The Myth Makers is an odd fish. It’s one of those lost stories that, due to the lack of photographic record, fans know very little about. We have the soundtrack and the odd photograph, but nothing substantial enough to get a proper feel for the story – at least not in the same way as other lost stories, such as Fury from the Deep or Marco Polo.

I first became acquainted with this story through the Loose Cannon reconstruction. At the time, I loved it. It was exciting to finally be ‘watching’ a story that I knew little about and Loose Cannon have done a wonderful job bringing to life a story which has very little surviving material. It evens includes the grainiest, murkiest clips that I’ve ever seen for any Doctor Who story and specially filmed shots of a wooden horse.

This time round, however, I watched the reconstruction whilst listening to the superior recording of the soundtrack courtesy of BBC Audio. The repeated use of the same four or five photographs, along with shots taken from stories such as The Romans and non-Doctor Who serials like I, Claudius works really well for about one episode. It then starts to grate and by the time I reached episodes 3 and 4 I gave up on the reconstruction and simply listened to the remaining audio. It’s a shame that they couldn’t find some ‘greekier’ shots to stand in for certain characters as the Roman aspects are obviously Roman and therefore don’t quite work. That said, it is an admirable effort and one that I did end up revisiting when I watched through the Hartnell era with my eldest child.

The story sees the Doctor, Steven and Vicki arrive on the plains of Asia Minor near the city of Troy whilst it is besieged by Greek troops vowing revenge for the kidnap of Helen. Interestingly, Helen never appears in the story and after the initial couple of episodes is never mentioned. The Doctor is mistaken for Zeus, Steven pretends to be Diomede, a dead Greek soldier, and Vicki is renamed Cressida by the Trojans and lauded and denounced equally as a prophet and a sorceress. And that is, really, it. The Doctor spends most of the story avoiding coming up with the wooden horse as a means of invading the city – only to fall back on the scheme when all else fails; Steven gets captured by the Trojans and released by Vicki only to be wounded in the ensuing battle and Vicki falls in love with Troilus, a young Trojan prince, and remains behind when the TARDIS leaves.

The Myth Makers is well known amongst fan circles for being ‘a comedy’. Dennis Spooner, who penned The Romans (another comedy which this marathon will soon experience) returns to give humorous lines to more historical characters. However, it’s really only Paris who is given the funny stuff and Barrie Ingham plays him very much as a comedic character – even delivering slightly duff lines like ‘it’s too late to say whoa to the horse’ with committed aplomb. Frances White is saddled with wailing and moaning as Cassandra and Francis de Wolff as Agamemnon and Ivor Salter as Odysseus spend most of the story being gruff, macho and occasionally sarcastic at either the Doctor’s, Steven’s or (Agamemnon’s brother) Menelaus’ expense.  William Hartnell seems to do very little and isn’t given very comedic material and with Steven manning up as Diomede and Vicki telling everyone she’s from the future, the regulars don’t really seem as strong as usual.

There are also some very odd pieces of dialogue for a family show, not least Odysseus’ simile involving an orgy!

The addition of Katarina to the TARDIS crew at the close of the story is also very odd. Without visuals it is impossible to know if Adrienne Hill, the actress, features in any scenes in the first 3 episodes, but the first we hear of her on the audio is in Episode 4 when suddenly, Cassandra starts giving her instructions, followed by Vicki asking her to look after Steven.

As a potential companion, she is given no character aside from being Trojan and a handmaiden. Unsurprisingly she believes the TARDIS is taking her to the afterlife and the production team quickly realised that her character was unsustainable as a companion blaming her historical naivety and the difficulties that would cause writing for her in stories taking place outside of her realm of experience.

Personally I think the problem was more an underwritten character – she is little more than an extra judging by the number of lines she has in Episode 4. Historical companions can work, as Jamie proves in very next season, and indeed as we Big Finish proved with Erimem.  Had Katarina been introduced from the beginning, maybe as a friend to Vicki – something akin to Ping-Cho’s relationship with Susan in Marco Polo – then she could easily have worked.

The historical aspect of the story comes through strongly with a large cast of Greek and Trojan characters as well as ‘off-screen’ characters such as Helen and Aeneas. The siege of Troy is a well known story and the Doctor posits the idea that the wooden horse ploy was probably made up by Homer when he wrote the tale down. Of course, it is the Doctor who comes up with the idea of the horse, having read about it in Homer, giving a neat little paradox for us to ponder. That said, it’s possible the Doctor meets Homer in the future and tells him about the horse, so maybe it was the Doctor’s idea all along!  (And indeed, the novelisation of the story inserts Homer into events).

The final battle is, at least on audio, well realised with lots of swords clashing and screaming. The lack of visuals is a shame as I would love to see how this massive event was depicted on screen. I imagine that my imagination is somewhat better than reality.

How much of this ‘history’ is true is questionable, particularly due to the comedic nature of the story, but it definitely fits with the early serials historical remit and visits a period of history that is familiar to most people, if only through myth rather than historical fact.

A story that has potential but maybe doesn't for me, realise it all.

📝6/10

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time! 

This time: Farewell, Cressida!

MY SCATTERED AND TOTALLY IRRELEVANT NOTES:

The Myth Makers is where, arguably, Season 3 of Doctor Who kicks off into high gear. Enter the Dark Ages, both literally and figuratively: the stories turn darker and less kid-friendly, and most of them are entirely or mostly missing (such as this very story). So there'll be quite a lot of reviews based on reconstructions for a while now, unfortunately.

The serial features one of my all-time favourite openings to a Doctor Who story. It throws you straight into the action through the battle between Achilles and Hector, effectively setting up the historical period in the process. What follows is the Doctor suddenly entering and pretending to be Zeus—it is both hilarious and memorable at the same time!

I like the Dennis Spooner-esque approach to a historical here: there's a slight comical quality to it, and it ends with the Doctor very directly meddling with historical events, causing the entire Trojan Horse legend most of us are familiar with. It's a lesser take on The Romans, but it’s one I’m generally fine with.

Donald Cotton writes fantastically thick dialogue, which seems to go on and on in a string of lengthy and repetitive scenes that sadly aren’t very exciting to watch with only a few telesnaps here and there. The dialogue is both theatrical and very poetic, almost like it had been brought over from the pages of the Iliad. I genuinely love the dialogue and hate it because I rarely manage to focus enough to truly follow what the characters are saying.

This is a very dialogue-driven story with theatrical conversation pieces that don't translate very well to audio. There are also plenty of scenes with long pieces of dialogue about essentially nothing (such as the one early in Part 2 with three characters chatting about the nature of the TARDIS). This is the single biggest drawback that makes The Myth Makers somewhat of a chore to sit through in one sitting.

To be fair, there isn't a whole lot going on here. It's mostly a story filled with conversation for three episodes, as the plot doesn't build up to any climax or conclusion of sorts, and the main characters mostly bide their time talking and not taking any action. This is, in many ways, a step back towards the writing style of Season 1.

Those familiar with the Iliad and the myth of the Trojan Horse won't find much new or exciting here; the plot is very predictable early on and doesn’t really play around with its ideas all that much. Part 4 is the strongest of the lot, but it’s not spectacular by any means.

Part 4 takes an unexpected turn for the darker, as the famous Trojan Horse event gets underway with all its chaos, murder, and destruction. This is one of those single missing episodes I would pay anything for to be able to watch in full. It openly and boldly pictures the death and chaos of the siege of Troy and is a testament to the darker and more serious tone of this season. And isn't it pretty horrifying to think that the Doctor essentially caused the slaughter, since he provided the plans for the horse...? Then there’s also the pretty dramatic duel between Achilles and Troilus.

The tail end of Part 4, with Vicki's final scene with Troilus, is heartwarming and happy, and it's followed by one of the more stressful endings to any Doctor Who story, with Steven mortally wounded inside the TARDIS.

William Hartnell was reportedly difficult to work with during this serial for several reasons, and while that doesn't shine through in his performance, the Doctor comes across as a bit more grumpy and stubborn again, which actually feels like a breath of fresh air and suits the intended tone of the serial well.

This is Vicki's final story (much to the surprise of everyone, not least Maureen O'Brien herself, who found out she was to be written out after returning from her holiday to film her final episode), and Cotton does nothing with her for the majority of the story and doesn't build up to her exit, thus making it all seem very rushed and cold. If Susan's romance in The Dalek Invasion of Earth felt sudden, this one is no better. It is weird, by the way, how Vicki's story here feels similar to that of Susan's in The Aztecs (1964). Despite not being a huge fan of how Vicki is written out at the end of this story, I have to admit that her scenes with Troilus are very lovely, and the way she sends him away to avoid him being slaughtered in Troy is heartwarming.

Steven isn't up to much, and I'm kind of bummed he's essentially an Ian copy in this story, which is really not how he is usually depicted by other writers. We get the best onscreen chemistry between O'Brien and Peter Purves since The Time Meddler (1965), and it's a pity this companion pairing wasn't allowed to develop across more stories.

This is yet another historical story with an altogether great guest cast, playing famous historical figures. Francis de Wolff, returning to the show after playing creepy "ladies' man" Vasor in The Keys of Marinus (1964), is the perfect fit to play the gruff Agamemnon. Another returning actor is Ivor Salter, who completely makes up for his unimpressive turn in The Space Museum (1965) by being the loud and abrasive villain Odysseus.

Despite a fine performance from Salter, I don't find Odysseus very interesting or actively perilous for our TARDIS travellers (the Doctor notwithstanding).

Frances White offers a wonderfully grungy and scheming performance as Cassandra, while Max Adrian's Priam proves to be a likeable father figure for Vicki and the viewer.

With another historical adventure lost to time, we are left with only snippets of the impressive costume design and set decoration seen in these four episodes. It truly looks great, but it's impossible to form a coherent picture due to the lack of existing material.

From the sound of it, The Myth Makers features some cool fight scenes that we just have to imagine now. The music during these scenes is fantastic, though.

I'm very happy the soundtrack of this story survives because it is fantastically bonkers and energetic, and there's some kind of a mythical quality to it as well. The incidental music is another one-time contribution, this time from Humphrey Searle.

The Myth Makers is one of the slower historicals, and I feel it would flow much better had it existed (or would it ever be animated). The biggest weakness is the three episodes of mostly unessential plotting before the eventful final episode.

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:

• Small Prophet, Quick Return must be one of the better episode titles in all of Doctor Who. There's something beautifully poetic about it. Horse of Destruction, meanwhile, isn't as much a classic.
• Katarina is ushered into the story from nowhere during Part 4 as the new (short-lived, quite literally; see the next story!) companion, and my first and only thought is: what the heck were they thinking?
• What a pity that the third appearance from Tutte Lemkow on the show (following Marco Polo, 1964, and The Crusade, 1965) ends up being lost as well—his performance and character here seem the juiciest yet.

So that's goodbye to Vicki, which is a real shame as it was only over the last few stories that I felt her character begun warming up. The Myth Makers is probably her strongest outing. I was enjoying her character development in the last couple of stories and felt she had finally moved beyond being Susan 2.0.

This story itself improved as it went along, with episode 4 being the peak, I liked the idea of the doctor coming up with the idea for the siege of Troy and jumping out of a wooden horse. I loved Vicki franticly searching through the TARDIS wardrobe looking through the variety of clothes trying to find something of the right period - great idea (just wish I could see the footage!!)

This story seems to be influential on The Fires of Pompeii, the TARDIS being used as a shrine, the priestess is very much like soothsayers. Seeing the two opposing sides in Troy is interesting, its impactful having Steven on one side and Vicki on the other.

The Myth Makers is alright.  I really like Vicki as a character and this story features her pretty well, but I don't really like her exit here.  It's the same old boring trope of a character falling in love in a single story and bailing out of the adventure of a lifetime at the last minute.  That's my least favourite way for a companion to leave so it's never really fun to see.  I do like how stories contextualize this moment a bit down the road - that Vicki would go on to regret this decision a bit as one that was impulsive, but she does ultimately find a meaningful life in the antiquity era for herself.  Katarina's introduction on the other hand, felt pretty underwhelming.  Definitely one of the weaker ones for any companion I've seen thus far.

On paper, I think I should enjoy this historical more than I actually do.  The premise is pretty fun as the TARDIS crew find themselves on opposite sides of the Trojan War.  Yet a lot of characters and scenes in this world of ancient Greece kind of feel flat and boring.  I never really got pulled in by these episodes and the serial as a whole felt deeply underwhelming.  All that being said, I'm not too against The Myth Makers and feel like this review is a bit more negative in tone than the actual story deserves after all.  Sure, all these problems exist, and they are hard to completely ignore, but The Myth Makers gets away with a lot thanks to its kind of laid back energy.  The comedic tone and commitment of having at least some decent costumes and effort in the production give it just enough of a solid pace that this feels more like a cozy viewing experience rather than an outright boring one overall.

In that light, I might even go so far as recommending it, but you kind of have to know what you are in for especially with footage missing for all four episodes, which is a bit of a shame since it does seem like The Myth Makers had some cool visuals to it.  I always like the sets and costumes from this era.  It's so fun seeing what the crew could put together, often from what clearly must have been leftovers of other shows being made at the time that were sitting around BBC storage.  There's an underdog tone to the black and white era where I'm often amazed at their resourcefulness, and this story is a good example of that in action.  I do wonder if I'd like this one more if it were more easily accessible like the other historicals where all footage has been preserved.

A story with a clearly strong script, but with several factors that hinder it from being perfect.

The Doctor, Steven & Vicki land in Ancient Greece and meet up with Odysseus, who is planning to invade Troy. Soon, they are split up, with Vicki on the Troy side, and Steven & the Doctor on the Greek side. So how will this mythical conflict play out?

First of all, there are two outside factors which hold this story back. The first one should be pretty obvious: It doesn’t exist anymore. This story is, apart from some vague screenshots and second-long clips, completely missing. This is the first time I’ve really come across that. Marco Polo was similarly missing, but at least some very clear screenshots, a fan-made recreation of episode 1 (look that up!) and a 99% faithful novelization. The latter being my pick for experiencing the story, as it captures the essence of it wonderfully.

This story does not have the same luxuries. So, for the uninitiated, let’s quickly go over the 3 main ways you could go about experiencing this story. The first is the Loose Cannon reproduction. These take the existing audio recordings of the episode and add screenshots and extra material to make the episodes as complete as possible. It’s normally a viable option, but since this story doesn’t have a lot of screenshots, it’s not as good as other recreations. Besides that, this recreation also doesn’t have a narrator who describes what’s going on. Instead opting for scrolling text, which is disappointing.

Your second option would be the BBC narrated soundtrack, narrated by Peter Purves. This basically contains the original audio for the episode, and does have a narrator over it who connects the scenes together. The clear downside of this one is, of course, that there are no visuals.

Your last option would be the Target Novelisation written by original writer Donald Cotton. This one also has an audiobook version read by Stephen Thorne. The upside for this one is that you have a clear, understandable story penned by the original writer. The downside is that there are clear changes from the TV episode, like the entire story being told from the perspective of Homer. You also miss out on the acting for this one, which was quite strong. Especially since we have a few important moments for our main cast.

For me, I swapped between option 1 and 2. I tried to listen to the narrated soundtrack, but found it hard to follow in places. Especially the last episode. So I watched that one in the reconstruction about halfway through. Why no one has made a definitive version by combining the narrated soundtrack and the reconstruction, is a mystery to me.

Anyway, enough of all that. On to the actual story. This story is a pure historical, and quite a creative one at that. Generally speaking, historicals in Doctor Who go one of two ways: They are funny, or they are dramatic. This one is a bit of a middle ground, while leaning a bit more to the funny side.

It has some great moments and interactions between the historic characters, which makes them very memorable. A standout being the scene where Steven convinces Troy soldier Paris that he should take him hostage, which leads to some fun, unearned pride on his side.

There’s also plenty of drama, though. The Doctor is forced by Odysseus to prepare a plan to attack troy. On the other side, Vicki is forced to prepare a plan to attack Greece. Steven is also in this story. Thrown in jail. I don’t know why you would expect anything else from him.

While this could’ve led to an interesting battle of wits between the Doctor and Vicki, the story seems to quickly chicken out and make it all look like a miracle on the Vicki side, so the Doctor can think out a plan and look smart. Bit cheap, really.

Still, the Doctor’s plan is fun on its own. He first dismisses the horse infiltration idea and considers it stupid. Instead, he thinks up a catapult to launch soldiers into Troy. The Greeks are on board and all is well, until they want to launch the Doctor as a test subject. After that, he changes his tune real quick and goes for horse infiltration. Great stuff from a comedy perspective. When they actually enter Troy, it becomes a story of trust, betrayal and violence. Which is great stuff from a dramatic perspective.

And that’s why it is a massive shame that this story doesn’t exist anymore: It is a combination of the two halves of history stories. It is both dramatic AND comedic, and the two sides strengthen each other. This was tried before in the Romans, but there the comedy side and the drama side clashed, thanks to the constant switching between the two. They don’t do that here. In this story, one leads to the other. The comedy banter in Troy builds up the characters, so we later feel the hurt when we see them defeated. The comedy leads to the Trojan Horse, which is used to start the entire attack. Comedy pushes every piece into place, so that the drama can land. I genuinely believe there is no other historical (until now) that has combined the two so well. That’s why it's a shame this story doesn’t exist: If it did, it could genuinely be my favorite pure historical for the way it knows how to strike a balance.

But there is one other factor I’ve kind of neglected to mention about this. And it is the other outside factor I mentioned at the start. When reading the script edit for this story, Maureen O’Brien found out she was suddenly being written off of the show. And that puts a damper on the final product. It’s integrated fine. Not brilliantly. A little lower than Susan, if I had to compare.

But the entire idea of her being written off here is a bit problematic with her character. She had established a familial relationship with the Doctor and Steven. At the same time, both TV and the audio’s have pushed her even further by exploring her relationship with loss and her fear of being left behind. Yet, at the same time. In this story she’s suddenly decided to leave that family all behind. It undermines her bonds and growth in the ways it is presented. And I want to make clear: It is not only the audio’s that have pushed her this far, TV episodes very clearly had the same intention. To throw all that in the bin in what amounts to 5 minutes, is a disservice.

And yet I still love this story. While the decision was made for her, Maureen O’Brien clearly pushes it as far as it can go. Still leaves a mark on the show, even within the limitations the writing put on her. Massive props for her.

But yeah, how do I go about judging this? This story doesn’t exist, had some bad forced decisions, but its actual excellence still shines through and it achieves something other historicals never did as well. I’m torn. It’s like judging the lettuce that has fallen out of your Big Mac.

But dangit, it’s good lettuce. From what is shown, everyone very clearly tried. If this story is ever animated, or better yet, found, I’ll look at it thoroughly. Until then, I’m going to give this an 8 for all that was accomplished. Circumstances be damned.