With a lack of snow but just the
sound effects, Barbara and Ian react brilliantly to the cold. They are rescued
by a large bearded man who at first seems like a nice person. Vasor is a man
who asks Barbara if she fears him and when she says no he then says that he
killed a bear with his hands. The way that Vasor tells Barbara about the
warming of their hands is an odd thing because you would expect Ian and Barbara
to have known that. We discover that Atos has been there before him but when
Ian finds him he discovers that Atos’ hands have been tied together. It’s at
this moment that we all know Vasor’s true colours and how sneaky is really is.
Barbara is left with him and she
does a good job of standing up to him though that only last for so long.
Jacqueline Hill is good in this episode though once she fends off Vasor she doesn’t
really do anything. William Russell gets to be the big hero and leads the group
to find Sabetha and Susan and then to get back to the hut after finding the
micro-key. It’s always fun when William Russell gets to do the sort of things
he does here because he seems to thrive in it. This is the second episode where
there is no Doctor. To be honest I think that due to the introduction of
Sabetha and Atos, the gap that has been left by William Hartnell has been
filled well by Katherine Schofield and Robin Phillips.
It’s 10 minutes before we are
reunited with Sabetha and Susan. I must admit I was missing Susan despite how
backward the character has been in recent weeks. There is a nice sense of a
sisterly relationship between Sabetha and Susan. It’s a bit like Ping-Cho and
Susan in ‘Marco Polo’. Quite amusingly, Susan is the first one that goes over
the newly constructed ‘bridge’. I
thought that this was her strongest episode for a while and Carole Ann Ford is
very good as a result.
The sets in the Ice Caves are
quite good. I’ve been a bit disappointed with the sets in recent episodes and
this is the first time in a while that I have been impressed with what I have seen
on screen. It seems like a vast area and not just a couple of sets knocked up
together.
When they do find the key it turn
out that it’s in a block of ice and it becomes a group task to try and melt the
ice. It’s just a matter of waiting for the ice to melt and then they can try
and get over. There is a ‘threat’ which are the four figures guarding the ice
and they aren’t particularly noticed by the characters. The ‘guards’ that are
standing by the block of ice try their best to stay absolutely still but don’t quite
manage it. I cant quite believe that they are very dangerous even when they are
breaking their way into Vasor’s hut I don’t think that there is anything to
them. Vassor gets the cumupance that he deserves when he seems to die of fear. It’s a good way to tie up the loose ends. He
was well played by Francis De Wolff who plays it just right between sinister
and slightly clichéd.
The cliffhanger is the best one
of the story so far. They all jump but we only see Ian who after discovering a
body on the floor gets knocked out before the micro-key is taken out of an
alarmed cabinet. There is a certain mystery about who the person was on the
floor and who is the person that has knocked Ian out and took the micro-key. It’s
a good episode with plenty of interesting things going to and I didn’t find
myself bored at any point during the episode, largely due to Vasor who I found
to be an entertaining character (much in the same way as Tegana did in Marco
Polo). I think that the cliffhanger shows that the final two episodes are going
to be interesting and the return of the Doctor is imminent. 
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