The Mummy: 13 TV versions from Buffy, Doctor Who, Jonny Quest, and more
“I wasn’t exactly obsessed with doing the right thing.…”
Examples of the undead walking in from ancient times, mummies have become as important to lists of classic monsters as Frankenstein’s Monster or Dracula. The legends of the mummy have inspired more than a few stories in different types of media. Below is a list of mummy appearances on TV shows. Scroll down for more info about mummy episodes from Buffy, Doctor Who, Scooby-Doo, and more.
Remember that mummies are often struggling with their curses. As Buffy Summers exclaimed in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer mummy episode, “She was just a girl, and she had her life taken away from her. I remember how I felt when I heard the prophecy that I was gonna die. I wasn’t exactly obsessed with doing the right thing…”
What are your favorite mummy stories? Comment below and check out our other mummy lists for books and movies!
Related links:
Mummy Fiction Books by Anne Rice, Bram Stoker, R.L. Stine, more
Flashback: Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)—“the best horror movie you never saw”
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The Mummy: 13 Alternate Television Versions
1) Jonny Quest TV episode “The Curse of Anubis” (1964)
When an archaeologist steals from an Egyptian tomb, the mummy rises to take revenge. The mummy episode of the Jonny Quest cartoon series was part of the clips seen in the show’s opening titles…
Jonny Quest intro music for the show
About Jonny Quest
Jonny Quest is a science fiction-flavored cartoon show about a boy, his scientist father, his best friend, and the spy who keeps them safe during their extraordinary adventures. The series launched with a 1964-1965 TV show, and has led to follow-up TV series, TV films, and video games.
2) Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! TV episode “Scooby-Doo and a Mummy Too!” (1969) and Scooby-Doo! in Where’s My Mummy? (2005)
In the original 1969 show Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, the Scooby gang are asked by a professor to help set up a mummy exhibition—but the prized exhibit keeps disappearing. The video below includes a wacky fight scene…
The 2005 animated movie Scooby-Doo! in Where’s My Mummy? finds Scooby-Doo and the Gang on the run for their mummies as ancient mysteries unravel. Archaelogist and super sleuth Velma is in Egypt for the unveiling ceremony of the restored Sphinx.
Scooby-Doo! Where’s My Mummy? | Scooby is the Chosen One
About Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo is an animated media brand launched in 1969 as a cartoon TV series—and has since continued through different kinds of media. The original Hanna-Barbera series Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, featured teenagers Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, and Shaggy Rogers, and their talking dog Scooby-Doo. The Scooby gang solve mysteries involving supposedly supernatural creatures (but are often actually disguised criminals).
In 2013, TV Guide ranked Scooby-Doo the fifth-greatest TV cartoon of all time. The show led to numerous TV spin-offs (and lots of knockoffs), as well as original movies, games, comic books, and more.
3) TV series Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Groovie Goolies (1970-71)
Sabrina was the teen witch who had appeared in Archie Comics and on the Archie cartoon show. When she got her own cartoon TV series, the cast included the Groovie Goolies, a group of Universal Monster-inspired characters, which included a mummy, as well as a vampire, wolfman, and a stitched-up cadaver that looked like Frankenstein’s Monster. Eventually, the monsters spun off into their own TV series.
Find episodes of Sabrina and Groovy Goolies at Amazon
The video playlist below includes more than a dozen episodes of Groovie Goolies…
About Sabrina and Groovy Goolies
In 1970, CBS debuted a Filmation animated fantasy sitcom, The Sabrina the Teenage Witch Show, a spin-off from its popular Archie franchise. It included shorts with her Universal Monster-inspired cousins, the Groovie Goolies, and ran for four seasons. The Goolies spun off into their own series in 1971.
4) Gatchaman episode “The Giant Mummy that Summons Storms” (1972)
In one of the weirder examples on this list—or more wonderful, depending on your perspective—is a the giant monster that appears as a mummy in the Gatchaman episode “The Giant Mummy that Summons Storms.” And then other stuff happens.
But that’s all part of the deal with the Japanese animated sci-fi drama Gatchaman, which has been translated into multiple versions of the series. It’s possible you saw this on the 1978 show named Battle of the Planets or the 1987 show G-Force. (Or maybe on something else.) Below, watch the full episode in awe…
About Science Ninja Team Gatchaman
Science Ninja Team Gatchaman is a Japanese animated sci-fi drama about a team of ninja superheroes fighting to save the world from aliens. It’s been translated into other versions, including Battle of the Planets (1978), G-Force: Guardians of Space (1986), ADV Films’ uncut 2005 version, and the 1990s show titled Eagle Riders. The series has also been reimagined as an animated film, two sequel series, and even a Japanese live-action film.
5) Doctor Who serial “Pyramids of Mars” (1975)
Serialized over four weeks during the 13th season of TV series Doctor Who, “Pyramids of Mars” was broadcast in 1975. Set in England and Egypt and on Mars in 1911 (Doctor Who is a time-and-space travel show), the burial chamber of the alien Osiran Sutekh—the inspiration for the Egyptian god Set—is unearthed by an archaeology professor. Alive but immobilized, Sutekh seeks his freedom by making his servant destroy the jewel in a pyramid on Mars which is keeping him prisoner.
Find this Doctor Who episode at Amazon
Doctor Who: “Pyramids of Mars”—Teaser Trailer
About Doctor Who
The British sci-fi classic TV show Doctor Who, which had its original run from 1963-1989, shared the adventures of a Time Lord who called himself the Doctor (not his actual name), an alien who looks human. The Doctor travels through time and space in a time-travelling space ship called the TARDIS. The ship is supposed to be able to change shape—but is stuck looking like a blue British police box, which were common in England in 1963 when the series debuted. The Doctor and various companions investigate mysteries, fight bad aliens, and help people in need.
During the series’ run, several actors have played the Doctor—so the story is that every time the Doctor is mortally wounded, the alien regenerates into a new body (hence, played by new actor). Several actors played The Doctor through the show’s original run, which ended in 1989. There was a failed attempt to start a new version in 1996. The actors who played The Doctor during these years include William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, and Paul McGann.
The show was relaunched in 2005 and is still going. (We’ll talk more about the current series below.)
Over the years, Doctor Who has inspired lots of other adventures in various media, including TV spin-offs, comic books, movies, novels, and audio dramas.
Related link: QUIZ: Was That Alien On Star Trek or Doctor Who?
6) MST3K episode The Robot vs the Aztec Mummy (1989)
Crow the Robot: “Once that robot gets into gear, you’re really going to see him kick some Aztec.”
Let’s be honest, The Robot vs the Aztec Mummy sounds great, but is actually hard to watch. Part of the Mexican film trilogy about the Aztec Mummy—all three films were shot at the same time and released around 1957—this third installment is a lot of this guy retelling us everything that happened in films #1 and #2. And then there’s this very short attempt to try and show a fight between a robot and a mummy.
The Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy remained in obscurity until late 1989, when it was featured on an episode of the movie-heckling comedy TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Which you can watch right now…
About Mystery Science Theater 3000
MST3K is sci-fi comedy TV show where we watch other people and robots watch old movies. (And say smart alecky stuff about the movies.) Created by Joel Hodgson and launched in 1988 on local TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the show then became a national sensation on cable TV. After years of being available here and there, they recently launched online platform the Gizmoplex to create their own future MST3K works. Find out more about the Gizmoplex here!
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7) MST3K episode Being from Another Planet (1992)
Here’s another mummy movie that appeared on the movie-heckling sci-fi TV comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000. In this re-edited version of the 1982 film Time Walker, a mummy awakened by a university team goes on a killing spree. Below is a clip from the episode.
MST3K: Being From Another Planet - Martha Raye The Big Mouth
More about Mystery Science Theater 3000
Sci-fi comedy TV show MST3K features hosts and robots watching terrible movies and cracking wise about them. The show initially starred creator Joel Hodgson as Joel Robinson, a janitor trapped by two mad scientists (“The Mads”) on the Earth-orbiting Satellite of Love, and forced to watch a series of bad movies to monitor his reaction to them. To keep his sanity, Joel crafted robots to be his friends, including Tom Servo, Crow T. Robot, and Gypsy. Over the years, the show’s cast (and robot voices) have changed. Other hosts have included Michael J. Nelson, Jonah Ray, and Emily Marsh.
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8) Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode “Inca Mummy Girl” (1997)
In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode “Inca Mummy Girl” [episode 2.4], an Incan Princess mummy is reanimated in Sunnydale—and begins sucking the life force out of victims for her to stay alive. The story was inspired by a real mummy that was discovered in 1995 on the extinct volcano Ampato near Arequipa, Peru.
About Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) was inspired by the 1992 film of the same name. The series follows Buffy Summers (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar), the latest in a line of young women known as “Vampire Slayers” or “Chosen Ones,” fated to battle vampires, demons and other monsters and evil forces. The series received critical and popular acclaim, and was nominated for several awards.
The success of Buffy has led to hundreds of tie-in products, including novels, comics and video games. The series has also influenced other media products. The series and its spin-off, Angel, have been collectively termed the “Buffyverse.”
Find Buffy the Vampire Slayer at Amazon
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9) The Mummy cartoon series
Leveraging the success of The Mummy film series relaunched by Stephen Sommers, Universal Animation Studios produced the TV show The Mummy: The Animated Series, which aired 2001-2003. Based loosely on the movies The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, the O’Connells find themselves being chased around the world by the undead High Priest Imhotep.
In the first season, set in 1938, they’re trying to get the Manacle of Osiris off Alex’s wrist. The only way to remove the manacle is with the lost scrolls of Thebes, so the O’Connells are traveling around the world trying to locate them.
In the second season, the show was updated and renamed The Mummy: Secrets of the Medjai for its second season. During that season, Alex is trained as a Medjai to combat the mummy, as well as facing new threats along the way.
The Mummy Cartoon Explored - Fantasy/Action Based Series That Brings Back The Thrill Of Mummy Films! | Marvelous Videos
10) Hotel Transylvania franchise
A charming re-imagining of the Universal Monsters, the animated movie series Hotel Transylvania and spin-off TV show finds famed vampire Count Dracula as the owner of a monster’s-only hotel. Throughout the series we also spend time with Dracula’s close-knit group of friends—which includes several classic monsters, including a mummy named Murray. The character has been voiced by CeeLo Green, Keegan-Michael Key and Kyle Chapple.
In this video clip from Hotel Transylvania 2, Dracula is asking Murray to demonstrate his supernatural powers to his grandson. It doesn’t go well…
Hotel Transylvania 2 (4/10) Movie CLIP - Mummy Mistake (2015) HD
Find Hotel Transylvania movies and episodes from Amazon
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11) Mummies Alive! (1997)
On animated series Mummies Alive!, four well-preserved ancient Egyptians wake up in a new millennium—on a new continent, in a large city full of strange people (Americans!). They must protect their prince from the villainous sorcerer, Scarab, who needs the child to rule the ungrateful planet. The mummies also have to contend with gods and spirits from Egyptian myth summoned to the modern world.
Mummies Alive!: Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra | Season 1 | Episode 1 | (Full episode)
The first episode explains how everything came to be…
12) Tutenstein (2003-2008)
Based on the comics by Jay Stephens, the cartoon series Tutenstein features young mummy Tutankhensetamun (based on real-life Tutankhamun) who was awakened some 3,000 years after his accidental death and now must face the fact that his kingdom is gone. In the 21st century, 12-year-old middle school student Cleo Carter is at a museum when she sees the mummified body of Tut brought back to life by a bolt of lightning.
Tut, holding the mighty Sceptre of Was, needs help coping with the modern world. Meanwhile, Set—the god of disorder and violence—wants to grab the Sceptre and become ruler of all.
“I’m a nerd—I like reading about history and mythology,” creator Stephens told Animation World Network. “And the past is full of surprises.”
In the first video below, Jordan Fringe talks about the series Tutenstein. Below that is a playlist with actual official episodes of the series that were posted by the producers on YouTube.
WAIT... Remember Tutenstein?
Tutenstein episodes
In October 2022, it was announced that a reboot of Tutenstein is in the works that will have a completely new look.
13) Doctor Who episode “Mummy on the Orient Express” (2014)
On a space-bound train, the alien time traveler known as the Doctor (this time played by Peter Capaldi) investigates the deaths of passengers who were killed by a mummy that can only been seen by its victims—exactly 65 seconds before it kills them. Add the conflict between the Doctor and his assistant, Clara (who has demanded to end their working relationship), the questionable morality of the Doctor at this stage, plus the frightening way that the Doctor resolves this problem—and this is one of my favorite episodes of the whole series.
“Mummy on the Orient Express” was episode 8 of season 8 of the British sci-fi TV series. The episode was written by Jamie Mathieson, and directed by Paul Wilmshurst.
Doctor Who: “Mummy on the Orient Express”—Teaser Trailer
About Doctor Who (well, more about Doctor Who)
The British sci-fi classic TV show Doctor Who, which was created in the 1960s, shares the adventures of a Time Lord who calls himself the Doctor (not his actual name), an alien who looks human. (More info about the original series above.)
The show was relaunched in 2005 and is still going. Those who have played different incarnations of The Doctor on this version of the series include Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi, and Jodie Whittaker. Also revealed as Doctors are John Hurt (long story) and Jo Martin (even longer story—which still hasn’t been entirely told). And it’s been revealed that Ncuti Gatwa will play The Doctor in the future.
Doctor Who has has also led to TV spinoffs Torchwood (2006-2011), Sarah Jane Adventures (2007-2011), K9 (2009-2010), and Class (2016).
Find Doctor Who episodes from the Peter Capaldi years at Amazon
Find season eight of Doctor Who here
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More from Monster Complex
Mummy Fiction Books by Anne Rice, Bram Stoker, R.L. Stine, more
Flashback: Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)—“the best horror movie you never saw”
Dark Corners Q&A: Universal’s Invisible Man—Horror’s Anti-Hero
Frankenstein’s Monster: 13 Versions—from flipped out to frightening
Monster Mash Parody: Frankenstein’s Monster vs Psychotic Killers
Related links
Curse of the mummy? Expert suffers illness after opening Egyptian tomb (Daily Mail)
Peruvian man found carrying mummy at least 600 years old in food delivery bag (ABC News)
Brendan Fraser explains why Tom Cruise Mummy reboot flopped (Entertainment Weekly)
Why Buffy The Vampire Slayer Stopped Slaying Vampires So Quickly (Screen Rant)
26 Years Ago, 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Biggest Twist Changed TV Forever (Inverse)
If the Apocalypse Comes, Beep Us With These 25 Secrets About Buffy the Vampire Slayer Revealed (E! Online)
New Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials Trailer Reveals Episode Titles (Empire)
Donna gets a shock in 'Doctor Who' 60th-anniversary episodes trailer (Entertainment Weekly)
Doctor Who fans think Russell T Davies just teased return of classic villains (The Independent)
The Director Of "Jonny Quest," Chris McKay, Teases His Vision With An "Indiana Jones" Comparison (Animated Times)
Jonny Quest Movie to Be Directed by Chris McKay for Warner Bros. (Collider)