"The Myth Makers" wrapup

Hello everyone, the Historian here with a wrapup of the Doctor and company's adventure amongst the Achaeans and the folk of Ilium, across the wine dark sea and the wind-swept plain.....Ahem. Sorry about that. As anyone familiar with this story knows, it is considerably less lyrical than the poetry of Homer. Famously, this first story officially under the John Wiles/Donald Tosh regime was intended as a comedic departure. While the earlier "The Romans" had elements of high humor, this script (by veteran BBC Radio comedy writer Donald Cotton) takes both comedy and sophisticated dialogue to a level not seen previously. I made a joking reference to "The Navy Lark", but it's actually a decent comparison. (By the way, Doctor Who fans interested in Jon Pertwee's career before taking on the role of the Doctor might want to check TNL out. It's a lot of fun.) The interplay--especially between Agamemnon and Menelaus or Priam and Paris--has the same kind of wit adult viewers would hear on the contemporary BBC2 Radio Light Entertainment programs. I suppose there might have been a chance that the funny dialogue scenes might lose younger viewers, but this seems an obvious attempt by the new(ish) production team to try broadening the show's appeal. Although most people think it was more a miscalculation than a success, "The Myth Makers" is certainly an interesting and fun experiment, not to mention a bit of a preview of things to come.

There has been some criticism of the turn from the comedy of the first three episodes to the terror of the fourth, but it worked for me and the rest of the Project team; the change accentuates the tragedy and destruction. Thanks to the buildup, we really feel the deaths of Paris and Priam, because we liked them. In fact, I think the contrast between the comedy and the tragedy helps the story to work better, rather than the opposite.

Looking at the story in the context of the mythology (specifically what is known of the post-Homeric stories, the Odyssey and the Aeneid), there are definite oddities in the script. Both Achilles and Paris survive until the fall of Troy, for example, whereas both died prior to the coming of the Horse according to the versions of the story that has come down to us. (Paris actually killed Achilles through trickery, if I recall correctly.) On the other hand, right from the outset this story is about subverting both the story and our expectations: Achilles is seen as a coward by his fellows, and, indeed, we first see him running away from Hector. He only kills his foe by chance and the intervention of the Doctor's "temple." Far from being a bear-like figure, anxious to recover his wife, Menelaus is a timorous old man who'd rather be home. Paris and Priam, while less surprising, do make a fine double act. In fact, it is what I can only call the villains of the piece, the scenery chewing Cassandra and (far more tellingly) the complex, almost sociopathic Odysseus that fulfill expectations.

Let's step back a moment and take a look at the extraordinary character that is Odysseus. Opportunistic, quick witted, obviously highly intelligent, he is the Doctor's ally and nemesis all at once. He's certainly the most complex and interesting character in this story and the script treats him wonderfully. We loved that he listened to the Doctor and Steven's story and replied logically that no one would make up something that ridiculous, so it must be true. He also provides a wonderful foil for the Doctor in the third and fourth episode. By the end, we've almost come to like him...and then we see his savagery in the destruction of Troy, reminding us that he is not a good guy. We haven't seen a complex, ruthless villain like this in a very long time.

And then there's Troilus and "Cressida." Their story isn't any part of Greek myth; it's a medieval legend that Cotton fairly cunningly worked into the story...only to have it all screwed up by John Wiles' decision not to renew Maureen O'Brien's contract. The original romance has Cressida abandoning Troilus for Diomedes and Cotton's original idea was for "Cressida" (Vicki) to leave Troilus and disappear with "Diomede" (Steven) when the two left in the TARDIS. Would have made more sense, huh? On the other hand, it is nice to not see a betrayed Troilus killed by Achilles (as in Chaucer's version of the story), but rather a new beginning for Vicki, a character that had become dear to the Project team. If nothing else, it gives us the bit of a happy ending this story surely needed. And, if the growing romance between the two teenagers isn't quite as believable as that between David and Susan, it's still believable enough to be satisfying.

Then there's the introduction of our first companion from the past, Katarina, who believes she has died and is being transported to the afterlife by the Doctor. In fact, there was a scene in the script where she explicitly tells Vicki that the omens say she (Katarina) will die soon and Vicki sends her to the Doctor in an attempt to save her life. We'll see how she works out over the coming weeks, I suppose...

There are a lot of stories about the production of this serial, many of them centered around William Hartnell...and many of them very uncomplimentary. There's no question that Hartnell wasn't happy with the change in the production team--he had been very close to Verity Lambert and did not get along with John Wiles at all--or the cast. There are also stories about Hartnell being unhappy with how little he was in many of the scripts and how many great scenes were given over to the guest cast...and then there are the related, uncomfortable stories of Hartnell's antisemitic and homophobic remarks at the expense of Max ("Priam") Adrian. (The Brief History of Time (Travel) page has some information about this.) I want to stress that I've also read that these stories are not true. (It's worth noting, for example, that he had no problem working with Carole Ann Ford, who is Jewish.) Has anyone heard anything more definitive about this? Is it discussed in his granddaughter's biography? Please comment if you know anything!

Before I give you the individual episode links, here's the BBC episode guide for the story. And now, the links:

"Temple of Secrets"
"Small Prophet, Quick Return"
"Death of a Spy"
"Horse of Destruction"

On a final personal note, this is another one of those stories whose novelisation I remember buying and reading twenty-five years ago. I've wanted to see some version of this story since I read about it in one of Peter Haining's books even before then. And, thanks to the fans who recorded audio and what small video exists, and thanks to the great work of Loose Cannon Productions, I've finally been able to see it. I know I keep saying things like this, but one of the main impetuses behind starting the TARDIS Project was to see all these great stories and it continues to thrill me that I'm able to...and that, for the most part, they do not disappoint. Certainly, "The Myth Makers" didn't!

Up next--we begin one of the most fabled Doctor Who stories of all time! Until then, I remain

THE HISTORIAN

"Horse of Destruction"

Hello everyone, the Historian here! We had a full house tonight for the last episode of our Trojan epic: Ketina, Ronelyn, Schmallturm, Spoo, MisterMother, Photobug, Cz and MiniSpoo! So, without further ado, let's get to the summary!

"Death of a Spy"

Hello everyone, the Historian here, along with Ketina, Ronelyn, Photobug and a welcome return to Cz, who hasn't been part of the Project since "The Dead Planet" back in 2008! Today, refreshed from our turkey-induced comas, we return across the wine dark sea to the fair plains of Illium.....or something. Let's get to the summary!

"Small Prophet, Quick Return"

Hello everyone, the Historian here, along with Ketina, Ronelyn, Spoo and Photobug (Schmallturm, alas, arrived too late to see the episode), with another episode of The Trojan Lark our Trojan War story. As always, we see this reconstruction thanks to the good work of Loose Cannon Productions. And, as with last week, there's no way I will ever convey the humor and enjoyment of the episode with a summary, no matter how detailed. As such, I'll include a link to an episode transcript afterwards. An important note: there will be no episode next week, due to the American Thanksgiving holiday. We'll be back on 3 December. But, for now, let's get to the summary!

"Temple of Secrets"

Hello everyone, the Historian here, along with Ronelyn, Schmallturm, Spoo, MiniSpoo, Photobug and an unfortunately ill Ketina. This week, we leave the planet Kembel and travel somewhere completely different, seeing where the Doctor, Steven and Vicki went instead, once again thanks to the work of Loose Cannon Productions. I will warn you that there's a lot of humor in this episode (and story) which I will not be able to convey...but still. Let's get to the summary!

"Mission to the Unknown"

Hello everyone, the Historian here, welcoming you to our special Bonfire Night post! Well, it's 5 November as I type this (though it may not be when I post this and almost certainly won't be when you read/listen), so that's good enough, yes? Anyway, since this episode of Doctor Who is a bit different, we decided to try doing something a bit different ourselves--welcome to our first podcast! I'm not completely certain how this post will look, but you should see a link to the audio file somewhere. Click and listen, or right-click/control-click (PC/Mac respectively), download and enjoy! And hey, if it doesn't work, tell us in the comments and maybe we'll be able to figure it out. Anyway, one thing didn't make it into the podcast, so let's get to the summary!

"Galaxy 4" wrapup

Hello everyone, the Historian here. Doctor Who's third season (can you believe we've made it that far?) began with a story taking place in some other place than Galaxy 4, as I've been joking for a month now. And, as I said last week, I'd been waiting for somewhere between twenty-five and thirty years to see the Drahvins, the Chumblies and the Rills. And, thanks to Loose Cannon Productions, I've now seen something...that approximates the original story. Personally, I wasn't disappointed, but the same can't be said for most of the rest of the Project members. Admittedly, I was the only one who'd been exposed to the story in one form or another previous to watching, which might have helped--memories of the Target novelisation surely filled in some of the gaps that the recon was forced to leave out.

The story itself, while fairly simple, is solid: the beautiful, but treacherous Maaga vs. the hideous, but noble Rill, with the Chumblies as a bit of (somewhat silly) robot fun. So why did Spoo and Schmallturm dislike it so much? Well, it does move a bit slowly, thanks especially to almost no video or stills surviving. There are significant parts of the story where people are walking around or looking at things, all of which can only be conveyed by a still, sound and a running caption. Which, I hasten to say, isn't the fault of the reconstruction, which did a tremendous job with almost no material. I particularly loved the new Chumblies! Which brings up another problem some Project members had: they refused to take the Chumblies even semi-seriously. (See all the "Roomba" comments.) This, I think, is more of an "either it works for you or it doesn't." It worked for me, it obviously didn't for others.

All of that being said, it's hard for me to properly assess "Galaxy 4" while still being fair to other Project members. I do think this is a story that's easier to enjoy if you can try to approach it without being informed by forty years of, to quote Schmallturm, "preachy Star Trek episodes" and the like.

Even still, if you can get past what seems to be the obvious moral (although even that's questionable, given that the Drahvins weren't originally scripted as women), there's still a lot of meat here: questions about genetic engineering and free will, about militaristic exploitation vs. pure exploration...there's a lot more to read into this story than the obvious "you can't judge a book by its cover." On the other hand, the Chumblies are kind of silly and the story does move a bit more slowly than it has to. Then, of course, there's the fact that it was infamously written for the pre-"Time Meddler" TARDIS crew, with Steven having to fill in for Barbara and Ian's role split between the Doctor and Vicki, all of which made the story feel a bit off. (And, as others have pointed out, Steven is an astronaut from the future; how could he not know how an airlock works?) Apparently, this led to problems behind the scenes as well, with the cast members objecting to parts of the script. (I seem to remember Peter Purves in particular being unhappy with this story.) And, of course, this story began the battle between incoming producer John Wiles and an increasingly irascible William Hartnell. For more behind the scenes info see this story's "Brief History of Time (Travel)" page. And, while I'm at it, here's the official BBC episode guide.

All right, enough of my rambling. Here are the individual episode posts:

Four Hundred Dawns"
"Trap of Steel"
"Air Lock"
"The Exploding Planet"

Coming up next is an unusual episode, unique for the series. And, if things go right, our blog post covering it might be unique for the Project as well. No promises, but hopefully all will go well. Until then, I remain both mysterious and

THE HISTORIAN