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| The Doctor and Bill are waited on by an Ice Warrior at a Victorian tea party on Mars. |
After NASA finds a message on Mars reading "GOD SAVE THE QUEEN", the Doctor, Bill and Nardole head to the Red Planet in 1881 to investigate. There they find Colonel Godsacre and his Victorian soldiers, as well as their pet Ice Warrior in search of his queen.
Mark Gatiss is a regular contributor to Modern Who, writing 'The Unquiet Dead', 'The Idiot's Lantern', 'Victory of the Daleks', 'Cold War', 'The Crimson Horror', 'Robot of Sherwood' and, most recently, the much-maligned 'Sleep No More'. None of these are exactly classics and are, at best, divisive (with the possible exception of his first episode). He intended to write a sequel to 'Sleep No More', but (fortunately) he instead wrote another Ice Warrior episode. Was it any better than his last?
Spoiler Zone
The episode
With limited sets, the crew being separated from the TARDIS and the Doctor trying to unite two opposing sides, this episode shares a lot in common with Classic Who stories such as 'The Silurians' or 'Warriors of the Deep'. The Doctor as a peacemaker certainly echoes earlier Doctors such as Jon Pertwee or a less-bumbling Patrick Troughton. Bill is similarly in the role of a classic companion (minus the screams), largely taking a backseat but asking the usual questions. This isn't always a bad thing considering her large role in 'The Lie of the Land'. Nardole is rather gingerly removed from the episode. Was that necessary? Couldn't the Doctor and Bill have landed on Mars without him? It seems to have been done just to bring Missy in for the briefest of scenes.
Considering the Ice Warriors are an iconic Doctor Who villain (behind the Daleks and the Cybermen, of course) they've made very few appearances. Mark Gatiss makes the most of this by fleshing out the Ice Warriors a bit, giving us a bit of backstory, more of a clue of their hierarchy and weaponry, and leads into 'The Curse of Peladon' with contact between Mars and the Galactic Federation. The Ice Warrior weapons are a new, visually-interesting and gruesome way to die, and the faceless race are given a figurehead in the shape of the Ice Queen Iraxxa, Empress of Mars. She's played as a snarling villain with little subtlety, but shows some depth when she shows her respect for the ashamed coward Colonel Godsacre. Iraxxa's desire for Bill's opinion because she was a fellow woman amongst "noisy males" came across as unnecessary and a clumsy way of getting Bill involved in the negotiations.
The more charismatic villain of the episode is Captain Neville Catchlove. Whilst not a well-rounded character, he is less cartoonishly evil than Lord Sutcliffe of 'Thin Ice' and much more fun to watch. The Victorian soldiers each fulfil a particular trope, but the script and performance means that they feel much more alive than, say, the forgettable colonists of Gliese 581 D or the underdeveloped crew of Chasm Forge. The colloquialisms sometimes come across as a bit forced and awkward, but it's at least an attempt at world-building. It's also a shame that there's no real sense that the soldiers are in much danger. We're told that food is running low and so is morale, but there's no feel of the desperation that no doubt they should be experiencing.
All-in-all, 'Empress of Mars' was a decent episode reminiscent of not only Troughton and Pertwee's run, but also, unfortunately, Matt Smith's. The pre-credits sequence was self-satisfied and unneeded. The scene is far more suited to Eleventh, Amy and Rory, which isn't a good thing.
A good quotation
"That's why you helped him come home. To claim Mars in the name of Queen Victoria, to loot it of its riches, stake a claim. The red planet turned pink."
TARDIS crew and co.
- The Doctor: "The last thing I'm going to do is take sides." The Doctor isn't a hero, just a good man trying to do what's right. Some more conflict about whether he's helping the Ice Warriors or the humans would have been nice; the Doctor mentions that the humans are the invaders here, but this isn't really delivered on. As always, Capaldi is great in the role.
- Bill Potts: "We can stand together." Bill has spent six months on a dystopian Earth and tried to kill the Doctor. Where are the consequences of this? Bill's walking along making pop-culture references as though she didn't shoot the Doctor in last week's episode. We're reminded that she's a fan of science fiction.
- Nardole: "So, er... What did I miss?" An awful lot is the answer. After being a key part of the TARDIS crew since 'Oxygen', Nardole sits this one out.
- Missy: "But, Doctor, please tell me. Really, are you alright?" Missy helps get the TARDIS back to Mars to save the Doctor and Bill, then says she's happy to return to the vault and seems genuinely concerned for the Doctor's welfare. Is she really turning over a new leaf?
Plot holes and continuity
- What were the Doctor, Bill and Nardole doing at NASA?
- Why did the TARDIS disappear? Hostile Action Displacement System? It didn't seem to be in any real danger.
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