The Aztecs (TV story)

The Aztecs was the sixth story of Season 1 of Doctor Who. It was the first story to address the issue of altering the course of history.

Synopsis
The arrival of the TARDIS in 15th century Mexico leads the crew to encounter the doomed Aztec people, a mixture of high culture and brutal savagery side by side; and matters are further complicated when Barbara is mistaken for a god and the Doctor becomes engaged to be married...

The Temple of Evil (1)
The TARDIS crew arrive in Mexico in the Fifteenth Century in the inner sanctum of an Aztec tomb. Barbara and Susan leave the TARDIS first and begin to explore the tomb. Barbara, whose specialist knowledge is on the Aztecs, finds a bracelet on the floor and absent-mindedly puts it on. Susan finds a door in the wall and Barbara goes through it. Susan goes back to the Tardis for the others. Susan is met by a man who fetches warriors, thinking she is a trespasser. When the warriors come for her however, he sees the bracelet on Barbara's wrist and his opinion changes. When the Doctor and Ian go through the trap door, they find Barbara gone. Even more concerning, the door closes behind them and refuses to open. The Doctor states that it would have been built to allow the Gods out but no one in. Soon the man that accosted Barbara returns and introduces himself as Autloc, the High Priest of knowledge, and says that Yetaxa seeks an audience with them. The travellers go to meet this deity. On their way they are introduced to High Priest Tlotoxl, a gruesome figure who is the priest of sacrifices. When the travellers are taken to Yetaxa they are surprised to see that it is Barbara. Once they are alone, she explains that as she was wearing Yetaxa's bracelet when she was captured, the Aztecs believe her to be a reincarnation of the deceased High Priest, and therefore a god. She demands to the Aztecs that The Doctor and Ian be given free run of the civilisation. Although they agree, Tlotoxl has other ideas of his own. He convinces Autloc that Ian should be the leader of their army, something that Ian begrudingly agrees to so as not to rouse suspicion. While Ian goes to meet Ixta, a competitor for commanding the army, the Doctor is taken to The Garden of Peace. Here he meets Cameca, a local sage and philosopher, of whom he becomes quickly very fond. However, this does not stop him from smooth-talking her into a meeting with the son of the designer of the temple in order to find a way of retrieving his TARDIS from the centre of the tomb. Ian meets up with The Doctor again and states that in order to prove himself to Autloc and Ixta he needs to hold down a sacrifice to the god of rain in order to put an end to a drought. Ian is reluctant but The Doctor says that he has to do this in order to not blow their cover. The Doctor goes to Barbara to inform her of this and Barbara outright refuses to allow this to happen. She states that if she stops human sacrifices the Aztecs will not become extinct and will live on as a better civilisation. The Doctor outright refuses to let her do this, telling her that she cannot change history. Barbara remains head strong. Just as the sacrifice takes place Barbara puts a stop to it. Both Ixta and the sacrifice are outraged. The sacrifice, furious that he has not had the chance to prove himself, throws himself from the top of the tomb. The rains soon come. Triumphant, Tlotoxl says that this proves that sacrifices are necessary. Barbara denies this, and says that sacrifices shall no longer be practiced. This infuriates Tlotoxl who vows that he will unmask Barbara as the fraud that she is.

The Warriors of Death (2)
The Doctor berates Barbara for allowing Tlotoxl to suspect that she is not the real God. However he soon brightens up when he recounts to her his encounter with Cameca and the possibility that he could learn more about the construction of the tomb. Meanwhile Ian and Ixta are practicing for their showdown. Ian gets short-tempered by Ixta's boasting and states that he could kill Ixta with just his thumb. He soon proves this by applying his thumb to a pressure point at the back of Ixta's neck that renders him unconcious. Tlotoxl enters to this sight and is shocked to see that ian is gaining the upper hand over his more favoured Commander. Autloc states that as Ian as disarmed Ixta that he is the rightful Commander of the Aztec army. Desperate to think of a way of not letting this happen Tlotoxl convinces the next human sacrifice (whose last days are spent in total control fo those around them) to order that another more equal contest is held. This is obviously agreed on. Tlotoxl offers Ixta untold riches if Ian is killed in their battle.

Meanwhile in The Garden of Peace, The Doctor and Cameca share stories and flirt. He manages to convince Cameca that he should meet the son of the designer of the tomb by saying that he is only called The Doctor because he is "a scientist, an engineer. I'm a builder of things." When Cameca leaves to ask the son it is clear to see that The Doctor is smitten by her. Tlotoxl goes to visit Barbara and warns her that he is begining to get more people to believe that she is not the real Yetaxa and that Autloc is going to question her later and until then she is confined to the tomb. As way of teasing her he tells her of the fight that is to take place between Ian and Ixta. Something that clearly distresses her.

Ixta himself is elsewhere in the city practicing for his fight. Cameca comes to visit him and tells him that the "Older Servant of Yetaxa" wishesto see him. realising that The Doctor doesn't know his name or his rivallry with Ian he will meet him and try to destroy the travellers from the inside. All this time Susan has been recieving tutorship from Autloc on how to be a good wife, whilst succesful in some ways she is struggling to keep up with some of the more antiquated views of a woman's role in society.

Ixta goes to The Garden of Peace to meet The Doctor. He states that he would love to help The Doctor by showing hims some drawings that his father made of the tomb however he is in a fight that evening in which he must do well. He asks The Doctor whether he has any ideas as to ways that he could get the upper hand on his opponent. The Doctor goes to a plant that he has been studying and draws a pin through it. presenting it to Ixta he states that one scratch from this needle will render his opponent weak and unable to fight anywhere near his true capability. Ixta accepts this gratefully and says that he will meet The Doctor there the following day. At the tomb Autloc is questioning Barbara on why she deemed it so important to stop the sacrifice. She states that she prophecies the downfall of the Aztec civilisation with such barbaric actsof buchery. This clearly effects Autloc. Later The Dotor goes to visit Barbara, who immediatly tells him that he should not be there as she is supposedto be in isolation whilst she is being questioned. However The Doctor hasenoughtime to recount his encounter with Ixta, only for his pride to be spoilt by Barbara who informs him thatIan is the very adversary that The Doctor has aided Ixta to beat. As The Doctor leaves the tomb he is arrested by Tlotoxl for talking to Barbara. Barbara demands that the fight between Ian and Itaxa will not go ahead however Tlotoxl demands that this is something that cannot be quibbled on.

The fight between Ian and Itaxa begins and Ian is clearly in charge up until the point where Itaxa scratches him with the needle. As he begins to flag, Itaxa begins to strangle Ian. Tlotoxl bays for Ian's death whilst Autloc states that Yetaxa forbids human sacrifice. Barbara tries to break up the fight.Tlotoxl says she should not have left the tomb but then states that if she is truly yetaxa she would be able to break up the fight herself. An unsure Barbara begins to approach the pair of men.

Cast

 * The Doctor - 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
 * First Victim - Tom Booth
 * Aztec Captain - David Anderson
 * Tonila - Walter Randall
 * Perfect Victim - André Boulay
 * Aztec Warriors (all uncredited) - Brian Baker, John Beavis, James Duval, James Fitzgerald, Andrew Jacks, Alan Viccars
 * Aztec Citizens (all uncredited) - Eileen Brady, Lionel Gadsen, Alicepuss Greenwood, John Whore, Bill Raynor, Stella Wilkinson
 * Double for Ian (uncredited) - David Anderson
 * Double for Ixta (uncredited) - Billy Cornelius

Crew

 * Writer - John Lucarotti
 * Director - John Crockett
 * Producer - Verity Lambert
 * Script Editor - David Whitaker
 * Designer - Barry Newbury
 * Assistant Floor Manager - Ken Howard
 * Associate Producer - Mervyn Pinfield
 * Costumes - Daphne Dare, Tony Pearce
 * Fight Arranger - David Anderson
 * Fight Arranger - Derek Ware
 * Incidental Music - Richard Rodney Bennett
 * Incidental Music Conductor - Marcus Dods
 * Make-Up - Jill Summers
 * Production Assistant - Ron Craddock
 * Special Sound - Brian Hodgson
 * Studio Lighting - Howard King
 * Studio Sound - Jack Brummitt
 * Studio Sound - John Staple
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer

Story notes

 * All episodes exist in 16mm telerecordings.
 * David Anderson (Aztec Captain) is credited as Warrior Captain in Radio Times for The Temple of Evil. As fight arranger, Anderson is billed on-screen for The Day of Darkness only, but also arranged fights on The Warriors of Death, and is credited in Radio Times for both episodes.
 * Negative film prints of all episodes were recovered from BBC Enterprises in 1978.
 * John Lucarotti spent a lot of time researching the real Aztecs before writing this story.
 * Carole Ann Ford was on holiday during the filming of episodes 2 and 3 and appeared only in pre-taped film sequences which were shot during rehearsals for episode 5 of the preceding story, The Keys of Marinus.
 * The credits at the end of episode 3 had to be re-filmed as they were not acceptable for broadcast.
 * This is one of the stories selected to be shown as part of BSB's Doctor Who Weekend in September 1990.

Ratings

 * The Temple of Evil - 7.4 million viewers
 * The Warriors of Death - 7.4 million viewers
 * The Bride of Sacrifice - 7.9 million viewers
 * The Day of Darkness - 7.4 million viewers

Myths

 * The costumes used by the Aztecs covered more of their body than was the case in reality so as not to offend 1960s standards of decency (The costumes used had been researched before filming and were accurate reflections of those worn by the real Aztecs. It can be cold in Mexico!).

Filming locations

 * Ealing Television Film Studios
 * Lime Grove Studios (Studio D)

Production errors

 * During the fight sequences in episode 4 it is clear that doubles are being used for William Russell and Ian Cullen.
 * There was apparently no consensus as to the pronunciation of Tlotoxl's name given the varied pronunciations given by various cast members.

Continuity

 * One of the few examples of The Doctor being involved in a romantic relationship. Other examples include BFA: Loups-Garoux, BFA: The One Doctor, DW: Doctor Who, ST: The Queen of Eros, EDA: Casualties of War, Sam Jones especially in EDA: Seeing I, DW: Human Nature/The Family of Blood and DW: The Parting of the Ways.
 * The Doctor tells Barbara "You can't rewrite history! Not one line!" Although the nature of Time and its laws has never been fully explained, numerous later episodes would further explore them, showing that some fixed points of time are absolute, and others are indeed changeable. The Time Lords (including the Doctor) give clear indication of their position that they and they alone understand how to properly "rewrite history".
 * In NA: Timewyrm: Exodus it is suggested that only Time Lords or other very powerful individuals can change the course of history.
 * By contrast, EDA: Interference - Book Two suggests that any individual can change the course of history, including the Doctor, but he has chosen not to do so. In Interference, he actually influences events to allow Sam to change the course of history.

Timeline

 * This story occurs after DW: The Keys of Marinus
 * This story occurs before ST: The Mother Road

DVD releases
Released as Doctor Who: The Aztecs.

Released:
 * Region 2 21st October 2002


 * PAL Region 2 - BBCDVD1099


 * Region 4 2nd December 2002
 * Region 1 3rd March 2003


 * NTSC - Warner Video E1719

Contents:
 * Remembering The Aztecs - Interviews with John Ringham, Walter Randall, and Ian Cullen.
 * Designing The Aztecs - An interview with set designer Barry Newbery.
 * Restoring The Aztecs - A look at the digital remastering process for the DVD.
 * Blue Peter - The Story of Cortez and Montezuma (UK tx: 21st September 1970).
 * Making Cocoa - An animated guide to making cocoa the Aztec way.
 * Arabic soundtrack - The final episode includes an option to view it in Arabic.
 * TARDIS-Cam #3
 * Photo Gallery
 * Production Note Subtitles
 * Easter Egg (BBC Enterprises Globe)
 * Commentary: Verity Lambert, William Russell, and Carol Ann Ford

Rear Credits:
 * Starring William Hartnell with William Russell, Jacqueline Hill and Carole Ann Ford
 * Written by John Lucarotti
 * Produced by Verity Lambert
 * Directed by John Crockett
 * Incidental Music by Richard Rodney Bennett

Notes:
 * Editing for DVD release completed by Doctor Who Restoration Team.

VHS releases
Released as Doctor Who: The Aztecs. This was originally going to be a Woolworths exclusive release, but at the last minute the company decided on a colour release instead (The Twin Dilemma).

Released:
 * UK November 1992


 * PAL - BBC Video BBCV4743


 * US May 1994


 * NTSC - CBS/FOX Video 8100
 * NTSC - Warner Video E1257

Notes: The 'Next Episode' caption has been removed from Episode 4.

Novelisation and its audiobook

 * Main article: The Aztecs (novelisation)


 * This story was published as Doctor Who: The Aztecs, published by Target Books in September of 1984, ISBN 0-426-19588-4. The story was written by John Lucarotti, based on his script. It was number 88 in the series of 156 Doctor Who novels published by Target.
 * No audiobook of the novelisation has yet been released as of 2010.