| The Rameses Connection | |
|---|---|
 Ramases | |
| Episode Information | |
| Series | 1990s Series |
| Season # | 3 |
| Episode # | 1 |
| Number of Parts | 5 |
| Original Airdate(s) | 4 Jan. 1995 - 1 Feb. 1995 |
| Writer(s) | Grant Cathro |
| Director | Roger Gartland |
| Previous | "Monsoon Man" |
| Next | "The Living Stones" |
"The Ramses Connection" is the first episode of season three of The Tomorrow People 1990s Series.
The Tomorrow People have visions of an Ancient Egyptian Pharoah who is calling to them across the vast distances of history. At the same time, an Ancient Egyptian artifact is stolen from the British Museum. The Tomorrow People must investigate these two events. [1]
Summary[]
Episode One[]
At the British Museum, two intruders, Hubert Tate and Scully, stand in front of a display case: Tate chants an incantation that makes the crystal inside glow, while Scully disposes of a security guard. Tate's chanting causes the case to smash and he takes the crystal. Meanwhile, both Megabyte and Ami have dreams in which they hear an Ancient Egyptian boy crying out.
Next morning, at the ship, Adam says someone is trying to contact them, but from a great distance: In space or the past or future. The boy, Tutankhamen, appears before them as a vision, continuing to call out things that they don't understand, then disappears. Adam decides they need to contact an Egyptologist for help with translation, even though Megabyte is sceptical. They head to the museum and visit the Ancient Egypt section, only for a WPC to tell them the area is closed. They see Doctor Amanda Jones, who is in charge of the museum, be let through the cordon and be greeted by a CID officer.
The Tomorrow People teleport through the cordon and hear Amanda telling the officer the Mahaba stone was meteoric rock found inside a pyramid, worshipped by the Ancient Egyptians. The inspector wonders why anyone would want it now. The Tomorrow People decide to talk to Amanda. Ami tries to question her about the theft while Adam quotes the words Tutankhamen was saying. Amanda says no-one knows what Ancient Egyptian sounds like. However, one of the words Adam uses rings a bell with her: She heard it on a dig in Egypt, spoken by a man who claimed to be 120 years old. Ami wonders if old words have survived. Amanda has a record of the man's language and says it was the ancient name for Cleopatra. They translate the words and realise they mean "the sacred obelisk of Queen Cleopatra".
The Tomorrow People head to Cleopatra's Needle. Megabyte is confused about how it ended up in London. Ami seems to get a strange reaction from it. They see an elderly lady, Millicent F. Rutherford, ranting about how the obelisk should be taken home. Then she notices the Tomorrow People and approaches them, saying she's waited a long time for them and they have a lot to do together: She has been pursuing the evil men who took the obelisk for centuries. She realises they think she's mad but says it will all come clear in time, and knows their names. She says they mustn't be seen together and gives them a note, telling them to meet her later: They'll know when. The note turns out to be a photograph of a house.
In a study, a mysterious man, Sam Rees, stares into a small pyramid structure which shows an image of the Tomorrow People. Adam goes to the house in the photograph. Scully answers the door and says Tate doesn't welcome visitors. He claims Tate is out of the country and his subsequent answers give no real information. Adam contacts the others telepathically at the ship and asks Megabyte to join him, while Ami wants to meet Millicent. Megabyte teleports out.
Tate is working in the upper room when Megabyte knocks on the door; he and Scully seem to know who the Tomorrow People are. Megabyte asks the pair for directions while Adam teleports inside. Adam finds Egyptian artefacts and an altar. In a secret room, he finds a large scale model. Scully tries to invite Megabyte inside but he nervously refuses and hurries away, telepathically telling Adam to get out. Adam returns everything to where it was then teleports. Scully tells Tate they should have killed him but Tate doesn't want to attract attention.
Ami has told Millicent about the theft of the Mahaba stone. Millicent realises what "he" is trying to do, quoting a prediction: "The stone shall move, the stars shall shine and a shadow shall fall upon the earth." However, she doesn't tell Ami who is behind things, instead saying it's her they're after. She tells Ami not to let them see her together and tells her to read the papers. Millicent walks up to Tate and Scully and calmly lets them take her prisoner. Ami calls out to Adam and Megabyte, who have just arrived. Adam grabs roller skates from a nearby boy and takes off after Tate's car. Using back streets, he is able to keep pace. He heads down an alley where he encounters Rees' cat. The cat glows with energy and fires blasts from its eyes. Adam takes cover behind a car but another blast destroys it. Rees monitors via the pyramid, looking satisfied.
Episode Two[]
Adam emerges from an alley near the burning car and leaves. Tate and Scully take Millicent to Rees, who tells them they have new enemies. Tate says they know nothing but Rees wants to know exactly what they know. Dismissing the others, he says Millicent knows who he is and she confirms it. Rees says she will not witness the dawn of the new order. He asks her who the Tomorrow People are but she refuses to talk, even under threat of death, saying he will be defeated. Rees sends a burst from his eyes and Millicent disappears in a vortex.
Adam rejoins Megabyte and Ami, saying someone didn't want Millicent talking to them. Adam gives Ami the note: It has now changed from the photograph to Millicent's address. Ami says she has to go shopping with her mum for a birthday present: It's her birthday the next day and the boys congratulate her. Rees continues to monitor Ami as she meets with her mother. He produces a pendant. Ami is telling her mother she doesn't want a dress when she sees the pendant in a shop window and is drawn to it. Her mother buys it for her.
Adam and Megabyte follow Millicent's address: The street was torn down but a bus of the right number remains. As they peer through the window, there is a glow from inside and find themselves in a void with three strange people: A man in a raincoat who calls himself Red Rainwear, a shy rotund young woman named Lizzie Motherwell and a young man in a schoolboy's uniform named Rupert Short who is also silent. Red Rainwear says they're friends of Millicent and the Tomorrow People. Adam and Megabyte tell them she's been kidnapped. Red Rainwear confirms that the world is at risk from evil people: They must trust each other but no-one else. He gives Adam a card from the Zuzu Club, saying someone has discovered the cartouche of Rameses Akhar, the tyrant pharaoh, which will lead them to his burial chamber.
Rees, speaking via the Egyptian mask Adam saw earlier, is berating Tate for his failure. Tate says he entrusted the task to another who failed him and begs for forgiveness. He suspects there is a reason the cartouche has come to light. Rees tells him to destroy it. Meanwhile, Adam, Megabyte and Ami unsuccessfully look through directories for the club. Mrs Jackson appears with a birthday cake, using Adam and Megabyte's presence for an impromptu party. Megabyte produces a small plant as a present and Mrs Jackson gives Ami the pendant. She again seems distracted while wearing it. Rees monitors things and concentrates; Ami starts fitting. She locks herself in the bathroom then emerges, saying she just choked, but appearing somewhat sinister.
Megabyte makes a phone call to his dad: He hasn't heard of the cartouche but knows the Zuzu Club is in Cairo. Adam wants to check it out but Ami says it's a waste of time. Megabyte says it's the only lead they have. Ami tries to convince them not to go, saying it's dangerous and they'll die. Awkward about her intensity, Adam and Megabyte leave. Left alone, Ami seems on the point of collapse.
Cairo, Egypt: Adam and Megabyte wonder about Ami's behaviour as they track down the club. They find it closed and teleport inside. They hide as a man, Roach, descends the stairs and answers a phone: He seems to be trying to sell the cartouche and the call is from a customer. Someone knocks on the door and Roach places the bag containing the cartouche in a safe. The new arrivals are Tate and Scully, who know he has the cartouche. Tate offers him $1,000,000 for it. Roach insists it is worth more than that and Tate says he will pay anything. Roach locks them in the club, takes the cartouche from the office and descends into the sewers. Scully follows, as do Adam and Megabyte. Scully and Tate corner Roach and Tate takes the cartouche. Scully drags Roach away and kills him. Scully offers to destroy the cartouche but Tate says it cannot simply be stepped on: However, there is a way. Adam and Megabyte, listening, resolve to stop them.
A mind-controlled Ami reports to Rees, saying that Adam and Megabyte know nearly nothing. Rees tells her to ensure they learn no more. Ami says she will kill them both.
Episode Three[]
Tate and Scully go to a Cairo hotel and Tate asks for a room facing the pyramid. The hotel receptionist says they are fully booked but when Scully produces a large wad of money he quickly cancels a booking. Adam and Megabyte listen in and teleport to the room ahead of them, hiding. Tate and Scully enter and Tate produces the cartouche. He sets up candles around it and begins a ceremony, during which he wraps the cartouche in a cloth. Adam tells Megabyte to teleport outside and knock on the door. Megabyte complies; Scully answers the door and finds no-one there. Adam waits tensely until Tate goes to check on him. Megabyte hides behind a maid's trolley. Adam swaps the cartouche for a lump of plastic then teleports out to join Megabyte. Tate finishes the ceremony, with an energy glow destroying the fake cartouche.
Adam and Megabyte interpret the map on the cartouche and identify Rameses' burial chamber underneath the eighth pyramid. They plan to teleport in, despite the risk of teleporting into solid rock. Unknown to them, Ami is watching them. Adam and Megabyte teleport into the tomb but find just an empty chamber. Adam remembers Red Rainwear said the cartouche was a key and inserts it into a slot on the wall, turning it: The wall slides back. They find themselves in the real chamber, untouched for 4,000 years. The hieroglyphs refer to a journey to the stars after death. They open the sarcophagus but it contains nothing but sand. An image of Tutankhamen appears, gesturing to one of the hieroglyphs and saying "Amtoudi". Adam tries to interpret the image, which shows Rameses bathing in light at night. Ami sneaks in, allowing Rees to monitor them. Rees sends out mental energy that causes the tomb to start to cave in. Megabyte teleports away but Ami grabs hold of Adam, trying to keep him there. Adam sees the glowing pendant and rips it off: They teleport out.
Back at the ship, Megabyte examines the remains of the pendant; Ami is shocked that she tried to kill them. She has only a vague memory of Rees and what happened while she was under his control. Their only clues are the tomb and the pendant. Adam and Ami take it to Amanda, who is shocked that they bought it in a junk shop. She says it's a relic from the Old Kingdom. They tell her it has the same symbol as in the tomb. Amanda is disbelieving, but says they found the Mahaba stone inside the same pyramid. She tells them to bring her proof.
Rees tells Tate he failed him again: The tomb's secrets have been uncovered. Rees' eyes glowed and Tate again begs for mercy, saying he needs him to fulfil his dreams. Rees spares him and Tate thanks him. Rees tells him to leave and prepare. Meanwhile, Megabyte is searching Tate's house. Rees monitors him by the mask. Megabyte finds a reference to Felix Fry and a star chart marked Amtoudi. A snake materialises and climbs up onto Megabyte's shoulder.
Episode Four[]
Megabyte removes his jacket, which disappears alongside the snake. Outside the museum, Adam and Ami comment on Amanda's refusal to believe them. Red Rainwear appears with Lizzie and Rupert, aware of their discovery. Adam introduces them to Ami. They know nothing of Millicent except that she's in danger. Red Rainwear is convinced the answer was in the tomb. Rupert and Lizzie hand Adam paper and felt pens to draw the tomb painting with.
Adam draws the painting in front of Amanda, with some help from Ami. Amanda is agog but believes them. She shows them a picture of a pyramid and admits no-one knows how it was built. She confirms the Egyptians worshipped the stars but the picture Adam drew is different: It contains no reference to death. There is a myth that around 2,600 BC a group of mystics believed the stars could give them magic and used it to build the pyramids. Rameses was their leader. She says the symbol on the necklace and the painting is based on the star system of Amtoudi, which was the name of the cult. Rameses was supposed to be a tyrant made immortal by light.
As they leave, Adam tells Ami that Rameses faked his death and is still alive. They teleport to join Megabyte at a laboratory, who already knows about Amtoudi from what he found at Tate's. The observatory has been tracking the stars and something is due to happen that night. Outside, Tate has met with Fry, who has been helping him with his project on Rees' instructions. He warns him the Tomorrow People may visit him and to direct them to Rees if they turn up.
Megabyte tells Adam and Ami of a theory that every shape contains a natural energy and the pyramid is supposed to be special but so far no-one can unlock it. However, Fry has worked out a way using light shaped the same as the pyramid. It could provide endless free natural energy but would be dangerous in the wrong hands. Fry enters and says Tate told him they were coming. He tells them he's funded by Sam Rees of the Rees Foundation. They try to tell him he has a responsibility to the consequences of his research but he only cares about his work and they should ask Rees what he intends to do with it.
The Tomorrow People realise it's a trap so Adam decides to go and see Rees alone. He sends the others back to the ship. A comment from Megabyte about reading the newspaper reminds Ami of Millicent's last instruction. Adam heads to Rees' office at the top of Canary Wharf. After a talk over the intercom, Rees allows him in. Meanwhile, Megabyte and Ami have gone to the newspaper archive. Ami looks up where Cleopatra's Needle was taken out of Egypt: Similar objects have been moved all over the world. Rees was the one who financed the move; Ami thinks it's the same person, 127 years later.
Adam enters Rees' private sanctum and sees him bathed in light. He realises that Sam Rees is Rameses. Rameses asks where Megabyte and Ami are but Adam refuses to tell them. He says that Tutankhamen was one of the first Tomorrow People and he has encountered many of their kind; he killed Tutankhamen. Adam tells him Tomorrow People are breaking out all over the world and mankind is getting better but Rameses dreams of restoring order. Adam tells him they live and die. He tries to teleport out but Rameses is able to mentally prevent him. He fires a blast from his eyes and Adam disappears in a whirlwind of energy.
Episode Five[]
Adam wakes up in a strange other dimension. Back at the ship, Megabyte and Ami worry about him. Adam finds Millicent badly drained, mumbling about the star shining. Adam fails to teleport them. Megabyte and Ami link minds and telepathically contact Adam. They are able to add their powers to his and teleport him and Millicent back to the ship. Millicent tells them they need to stop Rameses that night.
Rameses accuses Tate of underestimating the Tomorrow People. He has a plan to get rid of them. Adam, Megabyte and Ami head back to the observatory to quiz Fry, who greets them in a frantic state, saying he's been a fool and didn't know Rameses planned to kill them. He promises to tell them everything he knows and leads them to his laboratory. He says he overheard a talk between Tate and Rameses; the project is all for Rameses' benefit. He activates the machinery and explains that the shape of the Amtoudi system is even more powerful than the pyramids, powerful enough to prolong life, which Rameses used. He says Tate constructed the needle obelisks and Rameses spread them around the world in the shape of Amtoudi. They then had to wait for the star light, with them combining to form a power generator. It worked 4,000 years ago, absorbed by the Mahaba stone. But eventually the energy would run out. He tried to seal it inside a pyramid but at the time they were unable to make a perfect pyramid so eventually it escaped. Fry activates the power of the model obelisks, trapping the Tomorrow People. Ami manages to knock down an obelisk and leave the power field. She rips off Fry's control necklace and turns off the equipment.
The Tomorrow People exit and see the Amtoudi stars shining in the sky. Adam realises Rameses needs a pyramid as well as the Mahaba stone, and could make a perfect one with modern building techniques. Megabyte scoffs at the idea of a pyramid being built in Central London...but Adam points to the top of Canary Wharf. He says they need to destroy the stone to stop the power being harnessed but Ami protests that it's too strong. They go to see Millicent and her friends and join forces.
Rameses, now dressed in traditional Egyptian robes, is prepared for the ceremony. The Tomorrow People watch from the shadows and Rameses accepts Tate has served him well. Scully says he has as well but Rameses says he has no more use for him and shatters him with a look. Adam telepathically tells the others he's going to remove the stone suspended above Rameses and starts to climb up to it. The light strikes the stone as Millicent enters and faces down Rameses, telling him he will always be stopped in the end. They begin rival chanting and Red Rainwear and his friends appear, pirouetting around Rameses and Tate in a confusing manner. Megabyte and Ami also creep forward. Rameses is bathed in light from the stone as Amtoudi glows brighter, surrounding the whole pyramid. Adam almost grabs the stone but Rameses' cat sees him and fires more eye blasts at him, knocking Adam from his perch but also striking the stone. The light goes out of control and Rameses and Tate, caught up in it are vaporised. The Tomorrow People and their friends pick themselves up as Tutankhamen appears again and takes the mahaba stone before vanishing. Millicent tells the Tomorrow People they did well and she and her friends thank them. Millicent looks upwards and says "Thank you." Adam, Megabyte and Ami follow her gaze and see the light from the Amtoudi stars fade. When they look back, Millicent and her friends are gone, leaving behind their clothes, neatly folded up in piles.
Guest Cast[]
- Sam Rees - Christopher Lee
- Millicent F. Rutherford - Elizabeth Spriggs
- Hubert Tate - Robert Lang
- Scully - Andrew Powell
- Red Rainwear - Anthony O'Donnell
- Dr.Amanda Jones - Adjoa Andoh
- CID Officer - Mark Biltcliffe
- WPC - Fidelma Meehan
- Tutankhamun - Adam Dean
- Mrs.Jackson - Sally Sagoe
- Roach - Rolf Saxon
- Lynzie Motherwell - Sarah Flind
- Rupert Short - Christopher Brand
- Hotel Receptionist - Akbar Kurtha
- Felix Fry - Harry Jones
References[]
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