The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) investigates how a pyramid appeared in Turmezistan overnight and confronts an ancient enemy ready to destroy humanity.
He and Nardole find several laboratories performing bacterial work and briefly override their internal camera systems to determine which one the Monks are watching.
Through a series of inconsequential events, two scientists have accidentally created a super-bacterium capable of breaking down all living organisms, and it is about to be vented into the atmosphere.
[7] The fictional country of Turmezistan was previously introduced in "The Zygon Invasion" which was also written by The Pyramid at the End of the World co-writer Peter Harness[7] and both episodes were directed by Daniel Nettheim.
[7] The three military commanders all agree to set aside hostilities and "give peace a chance", a reference to the Plastic Ono Band song.
[7] Harness originally wanted the human delegation to consist of Korean, American, and British leaders who were thinly-veiled versions of Kim Jong-un, Donald Trump, and Jeremy Corbyn, but had to change them to three generic military personnel when this was not permitted.
The website's consensus states, "'The Pyramid at the End of the World' manages to fill the middle gap of a three-episode arc with thoughtful monologues and needed cliffhanger.
[17] Ross Ruediger of New York magazine gave the episode a perfect score of 5 out of 5 stars, complimenting the work and scripts of Peter Harness yet again and his repeated themes of "monumental life and death decisions for humankind", and also director Daniel Nettheim and how he "took two great scripts and made utterly compelling yet very different end products out of each".
He also commented on his reservations about how the initial references to terrorism had been removed from the episode due to the Manchester Arena bombing, and while it was "understandable", he stated how the sequence posed questions that were relevant to the story.
[20] Patrick Mulkern of Radio Times gave the episode a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, describing it as "a peculiar blend of the deadly serious and hilariously hokum".