Cold War (Doctor Who)

234 – "Cold War"
Doctor Who episode
Promotional poster
Cast
Doctor Matt Smith – Eleventh Doctor
Companion Jenna-Louise Coleman – Clara Oswald
Guest Liam Cunningham – Captain Zhukov David Warner – Professor Grisenko Tobias Menzies – Lieutenant Stepashin Josh O'Connor – Piotr James Norton – Onegin Charlie Anson – Belevich Spencer Wilding – Skaldak Nicholas Briggs – Voice of Skaldak
Production
Directed by	Douglas Mackinnon
Written by	Mark Gatiss
Produced by	Marcus Wilson
Executive producer(s)	Steven Moffat Caroline Skinner
Music by	Murray Gold
Series	Series 7
Running time	41 minutes
First broadcast	13 April 2013 (2013-04-13)
Chronology
← Preceded by "The Rings of Akhaten" Followed by → "Hide"
List of episodes (2005–present)

"Cold War" is the eighth episode of the seventh series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It first aired on BBC One on 13 April 2013, and was written by Mark Gatiss and directed by Douglas Mackinnon.

In the episode, alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his companion Clara Oswald (Jenna-Louise Coleman) land on a Soviet submarine in 1983 during the Cold War, where the Ice Warrior Grand Marshal Skaldak breaks loose and plots revenge against humanity.

"Cold War" reintroduces the Ice Warriors, who were last seen in the Third Doctor serial The Monster of Peladon (1974). Bringing back the monsters was Gatiss' idea, and he convinced executive producer Steven Moffat by coming up with new things to do with them. The Ice Warriors' costume was improved but not significantly redesigned, as the production team felt they were not well known enough. The episode was filmed in June 2012 on a submarine set, as the story is a closed "base-under-siege". "Cold War" was watched by 7.37 million viewers and received generally positive reviews from critics.