Doctor Who 10.9: Empress of Mars

[selenay]

I couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't be counted as a spoiler by someone, so I'm going straight to the cut today.

I usually have issues with Mark Gatiss scripts. They frustrate me. It's not that they're terrible, it's just that there's usually something about them that either irritates me or falls apart on examination, and I get frustrated because I can see how good they *could* be and they just aren't.

I think this may be the first Gatiss episode that I unreservedly love. It had so much excellent stuff in it! So many fun moments, some sad moments, and it managed to veer away from doing any of the annoying Gatiss things. It's a good episode. Hooray!

• I loved the Empress. She was fantastic. She looked great, she made sense, and she had a dignity that really fitted for her.


• And most importantly, she didn't decide to go all out for death and destruction, one last hurrah for her people. She made the wise choice for the continuation of all her Ice Warriors and I approve of that.


• I had a little happy giggle at Alpha Centauri :-)


• I adored Bill here. Again. I will never not adore Bill, it's a thing now. I loved her attempt to connect to the Empress, woman to woman, and I loved that it worked sometimes but not every time. Gatiss seemed to figure out that the sisterhood of women isn't a thing that overrules everything else.


• I felt for the colonel. He got an ending that felt very right for him, a chance for a new start in service to something greater than him, which is what he's always wanted. Maybe what he needed was to be able to see and understand the Empress he was serving. After all, Victoria is a stern painting in the corner (Pauline Collins as Victoria again! Yay!) and the Empress of Mars is a vibrant amazing creature who can crush him like a bug or grant him life. That's got to make dying in the service of his leader easier to contemplate.


• And wow, Captain Catchlove hit every misogynistic, colonial bullshit stereotype possible. I was so happy to see him die. I like a villain I can properly loathe.


• All those callouts to colonialism and racism were beautiful and I cheered at them all.


• Nardole! Show, stop making me like him!


• Now I'm really intrigued about what made the TARDIS go all wonky and return to Earth and then keep him there. Was it pre-programmed? Was there an invisible creature controlling it?


• Is this part of a dastardly plan by Missy?


• Why is it so very, very bad that Missy is out of the Vault?


• I'm still undecided on the "is Missy really turning good" thing. Most of me thinks she's playing a long game, but part of me...


• The way she asked the Doctor if he was all right makes me think she really actually cares. It wasn't done in a "he's my boyfriend" over the top evil way like she did in season eight. It was said in a genuine way. That was touching, but somehow, even more frightening than he's-my-boyfriend-Missy.


• This whole Missy plot is going to end badly for everyone, isn't it?


• Am I the only person who sort of kind of hopes that maybe Michelle Gomez is the next Doctor and there's going to be some kind of fantastical timey wimey shenanigans that leave us with a Michelle Gomez Doctor and a John Simm Master and OMG WOULDN'T THAT BE AMAZING.


• But only if Bill and Nardole are still around. That...what would blow my mind.


• In summation, I really liked this episode. Thank you, Mark Gatiss, for finally figuring out how to write a Doctor Who episode that I cannot find fault with.

Comments

[thisbluespirit]

It was fun, wasn't it? I thought last week that the Next Time trailer looked really rubbish, and then it pleasantly surprised me.

The way she asked the Doctor if he was all right makes me think she really actually cares. It wasn't done in a "he's my boyfriend" over the top evil way like she did in season eight. It was said in a genuine way. That was touching, but somehow, even more frightening than he's-my-boyfriend-Missy.

Yes. Oh, Missy, oh Missy.... <3

I felt for the colonel. He got an ending that felt very right for him, a chance for a new start in service to something greater than him, which is what he's always wanted.

I always enjoy Anthony Calf in stuff; it pleases me no end that now he's off doing things in the Whoniverse. I hadn'ts spotted him in the trailer, so that was another pleasant surprise. :-)

[selenay]

I thought last week that the Next Time trailer looked really rubbish, and then it pleasantly surprised me.

I had the same reactions to the trailer and the episode!

I always enjoy Anthony Calf in stuff; it pleases me no end that now he's off doing things in the Whoniverse.

He always plays such interesting characters, so it's delightful to see him in our fandom orbit :-)

[thisbluespirit]

Heh, snap, then! :-)

And I do like Anthony Calf, although I'm not quite sure at this point what I've seen him in that wasn't New Tricks, but I know there were some things & he's always rather good, really.

[selenay]

He's someone who has had bits in all sorts of things, so we've probably both seen him in a lot of things we wouldn't immediately name. He's never the lead, but he always brings something good to what he does.

[katlinel]

Gatiss' Doctor Who always seems to have a strong Boys' Own Adventure element to it, which doesn't always work. This was definitely one of the better ones, and I don't know if it's because of the presence of Bill's character, which really does provide the necessary counter-balance.

I was wondering about Catchlove's repeated gesture of stroking his hair and whether it was supposed to signify something about him?

Oooh, Missy! I love the idea of a Michelle Gomez Doctor. I also thought it was so good the way that Michelle Gomez invested a lot of tenderness into that query as to whether the Doctor was really all right. It wasn't just curiosity or looking for a potential weakness to exploit, but came across as genuine concern. But I expect you're right, and it is going to end badly for all.

The colonel was a good character, and I also think he was the counterpoint to the Boys' Own-ness, with his acceptance of his cowardice and the consequences thereof, even when finally stepping up to the challenge.

I think Nardole has been written so well to balance with Twelve and Bill, and kudos to the writers and Matt Lucas for making me like the character so much more than the character in the Christmas episode. I'm beginning to think that what I love is three people in the TARDIS, but it has has be three that complement each other, and Bill and Nardole and Twelve most definitely do.

[selenay]

This was definitely one of the better ones, and I don't know if it's because of the presence of Bill's character, which really does provide the necessary counter-balance.

I think Bill's character helped a lot. She nicely punctured a lot of the "rah military!" aspects and got in some nice jabs about colonialism, which pulled it back from too much Boys Own-ness.

I was wondering about Catchlove's repeated gesture of stroking his hair and whether it was supposed to signify something about him?

I wondered that, too! I was curious whether there was some coding there that I can't read. It wouldn't surprise me, because Gatiss did his research and if he wanted to code Catchlove as closeted gay, he'd know what he was doing.

The colonel was a good character, and I also think he was the counterpoint to the Boys' Own-ness, with his acceptance of his cowardice and the consequences thereof, even when finally stepping up to the challenge.

One the aspects I liked is that, in Boys' Own stuff, the character who is a coward is usually revealed to be the villain of the piece, or at least irretrievably broken, so showing him to know what he is and find an unexpected way of redeeming himself was great.

I suspect without Bill and the colonel, I would have been grinding my teeth at this episode, rather than quite loving it.

I'm beginning to think that what I love is three people in the TARDIS, but it has has be three that complement each other, and Bill and Nardole and Twelve most definitely do.

I'm with you there. Nardole and Twelve on their own didn't really work, they needed Bill there to balance them. Twelve and Bill worked well on their own and I would have been happy with just them, but Nardole brings out something extra that raises the level for all of them.

Three people in the TARDIS is working much better for me than just the Doctor and one companion, but they have to be the right three. As much as I loved Rory and Amy, I was never entirely sold on their TARDIS three team. I can't explain why, though. And even though we only got them for a brief period, I do love Rose, Jack and the Doctor. So it really does have to be the right three.

Maybe my Rory and Amy thing is because they felt unbalanced? Amy and Rory were married and they had this entirely separate part of their life that the Doctor could never understand or be a part of, so there were often times when he felt intrusive. It was an unbalanced tripod constantly about to fall over, while Twelve/Bill/Nardole and Rose/Jack/Nine were more grounded in each other?