The Doctor, Ian, and Susan play along as Barbara is mistaken as the reincarnation
of Aztec high priest Yetaxa after the TARDIS lands in a tomb in capital of the Aztecs during the 15th century. Barbara thinks she can change history and stop the blood sacrifices the Aztecs
do to appease the Gods for rain, but the doctor warns her she can’t change history and it will have consequences. Autloc, the High Priest of Knowledge, befriends Barbara. Meanwhile, Tlotoxl- the High Priest of Sacrifice (aka the local butcher)- suspects
Barbara is an imposter and he takes steps to bring her, the Doctor, Susan, and Ian down.
Warrior Ixta holds a grudge against Ian and he will do anything to defeat Ian.
It is a race against time as the Doctor strikes up a relationship with
a wise woman in the Garden of Peace and a solar eclipse nears. Will they
find a way back into the tomb where the TARDIS is trapped or will they meet their fates at the hands of the Aztecs?
THE AZTECS was back in the early days of DOCTOR WHO where they mixed futuristic
sci-fi with historic adventures. I enjoy watching the historic tales without
it being twisted with the trappings of sci-fi and/or horror like in later DOCTOR WHO stories.
The production design is great for the small budget they had while the actors are always top notch despite any hiccups
or production challenges. The historical adventures gave the audience a
chance to learn more or seek out more about the history shown in the historical stories.
This is another DOCTOR WHO story I have never seen and I enjoy all these DVD releases as it gives me a chance to watch
early DOCTOR WHO tales and rewatch stories I have seen a long time ago. I read
the target novelization as a kid, but the DVD release is the first time I have seen THE AZTECS.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Disc One-
Audio commentary with actor William Russell (Ian Chesterton), Carole Ann Ford
(Susan Foreman), and producer Verity Lambert
Production Notes subtitles option gives some interesting facts about the making
of the story and how Doctor Who co-creator Sydney Newman disapproved of some things in the story.
REMEMBERING THE AZTECS- the actors who play the main Aztecs characters talk
about their memories of making the show and what they think of their acting in it.
DESIGNING THE AZTECS- Barry Newbery discusses the production design of THE
AZTECS and the challenges that were faced with the limited studio space, how to paint it, and the limited budget in addition
to the story on how they had to replace part of the set when it was destroyed early.
RESTORING THE AZTECS- a before and after on how the serial was restored with
clips showing how poor of a shape the story was in to how they improved on it to make it look like how it was when it first
aired.
CORTEZ AND MONTEZUMA- an excerpt from a 1970 Blue Peter episode on how Cortes
conquered the Aztecs.
MAKING COCA- how Coca was made in the Aztecs time with some pretty crude animation
explaining it.
TARDIS-Cam no. 3
Photo gallery slideshow of stills from the production and showing how interesting
this show would have looked if they shot in color.
Disc Two-
GALAXY 4 Reconstruction including Recovered and Restored episode AIRLOCK- This
is a 64 minute reconstruction that is a combo of the surviving six minutes from episode 1, audio from the story and telesnaps,
animation, and the recovered episode three. I wish they could have cleaned up
the six minute clip like they did with AIRLOCK. It makes me wish that rest of
the story would get found somewhere because it is one of the more interesting DOCTOR WHO stories from the early years.
CHRONICLE: THE REALMS OF GOLD- a 50 minute documentary on the Spanish conquest
of Mexico
and the Aztecs
DOCTOR FOREVER!: CELESTIAL TOYROOM- a featurette on the history of Doctor Who
merchandise with it being focused on the toys.
IT’S A SQUARE WORLD- the first comedy skit on DOCTOR WHO
A WHOLE SCENE GOING- behind-the-scenes footage from the making of DALKES: INVASION
EARTH 2150 film directed by Gordon Flemyng.
Coming soon trailer for THE ICE WARRIORS
PDF materials for Radio Times listings
FINAL ANALYSIS: THE AZTECS
is an entertaining historical DOCTOR WHO adventure, but it is sad that three out of four episodes of the interesting GALAXY
4 seem to be lost and I hope one or more episodes will be recovered in the future. The
extras are interesting and informative as usual.
This DVD Review is (c)3-18-2013
David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments
to feedback@enterline-media.com
