Doctor Who Retro Review: Serial 006—The Aztecs
Doctor Who Retro Review
Serial 006: "Aztecs"
Starring: William Hartnell
By T. Scott Edwards
After the average The Keys of Marinus, another Terry Nation sci-fi, Doctor Who returns to form with another
glorious historical, once again penned by the magnificent John Lucarotti. The Aztecs is probably my favourite
Hartnell story in existence. Perfectly scripted again, and with wonderful
performances from everyone involved, it is troubling, educational, insightful
and moral all at once, dealing with the conventions of the Aztec people,
including worship of multiple gods in the hopes of appeasing each of them,
usually with human sacrifice.
As was introduced last episode, Barbara,
an history teacher, shows particular interest in this particular time period,
and revels in the fact that they have arrived pre-discovery by Cortez, and
therefore are able to appreciate this culturally advanced society, with regards
to art and architecture at least. Mistaken for a god at the beginning of the
first episode, she embraces this culture fully, before realising that she is
genuinely appalled at their ceremonies. Despite warnings from the Doctor, in
one of Hartnell's best scenes ever, that she should never change history, "not
one line!", she interrupts the sacrifice, shaming the offering into
committing suicide from the temple roof. What is refreshing here is that once
again the educational aspects of the show are not forced, but come from natural
sounding dialogue. Her desperation to make them see the error of their ways is
fraudulent – it is forcing a moral code onto people who are not concerned by
such things. This culture has tradition, and this element is most important. The
question which arises is whether Barbara has any right to interfere. Moreover,
as the Doctor warns, interfering in the course of history can only end badly.
The key question, of course, is whether
or not she is right to be doing it at all? In all of the sci-fi stories, the
TARDIS crew have stepped in and proactively brought about change; they taught
the Thals how to fight back again, defeating the Daleks; they destroyed the
Conscience machine in Arbitan's palace, wiping out the Voord along with it. But
in an historical story, that simply cannot be done. History is a straight line,
and it cannot be rewritten. No, "not one line" (Take heed, Moffat!) We
know that when Cortez arrived, the Aztecs were savage, despite all of the art
and culture of the time – they still killed people. Of course, many killed in
the name of their God at that time. It just depended on whether it was the
right God or not (see Pizarro's conquest of Atahuallpa for evidence). So whilst
they have actively changed the history of planets they have visited, the
history of the Earth must stay the same. What we see here is that, despite her
attempts to prevent the sacrifice, it leads to the 'victim's' mortification –
he was desperate to die, to prove himself worthy. These people do not want, or
need, saving from themselves. They aren't Thals being threatened with
extermination by the Daleks, or citizens of Marinus being threatened by
rapists, men in wetsuits and mind-control. Instead, they are committed to their
lifestyle and choices. Where Lucarotti shines, and where Nation, with his
one-dimension 'moral' stories fail miserably, is that these characters are so
rounded, so understandable, that we are on their side. The time travellers have
no right to try to divert history – not because of the threat it would pose to
history itself, but simply because these people do not want to change.
Barbara's fascination with the period
allows for a great deal of insight. Autloc, the High Priest of Knowledge,
represents all that is good about this Aztec civilisation. He is pure,
innocent, and genuine. Tlotoxl, the High Priest of Sacrifice ("the local
butcher", as the Doctor and Ian refer to him) is dark, nasty, malicious. However,
Tlotoxl is actually the more insightful of the two – it is he who sees through
the charade, and the cliff-hanger at the end of episode 1, where he threatens
to "destroy her" shows that he understands far more than the priest
of 'knowledge'. John Ringham's performance is outstanding – he brings elements
of Olivier portraying Richard III, shuffling and leering as he does, a knife
permanently in his hand. All of his dialogue with Barbara is delivered right up
close, into her face, as he towers over her, looming like a malevolent giant.
In episode 2, Hartnell is brilliant when
delivering another powerhouse rant from the Doctor about interference – which
is marvellous – but he suddenly changes tact completely and apologises for how
harsh he has been. We must remember that, until The Edge of Destruction, Hartnell's default position was angry. He
was constantly ranting. Following his apology in the third serial, he has
become more grandfatherly, less crotchety. This explosion of anger at the endangerment
of his group would have seemed out of place any earlier in the series –
Lucarotti never dared place a scene quite like this in Marco Polo, but it is a nice touch that shows that, serial by
serial, they are growing into a family unit, working together with all of their
might to get through.
Hartnell's brilliance continues in those
scenes which have him in the foreground – particularly in relation with Cameca,
and discussing her with Ian. His offhand comment "Yes, I made her some
cocoa and got engaged" in episode 3 is wonderfully delivered in deadpan,
and Ian's double take as he processes the news is fantastic. Again, everything
about this serial feels so natural, and so fresh.
The direction of this serial is near
flawless – John Crockett directed the fourth instalment of Marco Polo, and whilst that does not exist at all, we can safely
assume that he was truly in his element with the historical. The use of extras,
particularly in the amusing and touching scenes between the Doctor and Cameca,
are fantastic, particularly when Hartnell notices them all milling about behind
them. There is a touch of "Citizen Kane" in some of the shots – deep
focus photography framing the less significant characters between things in the
foreground, which speaks volumes of the hierarchical society of the Aztec
culture. The incidental music too is gorgeous – the tension mounts during fight
sequences as the drums are gradually layered into the sounds of flutes and
pipes. Richard Rodney Bennett's soundscape is evocative of a simpler time, and
melds beautifully with Lucarotti's script to create a magnificent sense of
scope.
Keith Pyott as Autloc is wonderful,
understated and heartbreaking. The scene in episode 3 where he beseeches
Barbara not to "deceive me, or prove false to me" is painful to
watch, as we know that she is doing just that – she is purposefully lying to
him, destroying his faith and forcing him to question all that he holds true. In
this story, more than any other, we see the crew of the TARDIS as meddlers, by
no means making things better for those involved. As the fourth episode comes
to a close, and the Doctor et al run for the TARDIS, everything has gone wrong.
They have done no good, whatsoever – despite the Doctor's claim that they
improved "one man, and that is enough". This simply does not ring
true; due to their interference, the only good and true person, Autloc, has
relegated himself to exile, where he almost certainly will not survive long. Tlotoxl
has won, and he makes his sacrifice. His new High Priest of Knowledge, Tonila,
is an obsequious wretch, oozing slime as he does exactly as Tlotoxl tells him. Nothing
has improved for the better. If anything, the crew have led the Aztecs into a
darker way of life, with even more focus upon sacrifice and blood-letting. Likewise,
the destruction of Cameca is horrific to watch – she realises that the Doctor
has no interest in her as she does him, yet she is still willing to risk her
life for him. The scene in which she attempts to bribe the guard with the seal
is wonderful, but what akes it so special and so poignant, is that after Ian
knocks her out, she still leaves the seal in his unconscious hands. He has
earned it, regardless of his willingness to help their cause.
Scott Edwards is a teacher of English and Theatre Studies at Barnard Castle School in the North East of England, with a BAHons in English Literature and Film Studies. He is also a self-professed ‘ming-mong,' and in addition to http://timelordapprentice.blogspot.co.uk/ he also runs http://www.facebook.com/Classic.Doctor.Who. You can also follow him on Twitter: @TimelordTSE.
Labels: Doctor Who, Guest Blog, review, T. Scott Edwards
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