The Massacre (TV story)

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The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve was the fifth story of Season 3 of Doctor Who. It marks the first appearance of Jackie Lane as companion Dodo Chaplet, although she only appears in the last few minutes of episode 4, Bell of Doom.

Summary

The TARDIS materializes in Paris in the year 1572 and the First Doctor decides to visit the famous apothecary Charles Preslin. Steven, meanwhile, is befriended by a group of Huguenots from the household of the Protestant Admiral de Coligny. Having rescued a young serving girl, Anne Chaplet, from some pursuing guards, the Huguenots gain their first inkling of a heinous plan being hatched at the command of the Catholic Queen Mother, Catherine de Medici...

Cast & Characters

Crew

Notes

  • This story is listed in some programme guides as simply, The Massacre.
  • Some original production documents state the name of the serial as The Massacre of St Barthlomew's Eve, although this is historically a misnomer, as the actual massacre took place on St Bartholomew's Day. Some have noted that as the original French name for the event (Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy) lacks a day, the title actually refers to the lead up to the massacre itself — that is, the Eve of the Massacre of St Bartholomew.
  • William Hartnell only plays the Doctor in episodes 1 and 4.
  • The last episode of this serial introduces Dodo Chaplet, played by Jackie Lane. The BBC Past Doctor Adventures novel "Salvation" gives a more detailed though somewhat contradictory account of events which led Dodo to enter the TARDIS, thinking it was an actual police box.
  • Guest star André Morell was one of the actors to play the BBC's other famous science-fiction hero, Professor Bernard Quatermass. He is the only one of them to appear in Doctor Who on television, although Scottish actor Andrew Keir, who portrayed Quatermass on film, also played a role in the film Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD. David Tennant, who plays the Doctor in the current Doctor Who series, also appeared in the most recent revival of the Quatermass series, as Dr. Briscoe. Eric Thompson also took a prominent role in the story, later achieving fame through his connection with The Magic Roundabout.
  • This is one of only three serials, along with Marco Polo and Mission to the Unknown, of which not a second of footage survives. However, a fan-recorded off-air soundtrack, with linking narration provided by Peter Purves, was released by the BBC Radio Collection on both audio CD and cassette in 1999.
  • The BBC Radio Collection release gives the title as, variously, The Massacre and The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve. The packaging uses the title The Massacre, but the accompanying booklet uses both titles. The CDs have The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve printed on them and this is also the title announced by Peter Purves on the discs themselves.
  • John Lucarotti's 1987 novelisation of this serial for Target Books, entitled simply The Massacre, returned the story to a previous draft before Bill Hartnell's health forced a number of rewrites (allowing Hartnell to not have to be present during filming of the third episode). It is listed as book number 122 in the Target series.
  • According to the book Doctor Who: Companions by David J. Howe and Mark Stammers, the final episode of the serial was to have included a cameo appearance by William Russell and Jacqueline Hill reprising their roles as former companions Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright. The scene — which was scheduled to be filmed but was cancelled — had Ian and Barbara witnessing the dematerialisation of the TARDIS after Dodo enters.

Archive Status

All four episodes are currently missing. No telerecordings exist in the BBC archives. No telesnaps or clips exist. Loose Cannon Productions have created a reconstruction from a fan-recorded off-air audio soundtrack and several composite images created from various sources.

Influences

  • The actual historical massacre and swashbuckling movies.

Myths

To be added.

Ratings

  • War Of God - 8.0m viewers
  • The Sea Beggar - 6.0m viewers
  • Priest Of Death - 5.9m viewers
  • Bell Of Doom - 5.8m viewers

Location Filming

To be added.

Continuity

Discontinuity

  • The story suggests that Dodo might be a descendant of Anne Chaplet; however, it has often been pointed out that this would only be possible if Anne married someone who shared her surname or if she had a male illegitimate child.
  • The actual massacre occurred on St Bartholomew's Day, not St Bartholomew's Eve. See the Notes above for a possible explanation of this contradiction.

References

To be added.

Quotes

To be added.

Story Arcs

This story does not appear to fit into any story arc, although the closing scene does tie in with "Salvation" and "Who Killed Kennedy."

More Info

Public Releases

To be added.

External Links

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Television

Previous story:
The Daleks' Master Plan 		Next story:
The Ark


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