Doctor Who Series 10: 7 Big Questions After 'Thin Ice'

4. What Kind Of Alien Messes With The Weather?

Bill assumes that the whale in the Thames is an alien but we never find out where it originated from. In the end the creature’s species doesn’t matter to the story, with the real villain of the piece being the all-too human, Lord Sutcliffe. But might there be something of significance hidden in Bill and the Doctor’s exchange about whether or not the whale was the cause of the exceptional weather conditions?

The Doctor could have answered Bill’s question with some examples from his past. In two classic Patrick Troughton stories, the Cybermen and The Ice Warriors both used devices that could alter the weather, the Graviton and the Weather Control Unit respectively. And in the 1996 TV Movie Eric Roberts’ Master causes extreme weather disturbances when he opens the eye of harmony.

All three foes are set to return later in series 10, but it is the Mondasian Cybermen which are the most intriguing. They originated on Earth’s twin and unlike the parallel Earth Cybermen in the new series were not quite human in the first place. It would link into the question of alien vs terrestrial thrown up in this episode.

Might there also be a reference to the hidden planet when the Doctor is playing with the orrery in Sutcliffe’s office?