The Doctor’s third trip into Earth history saw the TARDIS land in Mexico, at the time of the human-sacri cing Aztecs. Their templed city was realised by proli c designer Barry Newbery.

Feature by DAVID J HOWE

Designer Barry Newbery with one of the wall sculptures he designed for The Aztecs (1964).

In his notebook, Newbery listed props and other special items required for use in the serial. Photos © David J Howe.

The Aztecs (1964) remains one of the highlights of Doctor Who’s first year, in which the Doctor and his fellow TARDIS travellers Susan, Ian and Barbara found themselves trapped in 15th-century Mexico, a world every bit as alien as the planets Skaro or Marinus. Just as the travellers had found themselves overlooking a vast and weird metropolis in the first episode of the first Dalek serial, so too schoolteacher Ian found himself looking out upon the streets of another strange and sprawling capital early in the first instalment, The Temple of Evil. “Doctor, look at this extraordinary city down here,” he said. “The Aztecs,” confirmed the Doctor. “They knew how to build…”

They certainly did. The designer tasked with bringing the ornate temples and barracks, gardens and tombs of the Aztecs’ world to life entirely within the bounds of the BBC television studios - the first and last episodes at Lime Grove, the middle two at Television Centre - was Barry Newbery, responsible for designing a great many of the early, history-set adventures.