World of Who: Empress of Mars

Mark Gatiss is not really good at Doctor Who stories, at least not enough to keep getting an episode to write each season; this is what I learned watching Empress of Mars. So the Doctor, Bill, and Nardole, find a message from Mars that they go investigate and find Victorian Soldiers on Mars working with an Ice Warrior named "Friday" to take Mars in the name of Queen and Country but the Ice Warrior and the Soldiers each have their own motives as the Doctor finds himself trying to prevent a war between humans and Ice Warriors and what has happened to Nardole and the TARDIS?

The Good

There is a lot good about this episode. The soldiers do feel like decent characters in their own right where at the same time  they don't feel like they take up too much time away from the story, at least from the side members of the army. Neville really carries the story in a way similar to the general on Hoth during the Star Wars: Clone Wars series. The Ice Warriors I felt were great visually, a nice blend of new and old with the design. Friday and Iraxxa I personally think were really interesting, especially with how the Doctor interacts with them, showing his history with the people, even mentioning his status as an Honorary Guardian of the Tythonian Hive. The mystery of what happened with Nardole and the TARDIS and if Missy played a role in this or not sets up a rather good mystery, especially when she asks the Doctor if he's all right, implying something might not be, could it be hinting at his regeneration coming up? Also, the return of the character Alpha Centurai was really cool though I first thought it was a giant monster whose eye was the only thing we could see; in reality is just a big eye on a body.

The Bad

Mark Gatiss is a really cool idea guy and what I mean is that the premise of his stories is much more interesting than the actual execution of the story. Daleks in World War 2, Ice Warrior in the Cold War, child's nightmares coming to life, robots in Sherwood forest, etc. and these episodes all have great starts and characters. That's ultimately it for him though. Everything always feels a bit underdone, the Ice Warriors are an interesting presence enough but they don't carry the story at all so much as the story with Neville and Godsacre does. I kind of feel that Gatiss does better work when he doesn't use the monsters he loves so much. Iraxxa is interesting enough but she feels very much like more mature version of Alaya and Restac in one of my favorite stories "Cold Blood". There was as bit suspension of disbelief that the Doctor and company just happen to arrive on NASA the day they find a message from Mars.