In the serial, based on Homer's Iliad, the First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his travelling companions Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) and Steven (Peter Purves) land in Troy during the Trojan War.

The Myth Makers received an average of 8.35 million viewers across the four episodes, a drop from earlier in the season but comparable to the previous year.

Contemporary and retrospective reviews were generally positive, with praise for the performances and script, though some viewers were confused by the lack of continuation from the previous episode, "Mission to the Unknown".

The TARDIS materialises outside the city of Troy, distracting the Trojan Hector (Alan Haywood), son of King Priam (Max Adrian).

When the Doctor (William Hartnell) emerges, Achilles believes him to be Zeus in disguise, and brings him to the Greek encampment along with the warrior Odysseus (Ivor Salter).

[3] Tosh was soon joined by new producer John Wiles, and they immediately developed a positive working relationship, wanting the show to move away from "childish" science fantasy and towards more historical stories and adult science-fiction, the latter inspired by authors Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov.

[4] As the first three stories of his tenure—The Time Meddler, Galaxy 4, and "Mission to the Unknown"—had been commissioned by his predecessor Dennis Spooner, The Myth Makers was the first serial for which Tosh assumed full control.

[3] Cotton was initially hesitant as it was an unusual field for him, but agreed if he could select the subject matter (the Trojan Horse) and some of the crew (which included his colleagues from BBC Third Programme), requests with which Tosh and Wiles were satisfied.

[12] Upon visiting the British Museum to research Trojan architecture, designer John Wood found their building style simplistic, generally carved from large stone pieces.

[11] On 9 September, Adrienne Hill was contracted to play Katarina in five episodes, beginning with the final part of The Myth Makers; she was cast by the production team of The Daleks' Master Plan.

Veteran actor Francis de Wolff was cast as Agamemnon, having previously portrayed Vasor in the Doctor Who serial The Keys of Marinus (1964).

[13] By this time, Wiles had fully taken over from his predecessor, the show's original producer Verity Lambert, which, alongside O'Brien's departure, greatly upset Hartnell.

[2] Continuing the trend from "Mission to the Unknown", viewership dropped significantly from Galaxy 4, but it was comparable to Planet of Giants (1964), which had aired around the same time the previous year.

[25] An Audience Research Report received mixed responses, with confusion that the storyline from "Mission to the Unknown" had not immediately continued; the performances and production were considered mediocre, though some viewers welcomed the added humour and the historical setting.

[28] Paul Cornell, Martin Day, and Keith Topping of The Discontinuity Guide (1995) wrote "the whole thing feels uneasy" despite effective performances.

[29] In The Television Companion (1998), David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker praised Wood's sets and Vicki's "poignant and well written departure scene".

[19] In A Critical History of Doctor Who (1999), John Kenneth Muir noted the serial "appears to have featured some of the same style and wit" as The Romans (1965).

[30] Mark Braxton of Radio Times (2009) similarly compared it to The Romans, praising Vicki's departure and the performances of White, Ingham, Lemkow, and Salter.

[31] Paul Mount of Starburst (2021) lauded Cotton's "sophisticated" script and Adrian, de Wolff, and Ingham's performances, through described the serial as "a product of its era, a stagey, talky, clumpy cod-Shakespearean drama".

Alongside The Massacre (1966) and The Highlanders (1966–1967), it was included in Doctor Who: Adventures in History, a CD box set released by BBC Worldwide in August 2003.

Surviving off-air clips from the serial were included on Lost in Time, released as a DVD box set by 2 Entertain in November 2004.

The soundtrack was featured on the CD The Lost TV Episodes: Collection 1, released by BBC Audiobooks in August 2010; the set contained interviews and the original camera scripts.