The Massacre (novelisation)

The Massacre
Based on:	The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve
Doctor:	First Doctor
Companion(s):	Steven
Main enemy:	Catherine de Medici, Marshal Tavannes
Main setting:	Paris, August 1572
Key crew
Publisher:	Target Books, W.H. Allen
Writer:	John Lucarotti
Release details
Release number:	122
Release date:	19 November 1987
Format:	Hardcover and paperback editions; 19 Chapters, 144 Pages
ISBN:	ISBN 0-426-20297-X
Target novelisations
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The Massacre was a novelisation based on the 1966 television serial The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve.

Publisher's summary

1987 edition

The TARDIS lands in Paris on 19 August 1572. Driven by scientific curiosity, the First Doctor leaves Steven to meet and exchange views with the apothecary, Charles Preslin.

Before he disappears, he warns Steven to stay out of "mischief, religion and politics." But in sixteenth-century Paris it is impossible to remain a mere observer, and Steven soon finds himself involved with a group of Huguenots.

The Protestant minority of France is being threatened by the Catholic hierarchy, and danger stalks the Paris streets. As Steven tries to find his way back to the TARDIS he discovers that one of the main persecutors of the Huguenots appears to be - the Doctor.

1992 edition

On the throne sat the deadly Abbot of Amboise. Steven stared at him in horror. "That's - the Doctor!"

The TARDIS lands in Paris on 19 August 1572 and the Doctor, driven by scientific curiosity, leaves Steven in order to meet and exchange views with the apothecary Charles Preslin.

Ignoring the Doctor's warning to stay out of trouble, Steven finds himself caught up with a group of Huguenots, whose very existence is threatened by the Catholic hierarchy. As Steven tries to find his way Bach to the TARDIS, he is horrified to find the greatest persecutor of the Huguenots is actually none other then the Doctor himself...

First broadcast in 1966, this story is the only one to feature William Hartnell playing a character other then the Doctor himself. It also introduced the character of Dodo Chaplet, who was to accompany the Doctor on his next five adventures.

Chapter titles

• Prologue

1. The Roman Bridge Auberge
2. Echoes of Wassy
3. The Apothecary
4. Double Trouble
5. The Proposition
6. Beds for a Night
7. Admiral de Coligny
8. The Escape
9. A Change of Clothes
10. The Hotel Lutèce
11. The Royal Audience
12. Burnt at the Stake
13. The Phoenix
14. Talk of War
15. Face to Face
16. A Rescue
17. Good Company All

• Epilogue

Deviations from televised story

• Lucarotti adds a prologue and epilogue in which the Doctor is being asked to explain his actions in sixteenth century France to a group of Time Lords.
• The final scene on the televised story is where the Doctor and Steven have travelled forward to 20th century England and have been mistaken for a real Police Box by Dodo Chaplet (possible relative of Anne Chaplet). This scene is absent from the novel.
• Due to several behind-the-scenes changes at the time this story was made, the final televised version bore very little resemblance to the scripts that John Lucarotti had submitted. The novelisation is thus an adaptation of Lucarotti's scripts, rather than of the televised serial (which was largely written by Donald Tosh, the then-story editor). William Hartnell's double role as the Doctor and as the Abbot of Amboise is a key centerpiece to the book, where it was suggested only minimally on TV (Hartnell only having three speaking scenes as the Abbot) and the book's ending is much more gentle and optimistic than the TV version.
• The character of Charles de Teligny is not in the novel.
• Simon Duval is killed in the novel.

Writing and publishing notes

• Author's note: The historical events described in The Massacre are factual, as were the 287 kilometres of tunnels and catacombs under Paris, some of which may still be visited. The woodcut engraving of the attempt on de Coligny's life, which shows a cowled cleric in a doorway, does exist. The author has seen it. John Lucarotti.
• The included reference to the Time Lords was not in the television series' continuity and the then-producer John Nathan-Turner was at first unhappy with the reference until it was explained to him and he gave his approval.
• The cover for the original Target Books edition featured the artwork of Tony Masero.

Additional cover images

• 

  Audiobook reading by Peter Purves. UK release 18 June 2015

British publication history

Hardback (June 1987)

• W.H.Allen & Co. Ltd. UK ISBN:[tel:[tel:[tel:0491034237 0491034237] 0491034237] 0491034237], copies priced £7.50 (UK))

Paperback (November 1987)

• Target / W.H. Allen & Co. Ltd. One single paperback edition, estimated print run: 25,300, priced £1.95 (UK).

Paperback (October 1992)

• Target / Virgin Publishing New cover artwork by Alister Pearson, priced £2.99 (UK).