Season 13: Pyramids of Mars

There is an experience Doctor Who fans will never have again that anyone watching the series in the Seventies did have and that is watching your first episode in colour. After years of various shades of grey there would finally be an episode when the series exploded into bright COLOUR! For some it had started with `Spearhead from Space` when the series itself was first broadcast in colour. Some of us had to wait a while longer. For me it was episode 2 of `Pyramids of Mars` first broadcast on 1 November 1975. Having avidly watched most of the third Doctor’s era in monochrome – and therefore spared the garish colours of the Axons- nothing could prepare me for the experience of seeing the series as it should look. It’s difficult to describe in a world now where black and white material is either ancient or used as a novelty. Somehow watching in monochrome you did have some idea of things being different shades yet whenever a photo turned up it was still a surprise. I think the reason why I loved the Target books covers was because of the vibrant colour of the artwork. Yet Doctor Who was still a black and white series for me. Then in 1975 we got a colour television and suddenly everything was different. 

 

I’d seen the possessed Marcus Scarman bringing Sutekh’s gift of death to all humans courtesy of a smoky shoulder crunch to poor Namin a week earlier but now I discovered how absolutely silvery grey his robe was. And how richly red the carpet on which he stepped in his steaming slippers slippers. The browns of the wooden furniture in the room, the colours in the Doctor’s scarf. The green of the grass. Colour tv in those days was far less sharp than it is now where endless developments try to give you an `even better` picture. Instead it was awash with strong rich colours- I think most people took ages to learn about Contrast! In some ways the 70s colour televisions captured more of a sense of place. In a way that had never been the case before, you really felt as if you were there.

It wasn’t always to the series’ advantage of course. For one thing, the difference in picture grain between the studio and location sequences was now more pronounced; monochrome had hidden it better. Also the clearer picture exposed some of the cheapness of the sets to the discerning viewer -you could even sometimes even see the make up on actor’s faces. However it was a welcome change and this particular episode was such a good one with several features that my new colour experience seemed to enhance or accentuate though the choice was purely coincidental.

 

Other stories may have more to say, be more epic in style, be less poised and precise or be grittier but 'Pyramids of Mars' is just stupendously good. If I had to show a non-fan one story to convince them of the art that is good Seventies Doctor Who storytelling, it would be this one. Yet it would be equally true to say there is little, if anything, original to be seen. Rather, it is a perfect example of how to sample, filter and remix all sorts of literary and stylistic influences to create something that seems brand new. In less sure hands, it could have been a disaster but being produced at a time when the BBC was the master of studio costume drama, the period setting could not have gone wrong. Very little actually happens in the story yet it relies on a tremendous atmosphere and classy dialogue to build a steady momentum while director Paddy Russell resists the temptation to go overboard with some of the script's potentially hammier moments.

Take the introduction of Sutekh. After all the talk of just how powerful and dangerous the Osiran is, you could expect a disappointment when we finally get to see him. But no; based on familiar Egyptology imagery the costume is simple, the lighting other worldly and Gabriel Woolf’ s voice perfect. Paddy Russell has been criticised by Tom Baker who rarely seems to remember any story in much detail so she must have really annoyed him but she also got the best out of the mercurial star just as she shaped the best aspects of the script to create a memorable story.

 

 

After an atmospheric prelude with Scarman in the tomb, (apparently the dialogue mis-names the Dynasty) the story opens with the Doctor standing in the middle of the console room brooding over his life. "I walk in eternity" Tom intones giving it his best gloomy air provoking an amusing reaction from Sarah who is not taking his sombre mood very seriously. He, on the other hand, mistakes her for Victoria at first as she wears the old dress. Yet this lack of concern for unimportant matters rears its head several times later on, notably when the Doctor reminds Sarah of the grand scale of the menace they face. In those days the series took the opposite tack that it does today by drawing attention to the difference between the alien Time Lord and his human friends rather than giving the Doctor human attributes. Its horses for courses - the opposite approach would not work in either case if you swapped them round. Imagine the fourth Doctor taking tearful time out to muse over casualties and despatch apologies!

After Sarah sees a projection of Sutekh's head and the TARDIS is forced to land, we're set up for the main thrust of the plot. It’s worth noting just how much attention to detail there is; have you noticed for example that birds can be heard through the open window in the storeroom? Or that we first see the Space/Time tunnel sarcophagus reflected in the shaking mirror atop the organ Namin is playing? The set is gorgeous, as you'd expect, but the soundtrack is its equal. It is worth considering the incidental music in this story which functions so well as part of the action and is some of Dudley Simpson’s every best work on the programme. Whereas Seventies incidentals were often added only to underpin moments of suspense, peril or even humour, here the music is so ingrained in the production. The melodramatic organ music becomes a character in itself and the use of marimbas in some of the other incidental music adds a chill.  When you think about in terms of the story there really is no particular reason why Namin plays his solos yet it adds so much. In fact I can’t even imagine why the Scarman family would have such an instrument installed unless old Mrs Scarman was a dab hand at playing. Nonetheless it adds to the undercurrent of impending menace that is ever present in the first three episodes.

 

Warlock's arrival is used as an economical way of establishing a few facts. Peter Copley plays the old friend of Marcus' with a mixture of politeness mixed with consternation; "I know your name, it's your business l'm concerned with" he says. Meanwhile, Collins (the butler who you just know is going to meet a sticky end before too long) thinks the Doctor and Sarah have sneaked in while Warlock distracts "his nibs". Makes a change from the travellers being accused of some crime or other and allows the Doctor to deduce just how frightened the old man is. The scene also features the first of a series of quips that helps stop the story become too over bearing; "Egyptian, eh?" notes Sarah, then, pointing at the mummies; "is this where he keeps his relatives?" 

 

After Collins' inevitable demise there is another trait of this story. The death is noted and commented upon; nobody dies frivolously here - such a change from the mass battles of the Barry Letts days when people could be gymnastic cannon fodder to spice up the pace. As matters progress, Warlock is wounded and carried to Laurence Scarman's cottage where the timid brother of the archaeologist tries to come to terms with what is going on. This is one of the finest casts assembled for a Doctor Who story and the way the characters are acted makes it timeless. Unlike today’s tendency to drop in contemporary references which sooner or later will date a scene, in this story we remain firmly in 1911.  Each of the characters are believable even though most play only a small part. For example Michael Bilton is superbly deferential and jittery as Collins, Peter Mayock seems almost possessed as the fanatical Namin and Peter Copley brings sturdy heft to his few scenes as Warlock.

The main cast of course are remembered for classic performances but one thing I notice each time I see this story is just how venomous Sutekh’s’s voice is. I’d always remembered Gabriel Woolf as having a sibilant, clear tone but the way he adds a viciousness to that tone is so powerful. Michael Sheard’s delicate, honest performance as Lawrence Scarman speaks volumes about the way we imagine the brothers growing up. I bet Marcus was always the stronger of the two and now Lawrence has no idea where to turn. Bernard Archard uses the script’s hints of the real Marcus to give a disturbing edge to the role, the character almost physically unable to speak of his past life.

 

The outdoor filming keeps the story looking fresh even today. All the shots of the Mummies trampling about the woods are framed interestingly. Sometimes the camera is lop sided. Other times foliage juts into focus or the Mummies powerful look is enhanced by being filmed from ground level. In the first episode, this works especially well as Sarah is trying to evade them. The scenes in the lodge with Laurence's patent radio telescope show us the mood shifting Doctor to a tee as he first gets riled by the formers bemusement over the question of what year it is then becomes interested in the machine. "I see" says Lawrence at one point as the others explain a little of who they are. "I'm sure you don't, but its very nice of you to try" is the Doctor's reply. The way the episode climaxes in a wash of organ music and the arrival of Scarman is riveting stuff right down to the smoke effect and, if you listen, the sound of scorching. "I bring Sutekh's gift of death to all humans" he says but the real shock is the make- up job on Bernard Archard's face which, even under harsh studio lighting, is eerie and unsettling. Of course it does help that the actor himself has a haunted look. The part, such as it is, is well sketched to allow a sort of forced delivery as if the real Marcus is in there somewhere fighting to get out. This is clear from the way he talks to Warlock in the cottage and refers to "the other Scarman".

 

Episode 2 does have a bit of filler material in the form of the gamekeeper used as a particularly good use of a foil to allow the 'monsters' runabout and engineer a calamitous scenario when he is later caught. The real tour de force is the moment when he shoots Marcus. With the Doctor, Sarah and Laurence in a priests hole ("in a Victorian gothic folly?" the Doctor has earlier exclaimed!) watching, the shot is absorbed in a rush of smoke sucked backwards. A simple effect that looks good to the modern eye. Its moments like this which demonstrate how economy can work to the series' advantage.

 The trip to an alternative future where they see what would happen if they just left in the Tardis at this juncture answers the sceptics question as to why they don't just do that. The answer is not just that there are more episodes to go! The scene presents the Doctor in the foreground doomily explaining the situation while Sarah and Lawrence realise the implications. It's a mark, too, of the thought that went into the show at this point that they bothered to explain things like this. The end of the episode is staged very well given the confined space of the lodge set - so often sequences like this look too choreographed but there is a real feel of peril and desperation in this one. Its one of the best cliffhangers the original series ever did.

 

Part 3 is full of shifts in mood. The Doctor and Sarah's dismantling of the generator loop is close to frivolous. "Are you going to help or stand around and admire the scenery?" he asks to which she replies "your shoe needs mending". "It's like repairing a watch with a hammer and chisel" is how the Doctor describes his task "one false move and you'll never know the time again." This sense of two people feeling natural in each other's company is a far better way of depicting companions than the 80s idea of having false arguments and sniping.

The easy rapport is unparalleled in original Doctor Who though is now the norm with the modern series. Sarah may sometimes seem a bit too capable when it suits the story (like when did she learn to handle a rifle so proficiently?) yet Lis Sladen adds an identifiable nature to the role. The fourth Doctor is still edgy and uncompromising, but because Sarah trusts him and likes him so will the younger viewers. At this stage in his long tenure Tom Baker is in his imperial period where he truly portrays a totally alien being, Neither he nor the script make any concession to human like qualities indeed one of the story’s best known scenes underlines that he is an alien with a wider perspective than the narrow interests of humans. While I always enjoyed the actor’s zanier later interpretation I have to admit that at this period in the series’ history he is peerless and no lead actor in the programme before or since has captured the Doctor in as powerful or interesting way as he does in stories like this.

 

This interference in his plans has Sutekh raging and the trips to his den provide a contrast to the quips elsewhere as Sarah recklessly chucks "sweaty gelignite" around. Yet the mood is totally different a few minutes later as Marcus kills Laurence and then Sarah chides the Doctor for not seeming to care only to have the matter put into perspective. The Doctor's plan to blow up the rocket involved Tom Baker himself wearing the bandages which is what apparently upset the actor but you can tell its him and the tension is upped during the sequence as Marcus calls him.

 

There is a point where every story has to cut loose from its moorings and rush to the ending but 'Pyramids' manages to sustain the measured pace throughout. The confrontation between the Doctor and Sutekh has rightly gone down in fan lore as a classic but however familiar you are with it, the way that the evil power of Sutekh comes across does not diminish. Gabriel Woolf’s voice oozes malicious contempt as he reels of such deliciously evil line as "Identify yourself - plaything of Sutekh" or "abase yourself - you grovelling insect". It is just like Twitter hate nowadays! As with all this season and indeed this period of Doctor Who a love of language is evident throughout the script. Personally I learned many a good word from the programme over the decade. Yet it is Tom's acting that adds the ultimate gravity to the scene and never has a simple green glow seemed so dangerous. "You are a twisted abhorrence" the Doctor chucks back. You don't want to try that with the difficult person on the bus! 

 

One thing to enjoy about all of this is that Sutekh really is pure evil. There is no justification for his acts and scorching planets is something he 'finds good'. If there is slight weakness it is that the Osiran puzzles that take up a chunk of part four are a bit tedious on repeated viewings though multiple watches were never intended. Some reviews of the story have suggested the puzzles are a bit of a filler but I did wonder on the logic of placing any mechanism in a prison scenario that allows the slimmest possibility of escape. Maybe the Osirans couldn’t resist? After all they seem to have left Sutekh with enough ability to be able to plan some sort of escape including no shielding to stop him projecting his massive mental power, a “data retrieval” device, monitor plus a handy time tunnel. The 'time factor' thing at the end is brilliant cheek though and a good example of using real science in such a fantasy scenario. Just when we were wondering how they'd wrap it up.

 Terrance Dicks’ excellent novelisation adds elements to the earlier part of the story including a prologue showing Sutekh’s imprisonment (which you can imagine a modern production teams staging as a flashback late in the story, a larger backstory for Namin and establishing that the Doctor’s unconsciousness in the priest’s hole lasts overnight with Warlock arriving at the house the next morning.

 'Pyramids of Mars' is difficult to review because all its sources have already been examined and charted and when you watch it, the overwhelming feeling is - what an enjoyable 90 minutes. A lot of what makes it work so brilliantly is the kernel of original Doctor Who - the clarity, the care, the dialogue, the subtle continuity, the sense of real threat, the mixture of horror, history and literature and sprinklings of shiny sci-fi. Really, you can't help but find it good. 

 

So just how good did fans find it back in 1975? Here's the review from the DWAS Yearbook: 

 

If you’re interested in ancient Egyptian folklore and how accurate `Pyramids of Mars`is in converying it,check out this blog where an expert discusses it; https://nilescribes.org/2018/10/06/doctor-who-pyramids-mars/