When and Where: Mars in the 2000s. For the Doctor and Peri, this takes place between Rulebook and The Eye of the Scorpion as the Doctor has promised Peri an alien world. For the Ice Warriors, it is between Cold War and before Frozen Time.
The Doctor's Case:
- A Good Quotation:
- "Your instruments aren't reliable. You're in better shape than the instruments say." / "We know that." / "You do?" / "Yeah. The instruments say we're dead."
- As somebody who didn't even remotely like anything about Perpugilliam Brown ("known as Peri") onscreen, bar her extraordinary death (which was sadly retconned, leaving no redeeming points), this story has opened my mind to the possibility that she might be salvageable, just as Big Finish proved Mel Bush to be. She exhibits botanical knowledge, which she rarely did on TV (similar to Mel and her computer skills), and she's intelligent, observant and even a little witty. Nicola Bryant's accent has improved as well, even if it does still noticeably wander at times.
- The Fifth Doctor and Peri are a fresh pairing ripe for adventures and a developing relationship. The Caves of Androzani was clearly intended to directly follow Planet of Fire (with Peri in the same clothes, referencing Sarn and asking the Doctor about his celery), but given how surprisingly good Peri was in this story I have no complaints about it.
- It's strange to say that the setting of an audio drama is one of the best things about it, but the journeying across the windy surface of Mars, the imagery of the organic shell of the Ice Warrior tombs and the sacrifice of Lord Zzaal under the rising Sun are all wonderfully done.
- A Bad Quotation:
- "Save yourself, Doctor."
- Webster is a dull villain. His motives are good enough and certainly could have resulted in more plot, but he's ultimately a forgettably-written character with a forgettable performance. Tanya too is uninteresting despite the revelation that she is a human/Ice Warrior hybrid, which nonsensically allows her to have knowledge of the Martians' culture and technology. It's a twist that she doesn't react to in a realistic or relatable way.
- It was most likely done to differentiate the Ice Warriors given how difficult whispers can be to tell apart, but Commander Zzaal doesn't sound that much like an Ice Warrior bar the little hisses. It makes it difficult to image an Ice Warrior rather than a human delivering these lines.
- Will Tanya be able to survive on Mars? Do the Ice Warriors speak English or will she lose her ability to speak to them once the TARDIS is gone?
- The reason that the Martians use the name "Ice Warriors", a term used by humans to describe them in The Ice Warriors, is that the Fifth Doctor referred to them by it and they adopted it as their own. Another explanation is offered in Lords of the Red Planet which makes more sense given that Iraxxa used the term in Empress of Mars, long before Red Dawn.
- The Doctor mentions that the yearometer is on the blink, which it has been since An Unearthly Child.
- The British Mars missions were seen in The Ambassadors of Death.
- The tombs are reminiscent of the Cybermen's on Telos seen in The Tomb of the Cybermen and Attack of the Cybermen.
- The Ice Warriors offer a treaty, much like the proposed human-Silurian treaty in The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood.
The Inquisitor's Judgement: This is a story that began promisingly but turned out to have a thinner plot than expected. NASA is done well, with the shuttle sequences being believable, and both Peri and the visual imagery stirred up by the dialogue, sound design and notably good music are the best things about it. The Ice Warriors aren't always done hugely well and their code of honour can be boring, but they make a decent appearance even if Zzaal's voice isn't quite Ice Warrior-y enough. Ultimately, Red Dawn is a good story deserving of a B.
The Land of the Dead | Red Dawn | Winter for the Adept
The Main Range - Peri Brown
Whispers of Terror | Red Dawn | The Eye of the Scorpion
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