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| The Mummies return! Great art for the Target Book reprint by Andrew Skilleter. |
The future of the cosmos is at stake as the Doctor faces his most fearsome adversary in this four part adventure. Returning to Unit HQ on Earth, the Tardis is thrown violently about by a mysterious force and Sarah and the Doctor arrive instead at an old priory in the year 1911. The owner, Marcus Scarman, has been excavating ancient tombs and is possessed by the spirit of Sutekh, bringer of the 'the gift of death to all mankind'. Sutekh has lain for thousands of years in his pyramid prison and Scarman and his robot mummies plan to relwese this ancient and evil power. Will Sutekh the all-powerful be freed from his bonds and destroy the world, or will the Doctor manage to bring about his destruction?
Original BBC VHS release synopsis.
Meticulously written by Robert Holmes, and directed in a non-flashy but highly effective way by Paddy Russell, Pyramids of Mars shines in all the right places as an All-Time Classic, enhanced by the more alien than ever Tom Baker at his charismatic best and Elisabeth Sladen never better as Sarah. As a five-year old, I found it terrifying to watch on its original transmission, especially the episode one cliffhanger with the arrival of the possessed Scarman in that scary black Eqyptian beetle outfit, swiftly burning Namin (Peter Mayock) to death (I literally ran to the door of the front room and watched through the cracks to see what happened next in episode two!), plus the ongoing pursuits of the inhuman Mummies out to crush their prey. And then there was Sutekh - who better to voice the chilling destroyer of the universe than Gabriel Woolf, joining Michael Wisher as Davros within the top tier of great actors to play Classic Who villains.
As to that niggling ongoing debate about how Sarah knew how to use a rifle in blowing up the pyramid rocket ? Well, it's obvious that Sergeant Benton taught her a few (offscreen) tricks during the previous UNIT/ Zygon encounter!
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| Trouble in the TARDIS as an alien apparition invades and the TARDIS makes a materialisation at the right place but the wrong time. |
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| The Doctor and Sarah explore the missing Professor Scarman's residence (eventually the UNIT base of the 70's/80's) and discover that his passion for Egyptology has gotten the better of him! |
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| The Doctor helps the wounded Dr. Warlock (Peter Copley), investigating the disappearance of Marcus Scarman, shot by the evil Sutekh's current human servant, Namin. |
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| The Doctor investigates Lawrence Scarman's Marconiscope communications device. |
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| The Doctor and Lawrence (Michael Sheard) confer on the radio wave signals from Mars sending out a terrifying warning - "Beware Sutekh"! |
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| Sutekh's true servant (he needs no other!), Marcus Scarman, returns to his once home... |
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| ... and soon murders faithful to the end Namin (Peter Maycock). |
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| The possessed Scarman (Bernard Archard) instructs its robot servitors on the creation of the weapon needed to destroy the Mars pyramid holding Sutekh as a powerless prisoner. |
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| The Doctor investigate Sutekh's space/time tunnel. But beware! |
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| Our heroes encounter a parallel future for Earth that is catastrophic if Sutekh is freed. |
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| The Mummies brutally slay the poacher of the Scarman estate. Later, the possessed Marcus Scarman will kill his own brother. |
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| The Mummies stand ready at the pyramid missile. |
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| Sarah takes aim to detonate the explosive at the pyramid missile placed by the Doctor. |
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| The evil Sutekh in his prison lair, chillingly voiced by Gabriel Woolf. |
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| Though thwarting Sutekh's explosive plans, the Doctor soon becomes a plaything of Sutekh and must do his bidding. |
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| The possessed Doctor returns and takes the captured party to Mars, to destroy the defensive systems still protecting Sutekh, |
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| The Doctor and Sarah in a rehearsal shot. |
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| Now released, the true visage of the vengeance-wreaking Sutekh. |
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| The creature is thankfully banished to the end of time by a quick-thinking Doctor as the old priory soon burns to the ground. |
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| Top Special Effects veteran Ian Scoones adjusts the TARDIS model in flight. |
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| Again with the TARDIS. |
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| Gabriel Woolf on playing Sutekh. |
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| Original BBC edited UK VHS release from the eighties. |
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| Target Books blue spine reprint art by Alister Pearson. |
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| Original UK DVD cover release, composition by Clayton Hickman. |
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| US DVD release cover from the nineties. |
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| UK DVD partwork series cover of the 2000's. |
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| Unique one-off poster magazine from the story, from Doctor Who Magazine. |
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| A memorable cover to issue 176 of Doctor Who Magazine. |
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| A super cover from Issue 348, October 2004, of Doctor Who Magazine. |
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| Striking fan poster homage. |
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| Original Target cover art by Chris Achilleos adapted for the BBC Audio release. |
Get the BBC Audio adaptation of the Target novel here:
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