The Aztecs

The Temple of Evil

Ah, John Lucarotti returns and suddenly here again we have three dimensional characters. I try not to gush too much, but he really is terrific, and so much better than Terry Nation. Though I like Nation, and think he does receive unfair criticism, it is true that he just is not a first class writer. It's interesting that this is the sixth story and we've had two from Lucarotti and two from Nation, and the writer of the first, Anthony Coburn, will never return. The writer of the next story, the Sensorites, would never return either, and the only remaining writers in the first season are the script editors of the first two seasons, David Whitaker and Dennis Spooner. Okay, maybe it's not that fascinating, but it's something to ponder.

One genuinely interesting thing, if you'll excuse my obsession with individual episode titles, is that after seven very nice titles in Marco Polo, with only a couple following "the something of something" format, all four here are quite disappointing. I guess you could forgive him this one, as it's the first "something of Evil" title ever seen in Doctor Who, but the Warriors of Death in the next episode is unforgivable. What happened?

I have a feeling that the Aztecs was the first Hartnell story I ever saw. I had a small group of Doctor Who videos when I was young and it was the only Hartnell story I had. Therefore I watched it rather a lot, and absolutely loved it. I haven't seen it in ages, though, so it's quite an exciting stage of the marathon to reach. 

 

Anyway, this is terrific right from the start. Barbara's history lesson is fun, if a little basic, but it's great to see her so excitable, and playing up to the role of Yetaxa so much, to the point where she starts believing her own words. The Doctor plays up to his role rather nicely, too. Very little can be said about the scenes between her and the Doctor which hasn't been said already, but it is certainly true that Hartnell and Hill are extremely watchable. They're great moments between them.

As I mentioned earlier, since it's John Lucarotti, the characters are suddenly so much better. Tlotoxl and Ixta aren't quite as well developed as Tegana, but they're not out and out "baddies", they do have some depth, and Ixta in particular is quite well explored, particularly later on. Some people aren't so keen on John Ringham's theatrical performance, but I think it works well for his character. It somehow works to make him even creepier. And here, pre-dating Tom Baker by well over a decade, he speaks directly to the camera as he calls Barbara a false goddess.

It's a terrific start to a story. It plunges the regulars into the drama rapidly, and it is compelling stuff, not just the changing history debate, but every aspect. Ian and Ixta's rivalry, the Doctor's little romance, it's all wonderful. It's all summed up perfectly with the lovely bit where Autloc tells the Doctor that everybody who reaches 52 gets to live the rest of their lives in the calm of the Garden of Peace, and he replies, "poor old souls, they must be bored to tears doing nothing". Terrific. 10/10.

 

The Warriors of Death

The scene at the start here with the Doctor and Barbara is just as good as the ones in the Temple of Evil. He's angry at her, but as soon as she breaks down and apologises, he apologises for being too harsh with her, and gives her a little cuddle. It's a lovely moment, particularly when Barbara then calls him an old rogue for forming a relationship with Cameca.

Carole Ann Ford is on holiday here, so Susan only gets one pre-filmed scene, and yet she still manages to be stupid. The Doctor clearly wants her just to play along and learn their rules, and yet when she's told Aztec women don't get to choose their husbands, she has a hissy fit and says, "I'm not going to be told who to marry!" Yes, Susan, the Doctor isn't planning to stay here, you know? Why not just nod and agree rather than risk annoying them? This being a Lucarotti script, just watch as that idiocy comes back to bite her.

This episode is mostly about Ian and Ixta's rivalry, though, and whilst it is well played, it is less interesting than the events of the previous episode, particularly the long fight between them at the end, which does drag a bit, although it is well done. Ian is a bit daft, really. Not only does he quickly give away how he can "beat" Ixta with just his thumb, he does it in such a mocking way he just annoys his opponent even more. Considering Ian must know that Ixta wants him dead, that just seems daft. "I won't kill you. Not this time, anyway", Ian says. Fool! And giving Ixta the idea to use "tactics" is silly, too. It is convenient Ixta is the son of the builder of the temple, but it is quite a good plot point that he uses the Doctor against Ian. The Doctor is having so much fun manipulating things in the background to get the plans for the temple that he doesn't stop to think what he's actually meddling with.

It's a much less eventful episode than the last, but it is still intriguing with all the manoeuvring going on. Richard Rodney Bennett's incidental music is pretty good too. My only real complaint apart from the length of the fight is Andre Boulay, the perfect victim. His acting is atrociously bad. Other than that it's great, and ends with a superb cliffhanger as Barbara walks in as Ixta is about to defeat Ian, and Tlotoxl tells her, "if you are Yetaxa, save him!" 8/10.

 

The Bride of Sacrifice

This really is brilliant. Barbara is back at the forefront after the Ian/Ixta plot took centre stage in the last episode. I love how she threatens to kill Tlotoxl if Ixta kills Ian. "Why should I use divine power when human force will suffice?" she asks, not unreasonably. It's really touching how Autloc begs her not to deceive him. Jacqueline Hill plays Barbara's guilt really well, particularly during her argument with Ian about who is really representative of the Aztecs, Autloc or Tlotoxl. Obviously both are stereotyping the whole race, but it's nice to see their differing perspectives. Particularly Ian calling Autloc "the reasonable one", which is essentially code for "the gullible one". Her scenes with Tlotoxl are great too. He tries to poison her and fails miserably. He then points out that Yetaxa is immortal and could not have died, and Barbara replies, "but I would have died". Once again, Hill plays it perfectly, not as somebody coming clean so much as somebody tired of the whole mess she's created. She knows that she has Tlotoxl beaten, for now, and confessing to him is not a dangerous move.

The scene where Ixta says that now he's beaten Ian they can be friends is worth it simply for the bit where Tlotoxl walks in in an animated fashion and Ian exclaims, "don't tell me you're my friend now, too!" It's spot on comic timing from William Russell. Hartnell, obviously, reacts brilliantly to news that he's proposed to Cameca, but there's also a great scene between Ian and the Doctor. "Yes, I made some cocoa and got engaged". All of this storm about the "feeling" Doctor of the new series and yet here he is in the very first season all the way back in 1964 getting engaged! Before anybody says anything, no it's not different. Aside from anything else, as much as he may be using Cameca, he clearly genuinely cares for her, as that last scene in the next episode where he takes the brooch clearly indicates (if you hadn't worked it out/had blocked it out from Hartnell's acting, anyway).

Oh look, Susan's idiocy comes back to bite her. What did I say? Her outburst in the previous episode gives Tlotoxol the basis for his plan to make her reject their laws. If she'd kept her big trap shut she'd have avoided all of that. Speaking of plans, Ixta says that he made up the story of his having plans of the temple to get the Doctor to help him. I could have sworn it was Cameca who first mentioned those plans?

It's right back on track here. Once again, it's thrilling, utterly captivating, and I absolutely love it. 10/10.

 

Day of Darkness

So Ixta regards trapping Ian in a tunnel and letting him drown as a "victory"? What a wimp. It's a fairly bizarre opening as we watch Ian wandering about in the tunnels, and then standing in a room for a bit, and then it suddenly jumps to life again. The Doctor is so happy to see Ian alive, it's wonderful. This is the same Doctor who was prepared to abandon a radiation-sick Ian on Skaro just a few months ago! It's actually quite funny that he's that happy to see Ian, and yet when he sees Susan for the first time since the first episode, he merely says, "I'll tell you how glad I am to see you later". That's such a bizarre line!

I love the scene where Ixta is bragging to Susan about how Ian is dead, and Ian comes up from behind, says, "good commanders don't jump to conclusions Ixta," and then thwacks him! Was that really necessary, Ian? There's quite a bit of thwacking here, what with that and Ixta hitting Autloc whilst pretending to be Ian. Autloc's faith is shaken rather easily, isn't it? As Barbara points out, "of all people, Autloc, why would I hurt you?" His fate really is rather sad. This quite sensitive, honest man is the one who loses most in this story (though Ixta may disagree, since he dies). 

The fight between Ian and Ixta is pretty poor, actually. It pales into comparison with the one they had earlier, which I shouldn't have criticised, really. So instead I'll talk about Cameca, who is so sweet here, helping Susan and Ian escape and remaining strong in spite of the Doctor abandoning her. There's no Tyler-esque clinginess and selfishness with her, just a calm, sad acceptance, and a cutting "think of me. Think of me" as she leaves.

So, the good guys lose. Or they do depending on how you define it. They survived a potentially deadly ordeal, which isn't such a bad thing, I'd have thought? It is a rare moment though for the main villain of the piece to be even more powerful at the end than he was at the beginning. Again, Hartnell and Hill are superb here at the end, with the Doctor trying hard to make Barbara feel better, yet failing in that task too. Sadly that fight and the bizarre cliffhanger resolution mean I can't quite give top marks for this episode. 9/10.

Conclusion

It's really rather depressing that I will only be experiencing one more Lucarotti story. His scripts are full of energy, incident, education and superb dialogue and characterisation. His two stories are the highlights of the first season. Jacqueline Hill really does deserve the praise she receives for this story. She has been very good in the previous five stories, but she really catches fire here. She has so many superb moments, with Hartnell, with Russell, with Ringham. Hartnell is also in very good form, continuing right where he left off from the end of the Keys of Marinus. I'm sure everybody is bored of my Lucarotti-gushing by now, but I must finish by saying that this is the second top-class Doctor Who story, and both were delivered by him.

Average Rating: 9.25

Old Rating: 9/10

New Rating: 9/10