Deimos

Eighth Doctor Adventures #4.5

Released: 8 October 2010

Listened: 11/3/21

This story has links all over the place. As a title and a concept, it’s a reference to “Phobos,” the story from Season 1 named after the other moon of Mars. As an Ice Warrior story, it references several other such stories, as the Doctor relies on his familiarity with the Ice Warriors to try to negotiate with them. And it’s got David Warner starring in an Ice Warrior story, three years before “Cold War” on TV. As for the story, this is a sneaky two-parter, so not a lot actually goes on in this one. There’s Ice Warriors threatening a bunch of tourists on Deimos, and the Doctor is trying to get them out of it. For Tamsyn, this is the first time she’s encountering the Doctor’s unique approach to morality, where it’s worth risking the lives of hundreds of people he can’t see in order to save the one person in front of him. Her point of view doesn’t quite match up, and it gives her something to think about. There’s another twist at the very end, much like the previous story, that will catapult you right into the next part.