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| The Myth Makers | |
| Series: | Doctor Who - TV Stories |
| Season Number: | Season 3 |
| Story Number: | 20 |
| Doctor: | First Doctor |
| Companions: | Vicki (departure) Steven Taylor Katarina (introduction) |
| Enemy: | Cassandra |
| Setting: | circa 1200 BC |
| Writer: | Donald Cotton |
| Director: | Michael Leeston-Smith |
| Broadcast: | 16th October - 6th November 1965 |
| Format: | 4 25-minute episodes |
| Previous Story: | Mission to the Unknown |
| Following Story: | The Daleks' Master Plan |
The Myth Makers was the third story of Season 3 of Doctor Who. This story saw the last appearance of Maureen O'Brien as companion Vicki and the introduction of new companion Katarina, played by Adrienne Hill.
Contents |
When the TARDIS arrives on the plains of Asia Minor, not far from the besieged city of Troy, the Doctor is hailed by Achilles as the mighty god Zeus and taken to the Greek camp, where he meets Agamemnon and Odysseus. Forced to admit that he is a mere mortal - albeit a traveller in space and time - he is given just two days to devise a scheme to capture Troy.
Steven and Vicki, meanwhile, have been taken prisoner by the Trojans, and Vicki - believed to possess supernatural powers - is given two days to banish the Greeks and thus prove that she is not a spy.
Having initially dismissed the famous wooden horse as a fiction of Homer's, the Doctor is eventually driven to 'invent' it himself, thereby giving the Greeks the means to defeat the Trojans.
In the climactic battle Steven is wounded by a sword-thrust to his shoulder and Katarina, handmaiden to the Trojan prophetess Cassandra, helps the Doctor to get him back to the TARDIS.
Vicki meanwhile, having adopted the guise of Cressida, elects to remain behind on Earth with the Trojan prince Troilus, with whom she has fallen in love.
Outside Troy the Greek warrior Achilles slays the Trojan Hector when the arrival of the TARDIS disturbs his concentration. When the Doctor emerges, Achilles believes him to be Zeus, and insists he goes to the Greek encampment. They encounter Odysseus, who travels with them to the camp. When they arrive, Agamemnon insists the Doctor help him against the Trojans and will not let him depart until he has done so. Odysseus is more skeptical branding the Doctor a Trojan spy.
The Doctor’s companions Vicki and Steven have watched him being led away. Vicki is still injured from Galaxy Four, so Steven ventures out alone to help the Doctor. He is spotted heading for the Trojan camp by Cyclops, a mute servant of Odysseus. Odysseus soon catches Steven and takes him to the camp as well, where he must pretend not to know the Doctor in order to maintain his guise as Zeus. The Doctor eventually persuades the Greeks to spare Steven until the morning. Moments later Cyclops returns to the Greek camp, and through sign language communicates that Zeus’ temple (the TARDIS) has disappeared from Troy.
The next morning, the Doctor and Steven travel with the Greeks to the plains and discover the TARDIS has disappeared. The Doctor confesses that he and Steven are friends and not gods. Odysseus decides to let them live, but demands that their powers be used to destroy the Trojans within two days, or they will be killed. Steven privately suggests to the Doctor to use the Trojan Horse.
The TARDIS has been taken into the city of Troy and is presented to King Priam by his son Paris, but Priam is more interested in revenge for Hector's death. The blue box is denounced by the prophetess Cassandra -- she has dreamt that the Greeks will leave a gift on the plain which will contain soldiers to attack the Trojans. She demands the TARDIS be burnt, but before it can be set alight, Vicki emerges from within and taken as a sign from the gods. The King and Paris are enchanted by her and the King renames her Cressida. This enrages Cassandra, who believes Vicki to be a rival prophet.
Priam sends Paris out on to the plains to avenge Hector. Paris calls for Achilles, and Steven manages to persuade the Greeks to send him instead, hoping he can get injured and then taken to Troy to search for Vicki. Adopting the name Diomede, Steven engages Achilles in battle and Paris decides to take him as a prisoner back to the city. When he arrives Vicki greets him with his real name and this is taken by Cassandra as a sign they are both spies. She calls for soldiers to kill them both.
Paris intervenes to save Steven and Vicki. But Unless Vicki helps Priam end the war, he warns she will die. Steven and Vicki are taken to cells to prompt her into prophecy. Whilst there Steven tells Vicki that the Doctor has a similar deadline. Cyclops appears and is given a message for the Doctor, asking him to avoid an attack for two days so that they are not killed. The next visitor to the cells is Priam’s youngest, Troilus, who has a romantic attachment to “Cressida.” Vicki is equally attracted, and seems successful in persuading him to try to get them released. When Troilus departs, it seems Vicki has fallen for him, contemplating staying behind. Elsewhere, Cyclops is slain before he can pass on his message.
The Doctor has now come under such pressure to help the Greeks he proposes the wooden horse to Odysseus. The construction will be left outside Troy and filled with Greeks, who hope the horse will be taken within the city, allowing them to attack. Agamemnon approves the plan, but the Doctor will be placed inside the horse for its fateful journey. The Greeks build the horse and the following morning the Doctor and Odysseus join the soldiers inside. Soon the gift is placed on the plains and is spotted by the Trojans and dragged with ropes inside their city.
The Trojans respond to the seeming disappearance of the Greek army by rejoicing, and Priam has Vicki released. Steven is kept in prison due to Troilus’ jealousy. When Vicki reaches the court, she learns from Paris that the wooden horse has been found on the plains and is being brought into the city. The gates of the city are open and the horse is now within.
The Trojans dismiss Cassandra’s prophecies but in the melee Vicki slips away and rescues Steven from the dungeons. They then head for the square, where a vast crowd has assembled to greet the giant wooden horse, and worry about what will happen when the Greeks hidden inside disembark. Cassandra’s handmaiden, Katarina, arrives in the square to find Vicki for her mistress. This prompts Vicki to leave Steven in a hiding place (his escape having been noticed) while she mingles with the royal party that has just arrived. She then heads off to the palace where she meets Troilus and she tries to persuade him to flee with her from the city by telling him Diomede is on the plain. He is persuaded to venture outside.
Night falls again, and under the cover of darkness the Greek navy returns to the Trojan coast, while the Doctor, Odysseus and the Greek soldiers exit the horse. The city is soon besieged. Priam, Paris, and the proven Cassandra are soon the prisoners of Odysseus. The two men are slain and Cassandra is kept alive as a prize for Agamemnon himself. She is taken away in bondage, prophesying Odysseus won't see home for another 10 years and death for his people. Out on the plain Troilus finds Achilles and slays him, though he is wounded in the process.
The Doctor finds Vicki in the carnage and they hide in the TARDIS while Katarina, who has been trailing Vicki, obliges the Doctor by searching for Steven. She finds him in battle with a Trojan soldier and he is badly wounded, but she helps him return to the Doctor’s "blue temple". When Katarina and Steven reach it, both the Doctor and Vicki seem very tense. Odysseus arrives and the Doctor takes the opportunity to dematerialise the TARDIS with Steven and Katarina on board. Vicki, however, has slipped away with his blessing. She journeys on to the plains where she finds Troilus and they declare their love. Moments later Troilus’ cousin Aeneas arrives with reinforcements and helps them escape the area.
Aboard the TARDIS, the Doctor explains Vicki has departed. He is very concerned that Steven’s wound is now infected and the situation is getting worse. Katarina, however, believes they have already died and are now en route to the afterlife. The Doctor knows they need the right medication to save Steven and hopes their next landing will provide it. (Going to shorten soon)
to be added
It is unclear whether the events of "Mission to the Unknown" happen before or at the same time as this story. It is, however, perfectly clear that the beginning of Myth happens very soon, if not immediately, after the conclusion of Galaxy 4, because Vicki continues to complain of her ankle injury.
| Season 3 |
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| Galaxy 4 • Mission to the Unknown • The Myth Makers • The Daleks' Master Plan • The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve • The Ark • The Celestial Toymaker • The Gunfighters • The Savages • The War Machines |
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