[ Index for this Doctor ]
[ Index for this story ]
DOCTOR WHO
PYRAMIDS OF MARS
Written by
As Stephen Harris, Robert Holmes and Lewis Greifer
Part Four
(Overlap from the explosion and its aftermath)
[INT. Sutekh's prison]
(The green light in his mask's eyes fading, SUTEKH releases the DOCTOR, who was pinned against the wall in pain.)
SUTEKH: No, you will not die yet. Identify yourself.
DOCTOR: Just destroy me, Sutekh. Nothing else now is left within your power.
SUTEKH: Identify yourself. It is within my power to choose the manner of your death.
(The eyes in the mask again glow green, with the glow burning through the air between SUTEKH and the DOCTOR. The DOCTOR clutches his head in agony.)
SUTEKH: I can, if I choose, keep you alive for centuries, racked by the most excruciating pain. Since your interference has condemned me forever to remain a prisoner in the Eye of Horus, it would be a fitting end. You would make an amusing diversion. (he releases the DOCTOR again) Identify yourself, plaything of Sutekh.
DOCTOR: I'm a traveller.
SUTEKH: From where?
DOCTOR: Gallifrey, in the constellation of Kasterborus.
SUTEKH: Names mean nothing. What is the binary location from galactic zero centre?
DOCTOR: Ten zero eleven, zero zero by zero two.
SUTEKH: I know the planet. Data retrieval.
(Lights flicker on four panels in front of the immobile SUTEKH, then remain lit.)
SUTEKH: So, you are a Time Lord.
DOCTOR: I renounced the society of the Time Lords. Now I'm simply a traveller.
SUTEKH: In time and space. (when the DOCTOR does not reply, the eyes glow green once more, and the DOCTOR hisses in pain) Time and space?
DOCTOR: (screaming) Yes!
SUTEKH: Ah. Approach. Closer. (he does so) What are you called, Time Lord?
DOCTOR: Doctor.
SUTEKH: I offer you an alliance, Doctor. Serve me truly, and an empire can be yours.
DOCTOR: Serve you, Sutekh? Your name is abominated in every civilised world, whether that name be Set, Satan, Sados-
SUTEKH: Serve me, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Never! (the eyes emit a burning glow again) Agggh!
SUTEKH: You pit your puny will against mine? (laughs) Kneel!
DOCTOR: No!
SUTEKH: Kneel before the might of Sutekh.
(Hand to his head and bathed in green, the DOCTOR falls to his knees.)
SUTEKH: In my presence, you are an ant, a termite. Abase yourself, you grovelling insect.
(The DOCTOR bows his head. Then, the monitor on Earth is activated.)
SUTEKH: Well, speak!
SCARMAN [on monitor]: Sutekh, great Master, the servicers have found one of the humans responsible for the destruction of the missile.
SUTEKH: Their leader is my prisoner, Scarman. I have no interest in the humans.
SCARMAN [on monitor]: Then this one can be destroyed.
(He steps to the side, and we see SARAH, limp under the arm of one of the two mummies with him.)
DOCTOR: Sarah...
SUTEKH: Kill it immediately.
[INT. Study]
DOCTOR [OC]: No! No!
SUTEKH [OC]: Wait.
(A second mummy has its hand up, ready to deliver a chop to SARAH's neck. It stops as SCARMAN raises a hand.)
SUTEKH [OC]: Keep the human alive, Scarman. It may have some use.
SCARMAN: As you command, Great One, so it shall be.
(The mummy drops SARAH to the floor.)
[INT. Sutekh's prison]
SUTEKH: You are a Time Lord. What interest have you in humans?
DOCTOR: All sapient life forms are our kith, Sutekh.
SUTEKH: Horus held that view. I refute it.
DOCTOR: Because you fear that other intelligent life forms may grow to rival you in power, so you kill all life wherever you find it.
SUTEKH: Your argument is a cloud, but I see through it into your mind. The human girl. Ah, she travels with you.
(The TARDIS is visible on the monitor.)
DOCTOR: If you can do that by mental force, Sutekh, then nothing can be beyond you.
SUTEKH: Nothing, except to free myself from the Eye of Horus.
DOCTOR: You use your powers for evil.
SUTEKH: Evil? Your evil is my good. I am Sutekh the Destroyer. Where I tread, I leave nothing but dust and darkness. I find that good.
DOCTOR: Then I curse you, Sutekh, in the name of all nature. You are a twisted abhorrence. (as the eyes go green again) Agggh!
SUTEKH: Any further insolence, Doctor, and I shall shred your nervous system into a million fibres. Is that understood?
(The DOCTOR does not speak in response. He is subdued as the TARDIS key on its chain rises out of his possession.)
SUTEKH: Scarman.
[INT. Study]
(SARAH, now conscious and seated on the floor in front of the mummies, watches the proceedings in horror.)
SCARMAN: I hear you, Master.
SUTEKH [OC]: My enemies have brought the means of my deliverance.
(The time-space tunnel activates, and something floats along it.)
SARAH: The TARDIS key!
SUTEKH [OC]: This allows you entry into the Time Lord's space machine. Take one servicer, and travel to the pyramid of Mars.
[INT. Sutekh's prison]
DOCTOR: You won't find that possible, Sutekh.
SUTEKH: Scarman is my puppet. My mind is in his.
DOCTOR: The controls of the TARDIS are isomorphic.
SUTEKH: One to one. They answer to you alone.
DOCTOR: Yes.
SUTEKH: Then I was wise to spare you. My mind is in yours!
(The DOCTOR takes on a blank look and rises. He folds his arms across his chest in the manner of Scarman.)
DOCTOR: Master.
SUTEKH: Scarman?
[INT. Study]
SCARMAN: Master.
SUTEKH [OC]: I send you the Time Lord. He will control the machine. The human girl will accompany you. If the Time Lord shows the slightest sign of self-will, kill her immediately.
SCARMAN: It is understood, Great One.
(The DOCTOR arrives via the tunnel.)
SARAH: Doctor, what's happened?
SCARMAN: Stand back.
(A mummy takes hold of SARAH's shoulder, hard.)
SCARMAN: He is possessed by the Great One. Whom do you serve, Time Lord?
DOCTOR: Sutekh.
SCARMAN: Who holds all life in his hands?
DOCTOR: Sutekh.
SCARMAN: Who is the bringer of death?
DOCTOR: Sutekh!
SCARMAN: Venerate his name and obey him in all things.
DOCTOR: (crossing his arms again) Sutekh is supreme.
SARAH: No...
SCARMAN: Control is established, Great One.
SUTEKH [OC]: It is well, but the Time Lords are a perfidious species. Dispose of him when you reach the pyramid of Mars.
SCARMAN: It shall be done. Come. (The DOCTOR steps forward.)
[INT. TARDIS console room]
(SCARMAN gives the DOCTOR the key. He enters, with SARAH shoved in after him. SCARMAN and two mummy robots enter last.
A possessed-looking DOCTOR closes the doors and sets the ship in motion.)
[INT. Pyramid of Mars]
(The TARDIS appears in a dark chamber, and SCARMAN steps out.)
SUTEKH [OC]: My reading indicates an antechamber under the main pyramid. Seek the control centre.
(SCARMAN steps forward and raises his hands beside the wall. He lowers them rapidly. A door in the wall slides open. We can see shifting patterns of light beyond it.)
SCARMAN: (turning to the others, who have now exited the TARDIS) Sutekh has no further need for the Time Lord. Destroy him.
SARAH: No!
(A mummy grasps the DOCTOR's throat, with SARAH trying to pull its hands away. The DOCTOR falls.)
SCARMAN: Come.
(The mummy follows him.)
SARAH: Doctor.
(She listens for his heartbeats, then lowers her head again and begins to sob. After a moment, the DOCTOR taps her head.)
SARAH: (startled) Agh!
DOCTOR: You're soaking my shirt.
SARAH: Ah, you're alive!
DOCTOR: Respiratory bypass system, useful in a tight squee-. Where are we?
SARAH: Er, pyramid of Mars.
DOCTOR: Of course. Sutekh sent Scarman here to deactivate the pyramid. Where is he?
SARAH: I thought you'd become a zombie like Scarman.
DOCTOR: Sutekh didn't need me anymore, so he relaxed his grip. Now, did you see where Scarman went?
SARAH: Through that door. (pointing) It's vanished!
DOCTOR: It can't have vanished. It's just not visible.
SARAH: Same difference.
DOCTOR: (inspecting the wall) Scarman must be stopped. Somehow he must be stopped.
[INT. Antechamber]
(SCARMAN reaches toward a control on the wall beside another doorway.)
SUTEKH [OC]: Stay! I sense danger. That relay switch is a power conductor terminal. Scan.
(SCARMAN steps to the left along the wall.)
SUTEKH [OC]: The bulkhead release will be concealed.
(SCARMAN moves his hands down the wall in a circular pattern.)
SUTEKH [OC]: There.
(SCARMAN presses, and a small panel in the wall rotates outward.)
SUTEKH [OC]: Now.
(SCARMAN activates the door from this panel and passes through, mummy in tow.)
[INT. Pyramid of Mars]
(The DOCTOR, in turn, opens his door and smiles.)
SARAH: Tribophysics.
DOCTOR: Yes.
[INT. Antechamber]
DOCTOR: (pausing when about to activate the conspicuous control) Oh.
SARAH: What are you waiting for?
DOCTOR: That's too obvious.
SARAH: What is?
DOCTOR: That is.
SARAH: Well, a door handle usually is.
DOCTOR: Not in a jail. Horus would have laid traps for the unwary. (He begins inspecting the wall.)
SARAH: I thought Horus was one of the good guys.
DOCTOR: He was an Osiran, with all their guile and ingenuity. Ah.
(He flips the hidden panel, exposing its control. He activates it.)
DOCTOR: They had dome-shaped heads and cerebrums like spiral staircases. Come on.
(They step through, and the door slides closed.
In the next chamber, the DOCTOR uses a radio aerial to test one possible door control. That one is electrified. The other control, found earlier by Scarman, is still visible.)
[INT. Puzzle chamber]
(SCARMAN stands in front of a panel of tiles with symbols on. There are eight rows of tiles, each featuring a black quadrilateral extending to its edges.)
SUTEKH [OC]: Stand back and scan.
(To the left, where SCARMAN now stands, is a grid of the same dimensions but with pairs of coloured lines. Between the two panels is the doorway of interest.)
[INT. Sutekh's prison]
SUTEKH: Oh, Horus, think you can confound Sutekh with these childish stratagems?
(His monitor shows the two panels overlaid. On the right, one pair of lines doesn't match the outline of the corresponding quadrilateral.)
[INT. Puzzle chamber]
SUTEKH [OC]: The floor is charged with explosives. Count to the fifth row up. Extreme right solenoid.
(SCARMAN counts over to the relevant vertically oriented shape.)
SUTEKH [OC]: Press. (He does.)
(Just entering the chamber are SARAH and the DOCTOR. They see the mummy, which lurches around as they duck back out of sight.)
SCARMAN: Come.
(The mummy turns, following SCARMAN from the room. The DOCTOR and SARAH step in now.)
SARAH: It's like a Chinese puzzle.
DOCTOR: Yes. And there's a key.
SARAH: Aw, some key. Do you know what it means?
DOCTOR: Yes. Obviously the length of the lines provide a scale of measurement.
SARAH: It reminds me of the city of the Exxilons.
DOCTOR: Don't touch anything.
SARAH: I wasn't going to. I-
DOCTOR: Well, don't. One false move and we could be blown to perdition. Feet and inches one side, metres and centimetres the other. Let's see.
(He uses his scarf as a measuring scale on the lines.)
DOCTOR: A hundred and twenty point three centimetres, multiplied by the binary figure ten zero zero. That's a hundred and sixty-two point four centimetres, correct?
SARAH: Show-off.
DOCTOR: Hundred and sixty-two point four. That's about seven stitches.
(He measures the shapes against the scarf.)
DOCTOR: (moving SARAH to stand behind him) In case I'm wrong.
(He pushes the shape that Scarman had.)
DOCTOR: I'm right.
[INT. Junction]
SARAH: (after they have stepped through to a junction) Which way now?
(The DOCTOR motions SARAH to stay back. He walks forward a few steps, and a large cylinder appears around her. There are two red buttons near the bottom. The DOCTOR returns and stops short.)
DOCTOR: A decadron crucible!
(We see SARAH shouting but can hear nothing from outside.)
DOCTOR: (gesturing) Keep calm! Keep calm. (sotto) Poor Sarah. I should never have brought you here.
[INT. Sutekh's prison]
(SUTEKH watches his monitor, where SCARMAN stands in front of yet another doorway.)
SUTEKH: The inner chamber, the control centre of the pyramid. Make the sign of the Eye, Scarman, the sign of the Eye.
(SCARMAN crosses his arms, with his palms facing to his sides, uncrosses them, and holds them in an inverted 'V' shape at eye level, after this lowering his arms and holding his palms outward in front of him. The door slides open.)
[INT. Junction]
(Condensation is appearing on the outside of the cylinder. The DOCTOR writes 'RELAX' backward in the condensation and underscores it. SARAH, sitting on the floor, smiles and gives a large shrug.)
DOCTOR: I can't do it. I can't do it.
VOICE [OC]: Intruders, you face the twin guardians of Horus. One is programmed to deceive. The other points truly.
(SARAH stands up as she sees two mummies with gold chest wrappings, arm bands, bottom facial band, and belt lines enter the room from the far side.)
VOICE [OC]: The two switches control your fate - instant freedom or instant death. Before you choose, you can ask one guardian one question. This is the riddle of the Osirans. Which is the guardian of life?
DOCTOR: Which indeed. They're both contra-programmed so that one will always give a false indication. (he approaches the two mummies) One question. (speaking to the guardian on the right) If I were to ask your fellow guardian the question, which switch would he indicate?
(The mummy points its arm toward the button on the near side.)
DOCTOR: I see. So if you're the true guardian, that must be the death switch. And if you're the automatic liar, you'd be trying to mislead me, so that still must be the death switch. Therefore, this has to be the one we want.
(He presses the other button, and both cylinder and mummies blink away.)
DOCTOR: Come on! Come on!
[INT. Pyramid's control centre]
(A large, pulsing red spheroid sits in a grey lotus-flower-style stand. Gold lights play on the walls behind it.)
SUTEKH [OC]: At last, the Eye of Horus! Destroy! Destroy!
(A guardian mummy appears. SCARMAN steps toward it, while the mummy behind him stands still.)
SCARMAN: Stand back. Deactivate.
VOICE [OC]: My servitors obey only the voice of Horus. Drive out the intruders.
(The two mummies fight. SCARMAN is transformed into a Typhonic beast with glowing green eyes.)
SUTEKH: Destroy! Destroy!
(The spheroid explodes with a muted boom and a plume of smoke just as the DOCTOR and SARAH enter.)
SUTEKH: Freeeee!
(SCARMAN's face is his again, and it is not the sinister sneering vision of his possessed self.)
SCARMAN: I'm free! Free at last!
(He cries out mutely and falls backward. He fades into a pile of dust and disappears entirely.)
SARAH: He's won. Sutekh's won!
(The DOCTOR looks toward the door to the room. All of the doors of the pyramid slide open. At the end is the TARDIS.)
DOCTOR: No! The time factor!
SARAH: What?
DOCTOR: Come on, run!
SARAH: Doctor!
[INT. Sutekh's prison]
SUTEKH: I have won my freedom, Horus. Your curse is lifted. Now begins the reign of Sutekh the Destroyer. I shall crush this miserable world and hurl it into the outermost depths of space. My vengeance starts here!
(The TARDIS dematerialises from Mars. It appears in the artefact room, and the DOCTOR sprints out, carrying a piece of equipment by a handle. SARAH follows.)
SUTEKH: (raising his left hand) My paralysis has left me. (flexing both hands) I can move again. I can move! (he stands) Now, Horus, we shall see who rules the cosmos!
(The mask disappears, and we see the black beast within, with a green glow emanating from its core.)
[INT. Study]
(The DOCTOR attaches a pair of wires to the mummy case while SARAH holds the equipment. He takes it from her and sets it in front of the mummy case.)
DOCTOR: We've got about twenty seconds. (the tunnel becomes active) Here he comes.
(SUTEKH is moving through the tunnel but stops growing larger. He is getting no closer to the Earth end.)
SUTEKH: Who dares to interfere?
DOCTOR: You're caught in a temporal trap, Sutekh.
SUTEKH: Time Lord! I shall destroy you. I shall destroy you!
DOCTOR: How long do Osirans live, Sutekh?
SUTEKH: Release me.
DOCTOR: Never. You're caught in the corridor of eternity.
SUTEKH: Release me, insect, or I shall destroy the cosmos!
DOCTOR: You're a thousand years beyond the twentieth century now, Sutekh. Go on for another ten thousand.
SUTEKH: I'll spare the planet Earth. I'll give it to you as a plaything. Release me!
(He begins to diminish, back down the passage.)
DOCTOR: No, Sutekh. The time of the Osirans is long past. Go.
SUTEKH: (fading into blackness at the far end of the tunnel) No!
DOCTOR: (slowly removing his hand from over his eyes) He lived about seven thousand years.
SARAH: He's dead. Sutekh is dead.
DOCTOR: At last.
SARAH: Look, I know that's the time control from the TARDIS, but what did you do?
DOCTOR: I moved the threshold of the time-space tunnel into the far future. He could never have reached the end. After the Eye was broken, I realised that we had little more than two minutes to get back here.
SARAH: But how?
DOCTOR: The time radio waves take to pass from Mars to Earth.
SARAH: Ah. So the Eye of Horus was still holding Sutekh for two minutes after it was broken.
DOCTOR: Yes. You know, the Egyptians called him the Typhonian beast.
SARAH: Doctor!
(Behind him, in the mummy case, there has been a boom, and we see red flames and smoke rising within the mummy case.)
DOCTOR: That was careless of me. I forgot the thermal balance would equalise.
SARAH: Listen, this priory was burnt to the ground, remember?
DOCTOR: Yes. Perhaps it is time we were leaving. (there is another boom) We don't want to be blamed for starting a fire, do we?
(He winds up the wires and picks up the control from the TARDIS. He leaves, as we gaze into the flames in the mummy case.)
DOCTOR [OC]: I had enough of that in 1666.
SARAH [OC]: What?
[INT. Artefact room]
(The fire raging in the study blows out bay windows, and we return to the artefact room, where there are now fire and smoke as the DOCTOR and SARAH return to the TARDIS.)
DOCTOR: (hustling her into the ship) Come on, come on.
(The TARDIS dematerialises, and more flames sprout in the room. We then see the whole building engulfed in a raging inferno.)
The above notes, transcription, etc. by Anna Shefl
-=#=-
Anna's home >
The Doctors' home >
This Doctor >
This story
-=#=-