Pyramids of Mars Part One

The one where the TARDIS lands at UNIT HQ before it becomes UNIT HQ...

Egypt! Somehow Doctor Who and Egypt feel like they go together well, especially during this particular era when stories were barely disguised reworks of favourite horror/ fantasy situations. Pyramids of Mars is obviously a riff on The Mummy, and is the second far-flung Earthbound location in Season 13 so far (yes, back in 1975, having a story set in Scotland was unusual enough to be called "far-flung"!).

It opens with a British Egyptologist discovering a hidden tomb jam-packed with reliquaries and ancient artefacts untouched since the first dynasty of the pharoahs (around 3,000BC). Professor Marcus Scarman typically dreams of plundering these cultural artefacts for his own ends, like every other British explorer of the period. But one thing's for sure: he won't get much help from the locals, as typified by his aide Ahmed, who flees in terror at the very sight of an Eye of Horus hieroglyph. Ahmed's fear doesn't quite make sense, as the Eye of Horus symbol represents protection, royal power and good health, intended to protect the pharoah in the afterlife and ward off evil. So what he's scared of I don't know. Scarman would appear to at least understand the reaction, as he calls Ahmed a "superstitious savage", suggesting there may be something to be feared historically...

In true Doctor Who style, when Scarman enters the sealed tomb (which he manages to do with the greatest of ease), he is assailed by a mighty alien light and thrown asunder as he screams in pain. Now that is how to open a Doctor Who story. If only they did pre-credits sequences back then...

We find the Doctor acting very melancholy and sombre in his TARDIS, as the camera pans out on him looking morose and thoughtful, hat wedged onto his head, and that mournful, haunting moan of the ship in flight. He's interrupted by the effervescent Sarah Jane who's been raiding the TARDIS wardrobe and found an old dress worn by Victoria Waterfield (or "Vicky", as the Doctor rather confusingly claims). The interaction and writing in this scene is perfect, reflecting the relationship both Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen, and the Doctor and Sarah, had with one another. She teases him ("Ooh, you'll soon be middle-aged!"), he bites, but they're both essentially on the same page, and simpatico. These two actors are at the height of their time together, and Sladen in particular seems to have sussed out exactly how to pitch the companion role. Her fearful delivery of "Where? Where have we landed?" is spot on.

It seems an energy impulse has drawn the TARDIS off course in time, landing it in 1911, several decades before it becomes UNIT HQ, where they were heading originally. We learn that the 19th century Priory burnt down and UNIT HQ was built on the site. It's a huge coincidence that the TARDIS's destination is also Marcus Scarman's house, but that doesn't quite explain why Sarah saw the face of a malevolent troll manifest in the TARDIS. There are lots of disparate elements which feel intriguing but unconnected, at least so far.

And why does the Doctor believe that something is going on "contrary to the laws of the universe"? Not an awful lot unusual has happened to suggest such a thing. So the TARDIS landed in the wrong time. What's new?

This is another story where absolutely every aspect of the production crew is at their best and all the talents gel together beautifully. Marvel at Christine Ruscoe's gorgeous set design, Barbara Kidd's bang-on costumes, and Dudley Simpson's masterful score. Namin's organ playing gives the story bags of atmosphere.

As well as the look of the piece though, there's also the cast, which is excellent. Whether it's Peter Mayock's fanatical Ibrahim Namin, or Michael Bilton's doddery Collins, there's not a weak link at all. It's written beautifully too, and the scene where the Doctor humours poor old Collins when he finds them in the unused wing of the house is delightful. Robert Holmes (one of the real writers behind the Stephen Harris pseudonym) manages to give characters so much background with so little time or dialogue (not unlike Russell T Davies). All we really know about Collins is that he stays loyal to Professor Scarman in his absence because new situations are hard to come by at his advanced age. When Collins is found strangled to death moments later, the viewer instantly feels sorry for him, despite barely knowing him at all.

Most magnificent of all though, is Peter Copley as the no-nonsense Dr Warlock, who strides into the story and instantly becomes my favourite character. He's Marcus Scarman's best friend and is concerned about his whereabouts, and what Namin is doing in his house. Namin is annoyed that Collins has allowed Warlock in. "Don't blame Collins," says Warlock pointedly. "Forced entry, sir!" Copley is perfectly cast for this, and delivers Warlock's lines with the right mix of starchiness and incredulity. "Ancient balderdash!" he scoffs at Namin, who he pointedly refuses to shake hands with. It's a lovely, fully-rounded performance.

The scenes with the Doctor, Sarah and the injured Warlock being stalked through the woods by a gun-slinging Namin and his walking mummy are wonderfully edge-of-the-seat, directed with imaginative camera angles by Paddy Russell and accompanied by some very tense music from Simpson. There are wistful moans breaking the silence, and the use of the maracas to evoke the idea of a rattlesnake is genius. The way the mummy - designed with simplicity and skill to be everything a mummy should be, but with an impassive blank face instead of the traditionally mottled visage - wanders the woods in pursuit, but stops and stands stock still to listen and observe, is really unsettling. Our heroes eventually escape to Laurence Scarman's Lodge, but why the Doctor seems to disbelieve Sarah when she mentions walking mummies is odd, as he clearly sees one himself while on the run.

Laurence Scarman is played endearingly by Doctor Who stalwart Michael Sheard, here making his third of six appearances. Laurence has been banned from the Priory by Namin, apparently under the orders of Marcus, but doesn't have the mettle to challenge the Egyptian himself, preferring to let the bolshier Dr Warlock to fight his battles. In the meantime, Laurence has been inventing something called a Marconiscope, named after the Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi, the founder of radio telegraphy. Marconi made his initial breakthrough in radio transmission technology in the 1890s, so although Scarman is a good decade behind, he's pretty advanced to have come up with the Marconiscope all by himself.

"Something's interfering with time, Mr Scarman, and time's my business," says the Doctor, and again I have to wonder why the Doctor seems so sure that time is in trouble. All that's happened is the TARDIS has been thrown off course by an energy impulse, and he's been chased through the woods by a walking mummy. A pretty unusual sets of circumstances, yes, but hardly enough evidence for the Doctor's claim. Well, that is until the Marconiscope receives a repeated transmission from the surface of Mars, which, when translated, says: "Beware Sutekh".

Sutekh aka Set was the Egyptian god of - wait for it - chaos, fire, deserts, trickery, storms, envy, disorder, violence and foreigners, and was the brother of Horus, whose symbolic eye we saw at the start of the episode. This rings alarm bells for the Doctor, who appears to connect Sutekh and Mars and conclude that something catastrophic is about to happen. He makes off for the Priory, telling Sarah Jane to stay at the Lodge, but of course, being Sarah Jane, she follows him, accompanied by an armed Laurence.

At the house, Namin's fanatical organ-playing is reaching a crescendo, so much so that there are now three walking mummies which appear to be dancing along to the doomy tune. As the organ begins to play itself, Namin watches as a black leather-clad figure emerges from the rainbow-coloured portal within a sarcophagus in the corner. Namin assumes this is Sutekh, his master, but actually it appears to be Sutekh's new slave. The effect of the carpet steaming as the figure advances is excellent, and as the dark figure kills Namin with his steamy hot hands, he announces: "I bring Sutekh's gift of death to all humanity."

Blimey.

First broadcast: October 25th, 1975

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: All of it, really, but to choose one stand-out for the episode, it'd have to be Peter Copley's marvellous Dr Warlock ("Ancient balderdash!").
The Bad: It's not clear to me why the Doctor is so adamant that time is in trouble.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★★★

"Would you like a jelly baby?" tally: 05

NEXT TIME: Part Two...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Part Two; Part Three; Part Four

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.com/2014/06/pyramids-of-mars.html

Pyramids of Mars is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Pyramids-Mars-DVD/dp/B000198ADY