The Masters of Luxor

Lost Stories #3.7

Released: 16 August 2012

Listened: 7/23/22

This Lost Story was originally intended to be the second serial of the series, but fortunately, we got “The Daleks” instead. In its current form, though, it’s established as taking place immediately after “Farewell Great Macedon.” The characters are still a bit uneasy with each other, and Susan addresses Ian and Barbara by their titles. It’s a six-parter, and those often feel stretched out. Plus, it’s of its time, meaning the story is kind of pokey. As an example, it gets most of the way through Part 2 before the travelers even begin to figure out what’s going on. Even “The Daleks” wasn’t that slow. “Luxor” implies Egyptian, but there isn’t anything like that here, except that the huge building where the story takes place is pyramid-shaped. The TARDIS lands, and is drained of power, so they have to go exploring to figure out what’s wrong so they can leave. This leads to lots of wandering around, exploration, and speculation before they eventually discover the building is pretty much a way-station for Luxorites, staffed by robots, and currently empty. (So the story isn’t even set on Luxor, and only one of the “Masters” ever makes an appearance.) What follows should be rumination on the nature of artificial life and robot rights, except it’s held back by a rather basic understanding of what robots are capable of, for which you can blame 1963. Even the Doctor states several times that one action or another is “impossible” for robots, when moderately advanced AI could probably handle it. It eventually turns into one of those “mad computer thinks it’s god” stories, and while those are somewhat tiresome, this would have been the first time the show had told such a story, had it been televised. Much like “Macedon,” the story is partially narrated, with William Russell playing both Ian and the Doctor, Carole Ann Ford playing Susan and Barbara, and Joseph Kloska playing everybody else…which is to say, mostly robots. Unfortunately, William Russell’s age is showing, and it’s sometimes difficult to tell if a line was meant to be spoken by the Doctor or Ian. Sadly, it’s not the best Lost Story, especially compared to “Macedon.”