"Oh! My dear boy, I couldn't possibly suggest that. The whole story is obviously absurd. Probably invented by Homer as some good dramatic device. No, I think it'd be completely impractical."
Remember the old Aesop and Son bits from the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show? Take them, add the Trojan War and the TARDIS crew and you have this episode. And it works.
Really.
The dialog and characterization of the Greeks last episode made me chuckle; the Trojans made me laugh out loud.
Paris steals the show as the cowardly braggart who snipes at his sister Cassandra. Cassandra comes off as a bit one-dimensional, but she is mostly used as a foil for Paris. King Priam plays the bemused father very well.
The episode begins with the Doctor and Steven going out to the plain where the TARDIS had landed. Footprints indicate that the TARDIS was brought to Troy. Odysseus takes this as proof that the Doctor is a spy and demands that father Zeus kill Steven with a thunder bolt to prove his divinity. The Doctor eventually relents and confesses that he is not Zeus and that Steven is a friend of his.
Agamemnon orders Odysseus to kill the spies and then leaves. Odysseus decides to get the truth out of them before their death. And they tell him about there time travel.
Odysseus has known some liars in his time, but none of them would be crazy or wicked enough to come up with something like that. He believes them and tells them that they'll be given two days to put their future knowledge to good use and end this war.
At one point Steven suggests the Trojan horse to the Doctor. His reply is the quote at the beginning of this post.
In Troy, Paris arrives with the TARDIS. He is excited for the capture of what he believes to be a Greek ..something. He wants to put it in the temple, but Cassandra won't have any of that. She suggests that the Greeks might have intended for him to bring it into the city so that a hidden soldier might sneak out in the night and open the gate. It matches a dream that she had.
Unable to open the doors, they decide to burn the TARDIS and any possible spies within.
Vicki manages to find some appropriate clothing just in time to leave the ship before flame is put to kindling. Just after Cassandra has made a call to the gods for a sign.
Cassandra is all for killing the girl who claims to be from the future. Paris defends her and King Priam follows suit. They decide that Vicki is an outlandish name so Priam renames her Cressida. Yes she does see Trolius and yes they are attracted to one another.
Back at the Greek camp the Doctor is trying to come up with something not the Trojan horse while Steven is feeling like a third wheel. Realizing that there is no way to ensure Vicki's safety once the Greeks are through the walls, Steven volunteers to go to Troy.
His plan is to dress as a Greek soldier and get captured. He's a little vague about the rest, but Odysseus thinks him a brave man and loans him the clothes and identity of a newly deceased friend.
Paris has come out to "challenge" Achilles in order to avenge Hector. He instead finds Steven (Diomede) and beats him. Diomede surrenders all the while praising the "Lion of Troy."
Steven is brought into the city and presented to King Priam. Who is with Vicki. The two blow each other's aliases and are soon seized by guards.
Next up: Death of a Spy
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