The Day of Darkness (The Aztecs Episode 4)

The one where the Doctor leaves behind the wife he never married...

One of the many relationships threaded through these four episodes is the rivalry between Ian and Ixta, played with great relish by Ian Cullen. The episode opens with William Russell crawling terribly slowly along the tunnel he's been trapped in by Ixta, eventually to escape the other end, but the two are not done yet. When Tlotoxl leaves Ixta to guard Susan, Ian takes great pleasure in walloping his adversary from behind. However, later on, Ian still falls for the age-old trick of picking up the murder weapon and then getting found with it in his hand (exactly what happened to him in The Keys of Marinus too!).

The Doctor is reunited with Susan for the first time since The Temple of Evil, but amusingly the Doctor hasn't got time to be grateful: "My dear Susan! How glad... I'll tell you how glad I am to see you later on." Hartnell's probably ad-libbed it, but it's just so funny!

Tlotoxl's villainy reaches new depths in this episode, as his quest to discredit the false goddess Yetaxa begins to consume him. He instructs Ixta to kill peaceful old codger Autloc and leave Ian's weapon at the scene of the crime to frame him, and later he orders Ixta to murder the Aztec Captain for letting Ian and Susan escape. His plan to destroy Barbara is also pretty grim: "I had a vision of a room with three walls. The false goddess Yetaxa shall be placed in that room... and the fourth wall added. Then order shall be restored." The way John Ringham delivers "and the fourth wall added" is spine-tinglingly evil!

By the end of the story, when the false goddess and her servants have fled, Tlotoxl remains resolutely unchanged by the events of the story. He still determines to sacrifice the Perfect Victim, and now he's got a new-look High Priest of Knowledge (Tonila) under his thumb. Ringham makes for a thoroughly unpleasant villain in what is probably the best of his three Doctor Who roles.

The feeling of resignation that falls over Barbara is palpable thanks to Jacqueline Hill's performance. She makes Barbara deflated and weary, tired of trying to change Aztec society for the better. There's yet another lovely scene between Hill and Hartnell, who gel so well together when given the chance (the making-up scene at the end of The Brink of Disaster is another case in point). "I just feel sometimes as if all the people who've died here are watching," shivers Barbara. "Waiting... for me to die too." Poor, maudlin Babs... and all the while, the Doctor listens but can find no words to console her.

At the end of the episode there's another gem of a scene between them. As Barbara removes the jewels and props that made her Yetaxa, and lays them back down on the altar, she regrets not being able to make any positive change. "We failed," she sighs. "Yes we did," replies the Doctor. "We had to." Barbara wonders what the point of travelling in time is if she can't change anything for the better, and also regrets deceiving Autloc. It's all very sad and pitched just right by all concerned.

What happens to Autloc is very sad. He has his faith in Yetaxa broken by being made to believe Ian attacked him in the garden. There's a great scene between Barbara and Autloc in which the priest admits: "I do not know if you are Yetaxa. I do not know what you are." It is disappointing to see Autloc's faith in her broken, and the lovely relationship of trust and mutual admiration spoiled by Tlotoxl's meddling. Autloc resolves to give up his role as High Priest of Knowledge, and go out alone into the wilderness to try and clear his confusion. As Tlotoxl says, he will not return.

And let's not forget that other delightful relationship, between the Doctor and his beloved Cameca. The Aztec lady comes to realise that the life of peace and contentment she craves with the Doctor will not come to pass, and the sadness is powerful. Margot Van Der Burgh and William Hartnell milk their scenes for all they're worth, Hartnell in particular saying so much with just his face and those narrowing, darting eyes. "Tomorrow will truly be a day of darkness," says Cameca, pre-empting the Doctor's departure. "For both of us," says the Doctor. "You're a fine woman, Cameca, and you'll always be very very dear to me."

Later, she meets the Doctor one last time, and has not given up on their relationship yet. "I hoped I might stay by your side," she tells him. "Think of me... think of me..." I'm sure I got something in my eye at this point. As for that final scene in the tomb, where the Doctor places Cameca's brooch on the altar, but snatches it back into his pocket before leaving... Beautiful, just beautiful. If anybody ever says William Hartnell's Doctor was all brashness and fluffs, tell them to watch The Aztecs and they'll soon reconsider.

The Aztecs is a layered, beautifully written serial with some stunning design work and excellent characters. John Lucarotti is clever but cruel to his audience - there's little fairness or justice for his creations. Ixta and the Aztec Captain are dead. the Perfect Victim will still be murdered. Autloc is broken. Cameca is heartbroken. Scheming Tonila is promoted at the expense of Autloc, and Tlotoxl goes unpunished, unchallenged, and ultimately, is more powerful by the end than he was before.

I'm glad it's a four-parter as I'm not sure it would have spread any thinner, but Lucarotti's writing is so lyrical and fluid that what we do have is a joy to watch. It's sedately paced, but the pleasure is in the who, not the what, as with all three of his Doctor Who scripts. After giving us 11 episodes in the space of approximately nine months, we'd have to wait another year for Lucarotti to return...

First broadcast: June 13th, 1964

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: William Hartnell is fantastic, yet again. You can see everything the Doctor feels for Cameca in that wonderful face of his. I've said it before, but I'll never tire of repeating it: Hartnell was a damn fine actor, and too many people have forgotten, or refuse to acknowledge, this. I'm so glad we're lucky enough to see these episodes.
The Bad: There's not much to criticise in this episode beyond the regulation polystyrene sacrificial altar.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★★☆ (story average: 8.8 out of 10)

NEXT TIME: Strangers in Space...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: The Temple of Evil (episode 1); The Warriors of Death (episode 2); The Bride of Sacrifice (episode 3)

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/the-aztecs.html

The Aztecs is available on Special Edition DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Aztecs-Special-DVD/dp/B00AREPA1I