Not that that's a bad thing necessarily. It was actually decently entertaining. It appears Mark Gatiss may have found his niche in Doctor Who story telling - - the B sci-fi movie genre. When he doesn't take himself too seriously, his writing is actually enjoyable. Not amazing, but enjoyable.
With this episode, The Doctor, Nardole and Bill decide to visit NASA as their probe to Mars just receives visual, a message spelled out in stones that reads "God save the queen." This oddity, of course, prompts The Doctor and co to investigate, and what they find is an absurd premise, but somehow works for the episode - a regiment of British soldiers from Victorian times who hitched themselves a ride with a Martian Ice Warrior to Mars with the promise of gold, gems and like riches. Very British, as The Doctor points out.
As absurd as this premise is, it still works because Mr. Gatiss manages to craft memorable and entertaining characters. Catchglove as the selfish and conniving secondary antagonist, the Colonel deserter, and the soldier who wants just enough to bring home so as to take care of his future bride, among others - - all of these provide the foundation for why we are invested in the episode's outcome, because we want to see how each one of them fares. And of course, The Doctor and Bill are a blast, and Nardole is fun too, for the whole two minutes he's in it. And we get to see Missy at the very end!
The main antagonist, the Martian Empress, along with her cohorts, are rather one note. And while the Ice Warrior "Friday," as the troops call him, is better nuanced, the Ice Warriors as a whole fall rather flat, which is odd, since the incredible danger just one Ice Warrior posed was one of the few things Gatiss got right in his previous Ice Warrior episode from season seven. Here they're not much different than the CyberMen (which I won't go on about here). But they serve their purpose, I suppose, and the overall episode is solid Doctor Who entertainment for those willing to suspend enough disbelief. 8/10
With this episode, The Doctor, Nardole and Bill decide to visit NASA as their probe to Mars just receives visual, a message spelled out in stones that reads "God save the queen." This oddity, of course, prompts The Doctor and co to investigate, and what they find is an absurd premise, but somehow works for the episode - a regiment of British soldiers from Victorian times who hitched themselves a ride with a Martian Ice Warrior to Mars with the promise of gold, gems and like riches. Very British, as The Doctor points out.
As absurd as this premise is, it still works because Mr. Gatiss manages to craft memorable and entertaining characters. Catchglove as the selfish and conniving secondary antagonist, the Colonel deserter, and the soldier who wants just enough to bring home so as to take care of his future bride, among others - - all of these provide the foundation for why we are invested in the episode's outcome, because we want to see how each one of them fares. And of course, The Doctor and Bill are a blast, and Nardole is fun too, for the whole two minutes he's in it. And we get to see Missy at the very end!
The main antagonist, the Martian Empress, along with her cohorts, are rather one note. And while the Ice Warrior "Friday," as the troops call him, is better nuanced, the Ice Warriors as a whole fall rather flat, which is odd, since the incredible danger just one Ice Warrior posed was one of the few things Gatiss got right in his previous Ice Warrior episode from season seven. Here they're not much different than the CyberMen (which I won't go on about here). But they serve their purpose, I suppose, and the overall episode is solid Doctor Who entertainment for those willing to suspend enough disbelief. 8/10