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Empress of Mars (TV story)

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Empress of Mars was the ninth episode of the tenth series of Doctor Who produced by BBC Wales. This episode was notable for introducing in 2017 the first on-screen female Ice Warrior, the Ice Queen Iraxxa, 50 years since the species were introduced in 1967's The Ice Warriors.

Empress saw the return of two actors from classic Doctor Who: Ysanne Churchman, reprising the role of Alpha Centauri for the first time since in the 1974 story The Monster of Peladon, and Anthony Calf, who last appeared on televised Doctor Who in the 1982 serial, The Visitation. An image of Pauline Collins, who appeared in 1967's TV: The Faceless Ones is also seen, taken from her 2006 appearance as Queen Victoria in TV: Tooth and Claw.

Synopsis

When NASA discovers a message reading GOD SAVE THE QUEEN on Mars's surface, the Twelfth Doctor, Nardole, and Bill travel to the Red Planet to investigate it. On arrival, they find themselves embroiled in a conflict between the Ice Warriors and the Empress Iraxxa, and Victorian soldiers — who are determined to conquer Mars. It's just the same, only this time the humans are the ones invading. Now which side should the Doctor help: humans, or Ice Warriors? One thing is clear: the Doctor must choose fast, as the Martian hive awakens around them.

Plot

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Cast

Crew

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References

Story notes

File:Matt Lucas and Mark Gatiss - The Aftershow - Doctor Who The Fan Show

  • The read-through for Empress of Mars took place on 11 January 2017, and filming took place between 27 January and 22 February.
  • Actress Ysanne Churchman returns as the voice of Alpha Centauri at the age of 92, being the oldest actor on New Who. To keep the reappearance of Alpha Centauri a surprise, Churchman was not credited in Radio Times.
  • Mark Gatiss explains on the Aftershow that Empress of Mars began as a sequel to the 2015 Series 9 episode Sleep No More, but later turned into an Ice Warrior story, and with the inclusion of Alpha Centauri was intended as a third Peladon-story, until the story was fully formed.
  • Guest star Ferdinand Kingsley was currently co-starring with Jenna Coleman in the TV series Victoria. The image of Victoria used for this episode, however, is a portrait of Pauline Collins from TV: Tooth and Claw.
  • At one point Iraxxa tells her soldiers to "sleep no more!" This is a reference to Gatiss' previous episode for the series, TV: Sleep No More. Coincidentally, both episodes aired as the ninth story of their seasons.

Ratings

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Filming locations

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Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.

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Continuity

Home video releases

DVD releases

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Blu-ray releases

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Digital releases

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External links

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