#episode the empress of mars

[variousqueerthings]

It's a movie. You'd like that one too. Everybody dies.

Empress of Mars, let's goooo! I've actually taken notes for this one too, although I did have to watch it over four sittings, due to limited time, so now it's kind of a puzzle of vignettes in my head. very short serial length

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 10/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored, or given agency to her emotional interiority): 4/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 7/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 7/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 4/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 9/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 10/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 10/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 8/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 5/10

FULL RATING: 74/100 (if I can count….)

I think I like this one. I'm always a bit wary about stories in Doctor Who that are about British colonists, and I'd say this one doesn't quite hit the mark on justifying that point of view in this one either, but otherwise there's a fair bit to enjoy. It's solid. dependable. Ice Queen hot. that sort of thing

the pacing is a bit wack, but otherwise...

OBJECTIFICATION: Bill has a great look in this one generally. I mean, she's dressed like the Doctor, so they're both killing it, and then she's also pulled her hair back, it's great, sleek, pro scifi lookin stuff -- also considering this is a very dude-heavy episode, they eschew (this appears to be my favourite word of the day) any creepy leering of the kind I remember all too well from some other stories that featured men from this era (looking at you dinosaurs on a fucking spaceship)

I'd even give it bonus points for its Ice Queen design, which, generally I think DW has been pretty good at making men and women alien designs relatively equal (nothing like like sexy cyberwoman of Torchwood), and in this case I was having a bit of the swoons at the Ice Queen's predator-like dreads and wonderful armour!

PLOT-POINT: Bill isn't really explored in this one. she's present alongside her ideals, although I do think this is one of the ways it's a bit of a flaw to make the other characters Victorian soldiers -- they're the sanitised version of what this might look like, up to and including a black man in the unit who's just some guy along with the rest of them, which is really more about politics than anything else, but the point is it feels kind of strange to have her in this place in a way I think for example thin ice, which was able to be an episode that had black people in it, while still acknowledging that black people walk through the world differently due to racism

which, considering how heavily this episode focused on "empire as concept" in various parts, feels a bit like an oversight to not have Bill at least have more opinions about

I did like her having some Moments with the Ice Queen, mainly because the way Pearl Mackie played it made me think Bill was also kind of attracted to her (alien fucker Bill seems right to me), but I wish they'd amounted to a little more than the lip-service of "men amirite?" because yeah, Victorian-age soldier dudes probably would have been insufferable to deal with on average (#notallvictoria- *gets sniped*) and Bill potentially having to navigate around that in order to find common ground with the Ice Queen idk... coulda been cool as potential

it all comes back to the choice of making this a bit about Queen And Country which is what I'm not so into, and other things fold into that

COMPLEXITY: it's relatively simple once you get past the "Victorians on Mars" part, which is standard DW fare. I do think some of the plot was paced a bit oddly, but that could have been my fractured watching schedule. it just seemed to go quite slowly up until finding the Ice Queen and then very fast to the conclusion

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: the Master is now freeee!!!!!! and the Ice Warriors are more back in nu!who DW lore than previously (they have been in nu!who before, but this feels a little more like the Silurians, a bit more settled AND it ties into stuff they wrote for the third Doctor)

(I know Waters Of Mars was a Very Particular Kind Of Episode, but I always wonder if that's just... lurking underneath there...)

it's on the whole not super overarching plot-driven, which is fine. the Master is in two scenes and she kills both times, honestly Michelle Gomez takes my breath away

COMPANIONS MATTER: Bill, as mentioned, has some heeey Ice Queen moments, and I like how well she and the Doctor work together and how she's able to take lead. I am in a headspace with Bill where I wonder how willing she is to die or whether she thinks she will die. in the last episode she really did think she would, so what does that say for where she is now when she says she's willing to act as a distraction -- it all ends up fine, but I'll probably come back to this thought once we've seen the last episode

also liked that she was savvy enough to guess that the atmosphere was breathable. it's just little things like that which feel like a companion is involve in the story and not just tagging along and waiting for the Doctor to do something impressive

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: yeah, the Doctor is more aware of how to deal with the Ice Warriors, but on the whole is as much taken along for the ride as everyone else, and he's not the one who saves the day either

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: ALPHA CENTAURI!!! I heard the voice and was like "I KNOW THAT VOICE NOW!" (classic!who watch upgrade!) and of course the Ice Warriors! I think this episode ties into the curse of Peladon which is wonderfully involved as callbacks go and honestly I think one could continue along that strand if one wanted to

I cannot remember how I felt about this episode when I didn't have all this context, but it definitely heightens its enjoyment upon watching it this time

“SEXINESS”: none of that nonsense here. the Master has some fantastic moments in her brief appearance of this and it's so delightfully serious, which is a neat turnaround for her depiction of the Master and continues on from last episode

INTERNAL WORLD: Once the Victorians on space is accepted (yep, accepted) they're on Mars, simple-as. Not overcomplicated as is often the case

POLITICS: Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo why Victorians? Why soldiers? (soldiers because of the Ice Warriors connection, which, I note they did in Cold War too, because nobody's allowed to meet Ice Warriors that's just some guy I guess)

it feels like it was under-thought/under-baked as a whole, which leads to a certain lacunae related to these white guys running around trying to colonise Mars for the queen as set dressing for the episode, with their one token Black Victorian soldier guy who's the same as the rest and dies a very gruesome death, which is meant to be the point of Making The Audience Connect To The Poor Victorian Soldiers because he has a sweetheart yousee, he's quite lovely, but it all comes off a biiiit like they didn't think through the Connotations of what they were doing. things like tokenism and colour blind casting and generally the sort of complaints that have been had about Martha's season as well in relation to the historical episodes

and while there is some mention of the Victorians as colonisers, it's a bit haphazard, because in the end it's mostly just this one guy who's bad and the other one who pledges himself to a new queen

it's not the worst of politics on this show by a long mile, but I think nu!who has had a bit of an issue related to British history and romanticising British empire and monarchy (queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth 1st and 10th, Churchill, that guy in dinos on a spaceship, to some extent nightmare in silver and smile)

(not to mention classism and underlying empiristic concepts in things like girl in the fireplace and some of the underlying problems of human nature/family of blood, which while honest about WWI struggles with balancing its depiction of British boarding school's violence against boys with what Martha faces especially, some of my personal qualms with writing UNIT, and the president of the world stuff)

there's more or less of this depending on the series and s10 is better for it mostly (including in the very next episode) but it did mean this episode came out of left-field by making these choices and then not doing anything substantial with them

FULL RATING: 74/100 (if I can count….)

she's quite highly rated this one, and I think it partially comes down to Ice Queen hot and partially the way it ties into some very old lore making a reappearance

I quite like this one, it's a simple solid concept. if it weren't for those Victorians and the pacing being a bit off... but yeah, I had a good time

[foolishlyzephyrus]

they gotta make a sequel episode to sleep no more for posterity’s sake because that “to be continued” bothers me every time i rewatch

[sundry-whovengerslocked]

things we Don't Really Talk About in the Doctor Who fandom (although we really should):

this Scooby-Doo scene, mainly because it takes place in the same episode as this:

and this:

-

this interspecies couple:

and their children:

-

this creepy lady and her leech:

and how she turned The Doctor into this:

-

those few episodes with this kid who was sort-of-not-really a companion:

and The Doctor was essentially on the future space version of Big Brother:

and this was the bad guy:

also Scotty was in it:

-

these awful dolls that came to life and turned other people into dolls:

-

that time The Doctor and team saw this message on the surface of Mars:

only to discover Victorian soldiers there:

and the baddass Empress Martian:

-

that time everyone got sucked into the tv:

and promptly lost their faces:

and The Doctor went all Mary Poppins on a misogynist:

-

my least favorite, the first time Mark Gatiss appeared:

and turned into this:

-

and my most favorite, that time there was a (presumably) cis pregnant man:

and when asked if it was a girl or a boy, said that both male and female people of his species could get pregnant - and that men gave birth to boys, and women gave birth to girls.

and the bad guy of the episode was Just A Little Guy who ate everything:

(including a bomb. and not only did it survive, it was finally sated!)

-

these are out of order but there are definitely more. and the point is, like... Doctor Who is weird. it always has been. this isn't even counting Classic Who, as I haven't watched much of it.

and I think we should talk about the underrated episodes more. because they have some really poignant moments:

and also...

it's just fucking hilarious, dude

(evil vampire lady drinking life force through a straw)

[yahoo201027]

Day in Fandom History: June 10…

When NASA discovers a message reading GOD SAVE THE QUEEN under the ice on Mars’s surface, the Twelfth Doctor, Nardole, and Bill travel to the Red Planet to investigate. On arrival, they find Victorian soldiers embroiled in a conflict with one of Mars’s ancient species. “Empress of Mars” premiered on this day, 7 Years Ago.

[clockwork-stars]

I am watching Empress of Mars and I swear to gods, Nardole disappeared about 30 minutes ago to ask Missy help with the tardis and we have not seen it since that point-

Did they get lost ? Where the fuck are they ? Have I imagined that scene ?

[capaldiera]

the doctor is so horrible to the picts in the eaters of light :/

[tvc12]

Sometimes the wardrobe is the highlight of an episode and a good example is when production abandoned the orange spacesuits in favour of the Dune-style fits for Empress of Mars

[blackbonnet-ruined-my-life]

Why is nobody discussing the fact that The Doctor has seen Frozen? 12 even made a frozen reference in Empress of Mars. Then who became his love interest last episode? Friggin Kristoff. I need that as a fic now. 15 sitting down to watch Frozen with Rogue and having a “hang on a minute” moment when he hears them both speak.

[m-a-salter]

Twelve’s Beautiful Face  | Series 10

*Click through* for episode studies:

[The Pilot] [Smile] [Thin Ice] [Knock Knock] [Oxygen] [Extremis] [The Pyramid at the End of the World] [The Lie of the Land] [Empress of Mars] [The Eaters of Light] [World Enough and Time] [The Doctor Falls]

Or take a look at Series 8, Series 9, and the specials

[j4gm]

SPOILERS!!! REFERENCES AND EASTER EGGS IN F&C ep. 8: JERRY

The last of four posts for today.

This episode has a very dark setting. This is the universe where The Lich wished for the extinction of all life. There is nothing here. This establishing shot features the Squirrel's apple cart, from a few episodes ago, but he is long dead and it is long abandoned.

We are introduced to a new cosmic entity, Orbo, who is Scarab's boss but is not to be mistaken for Prismo's boss, whose identity remains a mystery.

Simon name drops a whole bunch of magical items from the original Adventure Time series; the Armour of Zeldron from Blood Under the Skin, the Wand of Dispersement from Sons of Mars, the Porcelain Lamb from Beyond This Earthly Realm, and the magic beans from The Pods.

This episode suggests that the nature of Simon and Betty's relationship was initially quite unhealthy. He was one of her lecturers, and she had an infatuation with him from first sight.

This illustration features the ancient wizards who sealed Coconteppi beneath Wizard City in the Distant Lands episode of the same name.

Simon's expedition to find the Enchiridion was first mentioned in the newspaper clipping in I Remember You, and was mentioned again in Temple of Mars.

BMO apparently survived The Lich's wish because he isn't technically alive. I wonder where Neptr and the other MOs are. Cannibalised for batteries, perhaps. Also, that BRB note is very sad and is identical to the one Finn wrote in Blenanas.

There are various familiar items in the thawed out remains of the Ice Kingdom; ninja paraphernalia from The Chamber of Frozen Blades, Ice King's diary from The Empress Eyes, and of course the tape collection from Holly Jolly Secrets.

Here's a deep cut: That machine in the background to the right of Simon is the machine that held the lightning power that Finn went to steal in What is Life, so that he could power up Neptr. The Demonic Wishing Eye is also in this shot.

For a single frame, Ice King and Gunter can be seen reduced to skeletons. Presumably this was the exact moment that the Lich's wish took effect. Everyone died instantly, in less than a frame.

When I watched this episode for the first time I was confused about where Fionna got the working crown. But you can just about see it inside the drum in this shot, where Ice King mentioned he had put it in his tape.

This is the exact moment the photograph was taken for the newspaper clipping seen in I Remember You.

We first heard the story about how Simon met Betty after they tried to check out the same library book in Broke His Crown. It's cool to see it playing out for real.

Simon throws a pebble at the window and accidentally hits Babette in the face, exactly like Finn and Jake did to Kim Kil Whan in the episode Ocarina.

This is the second time Simon caused Betty to miss this research trip to Australia. She says in Temple of Mars that she never got the opportunity to go, and resolves that her life might not have been so messed up if she'd followed her own dreams instead of following Simon's.

The song in this scene, the motif of which has been heard throughout the series, is by Half Shy, who also wrote "Monster" for Obsidian.

BMO is buried with a paper flower because there are no real ones left alive. His death seemed pointlessly cruel.

THE LICH! He is in his half-disguised Billy form, confirming that this is his wish-altered reality. Like in his other appearances, the first line he speaks is a single word command. This time, the command is "Cease." But with nothing left to do he has become depressed, and he doesn't bother killing our protagonists.

And finally, we are left on this cliffhanger. Fionna and Cake have returned to their world. Scarab has convinced the boss that Simon must be destroyed. And GOLBetty is here to claim them both while the Lich watches on.

This episode's dream features a pair of Lich skulls either side an effigy of GOLB.

[thebeesareback]

Every episode of New Who in chronological order (Doctor Who)

Spoilers: it makes no fucking sense. Also, there are some episodes which occur in two or more time periods

"The Fires of Pompeii" - 79 David Tennant

"The Eaters of Light" - 2nd century Peter Capaldi

"The Pandorica Opens" - 102 Matt Smith

"The Big Bang" - immediately after "The Pandorica Opens", 102 Matt Smith

"The Girl Who Died" - 851 Peter Capaldi

"Resolution" 9th century Jodie Whittaker

"The Magician's Apprentice" - 1138 Peter Capaldi

"The Witch's Familiar" immediately after "The Magician's Apprentice", 1138 Peter Capaldi

"Robot of Sherwood" - 1190 Peter Capaldi

"The Bells of Saint John" - 1207 Matt Smith

"Can You Hear Me?" - 1380 Jodie Whittaker

"The Day of the Doctor" - 1562 Matt Smith and David Tennant

"The Vampires of Venice" - 1580 Matt Smith

"The Shakespeare Code" - 1599 David Tennant

"The Curse of the Black Spot" - 16th century Matt Smith

"The Witchfinders" - 1612 Jodie Whittaker

"The Woman Who Lived" - 1681, sequential to "The Girl Who Died" Peter Capaldi

"Legend of the Sea Devils" - 1807 Jodie Whittaker

"Thin Ice" - 1814 Peter Capaldi

"The Haunting of Villa Diodati" - 1816 Jodie Whittaker

"Spyfall Part Two" - 1834 Jodie Whittaker

"Deep Breath" - Victorian era (between 1837-1901) Peter Capaldi and Matt Smith

"The Next Doctor" - 1851 David Tennant

"War of the Sontarans" - 1855 sequential to "The Halloween Apocalypse" Jodie Whittaker

"The Unquiet Dead" - December 1869 Christopher Eccleston

"Tooth and Claw" - 1879 David Tennant

"A Town Called Mercy" - somewhere between 1865-1890 Matt Smith

"Empress of Mars" - 1881 Peter Capaldi

"Vincent and the Doctor" - 1890 Matt Smith

"The Snowmen" - 1892 Matt Smith

"The Crimson Horror" - 1893 Matt Smith

"The Name of the Doctor" - 1893 Matt Smith

"Ascension of the Cybermen" - "the early 20th century" Jodie Whittaker

"Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror" - 1903 Jodie Whittaker

"Survivors of the Flux" - 1904 sequential to "Village of the Angels" Jodie Whittaker

"Human Nature" - 1913 David Tennant

"The Family of Blood" - Immediately after "Human Nature", 1913 David Tennant

"The Power of the Doctor" 1916 Jodie Whittaker and David Tennant

"The Unicorn and the Wasp" - 1926 David Tennant

"Daleks in Manhattan" - 1930 David Tennant

"Evolution of the Daleks - Immediately after "Daleks in Manhattan", 1930 David Tennant

"Let's Kill Hitler" - 1938 Matt Smith

"The Angels Take Manhattan" 1938 Matt Smith

"Victory of the Daleks" - between 1939-1945 Matt Smith

"The Empty Child" - 1941 Christopher Eccleston

"The Doctor Dances" - Immediately after "The Empty Child", 1941 Christopher Eccleston

"The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" - December 1941 Matt Smith

"Demons of the Punjab" - August 1947 Jodie Whittaker

"The Idiot's Lantern" - June 1953 David Tennant

"Rosa" - 1955 Jodie Whittaker

"Village of the Angels" - November 1967 sequential to "Once, Upon Time" Jodie Whittaker

"The Impossible Astronaut" - 1969 Matt Smith

"The Day of the Moon" - Immediately after "The Impossible Astronaut" 1969 Matt Smith

"Blink" - 1969/2007 David Tennant

"Hide" - 1974 Matt Smith

"The God Complex" - 1980 Matt Smith

"Cold War" - 1983 Matt Smith

"Twice Upon a Time" 1986 Peter Capaldi and Jodie Whittaker

"Father's Day" - 1987 Christopher Eccleston

"The Return of Doctor Mysterio" - 1992 Peter Capaldi

"The Eleventh Hour" 1998 Matt Smith

"Rose" - contemporary to release, March 2005 Christopher Eccleston

"School Reunion" - 2005 David Tennant

"The Christmas Invasion" - contemporary to release, December 2005 David Tennant

"Aliens of London" - Approximately March 2006 Christopher Eccleston

"World War Three" - Immediately after "Aliens of London", approximately March 2006 Christopher Eccleston

"Rise of the Cybermen" - contemporary to release, May 2006 David Tennant

"The Age of Steel" - Immediately after "Rise of the Cybermen", May 2006 David Tennant

"Love & Monsters" - contemporary to release, June 2006 David Tennant

"Army of Ghosts" - after "Love & Monsters", summer 2006 David Tennant

"Doomsday" - Immediately after "Army of Ghosts", summer 2006 David Tennant

"Boom Town" - autumn 2006 Christopher Eccleston

"Turn Left" - autumn 2006 David Tennant

"The Runaway Bride" - December 2006 David Tennant

"Smith and Jones" - contemporary to release, March 2007 David Tennant

"The Lazarus Experiment" - contemporary to release, May 2007 David Tennant

"42" - contemporary to release, May 2007 David Tennant

"The Sound of Drums" - contemporary to release, June 2007 (immediately after "Utopia") David Tennant

"Blink" - 1969/2007 David Tennant

"Partners in Crime" - contemporary to release, April 2008 David Tennant

"The Sontaran Stratagem" - contemporary to release, April 2008 David Tennant

"The Poison Sky" - contemporary to release, May 2008 (immediately after "The Sontaran Stratagem") David Tennant

"Last of the Time Lords" - contemporary to release, June 2008 (sequential to "The Sound of Drums"), David Tennant

"The Stolen Earth" - contemporary to release, June 2008 David Tennant

"Journey's End" - contemporary to release, July 2008 (immediately after "The Stolen Earth") David Tennant

"The Lodger" - contemporary to release, June 2010 Matt Smith

"Night Terrors" - contemporary to release, September 2011 Matt Smith

"Closing Time" - contemporary to release, September 2011 Matt Smith

"Fear Her" - July 2012 David Tennant

"Dalek" - 2012 Christopher Eccleston

"Asylum of the Daleks" - contemporary to release, September 2012 Matt Smith

"The Power of Three" - contemporary to release, September 2012 Matt Smith

"The Rings of Akhaten" - contemporary to release, April 2013 Matt Smith

"Into the Dalek" - contemporary to release, August 2014 Peter Capaldi

"Listen" - contemporary to release, September 2014 Peter Capaldi

"Time Heist" - contemporary to release, September 2014 Peter Capaldi

"The Caretaker" - contemporary to release, September 2014 Peter Capaldi

"Flatline" - contemporary to release, October 2014 Peter Capaldi

"In the Forest of the Night" - contemporary to release, October 2014 Peter Capaldi

"Dark Water" - contemporary to release, November 2014 Peter Capaldi

"Death in Heaven" - contemporary to release, November 2014 Peter Capaldi

"Last Christmas" - contemporary to release, December 2014 Peter Capaldi

"Amy's Choice" - 2015 Matt Smith

"The Zygon Invasion" - contemporary to release, October 2015 Peter Capaldi

"The Zygon Inversion" - contemporary to release, November 2015 (immediately after "The Zygon Invasion") Peter Capaldi

"Face the Raven" - contemporary to release, November 2015 Peter Capaldi

"The Pilot" - contemporary to release, April 2017 Peter Capaldi

"Knock Knock" - contemporary to release, May 2017 Peter Capaldi

"Extremis" - contemporary to release, May 2017 Peter Capaldi

"The Pyramid at the End of the World" - contemporary to release, May 2017 Peter Capaldi

"The Woman Who Fell to Earth" - contemporary to release, October 2018 Jodie Whittaker

"Arachnids in the UK" - contemporary to release, October 2018 Jodie Whittaker

"It Takes You Away" - contemporary to release, November 2018 Jodie Whittaker

"Spyfall" - contemporary to release, January 2020 Jodie Whittaker

"Fugitive of the Judoon" - contemporary to release, January 2020 Jodie Whittaker

"Praxeus" - contemporary to release, February 2020 Jodie Whittaker

"The Hungry Earth" - 2020 Matt Smith

"Cold Blood" - 2020 (immediately after "The Hungry Earth") Matt Smith

"Revolution of the Daleks" - September 2020 Jodie Whittaker

"The Halloween Apocalypse" - contemporary to release, October 2021 Jodie Whittaker

"Once, Upon Time" - contemporary to release, sequential to "War of the Sontarans", November 2021 Jodie Whittaker

"Eve of the Daleks" contemporary to release, January 2022 Jodie Whittaker

"Kill the Moon" - 2049 Peter Capaldi

"The Waters of Mars" - 2059 David Tennant

"The Rebel Flesh" - 22nd century Matt Smith

"The Almost People" - 22nd century (immediately after "The Rebel Flesh") Matt Smith

"Under the Lake" - 2119 Peter Capaldi

"Before the Flood" - 2119 (immediately after "Under the Lake") Peter Capaldi

"Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" - 2367 Matt Smith

"The Beast Below" - some point after the 29th century Matt Smith

"Sleep No More" - 38th century Peter Capaldi

"Planet of the Ood" - 4126 David Tennant

"The Time of Angels" - 5000 Matt Smith

"Flesh and Stone" - 5000 (immediately after "The Time of Angels") Matt Smith

"The Girl in the Fireplace" - 5000-5100 David Tennant

"The Husbands of River Song" - 5343 Peter Capaldi

"Silence in the Library" - 5100 David Tennant

"Forest of the Dead" - 5100 (immediately after "Silence in the Library") David Tennant

"The Long Game" - 200,000 Christopher Eccleston

"Bad Wolf" - 200,100 Christopher Eccleston

"The Parting of the Ways" Immediately after "Bad Wolf", 200,100 Christopher Eccleston/David Tennant

"The End of the World" - 5 billion (plus 2005) Christopher Eccleston

"New Earth" - 5,000,000,023 David Tennant

"Gridlock" - 5,000,000,023 David Tennant

"Utopia" - 100 trillion David Tennant

"Smile" - it's in "the far future" Peter Capaldi

No indication of the date:

"The Impossible Planet", David Tennant (Broadcast June 2006)

"The Satan Pit", David Tennant (Broadcast June 2006)

"Voyage of the Damned", David Tennant (Broadcast December 2007)

"The Doctor's Daughter", David Tennant (Broadcast May 2008)

"Midnight", David Tennant (Broadcast June 2008)

"Planet of the Dead", David Tennant (Broadcast April 2009)

"The End of Time", David Tennant (Broadcast December 2009)

"A Christmas Carol", Matt Smith (Broadcast December 2010)

"The Doctor's Wife", Matt Smith (Broadcast May 2011)

"A Good Man Goes to War", Matt Smith (Broadcast June 2011)

"The Girl Who Waited", Matt Smith (Broadcast September 2011)

"The Wedding of River Song", Matt Smith (Broadcast October 2011)

"Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS", Matt Smith (Broadcast April 2013)

"Nightmare in Silver", Matt Smith (Broadcast May 2013)

"The Time of the Doctor", Matt Smith (Broadcast December 2013)

"Mummy on the Orient Express", Peter Capaldi (Broadcast October 2014)

"Heaven Sent", Peter Capaldi (Broadcast November 2015)

"Hell Bent", Peter Capaldi (Broadcast December 2015)

"Oxygen", Peter Capaldi (Broadcast May 2017)

"The Lie of the Land", Peter Capaldi (Broadcast June 2017)

"World Enough and Time", Peter Capaldi (Broadcast June 2017)

"The Doctor Falls", Peter Capaldi (Broadcast July 2017)

"The Ghost Monument", Jodie Whittaker (Broadcast 2018)

"The Tsuranga Conundrum", Jodie Whittaker (Broadcast November 2018)

"Kerblam!", Jodie Whittaker (Broadcast November 2018)

"The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos", Jodie Whittaker (Broadcast December 2018)

"Orphan 55", Jodie Whittaker (Broadcast January 2020)

"The Vanquishers" Jodie Whittaker (Broadcast December 2021)

"The Timeless Children" sequential to "The Ascension of the Cybermen", Jodie Whittaker (March 2020)

Key: red is Christopher Eccleston; orange is David Tennant; green is Matt Smith; Peter Capaldi is blue; Jodie Whittaker is purple

[doctorfriend79]

On this date seven years ago the episode 'Empress Of Mars' first aired.

[foolishlyzephyrus]

———

This was a very silly goofy post I enjoyed but it also sparked genuine curiosity: how accurate is this? I’m a data hound, so I did some fact checking. Please be aware I am by no means an expert and this was simply a result of some cursory investigating and inputting stuff into a calculator.

For RTD, I took it to mean any episode title that was singular. Only eight out of the sixty episodes of RTD’s run have one word titles, with six having two syllables (Dalek, Doomsday, Gridlock, 42, Utopia, and Midnight) and the other two being monosyllabic (Rose and Blink). That’s roughly 13% of his episodes. Definitely a trend but he was actually quite creative with his titles. Here’s some other fun statistical stuff: the most popular words in episode titles appear to be ‘dead’ (The Unquiet Dead, Forest of the Dead and Planet of The Dead), ‘planet’ (Impossible Planet, Planet of the Ood, Planet of the Dead) and ‘time’ (Last of the Time Lords, End of Time Part 1 and End of Time Part 2) occurring at about 5% each, with ‘earth’ and ‘doctor’ occurring twice each respectively.

For Moffat, I went a little more broad, considering any episode that used the naming convention ‘of’/‘of the’ or featured ‘doctor’ in any capacity. Out of the eighty-four episodes in his run, twenty six filled the criteria, that’s about 31%. Eighteen adhered to the ‘of’ requirement (Victory of the Daleks, The Time of Angels, The Vampires of Venice, Day of the Moon, Curse of the Black Spot, The Wedding of River Song, Asylum of the Daleks, The Power of Three, The Bells of Saint John, The Rings of Akhaten, Journey to the Center of the TARDIS, Robot of Sherwood, In the Forest of the Night, The Husbands of River Song, The Pyramid at the End of the World, The Lie of the Land, The Empress of Mars, and The Eaters of Light), four contained the word ‘doctor’ (Vincent and the Doctor, The Doctor’s Wife, The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, and The Doctor Falls), and four fit into both categories (The Name of the Doctor, The Day of the Doctor, The Time of the Doctor and The Return of Doctor Mysterio; it’s funny once you realize that Name, Day and Time were all released sequentially). The claim is thereby substantiated, the man loves his ‘of’s’.

Chibnall’s criteria was difficult to discern but I decided on anything that contained the name of a Who monster classic or otherwise, was a part, or similarly used ‘of’/‘of the’. My findings were quite interesting as there was bunch of overlap between my selected categories. As a whole, out of the thirty-one episodes in Chibnall’s run, eighteen fit the criteria. That’s an overwhelming 58%, so it is most definitely correct assumption. In terms of part episodes, there were eight as there are two proper parted episodes (Spyfall, Part 1 and Spyfall, Part 2) and the serialized six-episode Flux series. Thirteen episodes contain ‘of’/‘of the’ with six exclusively using ‘of’/‘of the’ (The Demons of the Punjab, The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos, Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror, The Haunting of Villa Diodati, Chapter Five: Survivors of the Flux, Power of The Doctor). This is where it gets interesting, as the remaining seven episodes containing ‘of’ are all the Who monster episodes (Ascension of the Cybermen, Revolution of the Daleks, Fugitive of the Judoon, Chapter Two: War of the Sontarans, Chapter Four: Village of the Angels, Eve of the Daleks, Legend of the Sea Devils). It would appear that Chibnall is an equal fiend for ‘of’s’, especially considering the monsters. So, very on brand for classic who naming conventions as well.

To conclude, it was a largely factual silly goofy post (props to @fanonical) and I enjoyed my little data collection exercise.

[doctorkinktraveller]

Steven Moffat had only ever planned for Nardole to be a recurring character in Doctor Who.

On seeing the "brilliant chemistry" between Matt Lucas and Peter Capaldi, however, "I ended up putting him in all the episodes."

Moffat also loved that Nardole "is the perfect foil. He knows things the Doctor wouldn't know, and quite often puts him in his place."

It was also because of this sudden change of plan that Nardole occasionally had to be written out to accommodate Matt Lucas' other projects e.g. during 'Empress of Mars'.

[yahoo201027]

Day in Fandom History: June 10…

When NASA discovers a message reading GOD SAVE THE QUEEN under the ice on Mars’s surface, the Twelfth Doctor, Nardole, and Bill travel to the Red Planet to investigate. On arrival, they find Victorian soldiers embroiled in a conflict with one of Mars’s ancient species. “Empress of Mars” premiered on this day, 6 Years Ago.

[4typercent]

A Rant

Why does Ferdinand Kingsley have to die in pretty near everything he's in?

Spoilers under the cut for some of his work, I'm missing some, feel free to add any I have missed 🤙

The Whale - his character dies on an island from starvation

The Hollow Crown - his character is beheaded

Reacher - shot to death

Mank - his character passed away from pneumonia

Dracula Untold - impaled by Vlad the Impaler

Doctor Who episode "Empress of Mars" - stabbed? I can't recall the details

Silo - falls over the railing

Thank goodness he's immortal in The Snadman, or I'd lose my marbles. His role in Midsomer Murders is small and silly.