Pyramids of Mars // Invasion of Time

[Mr Light]

Thanks to a trip back home I finally got my hands on some raggedy old VHS tapes of Doctor Who I haven't seen in almost ten years, so I'm finally seeing my old favorites.

PYRAMIDS OF MARS: I thought this was considered to be one of the best episodes ever but it did NOT hold up as well as I remember. They spend an hour running around in the forest from extremely slow moving mummies. The concept of Sutekh is great (and would be reused for NuWho's The Satan Pit!) but the execution of the episode is pretty bad. Still, Sutekh had a great voice and I always found the concept of a living frozen statue person to be terrifying as a kid (also see Vampire Lestat novels). And the final episode is an Indiana Jones tomb raiding bit but with really bad production values. So this I would just call "Good".

INVASION OF TIME: As a kid this was my all time favorite episode along with Pirate Planet. I think it held up pretty well. The only flaw is its too long and the Sontarans don't show up until the last 45 minutes. Still, so many great ideas in here. The Doctor works with mysterious aliens to conquer Gallifrey. The Doctor becomes President and becomes an insane ass. Gallifrey under siege. The twist arrival of the Sontarans. So many great lines and bits from the Doctor and K9. And the only protracted sequence in the Tardis which it turns out is this unending rundown factory/hotel As a kid I was fascinated by the concept of the Tardis having never ending rooms and corridors that the Doctor had no clue of. One part I newly appreciated was the relationship between the Doctor and Borusa; an antagonistic teacher-student relationship that becomes one of respect. One part that didn't hold up well was the savage outcast Timelords living like cavemen outside the Citadel.

And man, I did NOT remember Leela's outfit being THAT revealing

I would love to see a NuWho episode that takes place solely in the Tardis' unending rooms. A monster gets in the Tardis and the Doctor must flee ever deeper inside to escape it, something like that.

 

[Turbo]

Hm. I really should restart the classic grading threads.

And I really should watch these two serials.

 

[Orac Zen]

I rewatched "Pyramids of Mars" fairly recently and discovered that it's still one of my favourite ever Who eps. Rank: Classic.

"Invasion of Time" I haven't seen in ages, but I remember it as being pretty decent. Rank: Good.

 

[Mr Light]

What is it about "Mars" that's so highly regarded?

 

[Starkers]

I haven't seen Mars in ages so can't comment. Invasion of Time has its moments but an entire episode running around the loading bay TARDIS lets it down, as do the poor Sontaran makeup and the hilarious Scottish alien invaders!

 

[Garth Rockett]

I've never seen The Invasion of Time so I have no opinion on it. However, I bought Pyramids of Mars a few weeks ago and saw it for the first time. Upon first viewing, I thought it was quite good but I didn't find that it lived up to its reputation. When I'd finished rewatching it with the commentaries my opinion had gone up a bit, so I voted "Great" but not "Classic."

My opinion of it may have suffered a bit because I got "Spearhead From Space" at the same time and preferred it. I generally like Pertwee better than Baker.

 

[Mr Light]

Speaking of the Invasion of Time, at the end of the story the Doctor is still the President of Gallifrey but just runs off. Do they deal with this in the next Gallifrey episode, Arc of Infinity? I've never seen that one.

 

[Iamnotspock]

Speaking of the Invasion of Time, at the end of the story the Doctor is still the President of Gallifrey but just runs off. Do they deal with this in the next Gallifrey episode, Arc of Infinity? I've never seen that one.

They deal with it eventually, yes. I can't remember whether it was mentioned in Arc of Infinity but it becomes a minor plot point in The Five Doctors and The Trial of a Time Lord.