Doctor Who_ The Myth Makers - Donald Cotton [0]
To the Greeks it seemed that the city of Troy was impregnable and only a miracle could bring them success.
And then help comes to them in a most unexpected way as a strange blue box materialises close to their camp, bringing with it the Doctor, Steven and Vicki, who soon find themselves caught up in the irreversible tide of history and legend...
ISBN 0 426 20170 1
DOCTOR WHO
THE MYTH-MAKERS
Based on the BBC television serial by Donald Cotton by arrangement with the British Broadcasting Corporation DONALD COTTON
Number 97
in the
Doctor Who Library
published by
The Paperback Division of
W. H. Allen & Co. PLC
A Target Book
Published in 1985
by the Paperback Division of W. H. Allen & Co. PLC
44 Hill Street, London W1X 8LB
First published in Great Britain by
W.H. Allen and Co. PLC in 1985
Novelisation copyright © Donald Cotton 1985
Original script copyright © Donald Cotton 1965
‘Doctor Who’ series copyright © British Broadcasting Corporation 1965, 1985
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Anchor Brendon Ltd, Tiptree, Essex
The BBC producer of The Myth Makers was John Wiles the director was Micheal Leeston-Smith
ISBN 0 426 20170 1
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
To Humphrey Searle,
who wrote the music
CONTENTS
1 Homer Remembers
2 Zeus Ex Machina
3 Hector Forgets
4 Enter Odysseus
5 Exit the Doctor
6 A Rather High Tea
7 Agamemnon Arbitrates
8 An Execution is Arranged
9 Temple Fugit
10 The Doctor Draws a Graph
11 Paris Draws the Line
12 Small Prophet, Quick Return
13 War Games Compulsory
14 Single Combat
15 Speech! Speech!
16 The Trojans at Home
17 Cassandra Claims a Kill
18 The Ultimate Weapon
19 A Council of War
20 Paris Stands on Ceremony
21 Dungeon Party
22 Hull Low, Young Lovers
23 A Victory Celebration
24 Doctor in the Horse
25 A Little Touch of Hubris
26 Abandon Ship!
27 Armageddon and After
Epilogue
1
Homer Remembers
Look over here; here, under the olive-trees – that’s right, by the pile of broken stones and the cracked statues of old gods. What do you see?
Why, nothing but an old man, sitting in the Autumn sunshine; and dreaming; and remembering. That is what old men do, having nothing better to occupy their time... and since that is what I have become, that is why I do it.
I heard your footsteps when you first entered the grove; so sit down, whoever you are and have a slice of goat’s cheese with me. There – it’s rather good, you’ll find; I eat very little else these days. Teeth gone, of course...
You think it’s sad to be old? Nonsense – it’s a triumph! An unexpected one, at that; because, I tell you, I never thought I’d make it past thirty! Men do not frequently survive to senility in these dangerous times. But then, being blind, I suppose I can hardly be considered much of a threat to anyone; so somehow I have been allowed to live... although probably more by negligence than by charity, or a proper concern for the elderly.
And I am grateful; for I have a tale or two still to tell, and a song or two to compose and throw to posterity... before I pass Acheron, and meet my dead friends in the shadows of the nether world.
I am, you see, a myth maker; and my name is Homer. I don’t know if that will mean anything to you. But it is a name once well considered in poetic circles. No matter... no reputation lasts forever.
But that is why I sit here, in the stubble of the empty fields, and lean against the rubble of the fallen city which once was Troy; while the scavengers