Trivia / Doctor Who S33 E8 "Cold War"

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• Awesome, Dear Boy: David Warner approached Mark Gatiss about a possible role in the series.
• Completely Different Title: The French title is "Destruction mutuelle assurée" (Mutually Assured Destruction).
• Fake Russian: All the Soviets are played by non-Russian actors.
• Serendipity Writes the Plot: The physical Ice Warrior prop they had made was too small, hence the small screen time and CGI being used instead.
• What Could Have Been:
  • In an early draft, Professor Grisenko was a villain.
  • The Ice Warrior Skaldak originally had a more complex motivation. A time traveller from the 31st century, he wanted to start a nuclear war that would wipe out humanity, thus preventing mankind’s control of Mars in his century. He also could mind-control Clara (then written as the Governess Beryl). Skaldak would eventually be killed by one of the Russians, and the remaining crew would escape to a British sub, called the Redoubt.
  • Several of the character names evolved during the adventure's development: the lieutenant was originally Tsarsko instead of Stepashin; the name Stepashin was earlier applied to the political officer (later Belevich); and Serovian, not Onegin, was the navigator.
• You Sound Familiar:
  • Professor Grisenko is played by David Warner, who played the Doctor in two What If? audio stories: "Sympathy For The Devil" (also starring Mark Gatiss as the Master) and "Masters Of War". David Warner also played a professor in the Big Finish Doctor Who Ice Warriors episode "Deimos". His voice can also be heard as the Big Bad in the animated Doctor Who serial "Dreamland".
  • Nicholas Briggs adds another Doctor Who monster voice to his CV, having already voiced the Ice Warriors on audio since 2007.

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