The Aztecs
(DVD)

 

Starring William Hartnell
4 Episodes
1964
98 minutes (black and white)
Single Disc




 

 

Production Notes
Doctor Who
William Hartnell

Barbara Wright
Jacqueline Hill

Ian Chesterton
William Russell

Susan
Carole Ann Ford

Written by
John Lucarotti
 
Directed by
John Crockett

Produced by
Verity Lambert

Original Airdate
May 23 - June 13, 1964

US DVD Release Date
March 2003

Warner Home Video
#E1719

U.K. Cover

 

 



 

Cover Blurb
'You can’t rewrite history, not one line.’

In the earliest surviving of Doctor Who’s historical adventures, the TARDIS materializes in an ancient Aztec temple. The Doctor and companions Ian, Barbara and Susan find much to admire in the Aztec civilization.

However, Barbara has been mistaken for the reincarnation of the Aztecs’ High Priest, Yetaxa. The time travelers soon find themselves caught up in a vicious power struggle that could cost them their lives, especially if Barbara continues to wield her influence in an effort to divert the course of history.



 

 

 

DVD Features

  • Remembering The Aztecs:

 A 28 minute documentary with interviews from some of the original cast members including; John Ringham (Tlotoxl), Walter Randall (Tonila)  and Ian Cullen (Ixta).  By far this is the highlight of the DVD features. 
 

 

  • Cortez and Montezuma:

 Taken from a 1970 episode of 'Blue Peter.'  Valerie Singleton presents the story of Cortez, Montezuma and the Aztecs.  Unless you watched this with keen interest as a child over 30 years ago, this item has very little relevance.  It does help to put the story into context, though.
 

 
  • Restoring The Aztecs:
 A short 8 minute extra highlighting several aspects of the restoration of this Hartnell classic including information on the visual and audio clean up as well as showcasing the new VidFIRE process.  Really neat stuff, but more for the hard-core fans than casual viewers.
 

 
  • TARDIS - Cam #3:
 The third in a series of TARDIS- Cam extras.  Some time ago BBCi started an online feature called the TARDIS-Cam which would show people browsing the Internet different locations that the Doctor has traveled to.  Most are simply photos taken from stories already made.  A handful were specially created.  One of these is included as an extra.  
 

 
  • Intro Sequences:
 6 random introductory voiceovers by Tlotoxl (John Ringham), Tonila (Walter Randall) and Ixta (Ian Cullen).  This option only works when you click on the "Play All" option on the main menu.  Mildly amusing.
 

 
  • Information Text:
 Lots of trivia and tidbits of Whovian detail are provided.  The text appears intermittently along the bottom of the screen and is written by Richard Molesworth of the Doctor Who Restoration Team
 

 

  • Designing The Aztecs:

 A highly informative 25 minute feature with designer Barry Newberry talking about various aspects of the shows production.
 

 

  • Making Cocoa:

 This South Park-esque animation was originally intended as an easter egg.  In this sequence you are able to expereince Tlotoxl and Tonila demonstrating the fine art of cocoa making.  Very tongue-in-cheek and quite funny.
 

 
  • Audio Options:
 Under this option you get two choices...

First up, a highly anticipated commentary from William Russell (Ian Chesterton), Carole Ann Ford (Susan) and Verity Lambert (producer).  Unfortunately, it is a fairly dry commentary - but it does have some interesting moments.

The second option is to view episode 4 of "The Aztecs" with an Arabic soundtrack (i.e. Arabic actors doing voice-overs).  Also features alternative incidental music.  Mildly interesting, but not something that most fans would watch more than once.
 

 
  • Photo Gallery:
 A collection of both black and white as well as color photographs showing many publicity stills from the production of this story.  Many of the pictures are rare or even never before seen.  Rather than clicking through each image this time they have them play for a specified amount of time and then move on to the next image.
 

 
  • Who's Who:
 A feature unique to the North American DVD releases.  It lists short biographical information on many of the actors involved in the story.
 

 
  • Easter Eggs:
 There is 1 egg included in this release.  Highlight the blank area below to find out more information.  For a full list of known Easter Eggs and screen grabs of them click HERE.

 

BBCtv ENTERPRISES WORLDWIDE GLOBE
Go to the 'Special Features' menu.
Click on the hidden Doctor Who logo to the left of the 'Intro Sequence'

 

 

 

 

 

Additional Notes
  • The Aztecs was the second historical adventure to be done on Doctor Who.   The first was Marco Polo (no episodes exist of this story), and both stories were penned by author John Lucarotti
  • This story is also unique in that there is a romance for the Doctor's character (although mild).  Amusingly, the Doctor inadvertently proposes to Cameca without knowing it.

  • Watch for the cameraperson colliding with the sacrificial alter and jiggling the camera and for Hartnell's hallmark fluffing of his lines.
     

  • This will be the first Hartnell story released on DVD.
     

  • All 4 episodes have been VidFIREd.  VidFIRE is a process that returns the "video" look to the program as it was originally broadcast.  To learn more about this process you can read about it at the Doctor Who Restoration Team website.
     

  • This is one of the first Doctor Who DVD's that really took the extra features to a whole other level.  With this disc we begin to see newly created "mini-documentaries" that highlight aspects of the show.  Most of the features on previous discs had been of a more archival nature.  This, along with the significant restoration done, make this one of the best discs produced so far.  This one is a must have!
     

  • "The Aztecs" was given the usual expert cleanup treatment by the Doctor Who Restoration Team.