Doctor Who: The Myth Makers

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The Myth Makers is the third serial of Season 3 of the classic Doctor Who television series. It was originally broadcast on BBC1 in four weekly parts from 16 October to 6 November 1965. It was written by Donald Cotton and directed by Michael Leeston-Smith. It stars William Hartnell as the Doctor, Maureen O’Brien as Vicki, and Peter Purves as Steven Taylor.

Set amid the Trojan War, this witty yet bittersweet tale begins when the Doctor is hailed as “Zeus” by Achilles and hauled to the Greek camp, where Odysseus demands a clever plan to end the siege; meanwhile Steven is taken into Troy, and Vicki, welcomed by Priam’s court, grows close to the young warrior Troilus and adopts the name “Cressida.”

As jokes and riddles give way to strategy and looming disaster, the Doctor is pushed toward the idea of a wooden horse, Steven fights to keep everyone safe, and Vicki faces a choice between adventure in the TARDIS and a new life in ancient times, while a quiet handmaiden named Katarina watches the door to the next story open.

Episode 1: Temple of Secrets

The TARDIS lands on a hot plain outside ancient Troy. The Doctor steps out alone to look around. He sees a duel between Achilles and Hector. The Doctor appears at the wrong moment, Hector turns his head, and Achilles strikes him down. Achilles falls to his knees and hails the Doctor as Zeus. The Doctor denies it, then plays along to stay safe.

Achilles brings the Doctor to the Greek camp. Agamemnon and Menelaus question him. Odysseus arrives, sharp-eyed and suspicious. He thinks the “god” is a trick. He warns the Doctor to prove his power or help them win the war. The Doctor smiles, uses quick talk and small “omens,” and is kept under guard as an adviser.

Back at the TARDIS, Vicki and Steven wait. Steven worries and goes to find the Doctor. On the road he meets Paris, a proud archer who boasts more than he fights. Paris decides Steven is a Greek spy worth a ransom. He takes Steven prisoner and rides for the city gates, dreaming of praise.

Night nears. The Doctor is trapped in the Greek camp with Odysseus watching him. Steven is carried into Troy. Vicki stays hidden by the ship and fears the next move. The war of legend begins to pull them all apart.

Episode 2: Small Prophet, Quick Return

In Troy, Steven stands before King Priam while Cassandra cries he is a Greek spy who brings doom. Paris blusters that he bravely captured him. Priam prefers mercy and questions Steven, unsure what to do. Guards take him away while the court argues. A new captive arrives: Vicki, found near the plain. She speaks calmly, wins Priam’s curiosity, and angers Cassandra. Priam gives her a new name, Cressida, and decides she shall stay as a guest. Vicki asks for kindness toward Steven and promises he is no threat.

In the Greek camp, the Doctor faces Odysseus, who demands a plan to end the long war. Agamemnon and Menelaus joke and quarrel, but Odysseus promises the Doctor punishment if he fails. The Doctor stalls for time, thinking hard. A trumpet sounds: Paris comes to the camp to bargain for ransom. He offers to return the “Greek spy” for gold and safe conduct.

Odysseus seizes the moment. He sends the Doctor back with Paris as a “quick return” envoy, ordering him to spy out Troy and report a way in. The Doctor protests, but soldiers push him toward the chariot. In Troy, Vicki grows close to Troilus and keeps pleading for Steven’s life. As night falls, the gates open again. Paris rides in: with the reluctant “envoy” the Trojans will soon judge.

Episode 3: Death of a Spy

In Troy, Paris brings the Doctor before King Priam. Cassandra calls him a Greek spy; the Doctor says he is only an envoy and a man of science. Priam enjoys his wit and keeps him as a “guest,” but orders him to show a sign or offer a plan to end the siege. Cassandra watches for any slip.

Steven slips his guards, fights in a corridor, and is wounded. He stumbles into Vicki’s chamber. Vicki, now called Cressida, and her gentle handmaiden Katarina hide him and tend his wound. Vicki begs Troilus for medicine and hints that the “spy” is harmless. Troilus, smitten, promises to help, but Cassandra orders searches through the palace.

Outside the walls, Odysseus sends his mute scout, the Cyclops, to find the Doctor. The Cyclops creeps into the city and tries to signal from a tower. Paris and his soldiers catch him. Spears fly. The Cyclops falls dead (the death of a spy) and the Greeks learn nothing.

Priam presses the Doctor for a solution. The Doctor stalls, asking for wood, tools, and time. Cassandra warns that this stranger will bring ruin. Paris boasts but offers no sense. Night comes. Vicki and Katarina smuggle Steven through shadowed halls as alarms rise. Seeing the spy’s body and the city’s fear, the Doctor decides he must escape to the Greek camp with a bold idea forming: one that might end the war.

Episode 4: Horse of Destruction

The Doctor escapes Troy and reaches the Greek camp with a plan. Odysseus demands an end to the war. The Doctor proposes a giant wooden horse, empty to the eye but filled with Greek soldiers. Odysseus grins and orders it built. By sunset the Greeks pretend to sail away, leaving the “gift” on the plain. Hidden men climb inside. The Doctor worries for Vicki and Steven still in the city.

In Troy, Cassandra warns that the horse brings doom. Priam laughs and commands it be hauled through the gates. Vicki, called Cressida, keeps close to Troilus and hides her fear. She urges Katarina to watch over Steven. Night falls. The streets grow quiet.

From the horse’s belly, Greek warriors drop to the ground and open the gates. The army pours in. Fires rise. Shouts fill the palace. The Doctor fights through smoke, finds Steven wounded, and, with Katarina’s help, carries him to the TARDIS.

Vicki finds Troilus amid the ruins and tells him the truth about herself. He is shocked, then pulls her away from the flames. They leave the city together to seek a new life. At the plain, the Doctor sees Vicki has chosen to stay. He leads Katarina and the injured Steven inside the TARDIS. With sorrow and pride, he dematerialises, leaving fallen Troy behind.

Themes

As a tonal tightrope (farce tipping into fatalism) The Myth Makers lands with wit and sting. Across all episodes, the Trojan backdrop lets the First Doctor era flex from sparkling banter to brutal consequence.

It won’t match the grand sweep of The Dalek Invasion of Earth, but as a historical it sits just below the upper tier defined by The Aztecs and The Crusade, and a notch darker than the playful The Romans. Its late pivot from comedy to catastrophe is what lingers, giving the serial a resonance beyond its stagey trappings.

Its links bite deep. Coming right after Mission to the Unknown, it serves as the deceptive calm before The Daleks’ Master Plan, while refining the time-meddling playfulness seeded in The Time Meddler. Vicki’s farewell (choosing a life as Cressida) closes a circle begun in The Rescue, and Katarina’s sudden arrival positions the TARDIS for the very next crisis.

Steven’s battered exit and the fall of Troy give the chapter an ending that feels like a beginning, handing the story-world straight to the most sprawling epic of the Hartnell years.

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This is a chapter from Craig Hill’s book “Doctor Who – The First Doctor”, chronicling every episode featuring the First Doctor. It is available on Amazon.

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To view the list of other Doctor Who serials, please click this link

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