Red Dawn
Doctor:	Fifth Doctor
Companion(s):	Peri Brown
Main enemy:	The Ice Warriors Paul Webster
Main setting:	Mars, the 2000s
Key crew
Publisher:	Big Finish Productions
Writer:	Justin Richards
Director:	Gary Russell
Producer:	Jason Haigh-Ellery and Gary Russell
Release details
Release number:	8
Release date:	May 2000
Format:	4 Episodes on 2 CDs
Production code:	6Q/A
ISBN 1-84435-070-3
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Official trailer

Red Dawn was the first Fifth Doctor and Peri audio story produced by Big Finish Productions and the first audio-based Ice Warrior story. It would be another seven years before the Ice Warriors appeared in a major role in another monthly audio release, AUDIO: Frozen Time.

Publisher's summary Edit

Ares One: NASA's first manned mission to the dead planet Mars. But is Mars as dead as it seems?

While the NASA team investigate an 'anomaly' on the planet's surface, the Doctor and Peri find themselves inside a strange alien building. What is its purpose? And what is frozen inside the blocks of ice that guard the doorways? If the Doctor has a sense of deja-vu, it's because he's about to meet some old adversaries, as well as some new ones...

Plot Edit

Part 1 Edit

The NASA mission Ares One set off for Mars, captained by Commander Lee Forbes. Upon arrival, pilot Susan Roberts is forced to manually land on the planet surface because of the dust storm interfering with the scanning system.

Meanwhile, the Doctor and Peri arrive in the TARDIS on unknown ground. They discover that they are inside some organic building, made of a green substance. They also continue to find — as they walk through endless corridors — ice-pillars, which seem to hold a shape inside them.

After a quick walk across the surface, Commander Forbes discovers what they are looking for and when he embarks the rocket again, he deduces that the communications have gone down. This turns out to be true, and so he and his pilot exit the transport and investigate the green building. They suddenly find the Doctor and Peri who have been wandering for a while.

The Doctor joins forces with the Commander as Susan takes Peri to the rocket for an insulation suit. The Doctor and the Commander discover some sort of ceremonial room and find more ice-moulded pillars, which seem to crack in the warming air. The Doctor realises what is inside each one: Ice Warriors.

Part 2 Edit

to be added

Part 3 Edit

to be added

Part 4 Edit

to be added

Cast Edit

• The Doctor - Peter Davison
• Peri Brown - Nicola Bryant
• Commander Forbes - Robert Jezek
• Susan Roberts - Maureen Oakeley
• Tanya Webster - Georgia Moffett
• Paul Webster - Stephen Fewell
• Commander Zzaal - Matthew Brenher
• Sub Commander Sstast - Hylton Collins
• Razzburr - Gary Russell
• Zizmar - Alistair Lock
• Sskann - Jason Haigh-Ellery

References Edit

• Paul Webster and the Doctor cite the Brookings Report, issued in 1958 upon NASA's inception.

Spacecraft Edit

• The NASA mission is only viable due to the Webster Corporation's funding.
• The NASA spacecraft is called the Argosy.

Mars Edit

• The British missions to Mars are mentioned. However this is the first American Mars mission.
• The 'red dawn' of the story title refers to the ultraviolet radiation that penetrates Mars's atmosphere.
• The Ice Lord Izdaal was the greatest Ice Warrior who ever lived in Martian society. His studies determined that Mars' atmosphere was no longer capable of keeping out radiation from space. This would eventually kill them all. He told the government that their turmoil was not over and with the evidence of sickening children, he declared that their world was no longer sustainable. He was ignored by his people. Lord Izdaal made the ultimate sacrifice. To prove himself right, he elected to step outside and face the Red Dawn, knowing he would die. His death led to his people coming to the same conclusion and they worked to survive, slowly becoming a conqueror race that took what they wanted from others.

Notes Edit

• Georgia Moffett (Tanya Webster) is Peter Davison's daughter. She would later play Jenny in TV: The Doctor's Doctor, Cassie Rice in TV: Dreamland and Alice Ciprion in AUDIO: City of Spires. She married David Tennant on 30 December 2011.
• This story marks the first appearance of the Ice Warriors in an audio drama.
• Stephen Fewell (Paul Webster) is better known for his role as Jason Kane, Bernice Summerfield's ex-husband, in the Big Finish Bernice Summerfield series.
• Matthew Brenher (Commander Zzaal) previously played Visteen Krane in AUDIO: Whispers of Terror and Jude in AUDIO: The Rapture.
• This audio drama was recorded on 20 and 21 November 1999.

Continuity Edit

• During his second incarnation, the Doctor encountered the Ice Warriors for the first time on the Brittanicus Base during an Ice Age in the company of Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield. (TV: The Ice Warriors)
• The British Mars missions mentioned are either from TV: The Ambassadors of Death or PROSE: The Dying Days. An unmanned mission, described as being the UK's first (despite the earlier missions depicted), is featured in TV: The Christmas Invasion.
• In the far future, radio and television broadcasts about the first manned mission to Mars could be accessed via the Gogglebox inside the Moon. (AUDIO: The Reaping, AUDIO: The Gathering)
• The Doctor and Peri would encounter the Ice Warriors again on Peladon in the 41st century (AUDIO: The Bride of Peladon) and, following the former's regeneration into his sixth incarnation, on Magnus in the 24th century (AUDIO: Mission to Magnus).
• The Fifth Doctor would return to Mars in the company of Amy, where they witnessed the destruction of the planet's atmosphere millions of years in the past. (AUDIO: The Judgement of Isskar)
• Following the destruction of Mars' atmosphere, the Ice Warriors fled to Deimos, one of the planet's moons, where they constructed catacombs and placed themselves in suspended animation in the hope of one day either reclaiming Mars or conquering Earth. Millions of years later, after Mars had been colonised by humans, large sections of the catacombs were opened to the public in the museum in the Deimos moonbase in the 23rd century. One of the exhibits in the museum featured a holographic simulation of Lord Izdaal sacrificing his life. (AUDIO: Deimos)

External links Edit

• Official Red Dawn page at bigfinish.com
• Detailed synopsis of Red Dawn at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• DisContinuity for Red Dawn at Tetrapyriarbus - The DisContinuity Guide