The Massacre is the fifth serial of the third season of Doctor Who. It was written by John Lucarotti & Donald Tosh, directed by Paddy Russell and featured William Hartnell as the First Doctor & Peter Purves as Steven Taylor.
Overview[]
To be added
Synopsis[]
The TARDIS arrives in Paris 1572, the Doctor decides to go an visit Charles Preslin, a famous apothecary, to exchange scientific views, but then goes missing. Steven, however, accidentally finds himself caught up in the religious tensions of the city, when he makes friends with a group of Huguenots, who are being threatened by the Catholic majority.
Alone and stranded in 16th century Paris, Steven is horrified to discover that the greatest prosecutor of the Huguenots appears to be the Doctor himself...
Plot[]
War of God (1)[]
The TARDIS materialises inside an empty farmhouse in France. The Doctor and Steven emerge from it and observe their surroundings; while the Doctor tries to discern the date, he and Steven are forced to hide from the arrival of two men, Nicholas Muss and Gaston de Leran, confirming for the Doctor that it's the 16th Century. Muss and de Leran converse aloud about the hatred held against them by Paris' Catholic numbers, in spite of their attempts to maintain peace.
After the Doctor and Steven change into era-appropriate attire, Muss and de Leran drink heavily at a local tavern with a number of Huguenots. De Leran openly insults the wine he drinks, referring to it a cheap Catholic wine; this barb is overheard by Simon Duval, a local Catholic who considers it a slur to the recently-wed Catholic Queen Marguerite. After an exchange of challenges between the two, Duval relents and leaves, but puts the landlord in his paid employ to spy on the Huguenots.
The Doctor and Steven arrive and share a drink while the Doctor intends to seek out local apothecary Charles Preslin to ask after his work in germinology. Taking some money on his way out, Steven decides to look around the city on his own. The landlord demands the drink paid for but Steven's currency is inadequate, so Muss comes forth and pays Steven's drink. He asks Muss after the direction of Preslin because he believes the Doctor was followed when he left; Muss offers him a place with the other Huguenots while they offer to look on the Doctor.
Meanwhile, the Doctor makes it to the Preslin's shop, wherein the occupant tries to convince him that Preslin not longer works there, believing the Doctor to have been sent by the Abbot of Amboise. Upon being told that he's a scientist, however, Preslin graciously invites him to discuss his work. Back in the tavern, Muss and de Leran share drinks with Steven and explain in brief the local Parisian political state to him upon hearing of his travels. In the streets, a number of Catholic guards chase a young Huguenot girl throughout the city and she rushes past Steven and darts into the tavern as he leaves.
The guards demand for the girl to be returned, by de Leran and the tavern's other occupants raise arms against the captain and he retreats. Steven comes back in and asks after the girl but accepts another drink from de Leran. In Preslin's shop, he tells the Doctor about the Abbot of Amboise seeking and hunting any scientists of Protestants residing in the city. Steven, meanwhile, voices his concern for the servant girl and she is called over when she tries to leave. As de Leran questions the girl, who names herself as Anne Chaplet, Steven asks her why she was frightened of the guards and she explains that she'd overheard the captain state that "it will happen when the week is up".
At the same time, the captain and the guard are brought before Duval, who is annoyed that Anne got away with sensitive information and orders them to find her immediately. Realising that Anne won't be safe with the information he has, Muss sends her to work in the kitchen of his master, the Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, unaware that the landlord is listening in. After she and de Leran leave, Muss explains to Steven that the recently-married Catholic Queen Marguerite was wed to Henry of Navarre, a Protestant prince who is now the Huguenot king. He suspects from Anne's information that a Catholic plot to assassinate him is now under way.
Instead of looking for the Doctor in the city, Steven waits for his return in the tavern when Duval returns as receives his information from the landlord, including Anne's whereabouts. Duval approaches an oblivious Steven and tells him that a curfew is still in effect when Muss returns and Duval hides. Since the Doctor hasn't returned, Muss takes Steven to the Admiral de Coligny's house to stay the night and asks the landlord to send the Doctor that way should he arrive.
Duval hurries to speak with the Abbot of Amboise and tells him Anne's location. The Abbot, who looks and sounds exactly like the Doctor, orders Duval to bring her to him.
The Sea Beggar (2)[]
Muss and de Leran argue about the possibility of a Catholic assassination attempt on Navarre; at the same time, Steven returns to the tavern to find the Doctor hasn't returned there. The landlord is deliberately obstinate, so Steven goes to get help from Muss and de Leran while they continue to bicker over the credibility of Anne's testimony. Muss offers to take the Doctor to Preslin's shop when they are interrupted by the arrival of by Robert Colbert, who enquires after Anne and the information she gave them, including the mention of Wassy. Colbert spots Anne, but de Leran swiftly pretends that she is somebody else and dismisses her.
After Colbert leaves, Steven identifies him as the man who followed the Doctor from the tavern that day. The Abbot suddenly arrives outside and his resemblance makes Steven believe that the Abbot is the Doctor in disguise. De Leran interprets that as Steven admitting to being in the employ of the Abbot, thus making him a spy, but Steven manages to convince Muss that he isn't a spy and they head to the apothecary to find the real Doctor.
Duval meets with Marshal Tavannes, who suspects that the Abbots spontaneous presence would arouse suspicion among the Huguenot number and he orders Duval to follow him and he is also informed that Steven is currently taking residence in de Coligny's house. As Duval leaves, Tavannes brings up reference to the "Sea Begger", which peaks de Coligny's intrigue when he arrives, believing this to be in reference to the Dutch, who are requesting France's military aid against Spain. De Coligny is satisfied that the Tavannes is finally considering the possibility of France's help, but he suspects that de Coligny only wishes to side with the Dutch on account of them being a Protestant country; Tavannes then leaves to meet with the Queen Mother
Arriving at Preslin's shop, Steven and Muss are informed by an old woman that the shop has been vacant for some time because Preslin had been arrested for heresy. Muss now starts to become suspcious of Steven as well and decides to return him to the Huguenots while they decide what to do with him, but Steven, suspecting the Doctor is imitating the Abbot, trips Muss and flees. De Leran interrogates Anne over his suspicions but she strongly doubts that Steven is working for the Abbot; Muss soon returns and is informed by de Leran that Navarre has ordered an increase on his guards and de Leran is convinced by Steven's escape that he truly is a spy.
Meanwhile, Steven heads to the Abbot's house, where overhears Duval, Colbert and Tavannes, who has returned from his meeting with the Queen Mother, mention that the Abbot has disappeared and that the Queen has ordered for the "Sea Beggar" to be killed at day break, when he returns from a meeting at the Louvre. Returning to Muss to inform him of the plan, Steven finds him absent, so he tries to leave a note instead. De Leran enters and interprets Steven's looking for paper as his trying to steal Huguenot information for the Abbot.
De Leran raises arms against Steven and forces him to leave when he raises a sword to defend himself but refuses to fight back. He informs Muss of the altercation on his return, but this convinces Muss that Steven wasn't spying for the Abbot at all and that he had discovered crucial information and returned as he said he would. Aggravated that de Leran sent him away without listening to his information, Muss dismisses him and sends him back to Lavarre. Meanwhile, Steven aimlessly wanders Paris' streets when he spots Anne following him in the hope that Steven will help her as she no longer has any place to go.
He asks Anne if he knows the Sea Begger's identity, but she doesn't know him and they decide to head to Preslin's abandoned shop, as they haven't any shelter or protection and decide it's the safest place to go. Meanwhile, de Coligny returns home tells Muss that Navarre has ultimately decided to aid the Dutch, boasting that the King nicknamed him the Sea Begger, who is now the target for assassination.
Priest of Death (3)[]
The following morning, Steven, having spent the night in Preslin's shop with Anne, opts to try and find the Doctor at the Abbot's house, in spite of Anne warning him otherwise. Donning a disguise so as to not be recognised, as the guards are still under orders to seek them out, they set off to the Abbot's house with Anne still being reluctant to return there.
At the Louvre, the Queen Mother, King Charles XI, Tavannes, de Coligny, and Charles de Teligny argue about the political and economic issues in deciding to assist the Dutch and go to war with Spain and soon end up considering that in spite of the marriage of Henry of Navarre to the king's sister Marguerite, the Catholics still persist in persecuting Huguenots. De Coligny and Tavannes butt heads on all accounts and de Coligny deliberately insults the Queen Mother by warning the king that she may be in possession of to great a power; after this remark, she and Tavannes leave the meeting.
The guards refuse to let Steven and Anne into the Abbot's house and the ensuing argument between the priest and Steven brings the Abbot outside. He shows absolutely no sign of recognising Steven, but he still suspects that the Abbot is the Doctor play acting. Dismissing Steven and Anne into another room, they overhear the Abbot and the priest reveal that de Coligny is the Sea Beggar he is set to be assassinated on the Rue des Fosse-St.-Germain. As they leave to inform Muss, Duval arrives and recognises Steven, later telling Tavennes that the Englishman that was staying with de Coligny was spotting leaving the house.
Tavannes starts to believe that the Abbot is a liability on hearing that he did nothing to ensure Steven's identity and orders Duval to send guards to retrieve them. Steven and Anne hurry back and inform Muss of the location of de Coligny's assassination and they rushes to warn him. As de Coligny returns from the Louvre, he fails to notice an assassin awaiting him with a rifle. The gunman fires off a shot and hits de Coligny in the shoulder just as Steven and Muss arrive and get him away.
Tavannes later hears that the assassination attempt on de Coligny was unsuccessful and, blaming the Abbot for this turn of events, ordered him to be killed before sending others to take the Admiral out. Returning to the house, Steven fills Muss in on the events of the previous day and identifies Duval as one of the conspirators; Muss pins the assassination attempt on the Abbot, though Steven is still convinced that the Abbot is the Doctor is disguise. They soon receive word of a Huguenot uprising and the Abbot is dead and Steven rushes to the Abbots house, believing it to be the Doctor who was killed.
Back at the Louvre, the King is furious that de Coligny was attacked and, now entertaining the idea of driving the Catholics out of their homes, demands Tavannes post guards outside de Coligny's house, and threatens him with execution should he come to further harm. After ordering Tavannes and Teligny to leave, the Queen Mother comes in and he, incensed, threatens to arrest her and execute Tavannes for the attempt of de Coligny, but the Queen Mother suggests that Tavannes was merely protecting him and that with Navarre in line for the throne, he will be under threat from the Huguenots, resting his rage.
Furious Catholic masses gather around the dead Abbot, demanding vengeance in Huguenot blood. Steven arrives, still believing that the Abbot is the Doctor, and the presiding Duval and two guards publicly declare him an enemy and the Abbot's murderer. The crowds turn against Steven and his is forced to flee with the Abbot's body lying dead behind him.
Bell of Doom (4)[]
Steven makes it back to Preslin's shop where Anne is waiting for him; he voices his despondence over the Doctor's apparent demise and asks Anne to help him find his clothes, suspecting that the Doctor left the TARDIS key in them when he took the Abbot's attire, Tavannes and Duval discreetly voice their hopes that the Huguenots' being accused of the murder can cover their complicity in the crime and decide to kill Steven as the only loose end the next day, realising that he could escape during the revelry of the St Bartholomew's Day celebration. Tavannes then receives a summons from the Queen Mother.
Scouring around the shop, Steven and Anne only find the Doctor's cane and Steven ponders where he could have changed from his clothes to the Abbot's. He refutes Anne assumption that he may have left with Preslin, on the grounds that he was arrested and possibly killed, when the Doctor suddenly emerges and shocks him. Back at the de Coligny's house, de Leran argues with him and Muss and insists that they leave Paris, but de Coligny refuses to do this. After de Leran leaves, de Coligny asks Muss to stay and fight the masses of the Catholics with him.
After bickering with Steven about who holds more blame with their current predicament, the Doctor decides that they should depart, but Anne implores that it would be easier to get out of the city during the St Bartholomew's Day celebrations. Upon hearing about de Coligny from Steven, the Doctor discovers from Anne that the year is 1572 and tells her to go to her aunt's regardless of the curfew. Anne decides to obey his instructions, in spite of Steven's objections, and leaves while they head for the TARDIS.
Tavannes is told by the Queen Mother that the King has permitted a mass slaughter the Huguenots; he proclaims that making the Catholic people into a mob will see the innocent murdered as well as the guilty but the Queen Mother overrules him. Nevertheless, she has it ensured that Navarre won't be killed in the bloodbath out of fear of strong political retribution and Tavannes orders Duval to rally the Catholics and escort Navarre safely out of Paris; as he leaves, Tavannes muses whether or not this massacre is a good idea. The Doctor and Steven make it back to the TARDIS but cannot enter until the curfew bell has rings the following morning and they depart as the Massacre of St Bartholomew's Day begins and Catholic forces storm de Coligny's home.
Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor admits that the massacre lasts for several days in Paris and that 10,000 Huguenots, including de Coligny and Muss are killed. He defends his actions in leaving Anne behind by stating that he cannot rewrite history, but Steven is furious about his callous attitude to such a horrific loss of life and accuses him of being solely responsible for whatever happened to Anne. Still incensed, Steven decrees that if the Doctor's travels regard human life so little, then he doesn't wish to travel with him any more and states that he will leave the TARDIS wherever it next lands.
The TARDIS soon lands and the Doctor again insists that he was right to act as he did as he cannot change history to suit himself, but Steven doesn't listen and leaves. Standing alone, the Doctor muses that at least he taught Steven to take precautions but wearily utters that he couldn't understand his responsibilities to time. Dejected and alone for the first time, the Doctor thinks back over all of his companions who have since left him, including Susan, and starts to wonder whether or not to return to his home planet, but ultimately concludes that he can't.
While he sits in solitude, a young girl hurries inside the TARDIS, having mistaken it for a real police box and asks to use the phone to call the police for help a young boy caught in an accident. Still feeling dejected, the Doctor tries to send her away to find another police box, Steven hurriedly returns and tells him to take off as two policemen are approaching. The Doctor then hastily launches the TARDIS when Steven notices the young woman still aboard. While Steven is initially outraged at the Doctor for snatching her from her time and place knowing full well that he may never be able to return her, she just speaks dismissively of her home and introduces herself as Dodo Chaplet.
While Steven contemplates the possibility of Anne's survival from this revelation, the Doctor heartily welcomes Dodo on their travels.
Cast[]
- Dr. Who / Abbot of Amboise - William Hartnell
- Steven Taylor - Peter Purves
- Dodo Chaplet - Jackie Lane
- King Charles IX - Barry Justice
- Queen Mother - Joan Young
- Admiral de Coligny - Leonard Sachs
- Marshal Tavannes - André Morell
- Charles de Teligny - Michael Bilton
- Charles Preslin - Erik Chitty
- Gaston, Viscount de Lerans - Eric Thompson
- Nicholas Muss - David Weston
- Simon Duval - John Tillinger
- Roger Colbert - Christopher Tranchell
- Anne Chaplet - Annette Robertson
- Old Woman - Cynthia Etherington
- Landlord - Edwin Finn
- Captain of the Guard - Clive Cazes
- Servant - Reginald Jessup
- Priest - Norman Claridge
- Officer - John Slavid
- 1st Man - Will Stampe
- 2nd Man - Ernest Smith
- 1st Guard - Jack Tarran
- 2nd Guard - Leslie Bates
Crew[]
- Writers - John Lucarotti, Donald Tosh
- Assistant Floor Manager - Fiona Cumming
- Assistant Floor Manager - Richard Valentine
- Costumes - Daphne Dare
- Designer - Michael Young
- Film Cameraman - Tony Leggo
- Film Editor - Bob Rymer
- Make-Up - Sonia Markham
- Producer - John Wiles
- Production Assistant - Gerry Mill
- Script Editor - Donald Tosh
- Special Sounds - Brian Hodgson
- Studio Lighting - Dennis Channon
- Studio Sound - Gordon Mackie
- Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
- Title Music - Ron Grainer
References[]
To be added
Story notes[]
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Broadcast & Ratings[]
| No. Overall | # | Title | Runtime | First Airdate | Viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #103 | 1 | War of God | 24:51 | 05 February 1966 | 8.0 |
| #104 | 2 | The Sea Beggar | 24:43 | 12 February 1966 | 6.0 |
| #105 | 3 | Priest of Death | 24:33 | 19 February 1966 | 5.9 |
| #106 | 4 | Bell of Doom | 25:03 | 26 February 1966 | 5.8 |
Continuity[]
To be added
Home video and audio releases[]
To be added
External Links[]
- Official The Massacre page on Doctor Who Website