Iraxxa

Thousands of years ago, Iraxxa, Empress of Mars, ordered her hive into hibernation at the peak of a brutal civil war. Her hope was to wake when the war had ended and her planet - and its people - were ready to rebuild. Iraxxa sent loyal warrior ‘Friday’ out as a lone sentry, patrolling the skies to warn of any impending attack on the hive - but all did not go to plan. 'Friday' (and the hive) stayed in stasis much longer than intended and 'Friday's' malfunctioning ship crashed to Earth. By the time 'Friday' managed to return to Mars, the hive had laid buried and forgotten on the surface of a now dead planet, far longer than Iraxxa could ever have anticipated.

When the soldiers uncovered Iraxxa’s sarcophagus, and revived her, she considered the human expedition to be a hostile invasion force, intent on ravaging the resources of her planet. Bound by duty and a strict sense of honour, the intelligent but stubborn Iraxxa refused to accept that the world she had known was dead; the atmosphere had all but evaporated and the surface was lifeless. Instead, she vowed to fight until every human had been wiped out, and then on to reclaim her planet and empire.

It appeared that there was no way to stop the bloodshed. However, Godsacre’s willingness to step forward and die with honour in the hope of sparing his men, offered Iraxxa an insight into the nobility of humanity and the opportunity to stand down. Iraxxa accepted the Doctor’s help to send out a signal to the rest of the universe, requesting help in getting off Mars and leading her people to a new world to start again…