Review of Doctor Who: The Aztecs

Introduction

Cult classic British television sci-fi doesn`t come any more cult or classic than Doctor Who, which commands a huge following. I`ve not watched any of it for many years however...

The Aztecs was originally transmitted from 23 May to 13 June 1964, and sees the Tardis land in fifteenth century Mexico inside an Aztec tomb. Whilst exploring their surroundings, Barbara is thought to be the reincarnation of Yetaza. Against the Doctor`s advice not to interfere, she decides to use her powers to stop the Aztec custom of human sacrifice.

Video

The video comes in 4:3 full-frame in black and white, and is pretty dreadful by modern standards, providing a grainy out of soft focus picture with very limited detail. The image is however, relatively free from grain, thanks to the restoration process. However, it essential to remember that the content is 38 years old and both the original media and storage techniques were very primitive.

Part of Doctor Who`s appeal has always been the costumes and sets, and both are good in episodes that comprise The Aztecs, although the set design is of course hampered by the lack of detail and focus in the picture.

Audio

The soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital Mono, replayed through the front stereo pair, which does an adequate job of reproducing the soundtrack. Given that the episodes were made in the mid 1960s, when television sound and speakers was poor quality at best, clearly don`t expect any aural delights.

The dialogue is however reasonably clear.

Features

Extras include a featurette called "Remembering" featuring interviews with the actors John Ringham, Walter Randall and Ian Cullen, which runs for just under half and hour and is quite interesting.

Next is a featurette called "Designing" which features set designer Barry Newbery talking about his creations.

There is also a "Restoring" featurette looking at the work required to restore the original source material for this release.

Next up is a short featurette from Blue Peter called "The Story Of Cortez And Montezuma".

There`s an audio commentary from the producer and actor, giving the usual technical and anecdotal information plus an Arabic soundtrack for Episode 4, which was of little use to me but is an interesting inclusion.

Other extras include a "Making Cocoa" feature, a gallery and easter eggs.

The menus are nicely presented and feature the famous Doctor Who theme.

Conclusion

I used to watch Doctor Who in the Tom Baker days many years ago, and although having seen a few episodes in more recent times, haven`t watched any of it for many years.

The Aztecs is reasonably entertaining in a quaint British TV sort of way, although if you`re after some classic Doctor Who, this probably isn`t for you as it is not really sci-fi, aside from the Tardis.

The video is poor by modern standards, but considering the age and origins of the series, is only to be expected. The sound is clear and there are a good range of extras.

I haven`t seen any of the other Doctor Who DVDs, but having seen the potential in this older series, am now quite keen to get some of the Tom Baker to relive my old memories...