"Doctor Who": "Cold War" Trivia Quiz

Answer: A nuclear submarine in 1983

"Cold War" takes place on a nuclear submarine which is stranded under the North Pole with an alien warrior on board. The Doctor confronts an Ice Warrior, one of his former enemies, who has been freed from the ice after 5000 years. 1983 was an extremely tense period of the Cold War, as Ronald Reagan was referring to the Soviet Union as an "Evil Empire." During the 1980s, several computer mishaps came within minutes of starting World War III.

Answer: Mars

As the Doctor notes in a rapid-fire monologue, the Ice Warriors are natives of Mars. Peladon is a planet visited by the third Doctor, where he had several confrontations with the Ice Warriors. Skaro is the home planet of the Daleks. Metebelis 3 was a favorite planet of the third Doctor, where almost everything was blue. When the Doctor says that he and the Ice Warriors go "way, way back" he is telling the truth.

They made their first appearance in the 1967 series "The Ice Warriors." The second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) would fight the Ice Warriors again in "The Seeds of Death" (1969) and "The War Games" (1969).

The third Doctor (John Pertwee) would fight the Ice Warriors in "The Curse of Peladon" (1972) and "The Monster of Peladon" (1974).

Answer: Skaldak

His name, which is repeated constantly throughout the episode, is Skaldak. The Doctor states that Skaldak is one of the greatest military heroes in Martian history. The actor inside the suit was Spencer Wilding. He has been in a wide variety of science fiction films and shows, and "Cold War" marked his third appearance on "Doctor Who." The voice of Skaldak was provided by Nicholas Briggs, who can include voicing Daleks and Cybermen on his lengthy resume. Varga was the leader of the Ice Warriors in "The Ice Warriors." Slaar was a leader of the Ice Warriors in "The Seeds of Death" and Azaxyr is from "The Monster of Peladon."

Answer: David Warner

David Warner plays the Professor, who provides some valuable comic relief in an generally tense episode. Warner began acting in 1963, and has appeared in numerous films. His science fiction credentials include "Star Trek" V and VI, and "Time after Time" (1979), in which he was a time traveling Jack the Ripper. Malcolm McDowell is probably most famous for "A Clockwork Orange" (1971). Sir Patrick Stewart was Jean Luc Picard for seven seasons on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and was Professor Xavier in several "X-Men" films. Sir Ian McKellan played Gandalf the White wizard in all three "Lord of the Rings" films and "The Hobbit" (2012).

Answer: 700 meters

The Doctor instructs the captain on how to maneuver the sub so that it will land on a rocky shelf before it reaches crush depth. The gauge says 700 meters. The submarine manages to get to the surface with the help of a tractor beam from the Ice Warrior spaceship. While submarine crush depths tend to be classified information, Russian Lira class submarines were reputed to be able to dive as deep as 1300 meters. There are points in the Euarasian basin of the Arctic Sea that are over 4000 meters deep, so imploding was a real possibility.

Answer: Captain Zhukov

The captain, who shows the good sense not to shoot the Doctor and Clara, was named Zhukov. He was played by Liam Cunningham, a British character actor who has also appeared on "Game of Thrones."
Alexei Vostrikov was the captain in "K-19: The Widowmaker" (2002), and was played by Harrison Ford. Marko Ramius is the captain in the book and film "The Hunt for Red October." Dmitri Kolesnikov was one of the officers on the Kursk, a Russian submarine which sank in 2000, in one of the worst disasters in Russian naval history.

Answer: Ultravox

Grisenko is a big fan of UltraVox, mentioning them to both the Captain and Clara. Ultravox was active from 1973 to 1987 and had a resurgence from 1992 to 1996. Their biggest hits were "Vienna" and "Dancing with Tears in my Eyes." The band's line up in 1983 was Chris Cross, Warren Cann, Billy Currie and Midge Urie.
Kajagoogoo was active from 1982 to 1985, and began touring again in 2003. The Eurthymics were around from 1980 and 1990 and came back 1999-2005. Wang Chung was active from 1979 to 1990.

Answer: Hungry Like The Wolf

"Hungry Like the Wolf" was a popular hit in March 1983, the rough time the episode "Cold War" is set in. It was released in May 1982, along with "Rio" on the album "Rio." "Hungry Like the Wolf" peaked at number 3 in the US and number 5 in the UK.
"The Reflex" was arguably Duran Duran's biggest hit, reaching number one in both the US and UK charts. "Save A Prayer" reached number two in England.

Answer: The South Pole

After looking at his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor said the TARDIS was at the South Pole. He asked the Russians for a ride. The TARDIS vanished as a result of the Hostile Action Displacement System, which the Doctor restored after years of disuse.
London is a frequent stop for the TARDIS, especially at Christmas. Las Vegas was where the Doctor and Clara were headed before they landed on the submarine. The Doctor's first line of the episode is "Viva Las Vegas."

Answer: Mark Gatiss

Mark Gattis was the author behind "Cold War." This was his sixth script for "Doctor Who." His contributions include "The Unquiet Dead," "The Idiot's Lantern," and "Victory of the Daleks."
Gattiss was also the young Professor Lazarus in "The Lazarus Experiment" and Gantok in "the Wedding of River Song."
Steven Moffat began as Executive Producer for "Doctor Who" in 2009. While he has written many episodes, he was not the writer on this one. Douglas McKinnon was the director; this was his fourth outing directing a "Doctor Who" episode, after "The Sontaram Strategem"/"The Poison Sky" and "The Power of Three." Murray Gold has served as the musical director of "Doctor Who" since 2005, and written most of the music heard in the re-booted series.