The Myth Makers (TV story)

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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.

Synopsis

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.

Plot

to be added

Cast

Crew

References

  • Vicki implies in this story that she is 16 years old
  • The TARDIS is light enough to be carried by Paris and his men.

Story Notes

  • This is the final story featuring Vicki
  • This is the first story featuring Katarina
  • The working titles for this story included The Mythmakers, The Trojans, and The Trojan War. Individual episode titles included Zeus ex Machina (episode 1) and Is There a Doctor in the Horse? (episode 3).
  • All 4 episodes of this story have been lost, with only very limited photographic material being held in the BBC archive
  • Some limited material from episodes 1, 2 and 4 exist in the form of 8mm home movie reel shot on a television set
  • This is also oOne of the least documented stories, with only very limited material (film/photographic) existing.
  • William Hartnell was struck and injured by a camera during the filming of the first episode and sustained a bruise to the shoulder.
  • William Hartnell 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.
  • In the 1980s, Reeltime Pictures launched a series of home video releases featuring interviews with the cast and crew of Doctor Who. This long-running series of tapes (which later included the first independently-produced Doctor Who spin-offs) was entitled Myth Makers after this story

Influences

Ratings

  • Temple of Secrets - 8.3 million viewers
  • Small Prophet, Quick Return - 8.1 million viewers
  • Death of a Spy - 8.7 million viewers
  • Horse of Destruction - 8.3 million viewers

Myths

  • William Hartnell refused to appear in scenes with Max Adrian as he was Jewish and gay. (This is not true and it is only coincidental that the two do not appear in any scenes together)
  • Frances White who played Cassandra was not credited for this story. (She did in fact appear in the credits for her episodes but was not listed in the Radio Times, at her own request)

Filming Locations

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

to be added

Continuity

DVD, Video and Other Releases

  • Only eleven short clips from episodes 1, 2 and 4 are known to exist. They are from a reel of 8mm film shot at a TV screen.
  • The original audio of this story exists and was released as The Myth Makers on 2 CD's with linking material provided by Peter Purves in January 2001.

Target Novelisations

See also

External Links


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