The sixties and seventies saw the growth of what has become known as "ancient astronaut theory", the idea that in ancient times the Earth was visited by beings from other planets. According to some versions of this theory, all human religion derives from these visits because the scientifically advanced aliens were regarded as gods by the humans they met. The best-known ancient astronaut theorist was the Swiss writer Erich von Däniken whose book "Chariots of the Gods?" became a best-seller after its publication in 1968.
Von Däniken's work, and that of other ancient astronaut theorists, has generally been dismissed as flawed by mainstream archaeologists and historians, but that has not stopped science fiction authors from making use of it. In the Doctor Who serial "The Dæmons", for example, the Third Doctor explains that that Daemons are real, but extra-terrestrial beings and not supernatural entities. They have been visiting Earth over the centuries but have been mistaken by humans for gods and devils; they have powers which seem supernatural to the uninitiated, but there is always a rational, scientific explanation for them.
"Pyramids of Mars" sees the Fourth Doctor confronted by an adversary belonging to an alien race who have become regarded as gods- the once-powerful Osirans who provided the inspiration for the Ancient Egyptian pantheon. The idea of a story with an Egyptian theme may have been inspired by the hugely popular Tutankhamun exhibition held at the British Museum in 1972; the plot may owe something to various horror films involving Egyptian mummies.
As so often happens, the Doctor's TARDIS goes off course, although it only goes off course as regards the dimension of time. As regards the three spatial dimensions it remains perfectly on course. The Doctor was intending to return to UNIT's headquarters in England in the year 1980; instead he ends up in the year 1911 in the grounds of the now-destroyed country house which once stood where the headquarters now stand. (The serial was first broadcast in 1975, but Sarah Jane states that she is from the year 1980. The scriptwriters seem to have envisaged the Doctor's "contemporary" adventures taking place several years into the future).
In 1911 the house belonged to the distinguished Egyptologist Professor Marcus Scarman. During excavations in Egypt, Scarman inadvertently stumbles upon the burial chamber in which Sutekh has been imprisoned for millennia. The evil Sutekh, known to the Egyptians as their god Set, is the last survivor of the Osirans, and has been imprisoned ever since being defeated in a power struggle with his brother Horus, who imprisoned him in a tomb in Egypt. (Horus, and the rest of the Osiran race, appear to have died in the interim). In order to escape, Sutekh needs to destroy a jewel in a pyramid on Mars which controls the lock on the entrance to the tomb. The Doctor and Sarah Jane work desperately to prevent his escape, knowing that once free he will use his immense power to destroy all life on Earth and many other planets.
The early years of Tom Baker's tenure as the Doctor included some of the most interesting and original stories in the history of the series- "Genesis of the Daleks", Planet of Evil", "The Brain of Morbius", and "Pyramids of Mars" is another to add to the list. Baker and the lovely Elisabeth Sladen are on top form, and Gabriel Woolf makes a suitably frightening villain. It might be thought that the role of Sutekh, who wears a mask so we cannot see his face and who spends most of the story immobilised, would not offer much for an actor to get his teeth into- most of the heavy lifting is done by Sutekh's robot mummies- but Woolf is able to suggest his character's menace through his voice alone. The Ancient Egyptian theme and Edwardian setting also make this a highly atmospheric series. One of the better ones.
