Mars (Doctor Who)

Mars
Mars, the Red Planet
Universe	Whoniverse
Notable races	Ice Warriors
Notable people	Sutekh, Bret Vyon
Genre	Science fiction television

Mars, the fourth planet in the solar system, has been featured in the Doctor Who fictional universe on a number of occasions. In the various Doctor Who serials which feature the Ice Warriors, mention is made that Mars is their homeworld.

In Image of the Fendahl (1977), the Fourth Doctor suggests that nine million years prior to the 20th century, the malevolent entity known as the Fendahl, from the Solar System's fifth planet, passed by Mars on its way to Earth, fleeing the efforts of the Time Lords to trap it forever in a time loop.

Mars at that point was described as "dead", but from other accounts it is clear that it also housed the civilisation of the Ice Warriors, a proud, warlike but noble race who were capable of spaceflight. When the planet became more and more inhospitable, the Ice Warriors sent an expedition to Earth, but the ship crashed and was frozen in a glacier, unable to report back.

Around 5000 BC, a powerful race of beings known as the Osirans reached Mars and set up pyramid-like bases there. They also travelled to Earth and influenced Ancient Egypt, seeming to the Egyptians like gods. One of their number, the evil Sutekh, who had destroyed their planet and was the inspiration for the god Set, was imprisoned in a tomb on Earth, kept in a state of paralysis by an energy beam transmitted from the main pyramid on Mars itself. Sutekh would remain a prisoner until 1911, when he took control of the Fourth Doctor and sent him to Mars to destroy the power source. The Doctor did so but was able to make Sutekh die before he escaped his prison.

During the late 20th century, Mars was a target of space exploration. The British space programme sent a series of manned missions to Mars. Mars Probes 6 and 7 made contact with a group of radioactive aliens orbiting the planet on a peaceful survey mission. On 31 October 2006, the Guinevere One probe was launched for an intended landing on Christmas Day, but was intercepted by the alien Sycorax before it could do so.