Strange goings-on at UNIT HQ many decades in the past formed the basis for pseudonym Stephen Harris's Fourth Doctor Egyptology odyssey. A sense of a true threat from beyond the stars appeared in the shape of vengeful alien Sutekh, yet as his followers waited for his arrival an unexpected visitor called at the old priory to deal an all-time classic hand of death. Organ-playing fez wearer Namin prepared himself and a team of mummified robots for their master's presence on Earth, but a timey-wimey tunnel issued a kinkier proposition in the form of Sutekh's black-clad servant, who promptly put his gloves round Namin's neck and extinguished him. One of the show's bonafide unsettling moments, the extended sound of Namin's screams and the revelation that the murderer was in fact the husk of priory owner Professor Scarman added to the supreme atmosphere of Gothic horror. After that a poacher got crushed and brother slaughtered brother, but the sheer balls-out nature of this poor facilitator's demise scarred a generation of viewers during the cliffhanger for Part One.
I am a journalist and comedian who enjoys American movies of the 70s, Amicus horror compendiums, Doctor Who, Twin Peaks, Naomi Watts and sitting down. My short fiction has been published as part of the Iris Wildthyme range from Obverse Books.
