Doctor Who: The Myth Makers

Greeks, Trojans, and the Doctor in the middle.

Although the serial called The Myth Makers comes along when we’re already one four-episode serial and a standalone episode deep into the third season of Doctor Who, it was actually the first serial to be filmed as part of the show’s third production block – and by the time this one started filming, series producer Verity Lambert had passed the reins over to John Wiles, feeling the show needed a fresh perspective behind the scenes. By this point, Doctor Who was on its third story editor, as David Whitaker held the job from An Unearthly Child through The Dalek Invasion of Earth and Dennis Spooner took over from The Rescue and The Chase. Donald Tosh became the story editor as of The Time Meddler, and with Wiles he intended to take Doctor Who in new directions. They wanted to get away from childish science fantasy and focus on adult science fiction, while also bringing more historical stories into the mix. They also wanted to experiment with horror and humor... and the renewed focus on historical stories as well as the desire to experiment with humor are both evident in The Myth Makers. 

This is indeed a historical story, dropping the Doctor (William Hartnell) and his travelling companions Steven Taylor (Peter Purves) – who started jumping through time and space in the Doctor’s TARDIS after meeting him on a planet called Mechanus in the 23rd century – and Vicki (Maureen O’Brien) – who was rescued from a planet called Dido in 2493 – into Troy in 1200 BC, ten years into the Greeks’ siege on the city. As the characters make their way around this setting and interact with famous names like Achilles, Odysseus, Agamemnon, Cassandra, and Cyclops, there is a humorous edge to a lot of dialogue. Unfortunately, audio of the dialogue is the only thing about The Myth Makers that has survived over the decades. This is another one of the serials where episodes were lost because the BBC decided to toss out the masters. So we don’t get the privilege of seeing the cast act out the scenes. We can only listen.

When the Doctor first arrives in Troy, Greek warrior Achilles is convinced that he is the embodiment of the god Zeus, and the Doctor has fun playing along with that for a little while. Steven takes on the identity of Greek hero Diomedes, while Vicki is captured by the King of Troy and renamed Cressida. While in Troy, she starts to fall in love with the King’s son Troilus – and if you’re familiar with Greek mythology or the works of Shakespeare, it won’t be too surprising when we find that Vicki has decided to stay in 1200 BC so she can pursue her relationship with Troilus. Maureen O’Brien wasn’t happy working on the show and Wiles wasn't fond of her, so he made sure to get her off the show as soon as possible once he was put in charge. She follows former companions Susan (the Doctor’s granddaughter) and 1960s schoolteachers Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton out the door. Jacqueline Hill and William Russell, the actors who played Barbara and Ian, had felt they had done all they could on the show and were ready to move on. Carole Ann Ford, who played Susan, was unhappy on the show, like O’Brien, because her character never seemed to live up to her potential, so she left as soon as her contract ended.

The Myth Makers tells an interesting enough story over the course of its four episodes, which are titled Temple of Secrets; Small Prophet, Quick Return; Death of a Spy; and Horse of Destruction. The title of the fourth episode gives away the fact that the legendary Trojan Horse is worked into this serial – but the twist here is that it’s the Doctor himself who suggests the Greeks use a giant, hollow horse to infiltrate Troy. He does this because the Greeks have tasked him with coming up with a way to destroy Troy – and they only give him two days to accomplish this.

When a companion leaves, another has to join the party, so here we’re introduced to Adrienne Hill as Katarina, one of Cassandra’s handmaidens. When Steven is wounded, Vicki has Katarina take him back to the TARDIS – and when it de-materializes to go off to its next destination, she is still on board, reluctantly referring to the Doctor as “Doctor” when she’d rather call him her god. So we’ll see where that goes next time around.

Historical stories aren’t my favorite aspect of Doctor Who, I much prefer the science fiction and science fantasy adventures, but they’re generally not too bad, and The Myth Makers is okay. It would probably be better if we could actually watch the action.