Pyramids of Mars
In the year 1911, archaeologist Marcus Scarman discovers and enters a blind pyramid in Egypt. Upon seeing the Eye of Horus on the door to the inner chamber, his work party run away in terror, and when he proceeds on his own he is killed instantly in a flash of light. A mental projection of a hideous beast invades the TARDIS and diverts the ship to Scarman's country home in England where a religious fanatic is waiting for the return of his god, Sutekh, with an army of oversized mummies at his command. Along with Scarman's brother, Laurence, the Doctor and Sarah discover that the ancient god Sutekh is indeed alive, but he is no god; he is a native of the planet Phaester Osiris and was known as Sutekh the Destroyer, shattering worlds and leaving death in his wake until he was cornered on Earth and held prisoner by a force field controlled from Mars. Sutekh reanimates the body of Marcus Scarman to acheive his ends, and with the Doctor's assertation that not even the Time Lords could stop him, it looks as if he might win.
BRILLIANT. Again. Atmosphere of a creepy old house with robot mummies wandering the grounds, a pallid dead man in control of them, and a bound god running the whole thing. What more could anyone ask for?
I figured it was time to show Jay an episode that has no major flaws worth mocking, and so for the first time in a long time we actually sat in near silence while the DVD played. And we enjoyed. Oh of course we made the odd joke here and there but not at the expense of the show... well not much anyways... Jay did snigger at the clever reversing of footage that was used to show the reanimated Scarman recovering from a bullet shot by the local poacher. And we did wonder why the Doctor and Sarah didn't gag when getting a whiff of the inside of the poacher's hut with all those dead rabbit hanging all over the place. But the shots of the TARDIS in flight were well done, and for once the wobbling about as if the box were on a string (and it actually was) worked to the advantage of the plot. Still, it was a far cry from the fantastic crash landing sequence used in The Christmas Invasion just a few weeks ago. There was a fun reference in part one where Sarah emerges from the wardrobe wearing a white dress which the Doctor recognizes as one of Victoria's, creating a moment which will be referenced in the future in a spinoff called Downtime.
So check it out. The Doctor is powerless against Sutekh. Just as the third Doctor was aaginst the Great One, here we see the Doctor forced to his knees by his enemy, while Sutekh laughs. And then Sutekh posesses his mind and hijacks the TARDIS for a ride to Mars, which is the first time the TARDIS is ever invaded by an enemy (aside from when the Master managed to force his way in in the past). It's not often we see the Doctor so helpless, aside from the odd bit of physical overpowering by a strong alien. It's also a new thing to see the Doctor so resentful of the Brigadier; in part one he is still pissed at having been recalled to help with the Zygon invasion.
I mentioned this to Jay while we were watching: Elisabeth Sladen has the most incredible eyes. I have said before about how her reaction to the Dalek at the end of part one of Genesis of the Daleks was one of the best ever, and it's all in the eyes. Jay went on to say she was actually a very good looking girl all around, and for a moment, two gay men watching Doctor Who sounded about as gay as Sunday afternoon football. Mind you, that's pretty gay, too.
Then we enjoyed a hearty laugh at the only real clunker moment of the show: in part four when Sutekth finally stands up after years of sitting helpless in a chair, there's a hand in plain view on the edge of the chair. And rather than just stay there and not draw attention to itself, it moves, and practically waves before vanishing. Oh my. The story isthat the actor playing Sutekh was sitting for so long that the pillow he was on actually stuck to his bum, so rather than get him a new pillow they had an extra crouch behind his throne and hold the edge down. Ah, another of those golden moments, and it was played upon in the short spoof documentary included on the DVD release, entitled Oh Mummy. "Do these people have nothing better to do?" Jay lamented. Oh come on, it was funny.
NEXT EPISODE : THE ANDROID INVASION
BRILLIANT. Again. Atmosphere of a creepy old house with robot mummies wandering the grounds, a pallid dead man in control of them, and a bound god running the whole thing. What more could anyone ask for?
I figured it was time to show Jay an episode that has no major flaws worth mocking, and so for the first time in a long time we actually sat in near silence while the DVD played. And we enjoyed. Oh of course we made the odd joke here and there but not at the expense of the show... well not much anyways... Jay did snigger at the clever reversing of footage that was used to show the reanimated Scarman recovering from a bullet shot by the local poacher. And we did wonder why the Doctor and Sarah didn't gag when getting a whiff of the inside of the poacher's hut with all those dead rabbit hanging all over the place. But the shots of the TARDIS in flight were well done, and for once the wobbling about as if the box were on a string (and it actually was) worked to the advantage of the plot. Still, it was a far cry from the fantastic crash landing sequence used in The Christmas Invasion just a few weeks ago. There was a fun reference in part one where Sarah emerges from the wardrobe wearing a white dress which the Doctor recognizes as one of Victoria's, creating a moment which will be referenced in the future in a spinoff called Downtime.
So check it out. The Doctor is powerless against Sutekh. Just as the third Doctor was aaginst the Great One, here we see the Doctor forced to his knees by his enemy, while Sutekh laughs. And then Sutekh posesses his mind and hijacks the TARDIS for a ride to Mars, which is the first time the TARDIS is ever invaded by an enemy (aside from when the Master managed to force his way in in the past). It's not often we see the Doctor so helpless, aside from the odd bit of physical overpowering by a strong alien. It's also a new thing to see the Doctor so resentful of the Brigadier; in part one he is still pissed at having been recalled to help with the Zygon invasion.
I mentioned this to Jay while we were watching: Elisabeth Sladen has the most incredible eyes. I have said before about how her reaction to the Dalek at the end of part one of Genesis of the Daleks was one of the best ever, and it's all in the eyes. Jay went on to say she was actually a very good looking girl all around, and for a moment, two gay men watching Doctor Who sounded about as gay as Sunday afternoon football. Mind you, that's pretty gay, too.
Then we enjoyed a hearty laugh at the only real clunker moment of the show: in part four when Sutekth finally stands up after years of sitting helpless in a chair, there's a hand in plain view on the edge of the chair. And rather than just stay there and not draw attention to itself, it moves, and practically waves before vanishing. Oh my. The story isthat the actor playing Sutekh was sitting for so long that the pillow he was on actually stuck to his bum, so rather than get him a new pillow they had an extra crouch behind his throne and hold the edge down. Ah, another of those golden moments, and it was played upon in the short spoof documentary included on the DVD release, entitled Oh Mummy. "Do these people have nothing better to do?" Jay lamented. Oh come on, it was funny.
NEXT EPISODE : THE ANDROID INVASION
Labels: Sarah Jane Smith, The 4th Doctor
posted by Sean Hoover @ 8:54 AM
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