Season 13, Story 3/6, Serial 4G, 4 x 25 min episodes, 25th October to 15th November 1975, Writer: "Stephen Harris" (Robert Holmes rewriting Lewis Greifer), Director: Paddy Russell, Script Editor: Robert Holmes, Producer: Phillip Hinchcliffe.
Steve Powner @StevePowner One of Tom's best rants this story is perfect DoctorWho for me, just love Pryamids Of Mars, remember it scaring me in 1975 I was 5.I first saw this in about 1994 when BBC2 repeated it on Sunday lunchtimes, and have fond memories of watching it at the pub with the gang at the late lamented Lass O'Gowrie. That's how it all started...
Tim Gambrell @Mr_Brell Any comments I have about this will be along the lines of 'wow, it's all amazing stuff!'
Yes, this is why naff stories often make for better tweetalongs! :-D
"By Stephen Harris". Yeah, whatever.
Mark Walker @Mark_Walker not sure I know the story behind this?Another Ark in Space style job. The original writer (Lewis Griefer)'s script reworked so heavily it's really a Robert Holmes.
PART ONE (25th October 1975)
Great stock footage of Egypt to set the scene. Works perfectly.
Professor of archaeology Marcus Scarman has found an untouched tomb, sealed with the eye of Horus. The locals aren't keen.
What a towering performance from Bernard Archard. If only we could see his Bragan in The Power of the Daleks.
Scarman alone goes into the tomb where a green light strikes him down.
Elsewhere the TARDIS wobbles through space. Wibbly Wobbly timey wimey.
That first shot on Tom as he slowly lifts his head is just brilliant. Quite iconic, beautiful bit of direction from Paddy Russell.
Quite possibly Tom's finest ever console room set; so much space. Topped only by the Unearthly Child original.
Tim Gambrell @Mr_Brell The old style white console room always looks slightly odd in Hinchcliffe stories.Sarah's been raiding the TARDIS wardrobe, and unveils a look apparently previously modeled by Victoria Waterfield.
This "walk in eternity" scene's key in defining early Tom, up there with "indomitable" & "Do I have the right?"
The Doctor is tired of working for UNIT.
50dw50 @50dw50 It's nice that the stories are still being loosely linked together
Mark Walker @Mark_Walker I like the mix of Tom's seriousness and Sarah Jane taking the piss!
Doreen Kelly @DKellyCrafts Sarah Jane is really funny!
Tim Gambrell @Mr_Brell It's the thing that really strikes about their relationship - it seems so effortless & natural
Sarah (or is it Victoria?) sees a mental projection in the console room.
They've arrived at UNIT HQ alright, but they're rather early.
The sets, costumes and acting are all top drawer. This is Hinchcliffe's vision in action.
It's one of Tom's finest performances too.
Doreen Kelly @DKellyCrafts Nice fez
Namin's pulled out all the stops for this organ solo. Literally. That organ music gets really oppressive and terrifying doesn't it?
Doctor Warlock's come round for a barney.
"French picklock. Never fails. Belonged to Marie Antoinette. Charming lady. Lost her head, poor thing!"
"Egyptian? Is this where he keeps his relatives?" Tom just couldn't resist.
Collins thinks they've come with Dr. Warlock and smuggles them out of the window rather than incur the wrath of Namin.
Tom auditions for the Ministry of Silly Walks as they sneak past the windows.
Collins fails to spot that Scarman's Sarcophagus is on the move...
When Warlock hears Collins' screams, Namin decides he knows too much.
Namin tries to shoot him but the Doctor's scarf intervenes & he's only winged.
50dw50 @50dw50 with events listed like that it comes over as a very grim/horrific story! this is why children never slept in the 70's!
The Doctor carries Warlock to safety and Sarah goes to fetch help from Scarman's brother, who lives nearby, but Warlock's hat is accidentally left behind
Sarah is stalked by a rather giant mummy. It's a lot bulkier than your stereotypical bandaged cadaver.
Simon Watkins @simon_watkins It's because they're female mummies, extremely buxom ones.
Reckon it's not a wild stab in the dark to suggest the Osirian that designed them was a male...
Doreen Kelly @DKellyCrafts The poor actors under all those mummy costumes. 
That hole Sarah just climbed out of was steeper than the slope she falls down in the Five Doctors!
Mark Walker @Mark_Walker well she was a bit older by then!Simon Watkins @simon_watkins Only 3 years older! #UNITDatingMark Walker @Mark_Walker must've been a tough 3 years!
Namin & his mummies seem to corner the Doctor & Warlock but a quick blast from the organ calls them away.
Sarah's managed to get hold of Scarman's brother who helps them back to his lodge.
Sarah's managed to get hold of Scarman's brother who helps them back to his lodge.
Namin prepares to receive tonight's very special guest star...
Laurence Scarman appears to be one the many time-splintered versions of Michael Sheard that appear throughout Doctor Who. Sheard shards?
"This is much too grave a matter for the police, Mister Scarman. They'd only hamper my investigation."
"I'm really from 1980."
"That is utterly preposterous, Miss Smith."
Laurence's position on UNIT dating is quite clear.
Loz has invented the radio telescope 40 years early.
The Doctor tunes it to Mars FM, and decodes an ominous message:
"Beware Sutekh!"
Namin's playing with his organ again. His mummies turn their backs on him till he's finished.
Mark Walker @Mark_Walker
The warning about Sutekh came from Mars.
The Doctor races off for the house, discouraging Laurence from bringing his rifle. "I never carry firearms."
Sarah has no such qualms. "Bring it!"
When they arrive, Namin has opened the portal to Sutekh's "tomb".
The fetish-suited servant of Sutekh burns up the red carpet like a born Oscar winner.
"Die. I bring Sutekh's gift of death to all humanity."
Hope he kept the receipt, humanity would have just preferred the cash.
Mark Walker @Mark_Walker or even some socks!What a great cliffhanger. And aren't silky-voiced villains the best?
50dw50 @50dw50 scared the life out of me as a kid!Tim Gambrell @Mr_Brell A cracking cliff hanger this - no regulars directly threatened but still utterly chilling.
PART TWO (1st November 1975)
Namin gets a bit hot under the collar, and his steamy handed killer is revealed... as Marcus Scarman.
While Scarman and the mummies stalk off, canopic jars in hand...
...the Doctor, Sarah and Laurence emerge from their hiding place.
Laurence just can't believe what he's seen his own brother do much less what the Doctor has to say about the Egyptian Gods being natives of the planet Phaester Osiris.
The Doctor gets a bit too close to the Sarcophagus and starts the light show up again.
It's terribly unclear what happens here as the Doctor chucks something over his shoulder to short out the vortex.
This poacher is the equivalent of a Pertwee-era tramp. Guaranteed gonner.
He runs into an invisible forcefield.
50dw50 @50dw50 invisible = cheap!
Paul Cooke @paulpcooke Really effective though. And great to recreate when we were playing in the woods!
Marcus calls on Doctor Warlock. He's brought his Mummy along too.
Mark Walker @Mark_Walker Warlock gives a good old death scream!
"Murdering swine!"
Great design on the mummies; a stylised and distinctive silhouette for a well-worn idea.
Vicki Davidson @VickiDavidson1 I've often wondered if Bernard Archard's performance was influenced by Max Schreck in 'Nosferatu'. Archard, like Schreck, walks with a slow, halting gait. 
Ooh, I don't know, but a great theory. Definite similarities there.
Robert Holmes pre-empts some pedantry:
"Where are we?"
"Hiding."
"Where?"
"A priest hole."
"In a Victorian gothic folly? Nonsense."
Clements shoots Marcus but the bullets reverse out of him and he sends some mummies after the poacher.
They watch as the remaining mummies drag Namin's corpse away and unpack some equipment.
The Doctor wants a closer look at the Egyptian's ring.
Clements shoots Marcus but the bullets reverse out of him and he sends some mummies after the poacher.
They watch as the remaining mummies drag Namin's corpse away and unpack some equipment.
The Doctor wants a closer look at the Egyptian's ring.
Jason McLaughlin @jangomac72 Oo-eer Mrs!!
Score. On a roll today. Dare I go for the hat-trick...? ;-P
Marcus decides to play a bit of hide and seek with his brother, but Loz has him beaten... he's in the TARDIS.
Laurence's child-like awe of the magic of the TARDIS is just delightful. Tom Baker really appreciates this, you can tell.
Just love this scene, where the Doctor shows Sarah the parallel universe 1980 where Sutekh wasn't stopped.
Apparently Mark Gatiss intended there to be a similar scene in the Unquiet Dead...
...but couldn't find a point in the story where going back to the TARDIS didn't stop the story dead, so it had to go. Shame.
As the mummies stalk the hapless poacher...
...the Doctor & co. leave the TARDIS and head back to the lodge.
Ooh, now we get to hear the voice of Sutekh for the first time. Sensational work from Gabriel Woolf.
While the Doctor tries to pinpoint Sutekh, the mummies squish the poacher...
Laurence's child-like awe of the magic of the TARDIS is just delightful. Tom Baker really appreciates this, you can tell.
Just love this scene, where the Doctor shows Sarah the parallel universe 1980 where Sutekh wasn't stopped.
Apparently Mark Gatiss intended there to be a similar scene in the Unquiet Dead...
...but couldn't find a point in the story where going back to the TARDIS didn't stop the story dead, so it had to go. Shame.
As the mummies stalk the hapless poacher...
...the Doctor & co. leave the TARDIS and head back to the lodge.
Ooh, now we get to hear the voice of Sutekh for the first time. Sensational work from Gabriel Woolf.
While the Doctor tries to pinpoint Sutekh, the mummies squish the poacher...
Doreen Kelly @DKellyCrafts Its definitely not the poachers day.
Paul Cooke @paulpcooke Gave me nightmares that bit. And the mummy caught in the trap
The Mummies smash their way into the lodge, swat the Doctor aside & grab Sarah by the throat.
Cliffhanger! Lis trying to out mad-eye Tom and possibly succeeding actually.
PART THREE (8th November 1975)
Luckily the remote control ring is close at hand and Sarah stops the mummies in their tracks.
Love the way Tom rants at Loz about Marcus being an animated cadaver and the way he says "incalculable", like "indomitable".
Sutekh has endured an eternity of impotence but won't be denied now. Arf arf.
Sutekh looks brilliant too, and what a voice. Compare Sutekh/Gabriel Woolf to Omega/Stephen Thorne. Woolf's sinister sibilence is vastly superior to the blustering bombast of other supervillains like Azal & Omega. Maybe a bit apples and oranges though, to be fair.
Steve Powner @StevePowner The voice is so scary and the words delivered just wonderfully.
Marcus & the mummies aim a missile at Mars. Try saying that 3 times fast with a mouth full of blasting gelignite. Marcus & the mummies sounds like a great band name, actually.
Doreen Kelly @DKellyCraftsWhen did we arrive in the courtyard of The Louvre!
The Doctor realizes that the other Osirians have trapped Sutekh in his pyramid, where he sits, paralysed, only able to exert his mental powers. Scarman and the mummies are constructing a rocket to fire at the force field trapping him.
They need to blow up the rocket; Laurence knows there's blasting gelignite in the poacher's shack.
To get there, the Doctor and Sarah will have to deactivate the force barrier that floored the poacher earlier.
Doreen Kelly @DKellyCrafts I like how The Doctor is divining for the door of the deflection barrier with a big stick.
"Are you going to help or are you just going to stand there and admire the scenery?"
"Your shoes need repairing."
Brilliant from Lis.
"Deactivating a generator loop without the correct key is like repairing a watch with a hammer and chisel. One false move and you'll never know the time again."
"Interference. Interference!"
"I wouldn't do that, if I were you. Could be a ferret."
Laurence Bates strips his mummy. How Freudian.
Sarah nearly blows the Doctor's hands off when she casually tosses a box of explosives in his direction.
The Scarman brothers don't play nice.
Doreen Kelly @DKellyCrafts Laurence is being a wee bity slow.
Yes, when Loz Scarman does get bumped off, it's hard to feel sorry for him as he seemed so stupid about it.
I mean, I know he found it difficult to believe that Marcus was gone, but how many times did he need telling?
The Doctor handles the sweaty gelignite with care. Achoo! Sorry, no more series.
By the time they get back to the lodge, both brothers are ex-Scarmans.
If you think Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor is cold, witness loveable Fourth Doctor Tom Baker disinterestedly roll away the corpse of Laurence Scarman to Sarah's horror.
"Sometimes you don't seem..."
"Human?"
Like Capaldi's Doctor, though, he's got bigger fish to fry.
"A man has just been murdered!"
"Four men, Sarah. Five, if you include Professor Scarman himself, and they're merely the first of millions unless Sutekh is stopped. Know thine enemy. Admirable advice."
While Tom prepares to do his mummy impression...
...Sutekh sends the co-ordinates for the missile.
Love the way you can actually tell it really is Tom in that Mummy costume.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," says Sarah, cocking the rifle. Blimey, she's quite frightening when she wants to be.
She's far too handy with that rifle for my liking!
I mean, I know he found it difficult to believe that Marcus was gone, but how many times did he need telling?
The Doctor handles the sweaty gelignite with care. Achoo! Sorry, no more series.
By the time they get back to the lodge, both brothers are ex-Scarmans.
If you think Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor is cold, witness loveable Fourth Doctor Tom Baker disinterestedly roll away the corpse of Laurence Scarman to Sarah's horror.
"Sometimes you don't seem..."
"Human?"
Like Capaldi's Doctor, though, he's got bigger fish to fry.
"A man has just been murdered!"
"Four men, Sarah. Five, if you include Professor Scarman himself, and they're merely the first of millions unless Sutekh is stopped. Know thine enemy. Admirable advice."
While Tom prepares to do his mummy impression...
...Sutekh sends the co-ordinates for the missile.
Love the way you can actually tell it really is Tom in that Mummy costume.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," says Sarah, cocking the rifle. Blimey, she's quite frightening when she wants to be.
She's far too handy with that rifle for my liking!
Johnny Spandrell @JohnnySpandrell I wrote a whole blog post about that moment when Sarah shoots the gun!
Check out Johnny Spandrell's great blog here!
Steve Powner @StevePowner Another brilliant performance from Elisabeth Sladen 
Sarah shoots the gelignite the mummy Doctor's placed by the missile, but Sutekh holds back the force of the explosion.
He finds it hard to concentrate on containing the explosion whilst that cushion holder tickles his bum.
Johnny Spandrell @JohnnySpandrell as Sutekh might say, 'I find that good'. 'Cos he didn't know to say 'lolz'.
The Doctor travels through Sutekh's time tunnel to Mars to distract him...
...and the missile explodes on its launch pad.
Sutekh is not a happy bunny and gives Tom the green cliffhanger glare.
PART FOUR (15th November 1975)
Sutekh demands to know who the Doctor is and where he comes from...
...so he fobs him off with some co-ordinates based on the phone number for Television Centre.
Doreen Kelly @DKellyCrafts Unusual clock/digital number display for inputting Gallifrey's co-ordinates.
Paul Cooke @paulpcooke Should've been Reed, Reed, Snake, scarab. Although, that could be Only Connect?
The Doctor solved the puzzle wall but not the m_ss_ng v_w_ls round...
Tom's the plaything of Sutekh now. Careful, Tom, he's endured an eternity of impotence but he won't be denied.
Sutekh decides Sarah may have "some use."
House! :-D
Doreen Kelly @DKellyCrafts Elisabeth Sladen did nice (but uncomfortable looking) unconscious acting there.
Sutekh pinches the TARDIS key and sends it to Scarman...
...but the controls are isomorphic, so Sutekh possesses the Doctor.
"He is possessed by the Great One!" Eh? That giant spider? Thought it blew up?
Bob McCow @BobMcCow What I like best about this story is the plotting - every action leads to the next and the stakes keep rising.
Sarah thinks the Doctor is dead. Again. She's wrong. Again. "You're soaking my shirt!"
Doreen Kelly @DKellyCrafts Tom is a typical (MAN) Doctor. This is no time for jokes Doctor. That school trick freaked me (no wonder kid me was scared)
Now the Doctor & Sarah have to solve a series of puzzles. Death to the Daleks 2: Puzzle Harder.
Paul Cooke @paulpcooke Not really harder :/
Love the Marx Brothers style quick turnaround from the Doctor & Sarah when they clock the mummy.
Loving that odd wavy brown background, does look like the windy surface of Mars.
Chris Cwej @chriscwej and also a 70s music video!
Sarah's trapped in a plastic tube. The Doctor says Relax.
The twin guardians of Horus are a bit blinged up aren't they?
The Doctor asks his question "If the square on the hypotenuse equals the sum of the square on the other two sides why is a mouse when it spins?"
It's a mummy fight to the death as Horus & Sutekh's mummies duke it out.
Sutekh uses the distraction to smash the Eye, and is freed.
He doesn't need Scarman anymore: Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
He leaves Scarman's mind and the cadaver is animated no more.
The Doctor realizes they have a very small window to get back to Earth in the TARDIS and prevent Sutekh's victory.
Sutekh is able to stand, freeing the hand that he's been sat on for 7000 years.
But the Doctor's made it back to UNIT HQ and prolongs the time tunnel so that Sutekh can never reach Earth in his lifetime.
That rainbow time tunnel could look really garish, but it works very nicely.
The sarcophagus explodes, and the priory catches fire. He's got form the Doctor. Just look at Rome.
"I had enough of that in 1666"; Well, as it turns out, the Doctor *was* partly responsible. Just not quite yet...
Chris Cwej @chriscwej in school I persuaded my Ancient History teacher to screen Pyramids of Mars for our class.Cool :-)
Mark Walker @Mark_Walker I think it was quite fortunate that the first stories I had on VHS were among the best.I'll sign off with some stunning art work from the very talented Paul Cooke, reimagining the story as a 1930s style serial starring Buster Crabbe...
TTFN! K.
Coming Soon... Mummy on the Orient Express
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