'Doctor Who' Recap: 'Empress of Mars'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

Sometimes in life, you have to mix things up a little bit, that way you get a change of pace in life and everything doesn't feel quite so mundane. Oddly enough, since entertainment often mirrors life, sometimes our favorite television shows do the same, all in the hopes of giving the audience something new and exciting to enjoy and mixing things up, is precisely what Doctor Who did last night. 

Because after weeks of incredibly cerebral and thoughtful episodes that examined the state of the world and the human condition, last night's story, 'Empress of Mars', harkened back to the simpler days of Doctor Who, bringing back a classic villain in the Ice Warriors and delivering unto us a story that was downright fun. Now this particular tale saw the Doctor, Bill and Nardole head to Mars in 1881 in order to discover how a message reading 'God Save the Queen' made its way onto the surface of the planet near the North Pole and after the TARDIS whisks Nardole back to present day, it's up to the Doctor and Bill to unravel the mystery and what they discover is nothing short of amazing. A small regiment of British soldiers is here on the planet, brought to this world by a weary and confused Ice Warrior they call Friday and the hope for these soldiers is to discover riches untold before they return to Earth. But they are merely pawns when it comes to Friday's master plan...to revive Iraxxa, the Empress of Mars and it is up to the Doctor and Bill to keep the peace between these two war mongering species. 

So as this episode progressed, I couldn't help but notice that there was a particularly special feel to this story, almost as if someone in the Writer's Room asked the question, 'hey, what if we put Peter Capaldi in a Tom Baker episode?' and everyone in the room ran with it. Because everything about this episode looks and feels like an episode from that particular era of the show. The costumes were a touch brighter this week, at least when it came to the soldiers, the performances outside of the Doctor and Bill were a little more over the top just as they were back in the late 1970's and early 1980's on the series and all of these elements and changes made for a fun story that no doubt pleased long term fans of the show by paying respect to the Fourth Doctor and for newer fans of the show, they were introduced to a classic villain in proper fashion because the always angry Ice Warriors didn't mess around in this episode. But while it was cool to see the show relax a bit and have fun with the story, it was also nice to see that the incredibly intelligent writing that's become a staple of series ten was present in this particular tale as well.

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Because this story was more than happy to take us on a trip down memory lane and remind us that mankind's past is filled to the brim with foolish mistakes and embarrassing behaviors, and all of that was presented by way of the Queen's servicemen. After all, these men were incredibly comfortable with viewing Friday and the African gentleman in their regiment as lesser beings and it was strange to see both alien and man be used as servants, and the bravado and brashness that came with these men was equally raw and cringe worthy since these men were obsessed with untold riches, ego and oneupmanship and of course, making sure the British Empire found proper roots on Mars, and while at first this seems like an unnecessary plot device, there was actually a rhyme and a reason for having all of this present in the story. 

After all, Doctor Who is a show that celebrates the best parts of our humanity and it was necessary to show the worst parts of who we are, to remind us that we are capable of great things and that final sequence, when it seems that Iraxxa is going to slaughter everyone that gets in her way, only to have Colonel Godsacre surrender his life and his honor to Queen Iraxxa in the hopes of having his men and the Earth spared...was downright magnificent. It truly spoke to the beauty within mankind and the sense of unity we all share on this tiny little planet we call home and oddly enough, the show did take it's intelligent writing a step further, by ever-so-subtly pointing out that in many ways the Ice Warriors weren't that different from mankind after all since Iraxxa and her kind were equally as ignorant and brash as their human counterparts and it was quite nice to see these two species find some common ground when all is said and done.

If anything, this was simply a refreshing episode of the show. Gone, for the most part, were the deeper elements exploring the Doctor's psyche and health that have been prevalent all season long and I say...for the most part because the end of the story did leave me with quite a few questions revolving around some lingering issues. First and foremost, why did the TARDIS bring Nardole back to present day? Was it to get Missy out of the vault to help him pilot the ship back to 1881, so that she could check on her age old friend? Because when she asks him if he's all right, there's some genuine concern in her voice and well, that begs the question...what's wrong with the Doctor? Time will tell, but one has to wonder if there are some unexpected side effects or long term damage ready to come to the surface following his dealings with the Monks and the events at Chasm Forge. Either way, something is clearly wrong and that could be what leads Twelve...to regeneration. Until next time. 

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