The Doctor is Attacked

It is circa 1200 BC and the Greek army is besieging the ancient walled city of Troy and has been for 10 years. The war began when Helen of Sparta abandoned her husband Menelaus for the Trojan Prince Paris, son of King Priam. Menelaus’ brother, Agamemnon, commands the Greek army that surrounds Troy and has besieged it for a decade, seeking to increase his power through a war based on this adulterous liaison.

When the TARDIS arrives on the plains of Asia Minor, not far from the besieged city of Troy, The Doctor is hailed by Achilles as the mighty god Zeus and taken to the Greek camp, where he meets Agamemnon and Odysseus. The Doctor though is forced to admit that he is a mere mortal - albeit a traveller in space and time – and is given just two days to devise a scheme to capture Troy.

Meanwhile first Vicki, and then Steven Taylor, are taken prisoner by the Trojans and taken inside the walls of the besieged city. Vicki, after being denounced by Cassandra as being a spy, finds herself, along with Steven, about to be killed. However, she is saved by King Priam who gives Vicki - the supposed possessor of supernatural powers - two days to banish the Greeks and thus prove that she is not a spy.

Steven and Vicki

The Doctor therefore must match wits with the suspicious Odysseus, while Vicki tries to escape the fate that history has decreed for the Trojans. After coming under immense pressure to help the Greeks, The Doctor is forced into suggesting the use of a wooden horse filled with Greeks to fool the Trojans. Agamemnon approves the plan but it is also decided The Doctor will be placed inside the horse for its fateful journey.

The Greeks build the horse during the night and the following morning The Doctor and Odysseus join the soldiers inside. Soon the gift is placed on the plains and, when day breaks, it is spotted by the Trojans and dragged with ropes inside their city. Then under the cover of darkness the Greek soldiers, along with Odysseus and The Doctor, exit the horse. The city is soon besieged and the populace butchered by the Greeks.

The Trojan Horse

The Doctor finds Vicki in the carnage and they hide in the TARDIS while Cassandra’s hand-maiden, Katarina, who has been trailing Vicki, obliges The Doctor by searching for Steven. She finds him in battle with a Trojan soldier and he is badly wounded, but she helps him return to The Doctor’s 'blue temple'.

When Katarina and Steven reach the TARDIS, both The Doctor and Vicki seem very tense. Odysseus then arrives and The Doctor takes the opportunity to dematerialise the TARDIS without Vicki aboard.

Vicki, having assumed the guise of Cressida, has slipped away with The Doctor’s blessing. She has fallen in love with one of Priam's sons, Troilus, and so has decided to remain behind when the TARDIS leaves. She journeys on to the plains where she finds Troilus and they declare their love for each other. Moments later Troilus’ cousin Aeneas arrives with reinforcements and helps them escape the area.

The Doctor Confers with Odysseus and Agamemnon

Unbeknown to The Doctor and Steven when the TARDIS dematerialised, Katarina was still on board. As Katarina tends to the wounded Steven in the TARDIS control room, The Doctor laments Vicki's departure and hopes that the TARDIS will land somewhere where he can get proper drugs to treat Steven whose wound is now infected and so is in a serious danger of dying.

Katarina however, believes they have already died and are now en-route to the afterlife. The Doctor knows they need to secure the right medication to save Steven and hopes their next landing will provide it.