Break the Ice

The Ninth Doctor Adventures Series 2 #2.3

Released: 17 August 2022

Listened: 10/11/22

Speaking of things the Ninth Doctor didn’t get, among them are a Christmas special, and a chance to fight an old god. So Tim Foley serves up both of those things in this story set on a space station orbiting Venus. The crew are doing cryo-suspension research, and it turns out that when you get down to absolute zero, one of the gods of winter can come through. Which gets a bit of fairy tale in what is almost exclusively a sci-fi story. Jack Frost is played by Pip Torrens with obvious relish, sounding every bit as entitled and mischievous as you would expect from a “Jack Frost,” not as much the booming, echoey elder god. Thalissa Teixeira is the companion-substitute, Dr. Lenny Fisk, who’s smart and trusts the Doctor as good companions should, but also suffers from anxiety that leaves her paralyzed at certain points in the story. It’s interesting to see mental illness treated the same as other more recent characters with physical issues, like Ryan or Hebe. It’s a thing, we cope, we get the job done. The ending is a little bit squishy, but what else would you expect from a Christmas special?