Blastr is running an unconfirmed report from The Daily Star that classic Doctor Who aliens the Ice Warriors will be making their reappearance in 2013, in one of the first episodes with the Doctor’s new companion Clara. The Ice Warriors were last seen in the serial “The Monster of Peladon” in 1974.

(Ice Warriors in “The Monster of Peladon” with Jon Pertwee’s Third Doctor, some ladies in purple, and a, um, giant eyeball in a cape.)

It’s always exciting when new Who brings back a classic alien species because it’s a link to the original series, and that’s always fun for longtime fans like myself. But let’s face it, when you’ve reached the Ice Warriors you’re kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel. They’re hardly top tier villains like the Daleks, Cybermen, or the Master. They’re not even second-tier like the Sontarans or Silurians. They’re third-tier at best. Hell, in “The Monster of Peladon” they weren’t even baddies anymore, having renounced their warlike ways and joined the Galactic Federation (thanks, Star Trek!). But they did appear on classic Who in six separate serials (that’s two more than the Sontarans ever did, and four more than the Silurians!) so despite being kind of boring, I’d say they’ve paid their dues enough to earn their place in the new Who.

Plus, we all knew it was only a matter of time anyway after David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor made an oblique reference to them in 2009′s “The Waters of Mars,” and in the end they’re a far better choice than, say, the Yeti, which had also been rumored to make a reappearance.

Though any time they want to bring back those Raston Warrior Robots from “The Five Doctors,” I’m game!

Originally published at Nicholas Kaufmann. You can comment here or there.