Empress of Mars episode *SPOILERS*
Unfortunately, among all of the great episodes this season, this one stands out like a sore thumb. The set-up is familiar: The Doctor and Bill wind up on a planet (in this case Mars) where humans have blundered in, unaware of the threat of the alien species at hand (Ice Warriors). The only novelty is that the humans are British soldiers from the 1880s intent on claiming Mars for Queen (Victoria) and Country. As per typical this set up, the Commander of the soldiers is weak, and the meglomaniac 2nd in Command takes over, chucking The Doctor, Bill, and the Commander - the latter has a secret of course - in the brig. While the new leader stirs up war with the IW, The Doctor tries to come up with a plan. For an inexplicible reason, the TARDIS has flown away. Unless this is explained in an upcoming episode, it seems like a rather shabby act of convenience by episode writer Mark Gatiss. Also on the too-convenient-we've-seen-this-before spectrum is that one of the IW (dubbed "Friday" after Friday in Robinson Crusoe) decides to rescue Doctor-and-friends, and that the Commander once again asserts command, willing to sacrifice his life - and in effect redeem himself for his past misdeed - to save his men. All-in-all, this episode was strictly by the numbers, and I can only hope that next week's episode is better.
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