LEGION OF IMPOSSIBILITIES

Saturday 6th June 1964 - Doctor Who - The Bride of Sacrifice

"I made some cocoa and got engaged. Don't giggle, my boy, It's neither here nor there."

Essentially

Barbara saves Ian. The Doctor gets engaged. Susan breaks the law. Aztecs prepare for an eclipse.

Reactions and Thoughts

One of the strongest episodes of the series so far. Much more happens in this episode. 

We resolve last episode's cliffhanger - poisoned Ian about to be killed by Ixta - by Barbara holding a knife to Tlotoxl's throat and demanding that Ian is saved. Ixta isn't allowed to claim victory and is humilated. Rather than anger, Ixta demonstrates his fixation with knives then desires to be Ian's friend until he kills Ian.

Barbara is winning over Autloc to the idea of ending human sacrfices and, by the end of the episode, he has committed himself to her.

The Doctor continues to have some comic scenes. It's great to see the way that the Doctor deals with Tlotoxl ("Oh go away!") and shoos him away like a fly. Although the scenes with Cameca reveal a gentler side of the Doctor, his misunderstanding of her affections are played for laughs. Cameca is in love with him and when he makes her hot chocolate (signifiying a marriage proposal apparently) she accepts. The Doctor's look of horror when he realises what he has naively done is hilarious.

Tlotoxl recruits Tonila in a plan to try and poison Barbara as proof she's not divine. Tonila is less certain ("Destroy the gods and we destroy ourselves!") but goes along with it until Barbara smashes the poison cup and then chases him off. In a moment of strength, she admits that she is simply mortal but can deal with Tlotoxl's accusations - casusing him to scuttle away:

BARBARA: I am not Yetaxa.
TLOTOXL: False. False! I knew.
BARBARA: And who will believe you? I warn you, Tlotoxl, you say one word against me to the people and I'll have them destroy you. Destroy you!

There's a great scene just before that between Ian and Barbara where Ian tries to get Barbara to get some perspective about her attempts to alter Aztec society. In his argument, Ian is far more successful than the Doctor was at the start of last episode:

BARBARA: I'm sick and tired of all this arguing and quarrelling. First the Doctor and now you. Why can't you see what I'm trying to do?
IAN: I can.
BARBARA: Well you're not helping. Tlotoxl's evil and he'll make everyone else the same.
IAN: They are the same, Barbara. That's the whole point. You keep on insisting that Tlotoxl's the odd man out, but he isn't.
BARBARA: I don't believe it.
IAN: Well, you must. If only you could stand away from this thing, you'd see it clearly. Autloc's the extraordinary man here. He's the reasonable one, the civilised one, the one that's prepared to listen to advice. But he's one man, Barbara. One man.
BARBARA: Then everything I've tried to do. Oh, I thought I could alter them.
IAN: You can't fight a whole way of life, Barbara.
BARBARA: I suppose not. I've just been fooling myself. Ian, what can we do?
IAN: We can get into that tomb and leave them alone.

Ah, I see why the Perfect Victim was introduced last lesson. He's used in a scheme concocted by Tlotoxl to expose Barbara by forcing Susan to marry him and then being sacrificed with him at the eclipse. In her tearful refusal, Susan breaks Aztec law and must be punished.

The weak part of this episode is at the very end when Ian is trapped in the tomb. Presumably, he's frightened by the tunnel he's in filling up with water. We don't see that, just a foot and what looks like some water falling. There's no sense - other than Ian's terrified face - that he's in danger of drowning.

After All is Said and Done

Barbara's experience as a school teacher comes in very handy as she increasingly has to command and control the Aztecs. She's stood out this episode as a resilent, dogged character in ways we've not seen before. The Doctor gets himself in a romantic pickle. Susan breaks the law. Ian gets over beng poisoned, saves Barbara from being killed and ends up trapped inside the temple. Really engaging episode.

Next episode: The Day of Darkness