The Doctor In The TARDIS

For this weeks classic story we turn to the Fourth Doctor in the Season 13 story, Pyramids of Mars.

In a Victorian Gothic mansion, strange things are afoot. The master of the house, away in Egypt, has been replaced by a sinister Egyptian. Cloth-wrapped Mummies roam the grounds, killing people. Beneath a pyramid, the last of the Osirians — Sutekh the Destroyer — waits to be freed, to at long last bring his gift of death to all who live.

Pyramids of Mars was the third story of Season 13 of Doctor Who and has often been voted amongst the best stories of the series run.

The next story will be posted on Wednesday September 18th

I'm going with a four on this one. The plot is great, Sutekh is awesome, the characters are interesting and the whole thing keeps you hooked for the whole time. I don't even know why I didn't give it full marks. It should have been a five.

Just about give it a 5.
Reservations because I don't think it is as good as the Zygons and there are a lot of things that don't make sense, especially in the final episode. Exactly what was the missile supposed to do? Just allow Sutekh to emerge from the rubble? But it the end he tried to cross through the portal, so why couldn't he do that already? It seems to me that the Osirans didn't really do a very good job of jailing Sutekh, leaving a portal through which he could exert mental influence, and then he can be freed if you just solve a few puzzles. They didn't think it through!
My reason for giving it a 5 is that although I don't think the script was that great it was all so well executed. Tom Baker is giving one of his best performances as the Doctor and is playing off Sarah Jane perfectly, the other performances are great, the music is great, Sutekh although maybe a little one-dimensional is perfectly done . . . what else can I say? It won't make my top ten or probably my top 20, but I think it still merits a 5 for everything it gets right.

I can't think of a single reason not to give it a five.  One of my favourite Fourth Doctor stories.  Tom and Liz both on great form, a fine script, good supporting characters, and a great villain.

I know the story so well that it's difficult to know how obvious this would be on first viewing, but the missile wasn't aimed at Sutekh's prison.  Sutekh was imprisoned in a tomb in Egypt.  The pyramid on Mars was transmitting a signal that prevented him from moving, and this was what the missile was supposed to destroy, allowing him to escape.  It's never exactly explained how the portal was set up, but I'd assume it was created after Scarman had broken into the tomb, fallen under Sutekh's influence, and brought the Sarcophagus out.

Some of the puzzles do seem a little childish (especially the two guardians, which is a simple logic puzzle I knew as a kid) but others are harder, like the two sets of symbols.  In any case, remember that at the time the Osirans imprisoned Sutekh, humans were pretty primitive.  Maybe they just didn't anticipate anyone even getting to Mars.

"Sutekh was imprisoned in a tomb in Egypt"
Ok, I guess that makes a little more sense -- all that stuff about the two minutes it takes for radio waves to get to Earth makes more sense now. It still doesn't strike me as the greatest design to imprison the most powerful being in the universe, however.
As for the puzzles, this seems to be a retread of old ground. One of the Third Doctor stories (I think it was Colony in Space) did something similar. I think it is generally agreed the fourth episode is weaker than the other three.

4 from me. It's a good story with a strong plot and a great cast, but there are a few bits which I am not so keen on and the last episode lets the story down a bit.

I understand why people love it. The plot is decent and witty and the characters are good, but for some reason the story just doesn't grip me in the way that others do. For that reason I've given it a three. It's not bad, just not amongst my favourites.

I've gone with full marks here. This is one of my favourite stories of the Tom Baker era. The first episode is amazing and totally sets the pace and tone for the rest of the story. Tense, beautifully paced, fantastic performances all round. The whole thing is fantastic, even the slightly weaker last episode.

Are we going to get another couple of stories?  It's getting on for a month now since these two were posted.

Sorry for the delay Nyki, and everyone else - I'm sure PP or The Doc will be on soon to sort it out.

Thanks

Well it's been over 2 years now, which puts a spanner in the works somewhat, but I'd be happy to get them back up and running again if others wanted it also and if there's people here to discuss it. It was a great little area of the forum so it would be nice to revive it.