Synopsis:
Tlotoxl is convinced that Barbara is not the reincarnated Yetaxa, and vows to destroy her...
The High Priest of Sacrifice has insisted that Susan be punished for shouting out and desecrating the ceremony. Barbara states that she was not aware of their laws, and so it is agreed that Susan will be sent to a seminary to learn about Aztec customs.
When the Doctor gets Barbara alone he berates her for her actions. She has endangered all their lives by making an enemy of Tlotoxl, and Susan is now no longer under her protection. Once again he argues that she must not change history, and points out that the sacrificial victim had actually wanted to die, in order to meet his gods.
The Doctor points out that Barbara still has an ally in Autloc and she should capitalise on this.
Tlotoxl attempts to test Barbara, but she refuses to be baited.
In their barracks, Autloc witnesses Ian win a fight against Ixta using only his thumb - applying it to a pressure point on his neck. Tlotoxl is shocked to learn of this, as he hopes to have Ixta kill Ian as part of his efforts to destroy the false Yetaxa.
He manipulates the Perfect Victim - a man due to be sacrificed in a few days time, whose every wish must be granted - into ordering a rematch.
At the seminary Susan offends Autloc and his deputy, Tonila, by arguing against arranged marriage.
In the old people's garden the Doctor presses his friendship with Cameca to obtain a meeting with the son of the tomb's architect. This proves to be Ixta.
He meets with the Doctor later, masked and hiding his true identity. He claims to have plans of the tomb but is due to fight a duel later that evening. Were he to lose, no-one would be able to talk with him for many days. The Doctor, unaware that it is Ian whom he is to fight, offers a scheme to win - a thorn coated in a plant sap which provokes sleep.
The Doctor informs Barbara of his meeting with the warrior and is horrified to learn that this was Ixta. Barbara tries to order Autloc to halt the contest, but he has no authority to do so - it having been decreed by the Perfect Victim.
That evening the fight commences. Ixta scratches Ian's wrist with the poisoned thorn, and he begins to weaken. Ixta soon has him at his mercy as Barbara arrives.
Tlotoxl goads her. If she really is Yetaxa, let them see her save the life of her servant...
Next episode: The Bride of Sacrifice
Written by: John Lucarotti
Recorded: Friday 8th May 1964 - Television Centre Studio 3 (TC3).
First broadcast: 5:15pm, Saturday 30th May 1964
Ratings: 7.4 million / AI 62
Designer: Barry Newbery
Director: John Crockett
Additional cast: Walter Randall (Tonila), Andre Boulay (Perfect Victim).
Following the recording of The Temple of Evil Carole Ann Ford and her family flew out of the UK on holiday to Portugal. In writing The Aztecs, John Lucarotti had been informed that she would be on leave for two weeks, but that the production team would like the character to continue to feature - unlike when Hartnell had disappeared from The Keys of Marinus for two episodes.
The writer came up with a couple of self-contained scenes which could be cut into the main narrative.
Ford was released from rehearsals on Monday 13th April, during the making of Episode 25: Sentence of Death, to go to Ealing and film two scenes of Susan in the seminary - one for each of the episodes from which she would otherwise be absent.
This involved only three of the guest cast - Keith Pyott, Walter Randall and Andre Boulay.
The issue raised in this sequence is Susan's objection to arranged marriage - in this case her own. She had already made her feelings known on this subject in Marco Polo - by the same author.
We know that Barbara knows a lot about this culture, but surprisingly Susan is said to have greater knowledge than her peers at the seminary. Where could this have come from?
It was extremely fortunate that the Ealing filming had taken place, as a serious problem arose when the series moved to a new home, albeit a temporary one.
Lime Grove had posed a problem for Doctor Who right from the start. Sydney Newman was unhappy that it did not offer the technical facilities which a sci-fi programme would require, and it was one of the reasons for the "Miniscules" idea being dropped as the opening storyline.
The studios were on upper floors, and the lifts were too small to fit some of the props (such as the original Police Box intended as the TARDIS). Derrick Sherwin, future story editor and producer on the show, used to be an actor, and he has told of how cast members had to rush up and down stairs when making live broadcasts, often changing costumes en route. He remembered once being half dressed on a fire escape.
Another problem with Studio D was its small size, and the fact that the overhead sprinkler system could be triggered when it became too hot.
For The Warriors of Death, production moved to Television Centre on Wood Lane, London W12. It was allocated Studio TC3, which was much larger (about twice the size as Lime Grove D) and better equipped than what the cast and production team had been used to since the series began.
On the morning of recording Barry Newbery went to the studio to find that some of the set for the garden / base of the pyramid which should have been retained in storage had in fact been destroyed in error.
He recalled the Ealing filming and was relieved to find that the seminary sets were still available. These were brought in and set up along with some extra plants to conceal gaps. John Crockett then adjusted his camera plans to allow for the rejigged space.
David Anderson, who was playing the warrior captain, choreographed the fight between Ian and Ixta. When the latter throws a spear at a wooden post, careful cutting hid the fact that the actor did not throw it at all, and a pre-fixed spear was simply poked to make it tremble, as if it had just been thrown.
A problem for Newbery which had first become apparent in the opening instalment of the story was the need to show the Aztecs as having wooden weapons. The props were very fragile and kept breaking, making it hard for the actors to present a fierce fight.
The fact that Ian is able to overcome Ixta using only his thumb shows that he has almost certainly spent time in the armed forces. He is of an age when he would have served in one of them as part of National Service. Some of the events of Marco Polo suggest a Far East posting.
Tlotoxl misses a trick in this episode. He tries to question Barbara, but she deflects this and has him make Autloc do the questioning (he being the High Priest of Knowledge). The whole reincarnation thing has come about because Autloc recognised the bracelet from the tomb - suggesting that he must have known Yetaxa personally. All Tlotoxl had to do was to get Autloc to ask some personal questions about the dead High Priest, which only Yetaxa would have known - like what his favourite food is, or the name of his cat.
Trivia:
- Both the viewing figures and audience appreciation index are identical to the previous episode.
- Around this time Sydney Newman wrote to Verity Lambert asking if the series could do something to glamorise and promote the role of engineer. The dialogue for this episode sees the Doctor describe himself to Cameca as "a scientist, engineer, builder of things...".
- The plant sap which the Doctor recommends to Ixta is that of the maguey cactus. The agave americana was well known to the Mayan and Aztec people, so it is surprising that Ixta doesn't seem to be aware of it. Its sap was known for its intoxicating properties, and was used to make tequilla and pulque (a drink which had hallucinogenic effects).
- This is the first appearance in the series of actor Walter Randall, who will be popping up from now until the close of the Pertwee era, often in stories directed by Douglas Camfield.
- Andre Boulay, on the other hand, seems not have pursued his acting career. His is, unfortunately, a rather wooden performance. IMDb lists only another five appearances by him, all between 1963 - 1964. He died in March 1996.
- The music for this story is by Richard Rodney Bennett. He is one of a very select band of people who have worked on the series and also won an Academy Award. He got his for the 1974 film adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express.
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