N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!
You can’t outrun a mummy, no matter how slowly it comes after you. (Judging by 2017’s run of Doctor Who, emojibots might be the new mummies.) It’s odd, however, that the mummybots in Pyramids of Mars decide to squish Clements the poacher between their moobs. Trachea-crushing not good enough for him I guess.
You can bet your house that if Pyramids of Mars were made today, when the disguised Doctor re-appears next to his companion (as he does here after his attempted sabotage of the rocket), said companion would turn to him and say ‘Are you my mummy?’. Perhaps not Bill, but I can see Amy (probably) and Clara (definitely) saying this with a knowingly arched eyebrow.
“I’m really from 1980.”
Sarah,
Pyramids of Mars: Part One
Of course a twenty-first century audience might also say Pyramids of Mars contained a bit of fanboy-baiting – not once but twice – not only does the Doctor drop into conversation with Sutekh that the TARDIS controls are isomorphic, but Sarah casually slips out that she’s ‘really from 1980’. The former is probably a lie to delay Sutekh (or one of those many faulty TARDIS functions); the latter, at this point in the show’s history at least, makes sense.
As far as I know, it was always intended that the UNIT stories be like myths of the near-future, but Sarah’s assertion also ties in neatly with our hearing the Brigadier speaking to a female prime minister back in Terror of the Zygons. Applying our own form of retrospective prescience (more commonly known as hindsight) you can’t help but feel that this ‘1980’ revelation is going to cause problems for anyone concerned with the show’s overall continuity. Thankfully, Robert Holmes was not one to allow continuity get in the way of telling a good story.
Which is what we have here.
Indeed, the Doctor, genuinely fearful of the consequences of Sutekh’s release, is in full-on portent-of-doom mode – to the extent that his detached reaction to Laurence’s murder in Part Three seems almost callous. (I couldn’t help but note the way he dismissively rolls away the poor man’s body.) Sarah is certainly critical of his response.
“It reminds me of the city of the Exxilons.”
Sarah,
Pyramids of Mars: Part Four
It has to be said though that, using only his voice, Gabriel Woolf manages to convey the furious anger and terrifying menace of someone who is bloody annoyed at having spent the best part of eternity sitting in an uncomfortable chair.
True, it all goes a bit Death to the Daleks in the final episode as the Doctor and Sarah follow Marcus and the mummy robots through the Martian pyramid of puzzles, but when a story includes ‘Egyptians mummies building rockets’, what’s not to like!
"A pyramid on Mars!"
"This story was made in 1975. Why did Sarah-Jane say she is from 1980. Maybe the 'present' day stories are actually in 1980?"
"The mummies are soooo slow."
Son of UT Rating: 8/10
