It's praised for being 'worthy' and giving an insight into Aztec culture. All true, but it's also an amazing story in it's own right. DWM once placed its greatest scene in its 'twenty greatest scenes in "Doctor Who" list': which, watching it, seems fair enough. Indeed, in many ways it might be considered the finest ever. I'm talking about the William Hartnell/Jacqueline Hill scene of: "You cannot rewrite history: not one line!" fame. What makes this scene so magical for me is the way, through beautifully crafted dialogue and ingenious direction- the cut to see Barbara as Yetaxa is one of the best timed pieces of direction in the programme- the story allows us to see quite another side to both regulars. In the Doctor we see for the first time the battered revolutionary, a wonderful sense of a man who has spent years fighting the odds, only to conclude that the force of history is inescapable. Forget "Delta and the Bannermen" and "Love is never known for its rationality"- good as they are, they don't even come close to the glimpse we get into the Doctor's past on "I know, believe me, I know! He has fought history, fought it and lost, paying a price. In Barbara, played as usual to absolute perfection by Jacqueline HIll, we see something quite startling. Consider the shining eyes and dreamy expression of "The reincarnation of Yetaxa will prove to the people"... "This is the beginning of the end of the sun god", and most amazing of all, the revelation of her, now wearing her headress: "Not Barbara, Yetaxa." Is this a plan by a being from the future to pervert the course of Earth history to match her own desires by impersonating a god, or did I miss something? One of the delights of Barbara's character is the way she obviously feels the way a younger, less embittered first Doctor felt towards the universe: that's why he feels drawn to her, and here, and in the scene in episode four where they meditate upon that failure, we see this displayed as never before or since. Barbara is prepared to do anything in her power to make things right and, after all, as she mourns, all that she eventually achieved was despair and confusion for the High Priest Autloc. Meddling in history cannot succeed, not through any wierd power or big hands from the sky, but simply because, except at a few key moments, it is beyond one man or woman to push aside the behemoth of the masses. The Doctor has learned this, and yet he still feels and understands Barbara's desire to help, just as she begins to learn the futility of attempting to change time. To save one man, perhaps, but to save a society is too great, even for one who claims to be a god. Of course, "The Aztecs" isn't perfect. Personally I always find the incidental music more than a little wearing, and Susan is, as usual, a little on the annoying side, but none the less, these little complaints don't come anywhere near outweighing the whole.

There, a whole review without even mentioning Tlotoxl... d'oh!