Episode 29: The Bride of Sacrifice

Synopsis:

Ixta has Ian at his mercy as Barbara arrives. Tlotoxl mocks her: if she truly is the reincarnated Yetaxa, let her save her servant...

She seizes the High Priest's own knife and holds it to his throat, telling everyone that he will die if any harm comes to Ian. He is forced to demand Ixta withdraw. The Perfect Victim tells the warrior that he may not claim the victory.

Once everyone has left, Tlotoxl reassures Ixta that he will have Ian at his mercy again soon, but this time Yetaxa will not be able to save him.

Barbara approaches Autloc and asks for his support in stopping the sacrifices - beginning with that of the Perfect Victim which will take place the next day. There is to be a total eclipse and Tlotoxl will claim that only a blood sacrifice can bring back the Sun.

Tlotoxl, meanwhile, goes to speak with Tonila, intent on winning him to his cause.

The younger Priest of Knowledge is shocked that they should even consider challenging a god, especially when the High Priest of Sacrifice suggests plying her with poison to test her divinity. Tlotoxl reasons that it cannot harm her if she is immortal. 

Fortunately, Ian is secretly listening in during this discussion.

A short time later Tlotoxl and Tonila visit Barbara in the temple and offer to share a drink with her by way of a peace offering. Ian manages to silently warn her of the danger, so she insists that Tlotoxl drink from the cup first. 

He naturally refuses and is forced to admit it is poisoned - but a furious Barbara admits the truth about herself as well. Tonila had already withdrawn, so she dares Tlotoxl to expose her, as he has no proof and no-one will believe him.

Unable to get at her directly, he decides to bring her down through her friends - beginning with Susan.

At the seminary, Susan refuses to take the hand of the Perfect Victim in the presence of Autloc and Tonila. The latter warns her that she will be severely punished for this, as his every wish must be granted. He informs Tlotoxl.

Barbara is then tricked by him into agreeing to this action, which will take place as part of the sacrificial ceremony - unaware that it refers to Susan.

The Doctor meets with Cameca, who has told Autloc that she hopes to wed the aged servant of Yetaxa. She has some cocoa beans, and the Doctor agrees to help her prepare a brew - unaware that this is tantamount to a marriage proposal in this culture. He is shocked when he finds out what he has just done.

He learns of a secret passage running from the garden up into the tomb. He tells Ian about this, and also lets him know that he has just gotten engaged - much to the teacher's amusement.

That night both enter the garden and approach the base of the pyramid. They remove a stone slab which is decorated with Yetaxa's symbol and find a tunnel beyond.

As Ian moves up the narrow passage the Doctor is surprised by the sudden arrival of Ixta in the garden. Knowing full well what is going on, having spied on them, he tells the Doctor that the stone must be replaced to prevent the gardens being flooded as a dam above the city is often opened. The Doctor is powerless to stop him doing so without admitting Ian is in the tunnel.

Trapped in the passage, Ian is shocked to realise that it is beginning to fill with water...

Next episode: The Day of Darkness

Data:

Written by: John Lucarotti

Recorded: Friday 15th May 1964 - Television Centre Studio 3 (TC3)

First broadcast: 5:15pm, Saturday 6th June 1964

Ratings: 7.9 million / AI 57

Designer: Barry Newbery

Director: John Crockett

Critique:

This episode saw Carole Ann Ford still on holiday with her family, and therefore featured the second sequence which John Crockett had filmed with her at Ealing on 13th April. Again it only featured the guest trio of Pyott, Randall and Boulay.

This episode is remembered best for the Doctor's unwitting engagement to the elderly Aztec lady Cameca. 

This comes about when he makes a drink from cocoa beans which she has gathered.

Chocolate was well known to the Mayan peoples, and to the Olmecs who preceded them. Traces of a chocolate drink have been found in pottery dating back to 3500 BC. As cocoa beans were used as a form of currency, chocolate tended to be the preserve of the wealthy, though poorer people enjoyed it at weddings and other ceremonies. As well as a stimulant, it was also regarded as an aphrodisiac. It is this latter function which John Lucarotti may have been thinking about when he had it tradition that brewing a chocolate drink signified a marriage proposal. There was one 12th Century example of a royal wedding being sealed with a brew, and a woman could be asked to brew a chocolate drink to prove to her prospective husband that she would make a good housewife. 

I haven't found any specific mention of a man making a brew acting as a marriage proposal.

"Cocoa" is actually an English misspelling. The Aztecs called it "Cacao".

William Hartnell started his movie career in what were known as "Quota Quickies", many of which were comedies. He always regretted how little comedy he did in his later career. We get a glimpse of his talents in this area here.

All four regulars get a fair share of the action in this episode - including Ford who isn't even in the studio. Her single scene shows how quickly Susan has learned about the Aztec culture, but also reinforces her determination never to do anything she disagrees with - her opposition to arranged marriage having already been established by Lucarotti in the last episode, as well as in his previous story.

Barbara proves herself a capable adversary, able to think on her feet as she rapidly turns the tables on Tlotoxl, saving Ian from a seemingly impossible danger.

Despite all the effort the writer and production team have taken to make this as historically accurate as possible, one obvious question does arise: where is the ruler of this city? 

There's no mention of any king such as Moctezuma, so it may not be the capital Tenochtitlan (now the historic heart of Mexico City). Even if a smaller regional city, there should still be a political or dynastic ruler, but none are mentioned. The story seems to imply that the place is ruled between them by Tlotoxl and Autloc.

We mention below that an Audience Reaction Report was conducted for this episode, in which the sets and costumes were praised. However, one particular set dressing did not impress, but this was mainly down to the way in which the actors handled it. Barry Newbery had created a stone panel, with Yetaxa's emblem on it, out of jablite (expanded polystyrene). It was therefore very light. William Russell and Ian Cullen were both tasked with moving it and making it look like solid stone, but it is obviously lightweight when seen on screen.

During rehearsals in the run up to recording this episode it was announced that the series would be returning to Lime Grove Studio D, and Television Centre facilities would not be available to the programme again for another 12 weeks.

Trivia:

• The audience figure rises by half a million on the previous two weeks - but the AI is the lowest recorded since the final episode of An Unearthly Child.
• This instalment was selected for a BBC Audience Reaction Report, published the following month. Children still found it "super" and "fab" but adults were less impressed. Some stated that the series had been going on too long, with too much capture-escape. Someone wondered why bad things always happened wherever the TARDIS landed, and others preferred the science fiction stories over these adventures in history. The sets and costumes were praised.
• Keith Pyott has some problems with the word "seminary" - pronouncing it semin-in-ery at one point.
• The inclusion of a total eclipse of the sun may help to date this story. Barbara thinks that the tomb dates to around 1430, and both Autloc and Cameca knew the builder (and probably Yetaxa himself), so the earliest it can be is around 1450. The latest is 1519, when the Conquistadores arrive. There was an eclipse whose totality was seen from Mexico in the middle of this date range - on 8th August 1496. The novelisation places it in 1507, but there was no eclipse that year seen from Mexico.
• Walter Randall was bearded when offered the role of Tonila, and was advised to shave his beard off as the Aztecs didn't have facial hair.
• The closing credits for this episode had to be redone as the roller caption wasn't printed properly.
• William Russell didn't get his feet wet in the closing scenes. This was filmed at Ealing with a stand-in on 14th April.