Doctor Who/The Myth Makers

The Myth Makers
020
Airdate	October 16, 1965
Production Number	U
Written by	Donald Cotton
Directed by	Michael Leeston-Smith
← 019 Mission to the Unknown	021 → The Daleks' Master Plan
Doctor Who — Season Three

The Myth Makers is the third serial of the third season of Doctor Who, and the twentieth serial overall.

Guest Stars: Cavan Kendall (Achilles), Alan Haywood (Hector), Ivor Salter (Odysseus), Francis de Wolff (Agamemnon), Jack Melford (Menelaus), Tutte Lemkow (Cyclops), Max Adrian (Priam), Barrie Ingham (Paris), Frances White (Cassandra), James Lynn (Troilus)

Plot Overview

Temple of Secrets

The TARDIS arrives on the plains outside the city of Troy during its siege by the Greeks. The Doctor goes outside to try to stop a fight between Hector and Achilles. Hector is distracted by the Doctor's sudden, unexplained appearance. Achilles takes advantage of this by killing Hector with his sword. Achilles mistakes the Doctor for the god Zeus and insists that he return with him to his camp.

At the camp the Doctor meets Agamemnon and Menelaus, King of the Spartans. While the Doctor chats with them, Steven is caught sneaking about and is charged as a spy. He will be put to death.

The Doctor, now posing as Zeus, asks that Steven be taken to his "temple" (the TARDIS), where he will sacrifice him with a bolt of thunder from the sky. However, when dawn arrives, the TARDIS is nowhere to be seen. The Trojans have taken it.

Small Prophet, Quick Return

Vicki emerges from the TARDIS at a most opportune moment -- just as Cassandra has called for a sign from the gods. When asked, Vicki claims to simply to be someone from the future. Cassandra immediately takes a strong dislike to Vicki. She wants to have her killed, but Troilus, King Priam's son, intervenes on Vicki's behalf. The King is swayed and asks Vicki to talk with him about the future.

The Doctor's and Steven's lives are spared on the condition that they find a way to help the Greeks get inside the city. Steven allows himself to be taken prisoner by Paris. Vicki and Steven are reunited, however their reuinion is marred by Cassandra's renewed call to have them put to death.

Death of a Spy

Vicki and Steven are locked in the dungeon. Troilus visits her there, giving her preferential treatment. Vicki definitely likes him, possibly even loves him.

Elsewhere in the Greek camp, the Doctor is forced to abandon his plans to have the greeks build flying machines. Instead he suggests the infamous Trojan Horse approach. The horse is constructed and left on the plains for the Trojans to take.

Horse of Destruction

The horse is brought into the city despite Cassandra's warnings. The city's residents celebrate wildy -- for them this is the end of ten years of war. But that night the Greeks sneak out of the horse, open the gates, and let their troops in. They massacre the Trojans and burn the city.

Steven is injured in the pandemonium, and is helped to the TARDIS by Katarina, Cassandra's hand maiden. Agamemnon has laid claim to the Doctor's machine, the TARDIS. However the Doctor narrowly escapes, slamming the door just in time and dematerialising (with Katarina onboard).

Vicki, who fell in love with Troilus, remained behind when the Doctor and the others departed. She goes to him and they begin their new life together.

Notes

• Steven adopts the identity of Oddyseus's dead friend Diomede (at Odysseus's suggestion).
• In the Horse of Destruction episode -- in one of the scenes that show the Trojan Horse itself -- the sky is marred by what appears to be a condensation trail created by the passage of a modern, jet aircraft.

Arc Advancement

Characters

• King Prius, claiming that "Vicki" is an outlandish name, assigns her the name Cressida instead.
• This is Vicki's last episode.
• It is Katarina's first appearance.

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