Pyramids of Mars: Part Four

The credited writer for Pyramids of Mars is Stephen Harris. A made up name as script editor Robert Holmes took over writing duties after the initial story by Lewis Greifer needed reworking.

When Sutekh learns that the Doctor is a Time Lord and has a Tardis. He mind controls the Doctor to take Scarman and a mummy to the pyramid of Mars.

The Doctor is left to die but uses his respiratory bypass system. He is free of Sutekh's mind control and reunites with Sarah Jane.

They now have to stop Scarman to deactivate the Eye of Horus, the force that has trapped Sutekh. Both have to deal with puzzles left behind by the Osirians.

The Doctor and Sarah Jane may be too late as Sutekh transforms into a jackal and moves through the space time tunnel. The Doctor still has one trick up his sleeve, he needs to get back to earth in time.

The story has a clever twist ending, very much in the style of Holmes. It starts a run of Gothic horror that brought back a golden age of Doctor Who in the mid 1970s.

As for Sutekh he was meant have met his demise in the space time tunnel. Unless he managed to grab onto something passing through!

Despite what the title suggests, this serial is actually set on Earth, not Mars. Indeed the focus is even tighter since it mostly plays out in and around a stately home, where the Doctor works to prevent the god Sutekh following his servants to Earth and leading to its total destruction. As a narrative it manages to be reasonably straightforward and do what most of these serials do, but yet at the same time have plenty in there if you are willing to go with it.

The limited location means that the serial does build a good sense of tension, with the lumbering mummies providing the standard slow moving monster to be an immediate and creepy threat, but yet at the same time the bigger picture plays out. The threat to the world is contained by choice here, so the serial doesn't feel like it is doing world destruction on the cheap simply by playing it out in this one place (more or less). The bigger themes and villains work well, whether it is the changing of timelines, the idea of the Doctor perhaps struggling against a much stronger force (rather than doing a comedy bit and defeating him with ease, as has been the modern way at times). There was certainly enough to keep me interested, while the standard horror/chase stuff worked too.

The cast are solid. Baker of course is very good; playing a sense of nervousness and obligation well as part of his usual turn. Sladen continues to be well-used as a companion, and she does well as a result. The supporting cast is generally pretty good; with some nice twists and turns in their playing, and generally good presence from the villains (Woolf, Archard). The production budget is not particularly stretched, and the mummies are not the most imposing design even if they are a solid device in a lumbering way; but generally it looks good enough and uses the places well. Generally speaking, a good serial which does the standards well enough, but offers a bit more to engage with if you want it.

Review of all 4 episodes:

One of the finest Doctor Who stories of all time without doubt, this is pure genius throughout.

An Egyptologist, Marcus Scarman, enters an Egyptian tomb in 1911 and is taken over by a powerful being. This being, Sutekh was a God to the ancient Egyptians but it is later revealed that the Egyptian Gods including Sutekh and his brother Horus were actually ultra-powerful alien beings called Osirans. Sutekh is evil and exceptionally powerful. He wants to destroy all intelligent life because he considers any such life a potential threat. He was imprisoned thousands of years before by Horus and the over 170 other 'Egyptian Gods' (actually Osirans) who united their powers to defeat him. Sutekh now begins to use Scarman to enable him to finally escape. The Doctor and Sarah arrive in 1911 England where Scarman is returning to his home. They must stop Sutekh or the Earth and every other world faces destruction.

Sutekh is one of the best villains in Doctor Who. The power and evil shown by him is scarily impressive, The Doctor appears genuinely in fear of him saying he is the most powerful, dangerous foe he has faced. This menace helps create tension and excitement for the audience. The sinister realisation of Sutekh himself is brilliant and Gabriel Woolf plays the part incredibly effectively. Those in his power also carry out some tremendously scary and effective scenes of evil. There are so many magnificent scenes in this story and the effects are extremely well done, adding to the impact of many scenes.

One great example of the impressive effects is the smoke emitting from boots and gloves of the creepy black-clad servant of Sutekh as he kills another servant no longer considered useful. The Mummy robots are effective. Explosions and even reverse explosions are brilliantly done as is a fire at the end.

The story itself is genius and the dialogue is marvelous, with so much intelligence and interest imbued in every scene. This is mostly down to the great Robert Holmes, script editor for this greatest era and writer of many great stories. The script was originally submitted by Lewis Greifer but was considered unworkable. We clearly have Greifer to thank for some of the great ideas but Holmes did extensive rewrites of the script and has created a work of genius. He adopted the pseudonym of Stephen Harris, not wanting to take credit for a story he had adapted from someone else's idea.

The acting matches the quality of the material with every main part being played perfectly. Bernard Archard is perfect as Marcus Scarman and every other supporting part is played to the best standard. Michael Sheard as Laurence Scarman is a particularly interesting, endearing and wonderfully acted part whilst that character is also used to bring out some great insight into The Doctor himself. The dark side of The Doctor is explored fully in this story and light is shed on how he balances care for individuals with an ability to weigh up the 'bigger picture' of what is at stake. There are superb character based scenes across all 4 episodes.

There is also a chilling, imagination capturing scene when The Doctor goes forward to 1980 to show Sarah what the Earth will be like if they left without stopping Sutekh. This scene is to prove that Sarah's knowledge (and the audience's mindset) that the world was not destroyed in 1911 does not mean Sutekh cannot succeed. The Doctor shows Sarah, and us, that history can change depending on the actions or lack of action of The Doctor and/or Sutekh. This is a scene of massive importance in bedding the whole series in some logical context.

Another incredibly good aspect in this story is the exposition. Never in any TV show have motives, actions and events been so effectively and intelligently explained whilst still keeping you entirely captured within the drama. Writers of every show, including modern Doctor Who should take note of the clever and subtle methods of keeping the audience informed and up to speed without clumsy or unrealistic explanations.

Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen are perfection. The mixture of darkness and sparkling personality demonstrated by Baker as The Doctor is majestic. Lis Sladen is strong, independent, brave and never a weak, screaming damsel in distress. Her interaction with The Doctor and with Laurence Scarman is fabulous.

The whole adventure is enthralling in every way. This is a real front-runner to be the best story of all time and it is set within season 13, which for me is one of the best seasons ever. This is very top standard 10/10 classic from start to finish.

It's a race to the finish, as The Doctor and Sarah, take on Sutekh's servants to reach the eye of Horus, thus freeing Sutekh from his ancient binds.

There is a bit of a feel of Death to the Daleks, as The Doctor battles challenging puzzles. It all works together so incredibly well. The production values are immaculate throughout, one little slip up being the visible hand, when Sutekh famously stands up from his chair.

I love the comedy walk the duo do, so well rehearsed. Baker and Sladen are immaculate on screen together, and here the pair are at the height of their brilliance. It's a wonderful story, no wonder it's loved by many fans. Pure class. 9/10

Journey to the Pyramids of Mars, solve a few puzzles, and you can reclaim all the stars, then take a journey through the vortex, it will irritate your cortex, have no illusion that the pleasure, has been all ours.