Small Prophet, Quick Return (The Myth Makers Episode 2)

The one where both Steven and Vicki are given aliases...

So it seems the TARDIS has been taken into the city of Troy by Paris, son of King Priam... and with Vicki still inside. What a wonderful parallel to the Trojan Horse myth which will no doubt play a greater part in proceedings as this serial develops!

Donald Cotton writes the Trojans much more comically than the Greeks. Whereas the likes of Menelaus and Agamemnon had their witty barbs and quickfire ripostes in episode 1, the people of Troy are portrayed much more broadly, particularly Paris, played like an English toff by Barrie Ingham. I'll get this out of the way now: I really don't like Ingham's portrayal of Paris (or, indeed, Cotton's). Paris is portrayed as a coward, a reluctant warrior, a bumbling civil servant type modelled on the standard fare of Terry-Thomas or Frankie Howerd. Indeed, this Paris wouldn't be out of place played by Jim Dale or Kenneth Williams in a Carry On caper (Carry On Agamemnon?).

I get that it's meant to be funny, it's meant to subvert the usual depiction of these Greek and Trojan heroes and have a bit of fun with the myths and legends of Ancient Greece. Cotton is fusing fact with fiction, the vagueness of known history with the colourful creations of Homer. But although there are plenty of other characters played with tongue in cheek, Paris seems out of place, like he's in a sitcom and every time there's a gag, Ingham turns to camera with a wink or a withering look. It just does not sit well with me at all and I really resent it spoiling the rest of the story!

Moving on, we have the jolly, kindly Priam, who is instantly an ersatz Doctor/ parent figure for young Vicki, while High Priestess Cassandra is played with delicious enthusiasm by Frances White. She gives a lip-smackingly evil performance, lapping up every monstrous line and instantly becoming my favourite character of the story. Cassandra is gloriously, thoroughly nasty! During the course of this episode she hurls insult upon insult at poor Vicki, calling her a "puny Pagan goddess", a "drab of Agamemnon's", a sorceress, a heathen, a usurper and a spy, and by the cliffhanger she's ordering both Vicki and Steven's execution. She's clearly off her trolley and White's performance deserves to be seen as well as it can be heard. Odd that she requested that her name not be used in publicity or Radio Times listings for the story. If she feared she'd given a poor performance, she couldn't be more wrong!

Our heroes are quite free and easy with the truth in this story. The Doctor has no qualms about pretending to be Zeus, or being an indirect cause of the death of Hector, while Steven is happy to tell the Greeks that they are time travellers and that the TARDIS is a time machine. Meanwhile, Vicki introduces herself to the Trojans as somebody from the future, for whom today and tomorrow is history. There's little effort to pretend they're locals this time, which is both surprising and reckless. Nevertheless, the Doctor refuses to suggest the Trojan Horse as a means of helping Agamemnon sack Troy, as he believes the story was merely a plot device dreamed up by Homer. This from a man masquerading as Zeus, who he surely doesn't think was real?

So we have the Doctor as Zeus, Steven as Diomede (should that be Diomedes?) and Vicki is renamed Cressida by Priam. Vicki is also seen to take a shine to Priam's son Troilus here, which shows Vicki is definitely coming of age and growing from a teenage orphan to a strong-minded young woman. It's what happened to Susan just before she parted ways with the Doctor...

First broadcast: October 23rd, 1965

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: It's all about Frances White as Cassandra.
The Bad: Barrie Ingham's performance as Paris makes me squirm.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

NEXT TIME: Death of a Spy...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Temple of Secrets (episode 1); Death of a Spy (episode 3); Horse of Destruction (episode 4)

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/2013/09/the-myth-makers.html

The soundtrack to The Myth Makers is available on CD. Find it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Original-Television-Soundtrack/dp/0563477776/