Doctor Who: Empire Of Death Review - 7 Ups & 5 Downs

12. UP - Sutekh's Gift Of Death

My first up of the week goes to the villain to end all villains, Sutekh, who is played by original voice actor Gabriel Woolf. Added audio effects or not, I'm not sure many of us can hope to have such a commanding and imposing presence aged 91 - what a voice this man has.

We'll get into his defeat later, but its hard to deny that Sutekh is a more than fitting big bad here, with a cataclysmic level of power and an appearance to match. I did briefly rip into the CGI on Sutekh last week, but having spent more time with it here, and being able to appreciate the little details on the design - the cloudy ruby and flaring eyes, the smoke erupting from his nostrils, and the golden collars around his neck that shift with every movement, I think the VFX department did a pretty good job here.

The Bad Woolf is flanked by his cronies, Susan Triad and Harriet Arbinger, and later, poor Mel, and each of these have a screen presence of their own with some very creepy prosthetics - Arbinger, in particular, cuts quite a mean image in her corrupted TARDIS despite a lack of lines.

Lastly, I appreciate how this story adds additional stakes to Pyramids of Mars by showing us the fate that Four saved the universe from by just a matter of seconds. Also, seeing Tom and Elisabeth onscreen for even a second was lovely.