Zhukov and his second-in-command, Lieutenant Stepashin, are in the middle of a weapons drill when they are interrupted by the arrival of Professor Grisenko, who is more interested in the pop music on his Walkman. Below decks, in the professor’s laboratory, stands a huge block of ice, a giant humanoid figure encased within; but the creature inside is far from dormant: when a submariner begins cutting open the ice with a blowtorch, the intense beam of heat awakens the trapped figure, and it smashes itself free! As the monster wreaks havoc aboard the submarine, Captain Zhukov and his crew struggle to regain control of their damaged craft; but with the sub taking on water, they are powerless to prevent it from sinking into the icy depths. Amidst this chaos materialises the TARDIS: expecting Las Vegas, the Doctor and Clara are understandably surprised to find themselves inside the control room of a waterlogged sub, where they are promptly taken captive by armed submariners. Instantly taking stock of the situation, the Doctor orders Captain Zhukov to move the sub laterally; the captain grudgingly agrees, and his crew manage to steer the vessel onto a shelf of rock, halting its descent at seven-hundred metres. As Lieutenant Stepashin orders his men to search the two intruders, the ship shudders once more: the TARDIS dematerialises, and Clara slips into the water sloshing around the cabin and falls unconscious… Coming to, Clara finds the Doctor being interrogated by Zhukov. Hearing a noise, the captain breaks away from the Doctor and stares at a giant figure now standing in the hatchway – a figure the Doctor recognises as an Ice Warrior! After Professor Grisenko quickly explains that the crew found the creature entombed in ice whilst drilling for oil, the Doctor informs everyone that the Ice Warriors were once natives of the planet Mars. When the Lieutenant Stepashin draw his gun on the intruder, the Ice Warrior responds by raising his own wrist weapon; desperately trying to stop everyone from killing each other, the Doctor manages to persuade the alien to identify himself as Grand Marshal Skaldak, but any further attempts at peace are curtailed when a frightened submariner stuns the Ice Warrior with an electrical cattle prod used to deter polar bears. While Skaldak is chained up inside the torpedo room and come to terms with being trapped in the ice for five thousand years, the Doctor explains to Captain Zhukov that his captive is a deadly reptilian warrior housed inside a cybernetically-armoured suit; and to make matters worse, Grand Marshal Skaldak is the greatest ever hero of the Martian race. Although the Captain and Professor Grisenko believe the Doctor’s story, Lieutenant Stepashin is unconvinced, believing instead that the Ice Warrior is an American in an armed survival suit. After Zhukov orders his second-in-command to resume repairs on the stricken ship, he comes under fire from the Doctor’s anger: the Time Lord berates the captain for not letting Skaldak go – by attacking him, the Russians have declared war on the Martian warrior. Hearing an alien signal coming over Professor Grisenko’s Walkman headphones, the Doctor warns that Skaldak has used a communicator in his armour to send a call for help; when the Time Lord then asks Zhukov to allow him to speak to the alien the captain refuses, but he does agree to let Clara go instead… A short while later, Clara enters the torpedo room wearing headphones and talkback; as she approaches the massive, chained form of Grand Marshal Skaldak she relays the Doctor’s words, addressing the alien in his Martian code of honour; but Skaldak ignores her: choosing to address the Doctor directly, the proud Martian turns down his offer of help. Noticing something wrong, Clara reaches out to touch Skaldak’s helmet… which flops open, empty. Then the alien armour unlatches to reveal nothing inside but empty space – Skaldak has escaped! The Doctor, Captain Zhukov and Professor Grisenko immediately race for the torpedo room, arriving at Clara’s side just as something huge and reptilian rushes past them into the depths of the sub. When the professor reports that the alien signal can no longer be heard on his headphones, the Doctor grimly replies that Skaldak has given up all hope of rescue: the Grand Marshal now has nothing left to lose, and he will be intent on activating the submarine’s nuclear missiles… With the ship’s radio inoperable and the air running out, Captain Zhukov addresses his crew and informs them that they are all that stands between the creature and the end of the world; taking up arms, the submariners split into pairs and begin a search of the sub. Meanwhile, Skaldak begins a deadly game of cat and mouse, hiding within the sub’s infrastructure and picking off his enemies one by one, starting with Lieutenant Stepashin. The Doctor, Clara and Professor Grisenko also look for the Martian, but soon come across the grisly remains of two submariners, their bodies brutally taken apart by Skaldak in order to learn his enemies’ strengths and weaknesses. After obeying the Doctor’s instruction to wait with Grisenko while he continues the search alone, Clara admits to the professor that she is having doubts about travelling with her friend; the professor tries taking Clara’s mind off of things – but then Skaldak grabs the girl from above, gripping her head in his talons. Grisenko instantly opens fire on the creature, freeing the terrified girl, but leaving himself open to attack instead. As the Martian takes hold of Grisenko’s head in its claws, the Doctor and Captain Zhukov arrive on the scene; the Time Lord attempts to negotiate with Skaldak, but the Grand Marshal will not listen: all he wants now is revenge. Skaldak then sends a mental command to his suit, instructing it to break free of its chains and come to his side; having encased himself in his armour once more, the Martian then makes straight for the control room, easily shrugging off the bullets fired at him by the crew en route. Reaching the weapons console, Skaldak uses his suit to connect to the sub’s systems and activate the nuclear warheads. The Doctor again tries to reason with the Grand Marshal, appealing to his sense of honour and mercy to prevent him from slaughtering billions of innocent people. When Skaldak remains resolute in his act to end the Cold War, the Doctor takes drastic action: drawing his sonic screwdriver, the Time Lord threatens to blow up the submarine rather than let Skaldak activate the deadly missiles. When the Grand Marshal removes his helmet so that he can face the Doctor warrior to warrior, Clara tries to convince the alien to stop his lethal course of action. Then the sub shifts violently, as a tractor beam strikes down from above and begins lifting the stricken vessel out of the water: Skaldak’s call for help has been answered – a Martian rescue ship has arrived! Once the Russian sub has broken through the ice and is resting safely on the surface, the Doctor implores Skaldak to leave in peace, not anger; but the Grand Marshal just glares impassively as he is teleported away to his people’s spaceship. Realising that the Russian subs’ weapons are still activated, and that a single pulse with set them off, the Doctor hopes that Skaldak will show mercy; to everyone’s relief the missiles disarm and the lights come back on inside the sub – the Doctor and Clara reached the Grand Marshal after all: the world safe! Later, the Doctor, Clara, Captain Zhukov and Professor Grisenko step out onto the sub’s conning tower and look out onto the snow wastes around them – and at the gigantic Martian spaceship hovering above. When Clara asks after the TARDIS, the Doctor sheepishly tells her that he had been tinkering with the HADS - Hostile Action Displacement System - which caused the time-space ship to relocate to somewhere safe – in this case, the South Pole! After asking Captain Zhukov for a lift, the Doctor salutes the Martian Spaceship and then watches as it flies away into space…

Matt Smith (The Doctor), Jenna-Louise Coleman (Clara), Liam Cunningham (Captain Zhukov), David Warner (Professor Grisenko), Tobias Menzies (Lieutenant Stepashin), Josh O'Connor (Piotr), James Norton (Onegin), Charlie Anson (Belevich), Spencer Wilding (Grand Marshal Skaldak), Nicholas Briggs (Voice of Skaldak)

Directed by Douglas Mackinnon
Produced by Denise Paul
Series Producer Marcus Wilson
Executive Producers Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner
A BBC Wales production

TX (BBC 1 & BBC 1 HD):
13th April 2013 @ 6.00 pm

Notes:
*Featuring the Eleventh Doctor and Clara

*Music heard in this episode: 'Vienna' by Ultravox, and 'Hungry Like the Wolf' by Duran Duran (and sung by Professor Grisenko and Clara)