Doctor Who - The Aztecs (DVD)

...Historical adventure starring the first Doctor (William Hartnell) and his companions Ian, Barbara and Susan. Join me in three paragraphs time if you don’t want to know!

The Doctor and his companions find themselves materialising in fifteenth century Mexico, the centre of the Aztec civilisation, in an Aztec tomb. Barbara is mistaken for the reincarnation of the High Priest Yetaxa (because she is found in his tomb) after she wanders ...
...avoid arranged marriage and the Doctor must find a way to get them all back into the TARDIS alive (as well as fending off his own impending wedding!).


It all ends in the Doctor making a pulley system and reopening the tomb. The time travellers are able to get into the tomb, get into the TARDIS and get away. Barbara has learned a valuable lesson ~ you can’t change history!

It is a really unusual story that makes ... more

I suddenly realised I’d had this DVD for AGES and still not got round to finishing my review of it. Before I tell you about this one I need to give you a little plot overview of this Historical adventure starring the first Doctor (William Hartnell) and his companions Ian, Barbara and Susan. Join me in three paragraphs time if you don’t want to know!

The Doctor and his companions find themselves materialising in fifteenth century Mexico, the centre of the Aztec civilisation, in an Aztec tomb. Barbara is mistaken for the reincarnation of the High Priest Yetaxa (because she is found in his tomb) after she wanders out of the TARDIS and gets locked outside. The time travellers get into a dangerous situation when Barbara tries to use her knowledge of history (she was a history teacher back on earth) to change the whole basis of the Aztec civilisation ~ she wants to end the practice of human sacrifice!

They end up in a fight for their lives when the High Priest of Sacrifice (Tlotoxl) aims to unmask Barbara and make sure that the others don’t live to tell the tale. Ian must fight the Perfect Victim (a chosen man intended for sacrifice), Susan must try to avoid arranged marriage and the Doctor must find a way to get them all back into the TARDIS alive (as well as fending off his own impending wedding!).

It all ends in the Doctor making a pulley system and reopening the tomb. The time travellers are able to get into the tomb, get into the TARDIS and get away. Barbara has learned a valuable lesson ~ you can’t change history!

It is a really unusual story that makes full use of the BBC costume department. It is more of a historical drama than a science fiction story ~ the black and white makes it atmospheric and it really is a bit chilling and mysterious. The Aztecs was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 23rd May - 13th June 1964 and is a great chance to see a remastered classic Dr Who historical adventure ~ something they seemed to do so well at the BBC.
So…a thumbs up for the story: what about the DVD?

~~~SPECIAL FEATURES.

@@COMMENTARY@@

This time the commentary is by Verity Lambert, William Russell, Carole Ann Ford. Verity Lambert was the Producer on the series and William and Carole Ann play Ian Chesterton and Susan Foreman ~ two of the Doctor’s companions during the story. I did find what they had to say quite interesting because I don’t know as much about this era of the show as some of the more recent incarnations. I did, however, find I got bored after a while ~ mainly because Carole Ann Ford wasn’t in most of the episodes (due to a holiday from the show) and her contribution was a bit limited. Verity and William are better, but because this was made so long ago, they have forgotten much of what has happened and make a few comment s here and there (often along the lines of “Oh, yes…I remember when we did that bit”). Not the best commentary I’d heard!

@@DOCUMENTARIES@@

**REMEMBERING THE AZTECS**

This an interesting documentary featuring John Ringham, Walter Randall and Ian Cullen ~ The actors who play Tlotoxl, Tonila and Ixta respectively. I liked listening to their stories and about what they enjoyed about working on this programme ~ funny stories come out about slipping wigs, etc. This lasts for 28 minutes, so it’s a good length documentary with quite a lot of info. It’s also nice to see that some of the original cast are still with us ~ this was put together from recent interviews.

**DESIGNING THE AZTECS**

This really exactly what it sounds like ~ a documentary with the set designer, Barry Newbery. I actually found this extremely interesting because he talks about how difficult it was to produce a realistic picture of Aztec life. We learn about the restrictions in terms of budget, technology and time that were placed on him. To say when it was made it is a great achievement ~ set painting and costumes are well worthy of a costume drama with a much larger expense account! This lasts for 25 minutes, so is also a lengthy piece ~ I would recommend that you watch these documentaries at a separate sitting to the actual main feature because otherwise you could start to get a bit of information overload!

**THE STORY OF CORTEZ AND MONTEZUMA**

This was a documentary that was originally produced for Blue Peter in September 1970. It was aimed at a younger audience than me, so a lot of it was information I already knew (I studied this period in my history course). For anyone who isn’t familiar with Aztec history I would recommend that you watch this first. It gives you a good background to the story and will help you understand the significance of some of the dialogue. It’s presented by good old Valerie Singleton too so it’s got to be worth a look!

**RESTORING THE AZTECS**

Although this bit only lasts for around 8 minutes I found this to be the most interesting documentary of the lot. It tells how the original (slightly shabby and crackly) television programme has been transformed into a clean and crisp DVD. What we now have is four episodes that have been cleaned up and restored using a process called VidFIRE ~ a process developed by the Doctor Who Restoration Team's Peter Finklestone to restore the 'video look' to film recordings. It is a fascinating look at how long it takes to make the programme suitable for the DVD format, how the digitising process works and how difficult it is sometimes to produce the finished result.

***MAKING COCOA THE AZTEC WAY**

I don’t really want to give too much away for this one ~ suffice it to say that it is an animated look at how the Aztecs made cocoa. Watchable, but not something you would view more than once.

@@PHOTO GALLERY@@

I found this more interesting than I often do, because some of the pictures were old ones that I hadn’t seen before. There are some nice photos of the cast and a few behind the scenes views too.

@@INFORMATION SUB-TITLES@@

I always love to learn more about the actors, the viewing figures and the actual production of the series, so this is always one of my favourite special features. I was not disappointed this time either! I always make sure we have these on-screen notes switched on so I can learn as I watch. I find the little snippets of information useful and informative ~ I know when, how and why things were filmed, what the actors have done before or since and other interesting insights into filming. Well done to Richard Molesworth of the Restoration Team for researching and writing this for us to enjoy!

@@TARDIS-CAM NUMBER 3@@

This is a regular feature in the recent Dr Who DVDs and is produced in conjunction with the BBCi web-site. Each one shows the TARDIS in an unlikely location. I don’t really look at this feature, but it does give the DVD an interactive link with the internet.

@@ARABIC SOUNDTRACK@@

This gives you the chance to hear some alternative incidental music and the Arabic soundtrack on episode four of the story (called The Day of Darkness). I didn’t find this really added anything to the story for me, but it was nice to see all the same. Another feature that you may view once, but then never look at (or listen too) again!

@@RANDOMISED INTRODUCTION MESSAGES@@

This rather grand sounding feature actually just provides you with six different introduction voiceovers, provided by either Tlotoxl, Tonila or Ixta. A nice little touch!

@@EASTER EGGS@@

There are three Easter Eggs (bonus extras) included on this disc as far as I know. I won’t give them away, but they can be found by randomly pressing keys and highlighting things on the DVD menus. If you do need a hand let me know!

I think that more or less covers the extras (you do get the usual animated graphical menus of course). Once again the BBC (along with the excellent Dr Who Restoration Team) has produced an excellent and collectable DVD. It is worth any Dr Who fan buying this for the extras alone and then you get to watch a great piece of television too! If you forgive the sometimes wobbly and obviously painted backgrounds you will really enjoy the whole viewing experience ~ what do you expect for 1964?

The Aztecs DVD is available through all usual stockists (Blackstar, Amazon, MVC, etc) and prices vary. Mine was £16.99 from Blackstar and it’s currently retailing at the BBC on-line shop for £19.99. It also has the best cover so far out of all the releases ~ orangey red and reminiscent of the sacrifice theme in the story.

Buy it and enjoy it! I did and I am sure it will be something that I bring out and look at for time to time.

~~~INTERSTING FACTS ABOUT THE AZTERCS DVD~~~

• It is the first DVD release to feature the first incarnation of the Doctor ~ this original Doctor was played by the wonderfully crotchety (sadly no longer with us) William Hartnell.
• Most of this story was filmed out of sequence to allow for the absence of Carole Ann Ford ~ she was on holiday for some of the filming.
• The Doctor gets engaged during this story because he “makes cocoa” with a lady! Be careful what you do.

~~~TECHNICAL INFORMATION & CAST DETAILS~~

Price: £19.99
Catalogue no: BBCDVD1099
Running time: 100 mins approx
Release date: 7 October 2002
Regions 2/4.
Certification: U
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Dolby Digital Mono: English

CAST
The Doctor William Hartnell
Barbara Wright Jacqueline Hill
Ian Chesterton William Russell
Susan Foreman Carol Ann Ford
Autloc Keith Pyott
Tlotoxl John Ringham
Ixta Ian Cullen
Cameca Margot van der Burgh
Victim Tom Booth
Captain David Anderson
Tonila Walter Randall
Perfect Victim Andre Boulay

~~~Useful web-sites include:

http://www.restoration-team.co.uk/

http://www.gallifreyone.com/

http://www.islandnet.com/~dascott/intro.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/

 

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