C01S06 The Aztecs
Synopsis
The TARDIS takes the Doctor and his companions back in time to Fifteenth Century Mexico, the centre of the Aztec civilisation. But when Barbara is mistaken for the reincarnation of the High Priest Yetaxa, the time travellers find themselves caught up in a vicious political power struggle which could cost them their lives...
Cover notes
The early days of Doctor Who saw the series revolve its storylines around two main genres - historical and futuristic stories. The futuristic concepts of the series became the dominant force in the show's storytelling arsenal, with the historical tales phased out of the format shortly after Patrick Troughton took over the role. The historical tales, while never unpopular with the programme's audience, did often score relatively low viewing figures for the time. But the general economies of scale that early Doctor Who had to contend with means that - nearly 40 years after it was made - The Aztecs stands up as a piece of TV drama far better than its 'futuristic' contemporaries. Whilst Doctor Who struggles to portray the far future on a tight budget, the BBC acquitted itself admirably with historical drama, and The Aztecs is drama of the highest order.
The Aztecs is a pitch-perfect example of a Doctor Who serial that completely fulfils the original intention of the series. The four-episode adventure is an educational trip into history for viewers and the only monsters found in the story are human.
This is the third trip into the past for the Doctor and his companions since the first episode. John Lucarotti had already written the popular historical story Marco Polo, so was chosen by the procudtion team to write another educational Doctor Who adventure. Lucarotti had spent some time living in Mexico and was fascinated by the Aztec culture. Using this as his inspiration, he set about writing his second Doctor Who story.
It's not every day one of the Doctor's companions gets mistaken for the reincarnation of a high priest, but luckily the Aztec period is one of the history teacher Barbara Wright's specialities, so she copes with it remarkably well. At least until she decides to educate the Aztec people and make them stop sacrificing humans. And this is where we see William Hartnell shine as the Doctor. "You can't rewrite history," he shouts. "Not one line."
Recreating 15th-century Mexico works brilliantly thanks to Barry Newbery's sets, and this is a story of love, death, cocoa, good intentions and a huge dilemma for the history teacher.
Cast
| The Doctor | William Hartnell | listed as Dr. Who |
| 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 | ep. 1 |
| Aztec captain | David Anderson | |
| Tonila | Walter Randall | ep. 2,3,4 |
| Perfect victim | Andre Boulay | ep. 2,3,4 |
Crew
| Written by | John Lucarotti | |
| Title music | Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop | |
| Incidental music | Richard Rodney Bennett | |
| Conductor | Marcus Dods | |
| Fights arranged by | David Anderson | ep. 4 |
| Fights arranged by | Derek Ware | ep. 4 |
| Costumes by | Daphne Dare | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Make-up supervisor | Jill Summers | listed final episode only; probably all |
| Story Editor | David Whitaker | |
| Designer | Barry Newbery | |
| Associate Producer | Mervyn Pinfield | |
| Producer | Verity Lambert | |
| Director | John Crockett |
DVD Extras
| William Russell Carole Ann Ford Verity Lambert |
commentary track | |
| Remembering The Aztecs | In a newly recorded exclusive documentary, actors John Ringham (Tlotoxl), Ian Cullen (Ixta) and Walter Randall (Tonila) discuss their memories of the making of this story | |
| Desgning The Aztecs | The designer of The Aztecs, Barry Newbery, looks back on his contribution to the story in this specially recorded interview | |
| Cortez and Montezuma [1970-09-21] | The history of the Aztecs, Montezuma and Cortez, as told by Valerie Singleton from an edition of Blue Peter | |
| Restoring The Aztecs | A look at the digital remastering process for this DVD, including VidFIRE which restores much of the original video appearance to archive film recordings, and has been used on all four episodes of this story | |
| episode 4 alternative soundtrack | Arabic soundtrack | Doctor Who was widely sold abroad in the 1960s - often dubbed into a foreign language. The final episode of this story is presented with an option to view it in Arabic |
| Making cocoa | Tlotoxl and Tonila show you how to make this special Aztec drink! | |
| TARDIS-Cam No. 3 | Another brand-new model sequence from BBCi's TARDIS-cam feature is incuded on this DVD | |
| photo gallery |
Special Edition DVD Extras
| Galaxy Four reconstruction | A reconstruction of the missing story Galaxy Four, using off-screen stills, audio recordings and animation plus the recently recovered complete episode three to tell the story | |
| Chronicle - The Realms of Gold | John Julius Norwich's 1969 retelling of the story of the Spanish conquest of Mexico and the Aztecs | |
| Doctor Forever! - Celestial Toyroom | The first of a five-part series looking at Doctor Who toys | |
| It's a Square World | A skit with the late Clive Dunn as a scientist demonstrating his new space rocket to Michael Bentine | |
| A Whole Scene Going | An excerpt from the 1960's music and arts programme, featuring an interview with director Gordon Flemyng and a behind-the-scenes look at filming of his film Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. | |
| Distributed by BBC TV Entrprises tag | (Easter egg) | |
| Radio Times listings |
Commentary
| serial code : | F |
| episode count : | 4 |
| initial broadcast date : | 1964-05-23 |
| DVD release date : | |
| DVD SE release date : | |
| BluRay release date : | |