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| Barbara makes an enemy of an Aztec priest. |
4 episodes: Temple of Evil, Warriors of Death, The Bride of Sacrifice, The Day of Darkness. Approx. 98 minutes. Written by: John Lucarotti. Directed by: John Crockett. Produced by: Verity Lambert.
THE PLOT
The TARDIS materializes inside an Aztec temple, the tomb of an Axtec high priest. When she discovers a secret door to the outside of the Aztec temple, Barbara - who was always particularly fascinated by Aztec civilization - can't help herself from going through it. She is quickly discovered by Autloc (Keith Pyott), the High Priest of Knowledge. When he sees jewelry from the crypt on her arm, Autloc decides she must be the reincarnation of the high priest: A goddess, come among the Aztec people to herald an end to an extended drought.
Barbara embraces her role as the reincarnated Yetaxa, and the Doctor seizes on the opportunity to find information to get them back into the seemingly sealed temple, back to the TARDIS. But when Barbara attempts to order a halt to the Aztec ritual of human sacrifice, she makes an enemy of Ttoxyl (John Ringham), the High Priest of Sacrifice. Ttoxyl is determined to expose her as "a false goddess." He will ue any tool at his disposal, including manipulating the fears and pride of those around him, to discredit Barbara and to destroy her companions!
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: Much has been said and written about the Doctor's relationship with Cameca (Margot Van Der Burgh), and it is a well-realized relationship. We gradually see the Doctor go from using her to feeling real empathy for her, and he has some evident regret at their parting. But it's also interesting to compare the Doctor with Ttoxyl, the villain of the piece. Both men use and manipulate those around them to achieve their own ends. What separates the two is that the Doctor does show empathy, both with Cameca and with Barbara, while Ttoxyl has none.
Ian: So Ian's a science teacher, right? Even assuming some extracurricular coaching and some military service, one would hardly expect a high school science teacher to be an expert in martial arts and pressure points. This is fueled by the script's necessity to have Ian be able to outfight the highly-trained Ixta (Ian Cullen) in hand-to-hand combat, but it doesn't really fit with Ian's established background. It doesn't impair my enjoyment of the story, or impact the story's final score, but it does make Ian less a character than a plot device carrying an "Action Hero" label. William Russell is as good as ever, though, and a scene in Episode Three, in which Ian bluntly confronts Barbara with the hopelessness of her efforts, is extremely effective.
Barbara: Though she's already had some excellent material, notably in The Edge of Destruction and in Episodes 2 and 6 of The Keys of Marinus, this is the first time Jacqueline Hill is really tasked with carrying a story. It's no surprise that she's easily up to the challenge. Hill gives Barbara an effectively haughty bearing when acting as Yetaxa, particularly in scenes opposite John Ringham. Then, when she is alone or in quick moments facing away from Ttoxyl's hawk-like gaze, we see the fear and exhaustion on her face. Episode 2 sees Barbara realizing how precarious her decision to try to stop sacrifices has made the time travelers' position. By the end of Episode 3, she finally recognizes that she cannot win here. The best she can hope for is to escape alive.
Susan: Continuing with The Keys of Marinus' reduction of her character to uselessness. It's largely a mercy that her screen time in the middle two episodes is limited to pre-filmed inserts. She adopts the mantle of "damsel-in-distress," tricked through Ttoxyl's machinations into refusing a marriage proposal by The Perfect Victim (Andre Boulay) and then threatened with severe punishment to expose Barbara. Dare I suggest Susan could have accepted, then found a way to escape before the ceremony? But that would have required more presence of mind than she has typically demonstrated.
THOUGHTS
Though I found The Keys of Marinus a solid entertainment, the difference in quality between that story and this one is so staggering, you'd scarce credit the two belonged to the same series. The script is by John Lucarotti, who penned the epic Marco Polo just two stories earlier. He's working on a smaller scale here: four episodes instead of seven, a single setting instead of a sprawling travelogue. But the same sensibility exists, an intelligent, finely-detailed drama in which the TARDIS crew finds itself at the center of multiple strong personalities and their agendas.
I think I'd still give the overall edge to Marco Polo, which had slightly sharper dialogue and a real sense of scope. Still, The Aztecs is in many respects an even stronger script. While Marco Polo had wonderful character interactions, its actual story was very thin, principally a clothesline on which to string character scenes and set pieces. The Aztecs has a very tight, meticulously-structured story. There are no wasted moments. Every scene moves the plot along, and every episode puts the four regulars in a slightly worse position - like a vise or a noose, slowly tightening around them.
As is usually the case with the historicals, the production is well above the series' average for this period in the show's history. Both temple and city are cleverly created in the background through use of effective backcloths, and the black-and-white disguises joins and flaws in a way that color would never quite manage. It's not seamless, but it does its job of recreating the setting to such an extent that viewers won't have barriers between them and the drama.
If I have any complaint, it would be that Episode 4 feels a bit rushed. It still entertains, but it doesn't completely draw me in the way the first three episodes do. John Crockett's direction, while competent, is less dynamic than might have been wished for, though the strength of the script and performances more than makes up for it.
An excellent serial overall, one of the Hartnell era's highlights.
Rating: 9/10.
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