Who Review: Pyramids of Mars

The TARDIS is thrown off course and ends up in a stately home in 1911, among a collection of Egyptian artifacts. It seems the house is the Scarman family home, and there are some strange things going on there. A Dr. Warlock takes the Doctor and Sarah to a hunting lodge on the grounds where they meet Lawrence Scarman, scientist and brother to the archaeologist, Professor Marcus Scarman, who has recently returned from an expedition in Egypt. Lawrence shows the Doctor his marconiscope, from which he has received some odd signals. The Doctor identifies them as a message from Mars: “Beware Sutekh!” The Doctor explains that Sutekh was the last of an alien race called the Osirians who was chased across the galaxy and supposedly defeated on Earth by his brother, Horus. The Doctor, Sarah, and Lawrence go to the house to investigate, and there they witness a black masked, black robed so-called “servant of Sutekh” kill a man by gripping his shoulders and burning him. The man in black reveals himself to be Marcus Scarman. But he is no longer the man he was. Something happened to him in Egypt, and as a result, the entire created order is in danger from the might of Sutekh the Destroyer…

SPOILER ALERT!! My comments may (and likely will) contain spoilers for those that haven’t seen this serial. If you want to stay spoiler-free, please watch the story before you continue reading!

Despite what the credits say, this story was pretty much a complete Robert Holmes re-write of a script offered by Lewis Greifer. What we end up with is one of the great Who stories of all-time. This review will be positive. Sure, I could nit-pick at the mummy costumes, but they really aren’t all that bad. And, of course, the CSO is not as good as it would be today, but–of course it’s not! This show was broadcast in October and November of 1975. The effects are about as good as you’re going to get for the time.

In short, this is MUST-SEE Who. I could end the review with that, but I’ll give you some reasons why this is such a good serial.

First, Sarah enters the TARDIS Console Room wearing one of Victoria’s dresses. Victoria was a Second Doctor companion he picked up in the Victorian era, so the dress is sort-of appropriate for the story. This is a nice touch, an homage to Sixties Who we don’t often see in 70s Classic Who. The Doctor then vents his frustration about being tied to U.N.I.T., and not wanting to go back to London. This is yet another nail in the coffin of the U.N.I.T. era. We’ve already said goodbye to the Brig (at least until 1989), and we’ll see Harry and Benton for the last time in the next story. But here, it sounds like the Doctor is making a conscious decision to leave U.N.I.T. But he doesn’t really. He’ll never stop being their chief scientific adviser, and he’ll continue to use that position when it’s advantageous for him.

Another notable point is the Doctor’s reference to his respiratory bypass system, which allows him to use an alternate means of breathing, thus giving the appearance of death. I think this is the first time it’s mentioned.

The Doctor takes Sarah “back” to 1980 so he can show her what the world will look like if Sutekh is successful. I think a previous story also indicated that Sarah is from 1980, which sets this era of the show in the near future. We need to remember that when this story first aired, the idea that it would be available on video tape and DVD for people to re-watch was not even a consideration. As far as the production team was concerned, it would be aired, enjoyed, and mostly forgotten–especially little details like Sarah being from 1980. But now, we can compare Sarah Jane Smith’s 1980 with actual 1980 and see how far off they were. It’s not really fair to fault them, though I wonder why they felt the need to give a year. I don’t think it mattered to the story.

To stop Sutekh using Marcus Scarman to steal his TARDIS, the Doctor says the controls are isomorphic, so Scarman will need him to operate the TARDIS. I think this is also a first mention of a concept that comes up now and again. Whether or not the TARDIS controls are actually isomorphic, or whether they are only so when the Doctor remembers to configure them to be is up for debate. It’s certainly true that other people have used, and will use, the TARDIS aside from the Doctor (e.g., Romana, River Song).

One story error–Sarah remarks that the puzzle in the pyramid on Mars (the “childish strategem”) is like the puzzles on the planet of the Exxilons (see “Death to the Daleks” in Season 11). This observation is accurate, but not from Sarah since she never actually saw any of the puzzles on Exxilon.

What really sets this story above many others though, is the combination of the script, the acting, and the atmosphere. Up to this point, producer Philip Hinchcliffe, and script editor Robert Holmes have been dabbling with “gothic horror.” Well, here they go full-bore. The echoes of the classic “Mummy” movies are resounding, and not just by the nature of the story (and the fact there are robot mummies). The lighting, the set designs, the mood combine to give this story a classic horror feel. If the whole story had been shot on film, that would have been the finishing touch. However, budgets wouldn’t extend to studio filming, so only the location shots are on film.

One of the best executed effects (at least IMO), is when Marcus Scarman is shot, and then the smoke from the shot seems to suck into him. This is done by playing the shot backwards and splicing the reversed section into the scene, but it’s so well acted and edited together, it looks seamless.

A couple of acting nods. First, the possessed Marcus Scarman is utterly chilling, and played with such conviction by Bernard Archard. Marcus’s brother, Lawrence, is played by Michael Sheard, who has been in the show a few times before. His performance is unusual in that he is visibly shaken by Marcus’s “death.” It’s not often in Classic Who that you get a sense of grief from characters at the traumatic events happening around them. It was, after all, still considered a children’s show, and too much time spent digging into feelings detracted from the action. But Lawrence’s face, voice, and actions show his heartbreak and devastation louder than any words on the page. Very well done.

As I said, “Pyramids of Mars” is, without doubt, must-see Who. There’s perhaps a little more violence than usual, with a man being crushed to death, another shot, and one man burned alive, but there isn’t any blood, and the camera shies from showing too much. Classic Who doesn’t get much better than this.

(And if that wasn’t enough, the DVD has one of the most entertaining extras, “Oh Mummy!” which tells the story of Sutekh post-“Pyramids of Mars.” Very funny.)