087 The Myth Makers Part 1: Temple of Secrets

EPISODE: The Myth Makers Part 1: Temple of Secrets
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 087
STORY NUMBER: 020
TRANSMITTED: 16 October 1965
WRITER: Donald Cotton
DIRECTOR: Michael Leeston
SCRIPT EDITOR: Donald Tosh
PRODUCER: John Wiles
FORMAT: CD: Doctor Who: The Lost TV Episodes Collection: No. 1 (1964-1965)

The Tardis arrives near the city of Troy and witnesses the climax of a battle between Achilles, a Greek, and the Trojan Hector. Leaving the Tardis the Doctor is mistaken for Zeus and taken to the Greek camp by Achilles and Odysseus where he meets Agamemnon and his brother Menelaus, who is the husband of Helen who has been abducted by Paris of Troy, bringing Greece & Troy into an extended conflict which Agamemnon hopes that the Doctor, as Zeus, will help them win. Steven follows the Doctor,leaving the injured Vicki, who sprained her ankle in the previous episode, in the Tardis. Steven is first observed by the Greek spy Cyclops (a man who has lost an eye, not a mythical Cyclops!), captured and about to be killed when the Doctor insists that he is taken to his Temple (the Tardis) in the morning where the Doctor will show them a miracle. The mute Cyclops has entered and through sign language tells everyone that "Zeus' Temple" has vanished.

We English love so it was only a matter of time before Doctor Who had a go picking the well known tale of the Trojan Horse. But given that this is sixties television all the Greeks sound like they have upper class English accents with Achilles being a particularly bad offender sounding exactly like the comedian Kit Hesketh-Harvey who you may know from Just a Minute. As for me the episode is a little pedestrian reminding me very much of the classic serials of my youth!

Having done Greek Mythology for real here, Doctor Who then applies the Malcolm Hulke rule ("All you need to work in Television is a good idea. It doesn't necessarily have to be *YOUR* good idea") and "lovingly homages" the stories in many future tales doing The Minotaur in The Time Monster, Odysseus in Underworld and the Minotaur again in Horns of the Nimon (which is great and I will not have a word said against it). 2 Entertain, not wanting to miss any opportunity for a boxset, have released these three together on DVD as Doctor Who - Myths And Legends which is still hovering near retail price due to being a recent release.

This is the first episode with Producer John Wiles name on the credits. He'd been involved for a while now and had fallen out with the cast during the production of Galaxy Four. His tenure would be quite short involving clashes with the stars and his management at the BBC.