Empress of Mars
- Episode aired Jun 10, 2017
- TV-PG
- 43m
The Doctor, Bill and Nardole discover a tomb of the Queen of the Ice Warriors on Mars in 1881.The Doctor, Bill and Nardole discover a tomb of the Queen of the Ice Warriors on Mars in 1881.The Doctor, Bill and Nardole discover a tomb of the Queen of the Ice Warriors on Mars in 1881.
- Soilder
- (uncredited)
- Soldier
- (uncredited)
- Ice Warrior
- (uncredited)
- NASA Scientist
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe picture of Queen Victoria is a still of Pauline Collins in character from Tooth and Claw (2006).
- GoofsWhen The Doctor tells the Ice Warrior to halt, his arm is extended straight in front of him, but in the reverse shot it is bent at the elbow.
- Quotes
The Doctor: Do you need a hand with the dishes? We're really very good, aren't we, Bill?
Bill: Yeah.
Friday: Friday does not require help.
Bill: [stepping up] Happy to. Honestly. Though, uh, he's better at dryin'.
[the Doctor joins her, together displacing Friday from his task]
The Doctor: Yes. Don't like the soapy water; makes the fingers go all crinkly. Nice to be home, I bet. Of course, it would be better if they'd, uh, 'killed the fatted calf,' so to speak.
[Friday turns and starts walking away]
The Doctor: Rolled out the red-planet carpet. Then you're the last of your kind, aren't you, according the the Colonel.
[Friday stops, looks back]
The Doctor: So no one left to do the rolling.
Friday: I *am* the last.
[Friday looks away, but the Doctor presses on]
The Doctor: How can you be sure?
Friday: [turns to face them] There was a war. A great and terrible war. Friday saw much blood. Now all is gone. My world is dead.
The Doctor: [as Friday turns away] But-but while you were asleep, on your ship, in stasis. Maybe there *are* others.
Friday: [turns back again] Friday would... feel... the presence of others. Friday is alone.
The Doctor: [walks up to his face] Why'd you call yourself that? What's your real name? An Ice Warrior would never let these humans patronise him without a reason. You're helping the pig. For what?
Friday: Mars still has many riches.
The Doctor: [walking away, clearly sceptical] Which you are happy to share.
Friday: Why should not others benefit instead?
[Friday walks away]
Bill: Maybe he's telling the truth.
The Doctor: Maybe.
Bill: Wha', can't we give him the benefit of the doubt? I mean, just because he's a big green monster...
The Doctor: You think I'm taking sides? I'm not taking sides. The universe is too complicated, far too nuanced. Things are never quite black and white. There are individual aliens just as there are individual humans. Different languages, accents, politics. Different times, different... loyalties.
- ConnectionsReferences The Vikings (1958)
I was looking forward to this episode mainly down to last weeks trailer. A unit of British redcoats taking on Ice Warriors. Looked great but I did have reservations. DOCTOR WHO meets ZULU ! Too good to be true and it's highly unlikely we're going to see an up and coming working class actor from London coming out with "Stop firing these sonic lazers at me" There's also the expectation that there will be a large amount of grief whoring on the part of the BBC where an on screen apology for the British Empire will be given out at every opportunity
!!!! MILD SPOILERS !!!!
To be fair to Mark Gattiss he really knows what a lot of fans like . Scary bulletproof monsters in a fight to the death with human soldiers . For some of us this is what we grew up with from the show. One great thing this story brings to DOCTOR WHO folklore is the new Ice Warrior sonic gun which crumples its victims in to a ball. Much better than what could be achieved by the effects team in the 1960s and 70s. It's also a very nice surprise to see the story end with a cameo from a long forgotten character voiced by the original actress
The problem is despite Empress Of Mars being traditional and enjoyable it still could have been better. Plot holes are evident such the commanding officer being revealed to have been hung for desertion but for some reason still remains a serving officer. It's more incomprehensible when another character claims he's the only one who knows about the execution. Wouldn't this execution go through a chain of command ? There's also a large element of telling instead of showing. Similar themed stories from the 1970s were infinitely better at this because they had more time to develop and this would have worked better as a two part story , especially compared to the preceding three weeks of nothing we had with the Monks. Finally there's an element of hypocritical politics where it's pointed out it'd be impossible for a woman to be in the police force but apparently mixed marriages were common enough in 1881 Britain that no one would blink an eyelid
In summary this is one of the better episodes of the season but as with so much of the Capaldi era there's a strong feeling it cold have been a bit better
- Theo Robertson
- Jun 11, 2017
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Filming locations
- Redcliffe Caves, Redcliffe Parade, Bristol, England, UK(Tunnels where TARDIS lands)
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime43 minutes
- Color