Loose Ends 4: Ancient Egypt (short story)
Loose Ends 4: Ancient Egypt was the fourth short story in the Loose Ends segment of Doctor Who Magazine, depicting "what really happened" during unseen gaps in the televised Doctor Who stories.
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
Scenes Unseen[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Pyramids of Mars [+]Loading...["Pyramids of Mars (TV story)"]
Horus proudly claims to his fellow Osirans that they have finally banished Sutekh, despite it taking 740 of them and trapping him with the equipment needed to build a rocket. He asks who has set up their Mars pyramid's security defences, and an eager young Osiran volunteers, explaining that nobody could get in without solving three riddles. This comes as a surprise to Horus, and the young Osiran lists the riddles: the button on the door being a fake with the real one hidden, a spot-the-difference puzzle, and a logic problem from a maths text book. Horus is decidedly underwhelmed, despite the young Osiran's insistence that they did not want to make it too difficult by adding any extra. Horus sighs and admits that they will just have to hope nobody breaks in.
Where Are They Now?[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Nefertiti from Dinosaurs on a Spaceship [+]Loading...["Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (TV story)"]
Nefertiti explains that she is happy with her new life in the early 20th century with John Riddell, describing him as an appropriate consort now he has learned the art of photography instead of killing animals for sport. Indeed, she adds that, living thousands of years after her reign with Amenhotep, she safely assumes to be a widow in this time period. Wondering whether the Doctor will ever return her to her own time to retake the throne, she admits to reading a recent newspaper report of the discovery of the "ghastly boy" Tutankhamen's tomb, meaning she has no position to return to... and no reason not to marry again.
Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The young Osiran considered adding a maze or a puzzle involving moving matchsticks to form squares to Sutekh's tomb, but worried that they would make accessing it too difficult.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- This instalment was released to commemorate the upcoming airing of TV: Empire of Death [+]Loading...["Empire of Death (TV story)"].
- This is the first instalment of Loose Ends to not feature the Doctor or their companions, although the Eleventh Doctor is referenced.
- This short story also features a short non-fiction article titled The Unexplained, asking "Where was Scaroth when the Daleks visited the pyramids?", referencing the events of TV: City of Death [+]Loading...["City of Death (TV story)"].
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The creation of Sutekh's tomb which was previously referenced in TV: Pyramids of Mars [+]Loading...["Pyramids of Mars (TV story)"] is depicted.
- Nefertiti recaps the ending of TV: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship [+]Loading...["Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (TV story)"].
