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 I suddenly
realised I’d had this DVD for AGES and still not got
round to finishing my review of it. Before I tell
you about this one I need to give you a little plot
overview of this Historical adventure starring the first
Doctor (William Hartnell) and his companions Ian, Barbara
and Susan. Join me in three paragraphs time if
you don’t want to know!
The Doctor and his companions
find themselves materialising in fifteenth century Mexico,
the centre of the Aztec civilisation, in an Aztec tomb.
Barbara is mistaken for the reincarnation of the
High Priest Yetaxa (because she is found in his tomb)
after she wanders out of the TARDIS and gets locked
outside. The time travellers get into a dangerous
situation when Barbara tries to use her knowledge of
history (she was a history teacher back on earth) to
change the whole basis of the Aztec civilisation ~ she
wants to end the practice of human sacrifice!
They end up in a fight for their
lives when the High Priest of Sacrifice (Tlotoxl) aims
to unmask Barbara and make sure that the others don’t
live to tell the tale. Ian must fight the Perfect
Victim (a chosen man intended for sacrifice), Susan
must try to avoid arranged marriage and the Doctor must
find a way to get them all back into the TARDIS alive
(as well as fending off his own impending wedding!).
It all ends in the Doctor
making a pulley system and reopening the tomb. The
time travellers are able to get into the tomb, get into
the TARDIS and get away. Barbara has learned a
valuable lesson ~ you can’t change history!
It is a really unusual story
that makes full use of the BBC costume department. It
is more of a historical drama than a science fiction
story ~ the black and white makes it atmospheric and
it really is a bit chilling and mysterious. The Aztecs was originally broadcast on
BBC1 between 23rd May - 13th June 1964 and is a great
chance to see a remastered classic Dr Who historical
adventure ~ something they seemed to do so well at the
BBC.
So…a thumbs up for the
story: what about the DVD?
SPECIAL FEATURES:
COMMENTARY
This time the
commentary is by Verity Lambert, William Russell, Carole
Ann Ford. Verity Lambert was the Producer on the series
and William and Carole Ann play Ian Chesterton and Susan
Foreman ~ two of the Doctor’s companions during the
story. I did find what they had to say quite interesting
because I don’t know as much about this era of the show
as some of the more recent incarnations. I did,
however, find I got bored after a while ~ mainly because
Carole Ann Ford wasn’t in most of the episodes (due
to a holiday from the show) and her contribution was
a bit limited. Verity and William are better,
but because this was made so long ago, they have forgotten
much of what has happened and make a few comment s here
and there (often along the lines of “Oh, yes…I remember
when we did that bit”). Not the best commentary
I’d heard!
DOCUMENTARIES
REMEMBERING
THE AZTECS
This an interesting
documentary featuring John Ringham, Walter Randall and
Ian Cullen ~ The actors who play Tlotoxl, Tonila and
Ixta respectively. I liked listening
to their stories and about what they enjoyed about working
on this programme ~ funny stories come out about slipping
wigs, etc. This lasts for 28 minutes, so
it’s a good length documentary with quite a lot of info.
It’s also nice to see that some of the original
cast are still with us ~ this was put together from
recent interviews.
DESIGNING
THE AZTECS
This really exactly
what it sounds like ~ a documentary with the set designer,
Barry Newbery. I actually found this extremely
interesting because he talks about how difficult it
was to produce a realistic picture of Aztec life. We
learn about the restrictions in terms of budget, technology
and time that were placed on him. To say when
it was made it is a great achievement ~ set painting
and costumes are well worthy of a costume drama with
a much larger expense account! This lasts for
25 minutes, so is also a lengthy piece ~ I would recommend
that you watch these documentaries at a separate sitting
to the actual main feature because otherwise you
could start to get a bit of information overload!
THE STORY
OF CORTEZ AND MONTEZUMA
This was a documentary
that was originally produced for Blue Peter in September
1970. It was aimed at a younger audience than
me, so a lot of it was information I already knew (I
studied this period in my history course). For
anyone who isn’t familiar with Aztec history I would
recommend that you watch this first. It gives
you a good background to the story and will help you
understand the significance of some of the dialogue.
It’s presented by good old Valerie Singleton too
so it’s got to be worth a look!
RESTORING
THE AZTECS
Although this
bit only lasts for around 8 minutes I found this to
be the most interesting documentary of the lot. It
tells how the original (slightly shabby and crackly)
television programme has been transformed into a clean
and crisp DVD. What we now have is four episodes
that have been cleaned up and restored using a process
called VidFIRE ~ a process developed by the Doctor Who
Restoration Team's Peter Finklestone to restore the
'video look' to film recordings. It is a fascinating
look at how long it takes to make the programme suitable
for the DVD format, how the digitising process works
and how difficult it is sometimes to produce the finished
result.
MAKING COCOA
THE AZTEC WAY
I don’t really
want to give too much away for this one ~ suffice it
to say that it is an animated look at how the Aztecs
made cocoa. Watchable, but not something you would
view more than once.
PHOTO GALLERY
I found this more
interesting than I often do, because some of the pictures
were old ones that I hadn’t seen before. There
are some nice photos of the cast and a few behind the
scenes views too.
INFORMATION
SUB-TITLES
I always love
to learn more about the actors, the viewing figures
and the actual production of the series, so this is
always one of my favourite special features. I
was not disappointed this time either! I always
make sure we have these on-screen notes switched on
so I can learn as I watch. I find the little snippets
of information useful and informative ~ I know when,
how and why things were filmed, what the actors have
done before or since and other interesting insights
into filming. Well done to Richard Molesworth
of the Restoration Team for researching and writing
this for us to enjoy!
TARDIS-CAM
NUMBER 3
This is a regular
feature in the recent Dr Who DVDs and is produced in
conjunction with the BBCi web-site. Each one shows the TARDIS in
an unlikely location. I don’t really look at this
feature, but it does give the DVD an interactive link
with the internet.
ARABIC SOUNDTRACK
This gives you the chance to
hear some alternative incidental music and the Arabic
soundtrack on episode four of the story (called The
Day of Darkness). I didn’t find this really added
anything to the story for me, but it was nice to see
all the same. Another feature that you may view
once, but then never look at (or listen too) again!
RANDOMISED INTRODUCTION
MESSAGES
This rather grand sounding feature
actually just provides you with six different introduction
voiceovers, provided by either Tlotoxl, Tonila or Ixta.
A nice little touch!
EASTER EGGS
There are three Easter Eggs
(bonus extras) included on this disc as far as I know.
I won’t give them away, but they can be found
by randomly pressing keys and highlighting things on
the DVD menus. If you do need a hand let me know!
I think that more or less
covers the extras (you do get the usual animated graphical
menus of course). Once again the BBC (along with
the excellent Dr Who Restoration Team) has produced
an excellent and collectable DVD. It is worth
any Dr Who fan buying this for the extras alone and
then you get to watch a great piece of television too!
If you forgive the sometimes wobbly and obviously
painted backgrounds you will really enjoy the whole
viewing experience ~ what do you expect for 1964?
The Aztecs DVD is available through all
usual stockists (Blackstar, Amazon, MVC, etc) and prices
vary. Mine was £16.99 from Blackstar and it’s
currently retailing at the BBC on-line shop for £19.99.
It also has the best cover so far out of all the
releases ~ orangey red and reminiscent of the sacrifice
theme in the story. (DWO Price
is £15.99)
Buy it and enjoy it! I
did and I am sure it will be something that I bring
out and look at from time to time.
INTERESTING FACTS
-
It is
the first DVD release to feature the first incarnation
of the Doctor ~ this original Doctor was played
by the wonderfully crotchety (sadly no longer with
us) William Hartnell.
-
Most
of this story was filmed out of sequence to allow
for the absence of Carole Ann Ford ~ she was on
holiday for some of the filming.
-
The Doctor
gets engaged during this story because he “makes
cocoa” with a lady! Be careful what you do.
» Review by Andrea Waterhouse, Copyright 2003.
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The
Aztecs DVD was
a welcome release to this format as it was the first
to feature the first Doctor for a release. It
had been delayed for a month and fans were ancious for
it's release. Part of the first season; it's a
four parter - excellent performances by Bill Hartnell,
Carole Ann Ford and the rest of the team.
Up until
The Aztecs VHS release in 1992, I was
never really keen on the idea of a purely historical
Doctor Who adventure. However I have to say that this
story changed my opinion of that genre forever