Before transmat, there was Travel-Mat (R)
The Seeds of Death is the only Ice Warrior story that does much for me. It’s not like it’s amazing; it’s cordial, full of your lovely moments with the regular cast, and graced with a mix of halfway interesting ideas and uncommonly good acting and direction.
There is, for instance, the fellow up on the station — the spineless one, whose name I forget. The actor is handed a fairly one-dimensional role, yet he manages to inject an extraordinary amount of psychology into it. One tends to feel sympathy for him, until the plot demands he do or say something irredeemable. The result is nearly a Baltar-like character — you want to understand him, and his weakness, yet despite his guilt and fear it seems he really isn’t a good person. It’s a shame the script isn’t as smart about the character as the actor is.
Generally, that’s the kind of objection I have with this story. The world painted in this story is thoughtful, imaginative, and well-realized; there’s just a bit much of it, and for the time they’re given, the ideas and characters never really develop or go to much end besides driving the plot. It’s not a big deal, but there it is.
So it’s fine. Inconsequential yet cozy. The cleaned-up picture is also gorgeous. The most negative reply I can come up with is a shrug.