“Pyramids of Mars” is an adventure of the thirteenth season of “Doctor Who” classic series which aired in 1975. It follows “Planet of Evil” and it’s a four parts adventure written by Stephen Harris and directed by Paddy Russell.

The story

In 1911, Marcus Scarman is digging in an Egyptian pyramid and discovers a secret door in a tomb. Scarman opens the door and enters the chamber but is struck by a beam emitted by a mysterious figure.

The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) is bringing Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) back home when a force deflects the course of the Tardis. A jackal head appears before Sarah Jane’s eyes and the Doctor lands at the point of origin of the mysterious force, arriving at the residence of the Scarman family. Soon, the two travelers realize that it’s all part of a plan of the ancient Egyptian god Sutekh, called the Destroyer, who wants to set himself free from a very long imprisonment to bring death and destruction.

Extras

This DVD contains a good amount of extras. There are typical contents such as production subtitles and a gallery of pictures from this adventure.

There are comments in the adventure alternative audio track by protagonist Elisabeth Sladen, actor Michael Sheard, producer Philip Hinchcliffe and director Paddy Russell.

Deleted Scenes. Some deleted and extended scenes.

Osirian Gothic. A documentary on the production of this adventure.

Serial Thrillers. A look to the era of producer Philip Hinchcliffe to understand why so many adventures that have become classics were produced in those years.

Now and Then. Some places where this adventure was filmed comparing the way they look today and the way they looked at the time.

Oh Mummy. A mock-documentary about Sutekh’s career after this adventure.

There is also an “Easter egg” but it’s only a couple of BBC announcements for this adventure.

“Planet of Evil” can be considered the first adventure of the of the so called “Doctor Who” gothic horror period because it contained elements of science fiction mixed with other elements inspired by classic horror stories. In “Pyramids of Mars” this concept was extended by creating a story based on the classic movie “The Mummy”.

Writer Lewis Greifer, who had an interest in Egyptian mythology, was commissioned to write the story. Unfortunately, after writing the first episode, he had serious health problems and delivered the script for the other episodes with considerable delay. Later, he left for Tel Aviv, where he was hired as a teacher at the local university.

Script editor Robert Holmes felt that the screenplay by Lewis Greifer was not usable and was forced to rewrite it. In the production of “Doctor Who” they often had little time but in this case, even a skilled and experienced writer such as Holmes could only complete a draft of the new script on time.

The final version of the “Pyramids of Mars” screenplay was written by Robert Holmes with the assistance of director Paddy Russell while they were making preparations to organize its shooting. There was little left of what he Lewis Greifer had written so he asked for his name to be removed so in the credits the pseudonym Stephen Harris was used.

It’s remarkable that in such difficult circumstances they produced such a high-level adventure. “Pyramids of Mars” has a horror basis on which a total science fiction story was built where apparently supernatural elements are given a rational explanation.

Sutekh, one of the ancient Egyptian gods, is actually an alien with enormous powers. To imprison him in the pyramid on Mars it took the combined power of the other gods, who were alien of his own species. Almost twenty years later, in the movie “Stargate” it’s discovered that the ancient Egyptian gods were aliens technologically very advanced.

Sutekh’s enormous powers are one of the strong elements in “Pyramids of Mars”. The Doctor says that even the Time Lords wouldn’t be able to stop him so it’s absolutely necessary to prevent him from breaking free. Sutekh’s nickname is “the Destroyer” and if he set himself free he’d reduce the Earth to a wasteland and that would be just the beginning.

A scene of great dramatic strength is when the Doctor takes Sarah Jane to 1980 to show her what would happen if Sutekh went free. In Sarah Jane’s present, on Earth everything’s normal but the Doctor wants to show her that history can be changed.

The Fourth Doctor had a tendency to crack joke and often acted childish but in this situation he doesn’t explain to Sarah Jane about time being a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff. Instead, he shows her an alternate 1980 in which Sutekh devastated the planet.

“Pyramids of Mars” is an adventure filled with tension where Marcus Scarman’s body is under Sutekh’s control and with a group of mummies, which are actually robots, he executes the plan to set his master free and meanwhile chases the Doctor and Sarah Jane.

On several occasions, in the classic “Doctor Who” series the pace is slow because there was a need to extend the adventure as much as possible to spread the cost of sets and costumes among the various episodes. “Pyramids of Mars” is perfect in four parts.

Another strong point of “Pyramids of Mars” is in the cast’s performances. Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen work beautifully together and Sarah Jane has some moments where she can really shine showing why she’s perhaps the most beloved companion of the entire saga. The other actors contribute as well, in particular Gabriel Woolf, who plays Sutekh the Destroyer in an extraordinary way with his voice only, as he never moves and wears a mask.

Even in the best adventure, you can find some flaws. Often, it’s a matter of opinions resulting from personal tastes, in some cases, there’s objectively a problem. For example, the traps in the pyramid of Mars don’t seem particularly sophisticated: one of them is a variant of the classic knights and knaves logic problem. On the other hand, the alternative was to add an episode set in the pyramid but spending so much time to see the Doctor facing really complex logical and mathematical problems might have killed the tension.

On the occasion of the fortieth “Doctor Who” anniversary, “Doctor Who Magazine” asked its readers what adventure they wanted to see released on DVD. In that year, there were still many that were really good still to come out on DVD but “Pyramids of Mars” was the winner and that’s not accidental because we’re talking about one of the most beloved stories among the fans but also among people who just occasionally watched “Doctor Who” classic series.

“Pyramids of Mars” is really an extraordinary adventure and the DVD also contains interesting extras so it’s definitely a must-have for all fans. It’s available on Amazon USA, UK, and Canada.