Doctor Who: The Aztecs - Special Edition
Rated: Not Rated
Genre: Television, Science Fiction
Street Date: March 12, 2013
Available on: DVD

The Film: The TARDIS crew visits 15th century Mexico where Barbara (Jacqueline Hill) is mistaken as a reincarnated high priest. Disgusted by the Aztec’s primitive traditions Barbara ignores The Doctor’s (William Hartnell) warnings and tries to put an end to their practice of human sacrifice only to raise the suspicions of Tlotoxl, the Priest of Sacrifice.  

The Extras:  Audio Commentary, “Remembering The Aztecs,” “Designing The Aztecs,” “Cortez and Montezuma,” “Restoring The Aztecs” Featurettes, “Galaxy 4” reconstruction of missing story including recently recovered complete episode three and much more.
 
Recommendation: Growing up I used to watch late-night reruns of “Doctor Who” on one of the local PBS stations. The majority of my memories feature Tom Baker, the Fourth Doctor, and I believe that this might be the first time I’m seeing William Harnell, the original Doctor, in the role. I quite liked “The Aztecs” with its typically campy elements and a plot that touches on the steadfast rules of time travel and could be mistaken for an episode of HISTORY’s “Ancient Aliens.”

Image quality is a bit on the soft and fuzzy side of things, but considering the series was never known for having an opulent production budget I suspect that unless they did a full restoration and new transfer this might be as good as the footage is going to look.

The bonus features are extensive including multiple behind-the-scenes featurettes and interviews as well as the complete reconstruction of the lost story “Galaxy 4” including the recently discovered complete episode three.
 
-Ryan Michael Painter