Classic Doctor Who fans: Why is Pyramids of Mars considered God tier?

Status
Not open for further replies.
G

GillianSeed79

Member
Okay, take this from the perspective of an American who didn't get into Doctor Who until after the 2005 reboot. I was so blown away by Doctor Who at that point in time that I wanted more. At that point in time, the only way for me to get more Doctor Who was to watch late night broadcasts of classic Who on PBS. Ever Saturday night became classic Who night. Some nights, you would even get two parters back to back - a full two hours of Who with no commericals. Tom Baker quickly, quickly became probably one of, if not, my favorite Doctor.

Fast forward to tonight. I'm super stoked about BBCA running "revisiting the doctors" specials, which I apparently didn't find out about until yesterday despite being a big Who fan (I missed the first three specials). So, I'm hyped. A full two hour plus hour retrospective on Baker, or so I thought. Two things: I missed the first 30 minutes when I guess they were singing his praises (a family dinner visit ran long). I hope to catch this on the replay. Then, I guess, to prove Baker is the best Doctor they decided that they are going to run Pyramids of Mars as Baker's top, best episode. I have seen it before. I know there is huge praise for it and people love it, but it's probably among my least favorite Baker espisodes.

Am I crazy? Is this really Baker's best episode? I mean, for me personally, Season 15 (1977-1978) is God tier Baker for me despite its kind of subtle sexist overtones. Also, Leela>>>>>>K9>>>>times infinity>>> than both the milk toast, wet rags that are Sarah Jane Smith and Romana. To be fair, I have bad taste in companions, since I'd crawl face down on broken glass and nails covered in pickle juice and vinegar and salt just to propose to Billie Piper's crooked teeth.

Back on point. Even though I realize that season 15 is my favorite, there are so many better Baker episodes to choose. Genesis of Daleks? Hello?

Okay, I'm way too invested in this, I guess. I'll explain why I think Pyramid of Mars is weak. It commits the three cardinal sins of classic (and current) Who. It's set on Earth. These are the most boring classic Who stories a lot of times. Two: Pyramids also relies on a lot of outside/non-set shots. If there's one thing you can't accuse classic Who of having is good production values, but episodes where sets aren't used fully look godamn horrible. Half the episode looks like a softcore porn movie from the 1970s the cinematography is so bad. Thirdly, it delves into horror tropes at the expense of sci-fi. Yes, it's still a sci-fi episode, but it's really about space mummies...from...Mars. Mummies from Mars. It's just bad, like Ancient Aliens bad. Dinosaurs on a Spaceship is better.

Now that I've gotten off that off my chest (it's been brewing there for years), I'm ready to be eviscerated.
 
Regardless of how corny the material can be, it's solidly constructed through-and-through. I think it's terribly well-paced: everything up from the first big reveal falls into place effortlessly. Ultimately, the big baddie nearly gets his chance to destroy the world—I don't usually see the kind of quick thinking and dexterity the Doctor uses here to stop it all. It's not my favorite serial, but I know why me and many Classic Who fans can appreciate it.
 
url-4.gif
 
I've always really liked The Pirate Planet, but it was I think one of only two complete Baker stories I saw as a kid so that could be part of it.
 
Billie Piper has *not* crooked teeth


well, its top tier because

1) it's got a fantastic villain
2) excellent production value and set design
3) the story rarely misses a note. Pacing, directing, editing, dialogue and plot twists are egregiously made
4) it's adventure in its purest form, from the setting to the way the Doctor overcomes almost impossible odds
 
-It is written by Robert Holmes (under a pen name since he was also script-editor at the time)
-It is decently made for 1975. Check out Planet of Evil and Android Invasion of the same season for crappy Sci-Fi sets.
-The period setting allows for better sets and costumes (one thing the BBC did well was costume drama)
-The mummies- whilst silly- are something a lot of non-fans remember
-Tom Baker is excellent in it. People dieing all over the shop and he's keeping it in perspective.
-Anything with Tom Baker getting tortured is excellent. He's so good at it.
-Can't have sexy companions all the time. My personal fave to look at is Peri, but she's by no means the best companion

But As a kid I hated it. I wanted more zap bang like the Invisible Enemy. Now all i see when I watch that is the crack in the wall before K9 blasts it.
 
I own it but its never really been one of my favorite. I find the story really slogs through the middle. Sutekh is a great villain though.
 
ClivePwned said:
Can't have sexy companions all the time. My personal fave to look at is Peri, but she's by no means the best companion.
Click to expand...

Hmmm.....Not sure if she'll live up to Leela, but I've only had limited exposure to classic Who tbqh. Really it was mostly Baker and the previous ones until they started replaying the 2005 reboot on PBS and now they don't play Who at all. Booooooo. I've never actually watched the Who with Peri. Wasn't he the last Who before the reboot? I've never watched his episodes because he always looked so goofy looking. What is the best way to watch classic Who btw? Are there full episodes on Youtube or do you have to buy them? Netflix sucks when it comes to classic Who.

Also, best companion ever:

leela_jameson.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Leela was great all the way up to Horror of Fang Rock. Then she got the bad-writing boot from dreck like Underworld (most of the first post-Hinchcliffe season, for that matter). What a shame.
 
I was underwhelmed with Pyramids as well. I think the Who fanbase built up the Hinchcliffe years a little too much (though I did like Talons of Weng-Chiang) due to it being their first introduction to Doctor Who. Early Baker is really when PBS started showing Doctor Who in the states, and it's also sort of when it started getting really, stupidly popular. These older fans build up these episodes - which are admittedly high quality, so it's hard to argue against them. But the show has so many different eras with different tones and virtues, that I'm not sure that any specific era could be considered universally as the best.

Personally, my favorite Doctor is McCoy (despite none of my favorite episodes being from his era), and my favorite era is middle Tom Baker, when the show was considered too silly and childish, with an out of control Tom Baker mugging like an idiot for the camera. Like the Sun Makers is an inconsequential story that is not super popular, but I loved it.
 
Recently watched PoM with my gf as it was one of the few eps of classic Who on Netflix and yes, it was really terrible. The story itself isn't bad but the writing, particularly for the Doctor was especially bad. I also think Tom Baker knew this and gave an intentionally bad extra-melodramatic performance.

We watched the first ep of Pirate Planet afterwards to wipe away the bad taste and it was infinitely better.
 
Hehe, I watched that one today, too. They were saying not that it's his best episode, but that it really gives you a good feel for who Tom Baker's doctor was, which is true. I think they even mentioned the plot wasn't great. It had some great doctor moments in it, like The Doctor and Sarah Jane entering a room, seeing a mummy and executing a perfectly synchronized heel-turn exit. Very, very silly episode, but the doctor is pretty stellar. Laughed the whole way through.

The Technomancer said:
I've always really liked The Pirate Planet, but it was I think one of only two complete Baker stories I saw as a kid so that could be part of it.
Click to expand...
The Pirate Planet remains my favorite serial, probably because Douglas Adams wrote it.
 
As a Doctor Who fan of 30 years, I've long since given up trying to convince anyone that Story X or whichever Doctor is good. The show's span is so broad that it allows for everyone to like what they like, and that's fine. No amount of arguing is going to convince me Peter Davison's Doctor is anything but a drip, for example. And McCoy's first season is utter garbage, as is most of the Colin Baker era (though I like both Doctors at their best). As someone who sat through Time and the Rani back in the day, I laugh when people complain about RTD or Moffat. It's hard to see the classic series picking up too many new fans, because the pacing and style and look of the show is so different to today's TV (never mind the effects and so on). Every Who fan will have their own biases, which is how it should be.
 
Robots of Death is the best Tom Baker serial in my view, then the Deadly Assassin. I also have a real soft spot for Warrior's gate, in fact I really love Tom Baker's last season.

I actually liked Pyramids of Mars a lot better on rewatch, first time round it didn't do much for me but I got into it the second time. I don't think it's top tier either though.
 
It's been awhile, but I think it is just solid in its execution and is entertaining.

Season 12, 13 and 14 are the best baker seasons though.
 
There's no cheesecake like British cheesecake. That's for sure.

It's so manky, you just want to roll around in it, like a dog. Their culture has a connection to true smut that I can't quite understand.
American filth is kind of dirty, or dusty, or ashy, or even shitty. But British smut is like a sticky mess of human sweat mixed with oil. Don't get it on the furniture.
 
I liked it because as a kid I was obsessed with Ancient Egypt, it has a really excellent Victorian Gothic vibe, and because it genuinely seemed like Sutekh was powerful enough to stop the Doctor if only he weren't imprisoned and his power drained by the Eye of Horus.

Also I'm a sucker for those 'ancient temple with puzzles to open doors' sections in Old Who. See also: The Five Doctors and Death to the Daleks.

[edit]Ive also thought for a while now that the Time War gives them a perfect chance to bring Sutekh back. Claim that the time loop the Doctor trapped Sutekh in was broken because of the damage to the Vortex during the Time War. Make him old and crazy about having been locked up for so long, and bitter against the Doctor. Make him a season Big Bad. Sorted. Put my cheque in the post, Moffat.
 
I'm a little surprised that the OP is against the filmed sequences, which I always thought looked much more expensive and cinematic than the videotaped ones.

Anyway, Pyramids has a great villain, a fantastic English/Egyptology/Aliens theme and excellent performances. That's why I like it, anyway.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Doctor Who Viewership is plummeting
Drama  2 3 4 5
222
23K
Laptop1991 replied
Ignoring the Pyramids what is the most famous or most impressive ancient structure in the world to you?
Opinion  2 3
105
3K
jason10mm replied
Hulu to add ads to their ad free tier
32
2K
MayauMiao replied
Sorry for a nerd versus question but who is considered the more powerful Lantern...Hal or John?
18
754
Doom85 replied
  • Locked
God bless the USA.
Cringe 
31
1K
Dacvak replied
Top Bottom