Holistic Review: The plot is about as thin as the Martian atmosphere, but it's consistently entertaining while providing insight into Ice Warrior culture.
In the week leading up to Empress of Mars, I learned two tidbits about the story: from the DWM 513 cover, the design of the Martian Queen Empress, and from an official Doctor Who Facebook post, that the premise involved Victorians on Mars. Regarding the second one, I thought, hmm. Is that a detail that they really want to leak? In my experience, some story concepts make you cringe, some make you curious, and some captivate you. For me, the idea of Victorians on Mars fell into the middle category; while I like all the components, it felt like a B-movie concept that could go very wrong very quickly.
So how silly am I? Why did I not have total unshakeable faith in Mark Gatiss? Naturally, his explanation for why there were Victorians on Mars turned out to be perfectly justified. These Victorian soldiers haven't magically discovered how to travel to Mars, or been whooshed there by accident; they were ferried there, by the Ice Warrior whose ship they discovered in the veldt, which hints at a rather fascinating mini-adventure to which we're not privy.
The plot itself is, well, rather straightforward and simple: British soldiers manage to waken a hibernating Ice Warrior queen, she raises an army to attack them, and ultimately the conflict is defused. Much of the storyline is devoted to warfare: conflict within the British ranks, the buildup to their confrontation with the Ice Warriors, and the eventual war between the two factions. Having said that, the resolution is more interesting than most, with Catchlove forcing the conflict to come to a head, and Godsacre unexpectedly defusing it by willingly offering his life to Iraxxa. On the upside, when there's not a lot of intricate plot to start with, there's also not much to poke holes in. But on the downside, more plot depth would have been welcome. So, fine, the storyline isn't the shining jewel of Empress of Mars.
What is wonderful — and frankly amazing — is how satisfying the story manages to be, despite the potentially-jarring premise, the lack of a twisty-turny plot, and the high proportion of fight scenes. The biggest factor in its success, I think, is its exploration of Ice Warrior culture. It's sometimes difficult to believe that the Ice Warriors have been a top-ranked Doctor Who monster since 1967, even cracking the Top Three according to some fan traditions, yet they'd only been in four stories until Gatiss reintroduced them in 2013's Cold War. As such, there's always been an absolutely huge gap in our knowledge about them. First and foremost: we've never before seen them in their home element, on Mars, even though several stories (like Pyramids of Mars and The Waters of Mars) have been set on the Red Planet in the interim. (Mind you, we still haven't really seen them on their home turf; even in this story, the Martian empire is long-dead. Wouldn't it be fun someday to see them at the height of Martian civilization? That's one of the wonderful things about Doctor Who; it's one of the few television shows where travelling back in time to see a historically-important empire at different points in its civilization is feasible, and one of the only shows where it can be done if that empire is not from Earth.) So an Ice Warrior story set on Mars feels like a long-overdue, and very welcome, setup. Second: we know from the Peladon stories that, even after Mars ceased to be a viable home for the Ice Warriors, the Ice Warriors established at least one thriving extraterrestrial colony that became part of the Galactic Federation. But there's always been an enormous unexplained gap explaining how they got from Mars to the Federation, which Empress of Mars finally begins to fill in. Now I'm curious to know, to where do they relocate?
Personally, the Ice Warriors were never one of my top favorite monsters, but I can't deny that it's good to see them again. Even during their classic-series appearances, they were one of Doctor Who's real success stories in creating a proper nuanced alien race that feels genuine, as if it's made up of individuals rather than being monolithic. That's become much more popular of late, even being retroactively applied to alien races like the Zygons, but the Ice Warriors blazed that trail back in 1972. Empress of Mars does a good job portraying both aspects of their nature. The Doctor refers to it explicitly ("They could slaughter whole civilizations, yet weep at the crushing of a flower."), and we see that dichotomy in both of the primary Martian characters.
Friday (Richard Ashton) — whose name I initially misheard as "Freddy", hee — is at first portrayed as a powerful, implacable threat as he marches solidly toward the Doctor, but soon turns out to be (mostly) on the side of the humans. He seems fairly content to collect their dishes while he waits for them to awaken his queen from her slumber, although of course plantation owners at the time would have said the same thing about their slaves, so I hesitate to make such a claim. Certainly he's a tragic figure, resigned but morose at the loss of his people and his world — his sigh of hopelessness when the Doctor asks why he's come back is moving — so it's understandable that he would be willing to manipulate his human rescuers into resurrecting his race. Though he claims allegiance to the Empress over the humans, he continues to intercede on their behalf, even going so far as to rescue the Doctor and Godsacre during Iraxxa's attack. I liked Ashton's delivery of "It was necessary to dissemble, Majesty!"
But it's Adele Lynch's performance as Iraxxa, the titular Queen Empress of Mars, that really makes the story pop. I was strongly reminded of Sarah Parish's vampy performance as the Racnoss Queen; like Parish, Lynch's performance is heightened to the point that you can't take her eyes off her whenever she's onscreen, but it's never so over-the-top that you can't take her seriously, perhaps because Iraxxa's primary character trait is aggression. (HA! I meant of course that you can't take your eyes off her; just call me Billy.) I'm also personally very thankful that Lynch's Iraxxa retains the traditional Ice Warrior habit of hissing her syllables, on delightful lines like "Perhapssssss. But thissss isssss war." (And did anyone else notice her hot-pink tongue? A nice touch!) Every single line that Lynch hisses is quotable, but I'll single out "Speak!", "We are both surrounded by noisy males. I would value your opinion.", "Your request does you credit, soldier. It will be considered.", and several others below.
Initially, it looks as though the human soldier with whom Iraxxa has the most in common is Catchlove: both are aggressive, warlike, not likely to back down from a threat, and believe themselves entitled to rule. But Godsacre manages to bring out Iraxxa's softer side; his honesty is a good match for her sense of honor, and his willingness to lay down his life to protect his men apparently touches her, and forges a friendship out of their adversarial relationship. And this is the second way in which Empress of Mars exceeds the limitations of its plot: by including a variety of human and Martian characters that, for the most part, are layered and interesting.
Colonel Godsacre (Anthony Calf), a former deserter who still seems to doubt whether he deserves his command, is nevertheless a compassionate man who tries to do the right thing and seems determined to work toward peace. He's so overshadowed by Catchlove, who runs roughshod over him, that the character barely even makes an impression until his imprisonment with the Doctor and Bill, at which point he's given some very sympathetic dialogue and comes into his own as a well-rounded character. Calf's performance, as a haunted but sympathetic soldier, is touching. Loved his delivery of "Down, put your gun down! Halt!", "N- no, n- no, no no no no, no, it's, it's just such a fanciful notion. A woman in the police force! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.", and "Oh, erm, pfff, cowardice, simple cowardice."
Captain Neville Catchlove (Ferdinand Kingsley) is the script's third plummy guest role, and Kingsley tries his hardest to steal the show right out from under Lynch! When we first meet Catchlove, he seems like a friendly jolly fellow, and his absent-minded habit of brushing his hair out of his eyes gives the impression that he's rakish and charming. In subsequent scenes, he takes control of the situation effortlessly, commanding the attention of both the viewers and the soldiers... until we suddenly learn that he's not in charge of the expedition, which came as a complete surprise to me. It then becomes clear — as he wades right into delicate situations even when the colonel is present — that Catchlove believes he should be in charge, and chafes under Godsacre's command, partly because he resents Godsacre for being a deserter and partly, it would seem, because he feels a natural superiority to the others. Certainly he values his own life ahead of others, as demonstrated by the indefensible way he hurls poor Vincey into harm's way in order to save his own skin, and later plans to abandon "his" men on Mars in order to escape. The power play between hothead Catchlove and shame-filled Godsacre makes for interesting and naturally-arising personality clashes. Catchlove holds some pretty extreme views — he's the living embodiment of imperialism, believing the British forces to be entitled to control of Mars — and brooks no dissent, and the next time he "rakishly" brushes his hair out of his eyes, after ordering Godsacre to be stripped of command, it comes across as cruel and calculating. It's just a stellar performance. Among Kingsley's great line deliveries: "But there's nothing here. Whole show's been a ruddy washout.", "While you were fighting for Queen and country, the colonel here was dancing the Newgate polka.", and "They tried to hang him, but they bungled it!" I think the two lines that impressed me the most — because Kingsley finds ways to deliver them counter to expectations, emphasizing Catchlove's disarmingly friendly veneer while still hinting at the rage underneath — are "I think not, Doctor. This is a military matter." and "Oh, and for the last time, get these wretched people out of my sight."
Sergeant Major Peach (Glenn Speers) and his subordinate Jackdaw (Ian Beattie) aren't given a great deal of material, though Peach is obviously the responsible, ethical one of the two, whereas Jackdaw is greedy and looks out only for himself. I liked Speers' delivery of "Much obliged, I'm sure, Jackdaw.", and Beattie's of "Go on, be a sport!"
Vincey (Bayo Gbadamosi) seems like a sweet, naïve kid, and among the British forces he's clearly our main audience-identification character. I find myself shocked, though, that Vincey would even consider helping Jackdaw, who makes it abundantly clear that he's planning to make off with the Martian riches in Friday's repaired spacecraft, abandoning the rest of his team on Mars: "He'll be as right as ninepence come dawn, but by then, I'll be gone," Jackdaw crows, followed by, "Jackdaw's going home, but this time, he'll be minted!" Jackdaw does later assure Vincey that he'll receive a cut, but unless the two of them are planning a joint escape, which doesn't seem to be the case since Vincey is only just hearing about it, I don't see how that's possible. It's a huge stretch to swallow the idea that innocent kindhearted Vincey would escape with Jackdaw at all, but almost impossible to believe that he'd help Jackdaw escape at his own expense. Poor guy, I figured he was doomed the moment that he went along with Jackdaw's plan — Voyage of the Damned notwithstanding, that's how these things usually work — but it was still hard to watch such a nice character meet such an awful death. Gbadamosi gives an extremely likeable performance in the part; love the look on his face when the sergeant-general is, for lack of a better word, sonically emballed.
When Bill first meets Catchlove, I was rather surprised by his disarmingly friendly response, without even the slightest whiff of racism. This, frankly, was not the reception I was expecting Bill to receive from Queen Victoria's soldiers, and I was all set to whip out my Pen of Criticism. It later transpires, though, that Vincey too is black, and seems to get along handsomely with everyone in their fighting force, which presumably explains why nobody is startled by Bill's skin color, and why their treatment of her is so unexpectedly egalitarian. So as far as the story's internal consistency goes, it works, and it's a deft way to avoid the need for yet another "racism is bad" scene.
However.
If we're going to have a black companion — which we absolutely must — then why should we avoid "racism is bad" scenes? Don't we have a responsibility to tell Bill's story as accurately as possible? My feeling is: so what if it feels unoriginal, from a scripting POV, for Bill to be snubbed by every white person she meets in the past? Realistically, depending on the setting, we should have at least one scene along those lines in nearly every historical story, because that was the reality of life in most Western societies. The annoyance of people who don't want to put up with anti-racism scenes is small potatoes when compared to the actual suffering that non-white people endured in these times and places, or for that matter in some places even today. And isn't this the very reason why Doctor Who should tackle these issues head-on and unapologetically? I fear that, with all the best will in the world, the production team may be inadvertently stumbling into a minefield, if these Doctor Who historicals inadvertently imply "see, racism wasn't as prevalent or as severe as people today think it was." I love the message of diversity and positivity that they're trying to portray, and I want Bill's time-travel to be a happy, hopeful experience for her and especially for black children who look up to her as a role model, but real life just wasn't that simple. I admit, when we first saw Vincey, my first reaction was querulous doubt: did Queen Victoria really allow black men in her military? Mark Gatiss says no: he evidently researched this very issue and learned that in all of Victoria's military, there was only one black soldier. Still, the problem isn't whether it's historically inaccurate for Vincey to be a member of Queen Victoria's military and adored by his fellow soldiers, but that in pursuit of the very laudable goal of diverse casting (for which I myself have been repeatedly lauding this season), the Doctor Who team run the risk of sanitizing history. So I appreciate Mark Gatiss gently raising this point with the production team, though ultimately they chose not to act on his concerns. If the production team's reasoning is that they don't want to be constantly rehashing the issue of racism in every historical script, I do completely sympathize. It's difficult to be original when you have to keep writing the same scene over and over again, as we've seen when every new companion has to be introduced to the TARDIS in a slightly different way to anyone before them. (And yet, the series has managed to do just that.) But just because something is difficult doesn't mean it shouldn't be attempted. More importantly, I can't help but think that the only people who would be irritated by Bill constantly battling racism in historical stories are the same people who have never had to worry about racism themselves. The kind of people who are bored or offended by any mention of racism, or who deny its existence altogether. (And I daresay there's probably some overlap with the people who are annoyed that Bill's sexuality is being "constantly" referenced, notwithstanding Rose and Mickey, Donna and her man hunger, Amy and Rory, and River's flirting with the Doctor.) And now I will step off, and back slowly away from, my soapbox!
Empress of Mars may not be Bill's finest hour, but she definitely holds her own: she deduces from the fire that the Martian tunnel must have oxygen, she saves Friday's life by rushing to Gargantua and spoiling Catchlove's aim, and she confidently agrees to provide the Doctor with a distraction (and then she does quite a good job of it, too, getting the Empress to listen to her and start up a dialogue). When she offers the queen advice, Bill comes across as guileless and therefore utterly trustworthy. Bill's familiarity with sci-fi movies has returned all of a sudden, as she references The Terminator and The Thing in rapid succession. On one hand, it feels like Gatiss has read an old character bio that everyone else has already moved on from, but I'm really glad he did. I liked that aspect of Bill's character, and I've been sad that it was dropped so abruptly. Plus it leads to some great deliveries: check out the unexpected way Mackie pitches "You'd like it. It's got killer robots." and "It's a movie. You'd like that one too. Everybody dies." (ha!) And the Doctor's Frozen gag, at the episode's climax, is a cute payoff. I also loved Bill's confident face as she marches forward to speak to the Empress. And yet again we have a fun hairstyle to admire; love the braided ponytail!
Though Mackie doesn't have as many moments to shine, it's a great story for Capaldi. Empress of Mars shows off the twelfth Doctor's more lighthearted side, and Gatiss appears to know exactly what kind of humor suits his Doctor. But he also gives Capaldi some very Doctorly moments, as he's the only person standing in the way of all-out war on Mars, and it's up to him to broker a peace. I really appreciate that the Doctor sees both sides of both sides, so to speak. Like the Ice Warriors, the British forces are a combination of good (caring men who want to help Friday get home) and bad (imperialist conquerors). As he points out, "I'm trying to save their lives. Let's face it, in this scenario, the humans are the invaders. On the other hand, the Ice Warriors have vastly superior armaments which will wipe the humans out. So what am I supposed to do?" It's a nice little dilemma and I like that the Doctor approaches it cautiously and with an open mind. Loved Capaldi's reaction to the psychic paper ("Is it? Oh, yes, that's right."), "That was... that sounds... that sounds... quite, it's, that sounds, yes, that's right.", "Is he now.", the look on the Doctor's face as he desperately shushes Catchlove, "Are you all right?", and "Oh, Your Majesty! I wouldn't do that if I were you!"
I have to admit, I was secretly pleased when the TARDIS whisked Nardole away from the action, leaving the Doctor and Bill to carry the story between them. This also presents Nardole with a moral quandary: leave Missy in the vault and strand the Doctor and Bill on Mars, or release her in the hopes that she'll help him rescue them? Bucking his stern-house-mother persona, Nardole prioritizes his friends and chooses the second option... and, perhaps even more surprisingly, Missy agrees to help. As a result of his accidental abduction, Nardole has a dimished presence in this story, but when he's onscreen, he's great. I like that Nardole is confident enough in his deduction that fire = oxygen that he doesn't even announce to the Doctor that he's removing his helmet.
Missy — or, as Nardole rather cutely calls her, "Miss" — yet again reinforces my impression that her determined attempt at remorse is sincere. Freed from the vault, does Missy garotte Nardole and make off with the Doctor's TARDIS? No: she does exactly as promised, delivering Nardole to Mars to rescue the Doctor and Bill, and when the Doctor insists that she's got to go straight back in the vault, she quietly acquiesces, sounding slightly hurt that the Doctor jumps immediately to outraged scolding without even acknowledging her selfless actions. Can I hope that next week's episode interrupts the TARDIS' journey back to Earth, so that Missy is along for the ride as a pseudo-companion? I would REALLY LIKE THAT. I mean, only fair that Rona Munro should get to write for the Master again, don't you think? Also loved Gomez' delivery of "Sure. That's fine."
"Are you receiving us?" asks a high-pitched voice. "Mars? Are you receiving?" And I thought, that voice sounds rather familiar. Could it be... the Bandrils??? (What a bizarre first guess. I think the appearance of the viewing monitor is what primed me to first consider the possibility of sock puppets.) Thankfully, it suddenly clicked on the next line ("Ahh, excellent!") and I spent the next few seconds excitedly awaiting confirmation. How delightful is it to see Alpha Centauri again? I can no longer complain about the non-inclusion of any "new" classic series monsters, since we've at least had cameos by the Movellans and Alpha Centauri this season. What floored me was when I learned that they'd managed to tempt Ysanne Churchman out of retirement to voice the character again! How thrilling is that! I'm so tickled that she agreed, and so glad that we can welcome her back to the Doctor Who fold.
I'm of a divided mind about the episode's teaser, which gives us a glimpse at modern-day NASA before the remainder of the story relocates to Victorian-era Mars. I certainly wasn't expecting NASA as a setting, and in a story already promising me Victorians on Mars, the number of competing ideas threatened to tip me into overload. Thankfully NASA is only used to set up how the Doctor discovers the anomaly on Mars, and the reveal of "God Save the Queen" written with rocks under the Martian permafrost is definitely a striking image, though again, not one that made me eager to find out the backstory. Gatiss quickly rescues the countdown scene, which initially looks to be yawnsomely boring, when the Doctor suddenly appears out of nowhere, chiming in with the countdown as it reaches 5. But then it turns out to be a rather odd scene for the Doctor and Bill; while I appreciate that they feel they can just stroll into a situation and take control, their attitude seems too smug. It's dangerously close to the overly self-satisfied partnership of the tenth Doctor and Rose, or the twelfth Doctor and Clara. Thankfully, it only lasts for a line or two! I know that Moffat adores the twist at the end of this teaser, but I really wish Gatiss had just eliminated it altogether, and had the TARDIS arrive on Mars by pure crazy random happenstance.
I don't have too much to say about Knibbs (Ian Hughes) or Coolidge (Lesley Ewen), who are only in the teaser but do a nice job with their characters. (Though my gut tells me that Hughes' accent slips on the line "...uses a different spectrum to see under the poles".)
This week, maybe thanks to the exotic setting and the imposing Ice Warriors, I found Wayne Yip's direction to be stylish. He does a superb job framing the Ice Warriors as powerful and dominating, especially Iraxxa. I loved the shot panning down from the crystalline chandelier as Jackdaw tries to pry crystals off Iraxxa's bier, Friday turning as he detects the Empress awakening, the dramatic shot of the Ice Warrior hive lighting up around the Empress' crystalline chamber, Catchlove falling over dead, and the lift door closing on the sight of Bill smiling as Godsacre kneels before Iraxxa... and I was grateful that Yip didn't make us watch poor Vincey's death (it's heartbreaking enough to watch in shadow!).
All the effects of the Martian surface are stunning; I particularly love the seamless shots with mountains visible in the background. Other great effects include the TARDIS hurtling toward Mars, and the gilding starting to flake off the supine Ice Queen. The Victorian diving suit is a superb design, despite only being seen onscreen for a moment; I particularly loved the little phonograph-style speaker horn mounted above its left ear. The Ice Warrior makeup is superb, as is their armour, including Iraxxa's glittering dreads (even if I'm not sure what function, if any, they serve), and I like the rattling noise that accompanies their presence.
Along with Iraxxa's elongated sibilants, I was also thrilled that Empress of Mars retains the Ice Warriors' wrist-mounted sonic weapons. Their new effect, though, is far more blood-curdling than the original, as they reduce human beings to a compressed, twisted ball of flesh and bone. The effect of the soldiers' bodies being mangled, and thumping to the ground, is memorable: as deaths go, this one looks horrifically painful.
The Martian cave sets are great, especially Iraxxa's chamber with its illuminated hibernation pods behind the walls. Funnily enough, just as I was thinking that the dirt didn't seem all that red, up burrows an Ice Warrior coated in reddish dust. Very nicely done! The Gargantua, too, has a neat design, almost Art Deco.
I would like to give Murray Gold a standing ovation, because Empress of Mars marks one of his best scores for the series. Clearly Gatiss' inspiration was equally inspiring for Gold, because this score is brilliant. Impressively, it manages to evoke both Pertwee serials of the 1970s — Dudley Simpson's highly original score for The Sea Devils is what leaps most to mind — and the film Mars Attacks, both of which are terribly appropriate references. This incidental music begins to imbue the score when the Gargantua blasts through to the Empress' chamber, but it really kicks into gear as Jackdaw advances on the sarcophagus.
Minor points:
Doctor: "That is such a human-centric question."
Bill: "I'm the human in this setup."
Nardole: "She is, actually. A bit embarrassing really."
Doctor: "It's... I'm sure it's only a temporary thing, you know, but it means that for the time being, we're... ahem... stuck here, on... Mars. You were saying, Colonel?"
Iraxxa: "You ask for mercy for these creatures."
Doctor: "Indeed."
Iraxxa: "Then I grant it."
Doctor: "Thank you."
Iraxxa: "They will die quickly."
Bill: "Listen! Yeah? I'm gonna make allowances for your Victorian attitudes because... well, you actually are Victorian. But, but, but anyway, is it true? You deserted? Why?"
Iraxxa: "Sleep No More, my warriors! Sleep No More! It is time!"
Iraxxa: "You will die with honor, with bravery, and in the service of those you swore to protect."
Godsacre: "Thank you. You don't know what that means. Thank you."
Missy: "But Doctor, please, tell me... really. Are you all right?"
A rather lovely prequel to the Peladon stories, and a rare example of an alien historical, Empress of Mars could use a little more plot depth, but its engaging characters and affection for the past make it entertaining viewing.