Review of Pyramids of Mars (#82)
DVD Release Date: 07 Sep 04
Original Air Date: 25 Oct – 15 Nov 1975
Doctors/Companions: Four, Sarah Jane Smith
Stars: Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen
Preceding Story: Planet of Evil (Four, Sarah Jane)
Succeeding Story: The Android Invasion (Four, Sarah Jane)
When I checked my calendar to see what adventure I was slated to review this month, I have to admit I was pleased to discover I was in for another High and not a Low this month. Although it’s somehow never made onto my personal list of favorites, Pyramids of Mars ranks #7 on the i09 master list I’ve been following, and it’s a far sight better than a lot of the other stories I’ve selected for 2021.
I suspect it’s primarily because Tom Baker has never been a particular favorite that Pyramids doesn’t really ping my radar (or even my Marconiscope, as Laurence Scarman calls his nascent radio telescope). It’s still relatively early in his tenure (meaning he’s not too over-the-top in his characterization yet) and includes Sarah Jane (among my preferred Companions), so it’s certainly on the positive end of the Fourth Doctor spectrum for me, and yet it still only tends to come to the forefront of my mind when I think about what Classic stories other fans recommend.
Or perhaps the fact that I never really went through an Egyptology phase as a kid accounts for my relative lack of enthusiasm. Although the trappings of mummies (robots), pyramids (rockets), and Egyptian gods (a long-lived and powerful alien race whose war found its way to Earth millennia ago) may act like catnip for a certain subset of fans, they are merely mildly diverting for me. (Also not a big fan of putting a beard and a fez on a (white-presenting) British dude and labeling him “the Egyptian”…)
As mashups go, though, Pyramids does a pretty good job. It comes up with an alternate, extraterrestrial explanation for the entire Egyptian pantheon, their use of the pyramid shape, and even canopic jars (though that struck me more as a matter of obfuscation at this English country manor than of actually having been anything other than they seemed in the Egyptian tombs). While it’s a little tiresome to see yet another take on what besides actual human ingenuity could be responsible for some of the wonders of the ancient world, given that this is Doctor Who, I can overlook it as part of the basic remit of the show.
We also get a strong cast. Elisabeth Sladen is fantastic as always, giving Sarah Jane an extra dose of no-nonsense attitude when she handles that rifle with familiarity and confidence; Bernard Archard performs Marcus Scarman as a living corpse with fantastically creepy aplomb; and Michael Sheard provides exactly the right amount of pathos for his role as Laurence Scarman, the surviving Scarman who wants desperately to believe his brother can still be saved.
Sprinkled liberally throughout are the requisite sci-fi elements that make Doctor Who shine: our antagonist Sutekh (a.k.a. Set, in the Egyptian pantheon) has been imprisoned by his own kind, reaching our heroes’ goal depends on defeating a series of security measures reminiscent of a modern-day escape room, and the climax depends on the TARDIS and the limitations of the speed of light. There’s even a self-referential beginning and end note, based on the TARDIS having landed in the place the Doctor was aiming for, but not the time.
There are a lot of good things to recommend Pyramids of Mars, and though they still don’t necessarily speak directly to my own personal story element weak spots, I can’t entirely disagree with the lists that rank it near the top. I wouldn’t reach for it when asked for a favorite adventure—even a favorite Fourth Doctor one—but I also wouldn’t argue with anyone who did. It’s an adventure I can definitely recommend.