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Summary: "There are other humans within these walls...."
Review: "Pyramids of Mars" might contain the most chilling and powerful enemy the Doctor has ever come across in his travels. Instant classic comes to my mind when this adventure is mentioned in casual company. The story itself is outstanding. Wonderful writing from Robert Holmes, even Sarah gets some great one-liners("Your shoes need repairing", "Must've sneezed" and "Must've been a nasty accident"). Baker, of course, is zany, dramatic and unhuman, but humane. All guest actors provide their all, but it's Sutekh who steals the show in an unforgettable performance. The mummies are great! And Clements the poacher's death is not to be missed. Great location work help seal its fate in Who masterpieces, along with its creepy soundtrac, and flawless design and execution. Simply astounding, not to be missed. Probably one of Whos all time greats!
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Summary: Adventure from the show's Golden Years
Review: "The Pyramids of Mars" was conceived, written and produced at a period of time where the creative team of the show was really at their peak. It's a classic DW adventure. It's dark but with some humor, nicely written and performed characters, and its atmosphere is nothing less than marvelous. The adventure is one of the hallmarks of the Tom Baker era of the show, boundless enthusiasm apparent on and off the screen, and it shows.
This one should be required viewing for all new and fairly new fans of the show.
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Summary: Two of the best!
Review: Dragged from the BBC archives comes another pair of classic Doctor Who releases on DVD from two different eras of the show. "Pyramids of Mars" and "Earthshock" are only six years apart in broadcast terms, but seem much more distant when viewed back to back. They're cracking tales nonetheless.
"Pyramids of Mars," the earlier story, broadcast in March 1976, stars Tom Baker in the role of the fourth Doctor alongside his travelling companion Sarah-Jane Smith, played by Elisabeth Sladen. Arguably one of the most successful pairing's of actors in the long running show's history, the chemistry between the two leads is at its peak, helped along largely by the incredible production skills of Philip Hinchcliffe and the scripting of Robert Holmes. This story takes them back to Earth, but this time into the near distant past of Edwardian England for a period piece exploring Egyptian mythology with sci-fi overtones. It's not only a cracking yarn and splendidly acted by a very, very strong cast, but designed and plotted to the hilt. It also presents one of the most chilling opponents the Time Lord has ever faced, Sutekh, played wonderfully by Gabriel Woolf. There is very little to criticize here, although detractors will try, unlike the companion release "Earthshock."
Produced in1981 for Peter Davison's first season as the fifth Doctor, "Earthshock" had a huge impact on the viewing public at the time of it's broadcast due to the reappearance after a seven year absence of the Doctor's second most popular enemy: The Cybermen. Kept a secret from everyone outside of the production, with red herring's set aplenty by the producer John Nathan-Turner to make sure it remained so, their sudden appearance at the end of episode one was a true classic moment of great TV. It comes at the end of a very atmospheric and chilling first episode, but alas, the pace isn't maintained in the remaining three. Written by the show's script editor, Eric Saward, it is very indicative of his style and that of the production team as a whole that guest stars, special effects and lavish sets were promoted to the detriment of plot and scripting. The plot to this story has so many holes and inconsistencies it all unravels into something of a mess. But having said that, it still works and if you don't pay too close attention, it's very enjoyable romp. Marking the first long time companion of the Doctor to meet a grisly end, the story finishes on a muted note that had a profound impact on the show and indeed the ratings; more so even than the Cybermen's return to TV screens.
As always, it's the extras on the discs that make the entrance price worth every penny. The BBC always does a tremendous job with the picture quality, commentary tracks, the subtitles and production notes and all sorts of bonus material. The bonuses here include two absolute gems that had me in fits of laughter. "Pyramids of Mars" contains a mock documentary about the villain Sutekh's life after the story and "Earthshock" has an additional "episode 5." Terrific stuff. The commentaries are also wonderful. Elisabeth Sladen and Philip Hinchcliffe are joined by recurring guest actor Michael Sheard with occasional comments from director Paddy Russell for a truly interesting commentary on "Pyramids." The commentary for "Earthshock" is even more fun with the full regular cast (Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Matthew Waterhouse and Sarah Sutton) having a wonderful time coming together once more. Their on screen relationships were never very close or harmonious so it's great to hear that the four actors really were a very close team of pals.
Two terrific releases, despite weaknesses in the later story, which would be entertaining to non Doctor Who fans as well as the more seasoned viewer. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Professor Scarman Steals the Show
Review: I didn't see this mentioned in any of the other reviews and I wanted to share it. I thought Professor Scarman was awesome as a villain, even moreso than Sutekh. The mummys were a bit silly looking but I would have been more scared of Prof. Scarman than those 3 mummys put together.
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Summary: A classic adventure from a classic SF series.
Review: I first began watching "Doctor Who" as a teenager in 1983 while the PBS station in St. Louis was in its first run of the episodes from the Tom Baker era. Baker remains my favorite Doctor, although I do find something to like in each of the Doctors. "Pyramids of Mars" was one of the first stories I remember watching, and to this day, it remains one of my overall favorite DW adventures. Set in 1911, the Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) arrive at an old English priory owned by an Egyptologist. After a series of killings and other strange events, the Doctor and Sarah discover that Professor Scarman has been taken over by Sutekh, the last survivior of the Osirans, an extremely powerful race perceived as gods by the ancient Egyptians. Sutekh, the lord of death and destruction, has been imprisoned in a pyramid for millenia by his fellow Osirans, and now he seeks to use Professor Scarman as an instrument to gain his freedom from his prison. Among the supporting cast is actor Michael Sheard, whom "Star Wars" fans may remember as Admiral Ozzel in "The Empire Strikes Back" (He also played an autograph-happy Hitler in "Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade"), as Lawrence Scarman, the archaeologist's brother. Sheard narrates "Now & Then," a featurette which revisits the Stargrove locations where "Pyramids of Mars" was filmed. He also joins Elisabeth Sladen, director Paddy Russell and then-DW producer Philip Hinchcliffe for the commentary track. Other features include the "Osiran Gothic" documentary, the "Serial Thrillers" featurette which looks at the Hinchcliffe era of DW, delted/extended scenes and the hilarious "Oh Mummy" spoof which follows Sutekh's life post-"Pyramids." "Pyramids of Mars" is one of the greatest "Doctor Who" stories ever, and this DVD does it justice. These "Doctor Who" DVD's have really brought back a lot of great memories, and I look forward to the new series in 2005.
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Summary: GRAET SHOW/STORY.
Review: I first saw this story when I was little in 1977 it was greatthen and still is great. This story inspired STARGATE&STARGATE SG-1 LONG LIVE DR.WHO LONG LIVE STARGATE SG-1.HAVE FUN!!!
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Summary: One of the Best Tom Baker stories
Review: I like this story throughout. The plot is action packed with little padding. Tom Baker for once manages to stick to the script most of the time and is not guilty of massive overplaying as he is in many other episodes. There is humour but it is good. There are some genuinly scary moments. Along with Genesis of the Daleks in my view the best of T Baker!
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Summary: Silly! Doctor Who and Architechture Just Don't Mix
Review: I seem to be in the minority on both this series and Stones of Blood, the other episode in which Tom Baker as Doctor Who takes on a god/goddess whose fate and life are wound up with an ancient archeological treasure, in the case of this series with the Egyptian pyramids, in the case of Stones with Stonehenge. Both series are cheesy in the extreme, illogical, and while they have entertaining sequences, fall well short of the truly great Tom Baker episodes (and there are many of those).In this series, the Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith are diverted to 1911 England where a mysterious Egyptian has ensconsed himself and some Egyptian artifacts in a house belonging to a missing archaeologist. The Egyptian seems able to conjure up the spirit of a deity by playing creepy, horror music on an organ in his living room. We also have robots who look like gray mummies with breasts, bad hieroglyphics, and the missing archaeologist who is not, in fact, missing, he's just been taken over by the deity and runs around pale white, calling the deity master and killing off anyone who gets in his way. It's really a rather silly episode with not much to commend it, other than the Doctor's compassion for the human race and willingness to expose himself to danger, but those two traits appear in almost every Tom Baker episode and being chased around by cheesy mummies gets a bit dull after a while. This one has entertainment value, but there are many better episodes.
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Summary: The very best DW ever!
Review: I'll make no pretense - this is my favorite Doctor Who adventure of all time. It is moody and intense, with brilliant performances by Tom Baker, Lis Sladen, and Gabriel Woolf. No other DW villain has really been so imposing - we never see Sutekh's face (unless that mask -is- Sutekh's face) or see his lips move, but his voice is so powerful and resonant it sends chills down the spine; more than a worthy adversary for the tall and deep-voiced Tom Baker. The story is nicely claustrophobic, mostly taking place in and around a mansion, with the marvelous sense of a horror movie. The script is another real gem by Robert Holmes (despite the writer's credit, he wrote almost all of what appeared onscreen), and no actor is off-par. The only downside about this video is that it was one of the first DW videos released, so the four 25-minute episodes have been truncated into a long 95-minute "movie". Still, in lieu of an unedited video or DVD release, this is a fine purchase and should be in anyone's Doctor Who collection.
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Summary: The most thrilling Dr. Who ever (favorite episode)
Review: Like other reviewers, this is my favorite Dr. Who series ever. The writing, acting and mood of this story is absolutely captivating and thrilling...and it holds up very well, even though it's been 15 years since I last saw it.
Even though I'm an American, I've seen most of the Dr. Who episodes, which are available (most of Hartnell's and Troughton's runs weren't preserved?). From that perspective, I really think Tom Baker was the best Doctor; and his first 3 seasons (of which Pyramids of Mars is part of) represent the show at it's absolute peak. (Unfortunately, the show declined somewhat afterwards, esp when the late John Nathan Turner became producer and actually made Dr. Who boring and pretentious...) But thankfully, this DVD of Dr. Who's glory days exists.
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