Empress Of Mars (Grade & Discussion Thread)

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

That's the paradox.
Did he write GstQ because he saw it on the screens or did he see it on the screens because he saw it?
The message kinda caused itself.
Could have been anything but once it was there it always had to be that.
Or the Doctor just had too much fun trolling NASA.

 

[publiusr]

Or the Doctor just had too much fun trolling NASA.

This.

"You know Doctor--we don't have an ability to fold, spindle or mutilate space-time.
When we went to the Moon--90% of our tech? Plumbing and tankage! Now--try that!!"

A scene I would like to see. Somebody like the character Doohan from Cowboy Beebop's episode Wild Horses has built a rocket.

It is in a tug of war with a sci-fi type ship that is trying to tow it with a tactor beam-and the old fashioned rocket wins the tug of war.

 

[The Wormhole]

Missy looks at the console, looks at the Doctor, and immediately asks whether he's all right...

Well, I didn't read too much into that, the Doctor was visibly upset which we know is because Nardole let Missy out of the Vault. It never occurred to me this is some sort of clue.

The TARDIS has stuck around in situations much more dangerous then the one on Mars. There is no way the TARDIS disappeared because the situation was too "dangerous". Its a few ice warriors possibly starting a war. That's a fairly tame adventure when it comes to dangerous situations, at least from the TARDIS's perspective. There was absolutely no reason shown for the TARDIS to flee, and especially for it to not come back until Missy could override it.

But then, the situation in Cold War wasn't really all that dangerous either. Maybe the TARDIS just doesn't like Ice Warriors? After all, it wasn't until after they were gone the TARDIS returned to Mars. Maybe that was Missy's secret, she determined when the Ice Warriors would leave and set those coordinates?

The AV Club had a good point, it was a shame we were deprived of being able to see the Missy/Nardole team have an adventure in the TARDIS.

Damn, a Missy/Nardole adventure could have made a fun Doctor-lite episode.

Or the Doctor just had too much fun trolling NASA.

You know rather than the mission control people being all confused and "who the hell are you?" it would have been more fun if they played with him trolling NASA.
"Damn it, Doctor, not now. We have work to do."
"You're right, you're right. I'm sorry. Please continue."
The monitor screen clears up revealing "God save the Queen"
"Doctor..."
"I'm sorry. Aren't you too busy? Don't you have work to do? I feel like taking a walk to the commissary..."

 

[Romulan_spy]

I just thought the message itself was an odd one for them to leave as a message. Like Americans leaving "Let Freedom Ring" or "Don't Tread on Me" or something. I guess the message itself didn't matter really as long as it was something that could be spotted.

As others have already stated, I think the Doctor was just trolling NASA. "God Save the Queen" is a very common British expression so the message was basically telling NASA, "the British beat you to Mars."

 

[matthunter]

Well, in Who history, Mars was already visited back in the 70s (or was it the 80s?)...

 

[starsuperion]

When I saw the trailer for that episode, my first reaction was...Fun..

It was definitely that. Sometimes just a fun fun episode is all one requires. Every season should have 1-2 funzies thrown in for good measure. I enjoyed it. I can tell Mark Gatiss had a fondness for that Jules Verne style of play in that episode. I believe that dinosaurs on a spaceship was something similar in that respect. I loved the ending!
I love the idea of the Doctor running into the beginnings of the problems he solves in the past, like setting up the Martians for those awesome Peladon episodes.

All in all, I didn't get too heavy on that Missy bit. All in good time my friend, last night was simply about fun.
Sometimes your just in the mood for that fun story. Good job. Great effects. Awesome costumes. Great work from Bill And the Emperess.
And I enjoyed it emmensley.

 

[Mr Soak]

You know, when I first heard the premise of this episode, I immediately thought of the second Worlds of Ultima game, Martian Dreams, which featured Jules Verne, HG Wells, Marie Curie and a bunch of other famous Victorian-era people being shot to Mars in a space cannon.

 

[Solariabsg25]

Something to consider. This will be the first time we've seen a Timelord regenerate after he's been given a fresh set of regenerations. Certainly eleven's regeneration into this "new" set was far different than any of his prior ones, with a reset and then the snap-change. It's certainly possible that this has been building up for months or even years.

 

[The Wormhole]

Certainly eleven's regeneration into this "new" set was far different than any of his prior ones, with a reset and then the snap-change.

It's important to remember the behind the scenes reasons that dictated these differences. BBC has wants the Doctors to be in their "traditional" look for their final scene, which is why we had Smith reset to his younger self before properly regenerating, for a similar reason is why Tennant's cuts and scars disappeared after he walked out of that radiation booth in TEOT. The "snap-change" was just a result of time and money running out.

 

[tomalak301]

How did the episode end. The doctor goes back to the Tardis, sees Missy and says he has to put her in the vault and then my DVR cut off.

It was a good episode but man I hated the stupidity of the British soldiers. Other that that. Liked the Ice Warriors and I don't know who or what Alpha Centuri is but people got excited so I did as well. This felt like a classic season 1 (of the new series) episode with cool aliens and such. Much better than the trilogy preceding it.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Missy looks at the Doctor and ask if he is alright.
Then cut to black.
That's what you missed.

 

[Pindar]

Sharpe in space, I loved it.
4/5 for the episode and another bonus point just for Alpha Centuri at the end.

 

[tomalak301]

Missy looks at the Doctor and ask if he is alright.
Then cut to black.
That's what you missed.

Thanks. I did catch the end on BBC America's website and hopefully this does lead to something unique in terms of his regeneration. Or it could be nothing and just another Missy-ism that we all love.

 

[arch101]

Well, in Who history, Mars was already visited back in the 70s (or was it the 80s?)...

Yes. By a rather robust British MANNED space program.

 

[shivkala]

Shades of Lursa and B'Etor

I'm glad I'm not the only one who got a "Duras Sisters" vibe from the Queen!

 

[auntiehill]

^ I thought she sounded a lot like the SpiderQueen alien-whatever in Donna Noble's first episode.

Meh. The whole episode just didn't do it for me. Seemed pretty average all the way around.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

^ I thought she sounded a lot like the SpiderQueen alien-whatever in Donna Noble's first episode.

Thank you. Exactly what I thought!

 

[auntiehill]

I even IMDB'd her, to make sure it wasn't the same person. It wasn't.

 

[Romulan_spy]

Since Missy is the Master, I think it is a given that her redemption is a scheme. The Master is never really good and is always scheming something nefarious. So, I suspect that Missy is just bidding her time until the right opportunity beyond just escaping the Vault. I really look forward to finding out what will happen because I am sure it will be devilish.

 

[Redfern]

Shared by a friend upon a private board. I don't yet know if he did the editing or if he merely found it, but I thought it TOO funny not to share!