The Massacre (TV story)

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Perhaps I should go home? Back to my own planet? But I can't...The Doctor

"The Massacre" redirects here. For the novelisation by this title, see The Massacre (novelisation).

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 "Bell of Doom".

The story is often given the abbreviated title The Massacre in reference books, due in part because this variation is used for the Target novelisation.

Synopsis

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...

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Plot

Part One: War of God

to be added

Part Two: The Sea Beggar

to be added

Part Three: Priest of Death

to be added

Part Four: Bell of Doom

to be added

Cast

Crew

References

File:Lc16 125.jpg
The Abbot of Amboise

Story 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 is credited as Dr. Who for War of God and Bell of Doom, and as Abbot of Amboise for The Sea Beggar and Priest of Death. He also appears as the Abbot towards the end of Priest of Death, but is credited only as Dr. Who. Radio Times credits 'William Hartnell as Dr. Who' for all four episodes, but omits the character from its actual cast lists for The Sea Beggar and Priest of Death.
  • 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.
  • The part of 1st Man was originally to have been played by Roy Denton, but he had to drop out the day before recording due to illness and was replaced at short notice by Will Stampe. Denton was still credited in Radio Times as it was too late for this to be corrected.
  • 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. Reportedly, Morell was at one point to have appeared in the film as well, but had to pull out due to his commitments to filming this TV serial.
  • 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.
  • This serial is notable as being one of the very few in which the Doctor does not meet the villain(s) in person. Another such example is DW: Planet of Giants.
  • Production of The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve occurred concurrently with that of the film spinoff Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD.

Ratings

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

Myths

  • Donald Tosh was credited as co-writer on Bell of Doom because he supplied the final scene introducing Dodo. (Tosh wrote the final draft scripts of all four episodes, amending John Lucarotti's originals extensively. He was credited only on "Bell of Doom" because during production of the first three episodes he was still on BBC staff as Doctor Who's story editor.)

Filming Locations

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

  • 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. Or perhaps her time with The Doctor and Steven fostered a progressive attitude in her, and she kept her name when she got married. Of course, the fact Anne and Dodo look identical is certainly cause for much raising of eyebrows.
  • The actual massacre occurred on St Bartholomew's Day, not St Bartholomew's Eve.

Continuity

Timeline

DVD, Video and Other Releases

  • 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.
  • 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. (see also disputed story titles).
  • This audio has also been released as part of the Adventures in History CD Set in August 2003.

Novelisation

Massacre novel.jpg
Main article: The Massacre (novelisation)
  • John Lucarotti's 1987 The Massacre 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). As a result, the novelisation differs greatly from the broadcast version.

Note

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Because no footage exists of any title sequence, it is difficult to say with certainty exactly how the writing of this episode was credited onscreen. According to an interview with Donald Tosh conducted by Loose Cannon Productions, Lucarotti may not have received any on-screen credit, and the first three episodes may have gone out without any writing credit. According to Shannon Sullivan, however, Lucarotti disagreed with Tosh's script editorial changes to his script and fought to have his name removed from the credits. However, the BBC disallowed his request, and the serial went out with his name on each episode, with he and Tosh getting credit for "Bell of Doom". Sullivan's view seems to have the most support from BBC sources. According to the official BBC Radio Collection release and the official BBC episode guide, Lucarotti received writing credit for all four episodes, and Tosh was credited as the co-writer of "Bell of Doom". Nevertheless, contemporary internal paperwork gives only Lucarotti credit for all four episodes. However, the credit for "Bell of Doom" in these documents is curiously for "copyright", rather than "script" or writing.

External Links


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