The Myth Makers (TV story): Difference between revisions

{{Infobox Story SMW

|season number          = Season 3 (Doctor Who 1963)|

|writer                = Donald Cotton

|broadcast date        = 16 October - 6 November 1965

|network                = BBC1

|thwr = 16

}}{{dab page|Myth Makers (disambiguation)}}

'''''The Myth Makers''''' was the third serial of [[Season 3 (Doctor Who 1963)|season 3]] of ''[[Doctor Who]]''. It was the final regular appearance of [[Maureen O'Brien]] as [[Vicki Pallister]] and saw the introduction of new companion [[Katarina]], played by [[Adrienne Hill]].

Currently, all four episodes are missing from the [[BBC Archives]].

Out on the plains, Troilus is looking upon the destruction of his native city. He wonders if Cressida has betrayed them and caused his city's doom. Whilst engaging in his dark speculations, he sees Vicki coming to join him. She perfunctorily explains that Diomedes is safe and that her friends have left her to go back to where they came from. However, she has elected to stay with Troilus. Troilus is initially disconsolate at the loss of his city, but the two soon declare their love. Moments later, Troilus' cousin [[Aeneas]] arrives with reinforcements, and Vicki says that this is how it is meant to be: they can build "another Troy" together.

* Extra - [[John May (extra)|John May]]

* Woman in Square - [[Daphne Green (actor)|Daphne Green]]

* [[Director (crew)|Director]] - [[Michael Leeston-Smith]]

== Worldbuilding ==

* [[Derek Martinus]] was the first choice to direct, but he was moved over to ''[[Galaxy 4 (TV story)|Galaxy 4]]'' and ''[[Mission to the Unknown (TV story)|Mission to the Unknown]]''.<ref name=":0">http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/u.html</ref>

** For many years, two 8mm clips from "Death of a Spy" that depict the First Doctor stating "-wasn't part of the plan" and "-necessary, I shall only get in the way!" were mistaken as being from the scene in "Small Prophet, Quick Return" where the Doctor and Steven confess to Odysseus that they are time travellers. This mistake was finally [https://twitter.com/mister__rhys/status/869239215787307008?lang=en corrected in 2017] by Twitter user and fan Mister_Rhys, years after the ''[[Lost in Time (DVD box set)|Lost in Time]]'' boxset and [[Loose Cannon Productions|Loose Cannon]] reconstructions had been produced with the clips in the wrong place. It is also possible that the clip of Vicki leaving the TARDIS with a sad look on her face believed to be from "Small Prophet, Quick Return" is actually from "Horse of Destruction", depicting her departure from the Doctor and Steven during the destruction of Troy.

* [[William Hartnell]] was unhappy making this serial for a variety of reasons:

** He was struck and injured by a camera during the filming of "Temple of Secrets" and sustained a bruise to the shoulder.

** He was unhappy by what he saw as the Doctor's diminished role in the scripts. He feared that he was being upstaged by prominent guest stars, including [[Francis De Wolff]] and especially [[Max Adrian]].

** He suffered a bereavement while working on the story: the death of his Aunt Bessie, who had looked after him during his troubled childhood. Unfortunately, the tight recording schedules prevented Hartnell from taking time off to attend her funeral.<ref name=":0" /> This led to him becoming difficult during production, refusing to speak to actors [[Max Adrian]] or [[Francis De Wolff|Francis de Wolff]] and declaring director [[Michael Leeston-Smith]] a "fool".

* For timing reasons, an exchange between Vicki and Katarina in "Horse of Destruction" was cut from the final broadcast. The two discuss how Katarina came to serve as a handmaiden, and in the process, Katarina reveals that recent auguries have foretold her imminent death.

* The ''Radio Times'' programme listing for "Death of a Spy" was accompanied by a small black-and-white head-and-shoulders profile shot of Max Adrian (King Priam), with the accompanying caption “Max Adrian, distinguished actor and revue artist, plays King Priam of Troy in ''Dr. Who'' at 5.50”. ''(original published text)''

* [[Francis De Wolff]] wore the same costume as Agamemnon as he had worn as Agrippa in ''[[Carry On Cleo]]''. ([[HOMEVID]]: Frances White's [[Loose Cannon Productions]] introduction to ''The Myth Makers'')

* [[Donald Tosh]] found some humour in writing Vicki out as a Shakespearian character, as [[Maureen O'Brien]] was always complaining about the scripts and getting annoyed when he wouldn't change her dialogue. "It isn't Shakespeare, you know", she complained. However, no-one had told O'Brien that Vicki was being written out and she only learned this when she saw the script for "Horse of Destruction".

* According to the BBC’s Audience Research Reports, viewers were dissatisfied that the Trojan Horse was only seen briefly on screen in "Horse of Destruction". The action sequences were also criticised: “it was said (once) that the descent of the Greek soldiers from the Horse was anything but speedy.”<ref>''[[Doctor Who Chronicles - 1965]]''</ref>

* Colour photographs of the original Trojan Horse prop from this story exist, but they were taken years after production by [[David J Howe]].<ref>[https://twitter.com/davidjhowe1/status/1423630137367711747?s=21 Twitter]</ref>

* [[William Hartnell]] and [[Peter Purves]] were both unhappy that [[Maureen O'Brien]] was leaving, while [[Donald Tosh]] felt that her exit could have been handled better.

* [[Donald Cotton]] originally omitted Paris from his script.

* Originally, Steven and Vicki were freed by Priam after the horse was brought into Troy. They used Morse code to make contact with the Doctor. When the Greeks burst out of the horse, the Doctor and Steven reclaimed the TARDIS, but Vicki returned to the palace to recover a memento given to her by Helen. There she witnessed Priam nearly defeat Achilles in battle, only to be slain by Odysseus.

* The element of Steven being wounded was added at the request of [[Terry Nation]], who planned to make use of the development in the first episode of ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan (TV story)|The Daleks' Master Plan]]''.

* [[Donald Cotton]] had previously written plays that were heavily inspired by Greek Mythology, which led to him choosing the Trojan War as a setting.

* [[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'' and ''[[The Odyssey]]''

* [[Geoffrey Chaucer|Chaucer]]'s {{wi|Troilus and Criseyde}}

* [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Troilus and Cressida]]''

* The plays of [[Euripides]]

* {{wi|A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum}}

* "Death of a Spy" - 8.7 million viewers

* "Horse of Destruction" - 8.3 million viewers

=== Myths ===

=== Filming locations ===

* [[Frensham Little Pond]], [[Surrey]] (Troy landscape)

=== Production errors ===

* The [[Eighth Doctor]] and [[Charlotte Pollard]] meet [[Vicki Pallister|Vicki]] later, though as she was unfamiliar with [[regeneration]], she assumed he was a younger version of the First Doctor. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Apocrypha Bipedium (short story)|Apocrypha Bipedium]]'')

* Vicki still has her twisted ankle, which happened immediately before this adventure. ([[TV]]: ''[[Galaxy 4 (TV story)|Galaxy 4]]'')

* The Doctor was previously aware that Vicki would eventually become [[Cressida]] in circa 1200 BC. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Byzantium! (novel)|Byzantium!]]'')

* Cassandra was later resurrected in the [[City of the Saved]] as a young woman. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Prologue to Of the City of the Saved... (short story)|Prologue to Of the City of the Saved...]]'')

* The Doctor plans to find help for Steven. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan (TV story)|The Daleks' Master Plan]]'')

== Home video and audio releases ==

* Only eleven short clips from "Temple of Secrets", "Small Prophet, Quick Return" and "Horse of Destruction" are known to exist. They are from a reel of 8mm film shot off a TV screen.

* The story was released on CD by [[AudioGO|BBC Radio Collection]], with linking narration by [[Peter Purves]], in [[January (releases)|January]] [[2001 (releases)|2001]].

* This audio has also been released as part of the ''[[Adventures in History]]'' CD Set in August 2003.

* It was also re-released in [[2010 (releases)|2010]] as part of the box set ''[[Doctor Who: The Lost TV Episodes - Collection One]]''.

* The narrated soundtrack was released on LP as part of the Vinyl Who range on the [[27 August (releases)|27th August]] [[2021 (releases)|2021]] (2 discs, Demon Records)

== External links ==

* {{bbcepguideclassic|mythmakers/|The Myth Makers}}

* {{radiotimes|2009-02-06/the-myth-makers|The Myth Makers}}

== Footnotes ==

[[Category:Completely missing serials]]