The Aztecs

Doctor In Love (I Should Cocoa)
The Aztecs* (4 X 25mins B&W)
Written by John Lucarotti
Doctor Who Series one Serial six
The Temple of Evil transmitted BBC1 23 May 1964
The Warriors of Death transmitted BBC1 30 May 1964
The Bride of Sacrifice transmitted BBC1 6 June 1964
The Day of Darkness transmitted BBC1 13 June 1964
Note: until 1966 Doctor Who serials had no overall title, instead each episode had its own title.
Synopsis
The TARDIS materialises next to an Aztec mummy in a tomb. Despite being warned not to wander off Barbara does just that, opening a trap-door in a holy temple. On emerging she is witnessed and taken to be the god Yetaxa. The Doctor warns her that she cannot change history, but Barbara is determined to save the Aztec civilisation by masquerading as the god and forbidding human sacrifice. This immediately puts her in conflict with the High Priest Tlotoxl. She is aided by wise man Autloc, but the chief warrior Ixta, who sides with Tlotoxl, challenges Ian to a fight to the death. Unfortunately for our heroes, the trap-door only opens one way, but the Doctor learns there may be another secret entrance. Will our four survive the murderous threats against them and return to the TARDIS?
Review
This serial was the second historical story set in a specific historical and cultural setting (if we dismiss the cavemen story as supposition). This is something that can be researched by the audience, and it's interesting that the opening dialogue is a brief history lecture by Barbara to Susan. It was the first story ever to deal with not one but two differing factors, firstly the ability to change history or not, and secondly romantic entanglements for the crew. 
As Barbara says "what's the point of travelling in history if you can't change it?". The Doctor says you cannot change history, but his tone suggests that he means rather that one should not try. After all, with the futuristic stories The Daleks and The Keys of Marinus, the actions of the crew materially affected those societies. Future inhabitants of the planets Skaro and Marinus would argue that they did indeed change their history. So why should planet Earth, merely one of many inhabited Worlds in the Universe be so special? Since it would be another six years before we learned of the Time Lords, the question is moot. The Doctor doesn't answer this conundrum, he merely evades it. 
The second factor examined is the possibility of romance for our travellers. The Doctor becomes quite fond of Cameca, and makes the mistake of preparing a cup of cocoa from the cocoa leaves for her, not knowing that this is a declaration of betrothal. This cleverly demonstrates the dangers of cultural ignorance without being didactic, mainly because the Doctor's romance is mostly treated for comic affect. Obviously this was an experiment by producer Verity and script-editor Whitaker, testing the boundaries of what was potentially a very fluid concept for a TV show, and knowing it's best to do these early in the programme's life before it becomes an established tradition. It's interesting to note that the Doctor wouldn't wax romantically again for another thirty three years!
Susan's romantic dalliance is more problematic. Again born of cultural ignorance, she refuses the offer of marriage made by the Perfect Victim. Since he is to be sacrificed, in his last few days he is permitted the fulfilment of his every wish and cannot be refused. By so refusing him she puts herself at the mercy of Tlotoxl, who will donanything to discredit the false god of Barbara and her 'servants', and puts herself in mortal danger.
For the four episodes we have thus four threats to the travellers all intertwined. Firstly, the battle between superstition (that human sacrifice will bring the rains) and science (the rains are not dependent on such a thing) as represented by Tlotoxl and Barbara. Secondly, the battle between the two young men, Ian and Ixta, which descends into murderous revenge on Ixta's part and Ian's attempts merely not to killed. Thirdly, the fear of Susan's to be married off against her will, and being threatened with violent punishment if she refuses. And lastly, the attempts by the Doctor to find a secret entrance to the tomb, and those who would thwart him. I lost count of the number of times Ixta tries to kill Ian (aided by Tlotoxl and, in one instance, by the Doctor himself unwittingly) before their final battle on the temple steps above the city.
On the plus side we have a tightly written script by Lucarotti, well researched, which maintains a tension just about for its four episode length. The costumes by Daphne Dare are imaginative if not wholly accurate, as Aztec women were often topless, a no-no for British TV in 1963. The acting, on the whole, is good, with especial praise to Keith Pyott and Margot Van Der Burgh. Bennett's music (with long time collaborator conductor Marcus Dods) is sparse and effective, but lacks the memorable quality of their film soundtracks, whilst Newbery's set designs are on the whole exemplary (especially the garden). Meanwhile, the romantic interlude for the Doctor is a welcome added touch.
On the default side, we have an obvious backcloth for the cityscape (it has wrinkles in it!), and the slightly pantomime quality of John Ringham's chief villain Tlotoxl, with his Richard III hunched limp and Shakespearian asides, though to be fair to the actor, director Crockett told him to act the part as the villain all children would hate, and Lucarotti's normally good dialogue does get a bit cod-Shakespeare for this character. It doesn't help that the cameras used were so old they had no zoom facility, so the operators had to physically move the characters close in (once with a noticeable judder as it hits the furniture). 
All in all, a tense historical story with some interesting reflections and experiments, whose faults can be overlooked on the whole by all its positives, and for the final fatalist ending. Nothing is learned, nobody is saved, except perhaps one man Autloc, as the Doctor kindly reminds Barbara. Note: the reduced screen time for Susan is due to Carole having her two week holiday whilst the serial was filmed, and not intended as a slight by Lucarotti. If only the proceeding historicals would be so short, or tense.

TARDIS rating: 4/5
Credits
Dr. Who .................................................................................... WILLIAM HARTNELL
Ian Chesterton .......................................................................... WILLIAM RUSSELL
Barbara Wright ......................................................................... JACQUELINE HILL
Susan Foreman .......................................................................  CAROLE ANN FORD
Autloc ........................................................................................ KEITH PYOTT
Tlotoxl ....................................................................................... JOHN RINGHAM
Ixta ............................................................................................ IAN CULLEN
Cameca  ................................................................................... MARGOT VAN DER BURGH 
Perfect Victim ...........................................................................  ANDRE BOULAY
Tonila ........................................................................................ WALTER RANDALL
Aztec Captain ........................................................................... DAVID ANDERSON 

Title Music ........................... by RON GRAINER with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Incidental Music .................................................................. by RICHARD RODNEY BENNETT
Conductor ........................................................................... MARCUS DODS
Story Editor ......................................................................... DAVID WHITAKER
Fights Arranged .................................................................. by DAVID ANDERSON
                                                                                             DEREK WARE
Designer ............................................................................. BARRY NEWBERY
Costumes ........................................................................... by DAPHNE DARE
Make-up Supervisor ........................................................... by JILL SUMMERS
Associate Producer ............................................................ MERVYN PINFIELD
Producer ............................................................................. VERITY LAMBERT
Directed .............................................................................. by JOHN CROCKETT
<- The Keys of Marinus                                                                           The Sensorites ->

Comments