Serial #6: The Aztecs

Commentary and analysis of one of the most celebrated serials of the First Doctor's era "The Aztecs."

The TARDIS arrives in an Aztec tomb which seals when the Team exits. Now Barbara is mistaken for a goddess, Ian is training to be the leader of armies, Susan is off at Aztec finishing school, and the Doctor is in the Aztec's version of a retirement home. All must find a way back to the TARDIS before they are forced to help in one of the Aztec's more notorious traditions: human sacrifices.... BARBARA: Don't you see? If I could start the destruction of everything that's evil here, then everything that is good would survive when Cortes lands.
DOCTOR: But you can't rewrite history! Not one line!
I discuss the central question of the serial: Are the Aztecs wrong to commit human sacrifices? We'll look at how this serial examines objective morality vs moral relativity, how ethics vs morality allow us to approach this problem, the legacy of colonialism and Barbara as a representative of the British Empire, how this serial fits into New Who theories about "fixed time," how Autloc and Barbara walk from faith to uncertainty, and ultimately how we (can/should?) "judge" the morality of people in the past. I don't have many answers for you in this one--but neither does the serial....we'll just all have to wander together into the wilderness trying to find the truth.
DISCLAIMER and CLARIFICATION: If my voice sounds stuffy it is because I am ill! I also edited out a lot more of this podcast than usual (illness must cause me to ramble). One thing lost was nuance around whether or not we can "judge" people with wrong belief systems. In the final cut it seems as if I say we can't judge people who are unknowingly participating in a wrong belief system; in my more extended ramble I was trying to express the difficulty of drawing absolutely moral lines when people genuinely believe they are doing the right thing. Obviously, how we judge people morally for holding wrong beliefs is more complicated than "we can't":-)
NEXT TIME: Serial #7 The Sensorites (Episodes: "Strangers in Space," "Unwilling Warriors," "Hidden Danger," "A Race Against Death," "Kidnap," "A Desperate Venture")
Special thanks to Cathlyn "Happigal" Driscoll for providing the beautiful artwork for this podcast. You can view her work at https://www.happigal.com/
Do feel free to get in touch to share the love of all things Doctor Who: [email protected]

Special thanks to Cathlyn "Happigal" Driscoll for providing the beautiful artwork for this podcast. You can view her work at https://www.happigal.com/
Do feel free to get in touch to share the love of all things Doctor Who: [email protected]