The Myth Makers - Horse of Destruction

Thankfully we have reached the final episode of this very lacklustre historical. Sadly it’s the last to feature Maureen O’Brien as Vicki. After less than 11 months in the role, Maureen O’Brien has decided to leave the Doctor and Steven. It’s the most action packed of the episodes and its where things finally start to happen. If only the previous three episodes had been liked this then I would have been writing a different review.

The story didn’t seem to have much to do for the regulars apart from Vicki. William Hartnell continues to seem like he is walking through the episode and Steven has slightly more to do but sadly doesn’t have much more to do. One thing that seems to have jumped out of nowhere is the inclusion of Katarina. She only really gets going when she is asked to bring Steven to the TARDIS/Temple. I must admit that I didn’t notice her before this and think that her presence is somewhat limited. 

Vicki has been a good companion and was better realised than Susan. I think that there were moments where Vicki seemed to be turning into Susan but on the whole I think that Vicki and Maureen O’Brien were a good force for the show. It’s a shame that this story was so poor to write Vicki out of the show, she deserved better. Her final scene was very dramatic and like Susan’s was helped by the music and the performances. That said I have been wonderful for the past four episodes as to why I have disliked this story so much and I think that after Mission to the Unknown and knowing that the Daleks will be coming soon that I have just been waiting for the episodes to come and go so we can get to the Daleks Master Plan. Now we are there and one of the most epic stories in Doctor Who’s history.

The Myth Makers - Death of a Spy

Oh well, lets just get through this as best as we can. These episode reviews seem to have been getting shorter and shorter as the episodes have been moving on. Thankfully this is the episode where it starts to pick up and things start to happen. Sadly it’s the latter stages of the episode where it all happens but at least something seems to be moving. This is the episode where the history starts to move things along and we finally get the Trojan horse which is perhaps the most famous part of this period.  What stands out foappen.to not suspect that anything is going to happen.to not suspect that anything is going to happen.

However the most interesting thing that happens is what happens to Vicki. It seems that at long last something has been done to prepare the exit of this character. Her love interest with Troilus is rather well done and I think that its given enough time to register in the viewers memory. I must admit that I Cassandra to be the most entertaining character in the whole thing though that’s not really a compliment when you consider how rather dull the rest of the characters are in this piece.

This is the most interesting episode of the serial though again that’s not really a compliment (it seems to be a regular thing in this episode). I thought that for the first time in a long time (if ever), William Hartnell seems to be walking through this story and doesn’t do anything really of any worth. This is turning out to be an even duller serial than Galaxy 4 and this third season of Doctor Who is quickly turning into the worst so far.

The Myth Makers - Small Prophet, Quick Return

After the rather limp opening episode. I’m happy to say that things have picked up slightly. This is the episode where everything from Vicki to the plot seem to wake up and get going. After spending most of the previous episode inside the TARDIS for various dubious reasons, Vicki finally gets to do something.  Like the Doctor, Vicki has to pretend to be someone else. However unlike the Doctor willing to pretend he is someone else, Vicki is willing to admit the truth and say that she is from the future. Speaking of the Doctor, he seems be thriving in the illusion. Steven gets to pretend to be someone though he is only pretending to be Greek.

The regulars are written much better than in the previous episode and also the supporting cast are also much better with Cassandra being my favourite. She is the one that I felt was the strongest and Frances White delivers her lines well and I like how everyone rubbishes her prophesies. She is also very jealous of Vicki as she believes that Vicki is a rival prophet.

Whilst I think that this is a much stronger episode. I think that that the story suffers a great deal from not being on video. The fact that it’s not the greatest story ever isn’t helping me enjoy the story. I am struggling to think of what to write. What I can say is that I don’t  think that Maureen O’Brien’s final story is going to be the finest finale story that a companion has ever had.

The Myth Makers - Temple of Secrets

The Myth Makers is the final story for Vicki who departs in yet another historical story.  It’s also the first story that is produced by John Wiles with Verity Lambert having departed at the previous episode. It’s also another story that doesnt exist on video in any form. This is a period of history that I know the basics and about 15 years ago I would have known quite a lot about this period however since then my interest and knowledge has ebbed away. The story starts off in a very shouty manner. It seems to continue throughout the episode but its at its peak at the beginning.

The Doctor is mistakened for Zeus which is quite an amusing and continues to the trend of the Doctor landing on his feet. The thing about historical stories is that the story is up and running before the regulars get involved and so there is a bit of a blur before I got a sense of what is going on.

It’s quite late before Steven really gets involved in the story. In fact its just past the 19 minute mark. Vicki had a blink and you’ll miss it moment at the beginning but she was side-lined because there isn’t much that could be done. It’s not a particularly action packed part of history and its made even harder to enjoy when you cant see whats going on.

I really cant get that excited about this story and it’s a shame because its Vicki’s last story. Hopefully the story will pick up in future episodes and the departure of Vicki is going to be fitting of the character but if memory serves me correctly then that wont be the case.