Production Code: F
First Transmitted
The Temple of Evil - 23/05/1964 17:15
The Warriors of Death - 30/05/1964 17:15
The Bride of Sacrifice - 06/06/1964 17:15
The Day of Darkness - 13/06/1964 17:15
Plot
The TARDIS arrives in fifteenth century Mexico inside the tomb of one-time Aztec High Priest Yetaxa. The travellers become cut off from the ship when they explore the temple outside and the tomb door closes behind them. Barbara is proclaimed by the High Priest of Knowledge, Autloc, as Yetaxa's divine reincarnation. However, she incurs the enmity of the High Priest of Sacrifice, Tlotoxl, when - against the Doctor's advice - she attempts to use her new-found authority to put an end to the Aztec practice of human sacrifice.
Events reach a climax on the Day of Darkness - the time of a solar eclipse. Ian's unwilling conflict with the Aztecs' 'chosen warrior', Ixta, ends in a fight in which the latter falls to his death from the temple roof. The Doctor manages to reopen the tomb door using a wheel-and-pulley that he has carved (the Aztecs not having mastered the use of the wheel) and the travellers make good their escape.
Episode Endings
Tlotoxl proclaims that Barbara is a false goddess and that he will destroy her.
Tlotoxl cries out for Ixta to kill the overpowered Ian. Barbara suddenly arrives and orders that the fight be stopped. Tlotoxl challenges her - if she is indeed Yetaxa, then let her save her servant...
Ian is trapped inside a dark tunnel leading to Yetaxa's tomb as it rapidly fills with water.
Leaning over the TARDIS console, the Doctor tells his companions that they have a problem: one set of readings shows that the TARDIS has stopped, but another insists that they are still in motion.
Roots
Richard III (John Ringham's performance).
Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King.
The Royal Hunt of the Sun.
Herodotus (the story of the grave-robber architect who built himself a secret entrance).
Dialogue Triumphs
Barbara Wright : "Oh, don't you see? If I could start the destruction of everything that's evil here, then everything that's good will survive when Cortes lands."
The Doctor : "But you can't rewrite history! Not one line! Barbara, one last appeal: what you are trying to do is utterly impossible. I know! Believe me, I know!"
Susan Foreman : "You're monsters! All of you, monsters..."
Ian Chesterton : [Speaking of the brooch carried by the Doctor.] "Where did you get hold of this?"
The Doctor : "My fiance"
Ian Chesterton : "I see... Your what?"
The Doctor : "Yes, I made some cocoa and got engaged..."
"How shall a man know his gods?"
"By the signs of their divinity."
"And what if thieves walk among the gods?"
"Then, indeed, how shall a man know?"
Continuity
Aztec history was one of Barbara's specialities. The Doctor informs Cameca that he is 'a scientist, an engineer, I'm a builder of things.' The Doctor doesn't wish to change history, and so removes the wheel that he made to aid their escape. Ian has trained as a fighter [National Service].
QV
Location
Mexico, between 1430 and 1520 [Presumably the reign of Montezuma I (1440-69). Yetaxa died c 1430, and Ixta's father built the temple in preparation. With reference to Ixta's age and the fact that his father was sent to the Garden of the Aged when he was 52 the most likely date would appear to be around 1450.]
Trivia
Carole Ann Ford appears only in pre-filmed inserts in the second and third episodes as she was on holiday during the weeks when those episodes were recorded.
Myth
For reasons of decency, the costumes for the Aztec characters covered more of their bodies than would have been the case in reality. (The costumes were thoroughly researched and accurate.)
Goofs
The obvious use of doubles for William Russell and Ian Cullen in the fight sequence in episode four.
Cast & Crew
Cast
The Doctor - William Hartnell
Barbara Wright - Jacqueline Hill
Ian Chesterton - William Russell
Susan Foreman - Carole Ann Ford
Autloc - Keith Pyott
Aztec Captain - David Anderson
Cameca - Margot van der Burgh
First Victim - Tim Booth
Ixta - Ian Cullen
Perfect Victim - Andre Boulay
Tlotoxl - John Ringham
Tonila - Walter Randall
Crew
Director - John Crockett
The Aztecs