#one answer is that it at least saves me from random background characters being racist caricatures

[oliveroctavius]

Ultimately most of my disappointments about The Rocketeer comics boil down to (1) disjointed empty plots running on vibes and (2) relentless sexist writing. It would be bizarre if the characters weren't at least a little sexist because of era, but that's not the same.

Even weirder is occasional smug jokey moments of look, this Modern (wink!) Woman hit someone over the head with a wrench, that'll sure show the menfolk. Which, okay. In actual real 1940 writers gave Lois Lane a tommy gun when they were feeling Feminist, so you're going to have to try a little harder than that. Does Betty have friends? Emotions outside of jealousy towards her man? Shhhh you're going to ruin the illusion that it's 1940. So, then, why am I reading this instead of an actual golden age comic? Those at least wouldn't chicken out from letting the really campy bits shine.

[relative-dimension]

“The Temple of Evil”

Season 1, episode 27 - 23rd May 1964

[id: Autloc and Tlotoxl talk quietly to each other, and in the background, a few feet away, Ian and the Doctor stand watching them. /end id]

Back to history, and back to another depiction of a non-white culture which is trying to be respectful but also is very 1960s. It’s interesting to me how two of the four historicals in this first season are actually set outside of Europe, especially since that never really happens after this - most historicals in the original show after this are set in Britain, and the rest are mostly Europe or the USA, and it’s only recently with episodes like Legend of the Sea Devils that they’ve branched out and tried very vaguely to do some other history.

Is it an entertaining watch: 3/5, it’s alright

Does the production hold up: 3/5, this is the part where I point out that once again, every single person of colour in this story is played by a white person it’s shockingly bad. Apparently they took a lot of effort to replicate traditional “Aztec” (I believe those from the city this story is set in actually called themselves the Tenochca?) clothing, but I have no idea how accurate they were, and either way the white actors pantomiming their way through those awful performances makes it all feel more racist, even if the intention was good.

Does it use its time well: 3/5, yes and no. What John Lucarotti does do in this episode is clearly establish the ideological rift between Dr Who and Barbara - the most famous scene from this serial is in the first episode. However, when watching this for the first time last week this gave me a feeling that they had used up all of their good ideas in the first episode, and watching the rest, I was right.

Are the characters consistent and well-used: 4/5, in this episode, yes, mostly, even if Ian is just in the stereotype of the Action Man role where he’s just training to fight, and Susan just hangs around with Barbara. They all get something to do at least.

Is there anything actually going on under the surface: 4/5, I’m going to be generous and not talk about the Boring Subplot Hell that this story descends into and instead, let’s talk about the main Theme that John Lucarotti wants to explore: does a time-traveller have the right to change history? He doesn’t exactly come to a conclusive answer, but we do at least get a few good scenes digging into the concept - Dr Who believes it’s impossible, but Barbara thinks she should do everything in her power to try. Of course, her idea of “saving” this civilisation is rooted in the white supremacist and colonialist ideas of the 1960s, but if you look past the basis of her actual argument, there’s an interesting conversation going on here. We also get a real sense of the history of Dr Who as a character with the line “believe me, I know,” implying that he’s tried this before and failed. Of course, that’s never elaborated on, but it’s nice to imagine, isn’t it?

Does it avoid being a bit dodge with its politics: 2/5, there’s four episodes of this so let’s start with the most basic one: every actor is white as fuck. Like I said, they’re trying very hard, but much like Marco Polo, it’s all a white imitation rather than a genuine attempt to replicate it by consulting people who aren’t white and British. Another similarity with Marco Polo is the existence of a cartoonishly evil villain who is played as if this is a pantomime. Tlotoxl is the “local butcher” in charge of the human sacrifice, and therefore symbolises what these writers believe is the great sin that this civilisation comitted that caused their destruction at the hands of European colonisers. He is therefore also the one who immediately doesn’t trust that these random white people are reincarnations of their high priests, whereas the other high priest is critical of human sacrifice and also coincidentally believes Barbara when she pretends to be Yetexa.

Overall Score - 19/30