YAYY HERE’S HOW THE TRICKSTER CAN STILL WIN!
I love that theory, I didn’t even spot it!
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I do just want to note that I don’t actually believe myself, I’ve just been on the it’s the trickster hype train since space babies and I’m not giving up now
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It also just occurred to me that it’s cruelly ironic that RTD, the man who on multiple occasions has stated that the Time Lords are boring, you can’t do anything with them, and Gallifrey is a huge burden on the show, when given the chance to add his own things to the canon, decides to go for the most generic “God of Thing” plotting you could have expected.
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nevermind, she said tricks not traps
EDIT: tardis wiki was lying, subtitles do say traps, trickster fans its back on
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Skimmed through all the responses as I process what I just watched. Think I agree with both sides to some extent.
I’ll be back with more thoughts but…
As soon as I heard that voice, I knew. So cool.
Trying to explain to my daughter who Sutekh is though.
And I bloody love Bonnie Langford.
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The perfect excuse to bring out Pyramids of Mars.
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Started Pyramids of Mars during lunch. Didn’t have time to finish it, but upon arriving in the past, the Doctor comments “Something’s going on contrary to the laws of the universe.” So it’s not as much of a stretch to lump Sutekh in with the Toymaker and the pantheon as it seems.
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Frankly, that was magnificent. A masterclass in building tension with an all time great twist (unfortunately ruined for me by people predicating it weeks ago). The Doctor’s on top form here, Kate, Mel and Rose are all great, Ruby feels weirdly under characterised for an episode named after her but it’s fine. That last ten minutes is just some of the best Doctor Who I’ve seen in a while.
A lot of the dialogue is quite forced and UNIT becomes more cartoonish and impossible to take seriously as the show goes on but these are more problems with the whole season rather than just his episode. Some people have problems with the retcons surrounding Sutekh but it’s close enough to the original concept and I enjoy the new one enough to not care. My biggest problem is that it’s bogged down by setup for next time, but that’s just something part ones have to deal with all the time.
Quick note, did anybody else notice that the CCTV camera that caught Ruby’s mother was 66 metres away (AKA 73 Yards)?
You can read the full review here if you’d like:
Season One (Series 14); Episode Seven - “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” by Russell T. Davies
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Wasn’t this episode supposed to open in Roswell? Not just from a leak, from one of RTDs comments in DWM
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Why are we not talking about how the Mara was name-dropped? Can we make the Mara tales a trilogy, with Janet Fielding of course 
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I did notice the mention of the Mara, just seem not to have mentioned it…
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See MR #138: Cradle of the Snake by Marc Platt.
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Oh yeah I forgot about that story, but I guess I specifically would like to see a Mara-possessed Tegan on screen.
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I finally got around to watching this episode and…well, I agree with a lot that has been said. A lot of these season has fallen a little flat for me by feeling sort of plotless and aimless, and this episode is no different. The time window is a very interesting concept, visually stunning, and very tense - while watching. Then I realised just how stretched out it was. I have so little interest in finding out who Ruby’s biological mother is. I wish they’d just let her be a regular orphan. Carla is her mum, and that’s it.
Now, Sutekh. I have to admit, he was my least favourite part of The Pyramids of Mars. I found most of his scenes fairly dull, and the inaccuracies really took me out of it. I’m not super knowledgeable about Egyptian mythology, but when even the first paragraph of the Wikipedia article on him contradicts what they say in the serial I’m forced to wonder just how little research the writers did. Now, of course, this is a new show by different people, but that doesn’t give me high hopes. Best case scenario, they ignore the Egyptian themes completely and pretend none of it was ever a thing. Unfortunately, with the design of Sutekh they’ve already gone with the aesthetic, which leaves two options: either they stick with the established canon (which is wrong and potentially problematic) or they over-correct (which tends to fall flat and piss everyone off, on either side). Either way, I’m not looking forward to it.
There were things I liked about the episode. A lot of the vibes were there, the acting was phenomenal as always, Mrs. Flood got another role letting her be even weirder, the dig at Elon Musk which I haven’t seen anyone mention yet… The list goes on. Unfortunately they were matched and balanced by things I didn’t like: Carla had no real reason to be involved, Rose and Morris - being 15 and 12 respectively - are the second instance of child labour in this season (I don’t care if Rose is played by an older actress or Morris is magically older, they’re still too young to be working and much too young to have their lives put at risk by UNIT), and of course, the things I already mentioned.
I’ll probably wait until the next episode to write a full review. I don’t think it’s fair to judge this episode on its own when it’s clearly just the first part.
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Yeah I thought this as well.
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I did love the Mara reference; I can’t help but feel that RTD has been mining my DWRPG notes though…
(If anyone’s interested, in the world of our game, the Mara escaped from a Miniscope in Time Lord containment many centuries ago and is currently just loose as hell in the universe. I used it for a throwaway scene, it ate my wife’s PC (it was all a simulation of real events don’t worry) and I’m planning to bring it back in like three seasons time. I love The Mara.)
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I find it interesting that RTD is returning to a trope of his from his first era of reintroducing a Classic monster/villain for his season finales. S1: Daleks, S2: Cybermen, S3: The Master, S4: Davros, 2009 Specials: Time Lords, 60th: Toymaker, S14: Sutekh, S15: ?.
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Oh yeah I loved that bit 
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Unless I just missed it, was it clear what TRIAD Technology actually does? Is the fact that UNIT is using it a worry, like will Sutekh control all of UNIT?
(And if they were investigating Susan, why risk it by using her tech? And why didn’t they do more background checks on Harriet? And do we really trust The Vlinx that much?? UNIT are getting sloppy!)
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