PREVIOUS                                                                                  NEXT

The Massacre

5TH FEBRUARY 1966 - 26TH FEBRUARY 1966

(4 EPISODES)

  1. WAR OF GOD      2. THE SEA BEGGAR

3. PRIEST OF DEATH      4. BELL OF DOOM

I always wondered why “The Massacre” was chosen to launch the BBC Radio Collection’s range of ‘lost’ stories on CD. Not only is it pretty awful, but it is completely and utterly dependent on the purely visual ploy of the Doctor and the Abbott of Amboise being almost physically identical. Perhaps the lack of telesnaps make this serial stand out as being ‘more lost’ than most others; in fact, “The Massacre” is one of just a few Doctor Who television

serials (the other two being “Galaxy 4” and “The Myth Makers”) that I have only been able to enjoy on audio CD. Not a single second of footage survived the fires.

John Lucarotti and Donald Tosh’s script tells an interesting tale set around a historical event that many people (myself included) know precious little about. The format of the serial is also quite refreshing as for most of the story we do not see the Doctor; the story is told entirely from the viewpoint of his companion, Steven. Peter Purves does a tremendous job of carrying the story almost single-handedly, so somehow it seems fitting that he should

provide the linking narration for the soundtrack CD. As “The Massacre” can now only be listened to, it is through Steven’s dialogue and Purves’ narration that we learn that the

Abbott of Amboise is the Doctor’s double, and this works surprisingly well as the audience

is unsure as to whether the Doctor really is the Abbott or not. Undoubtedly, on television this would have been a far more effective gimmick, but thanks to Purves’ quite excellent

narration at least the plot can be understood and followed on audio.

“I was right to do as I did…

Even after all this time he cannot understand. I dare not change the course of history.

Well at least I taught him to take some precautions.

He did remember to look at the scanner before he opened the doors…”

I found the final episode to be the best of the four by far. “Bell of Doom” in a way mirrors the events of the earlier historical, “The Aztecs”, as the Doctor’s companion wants to change history. “The TARDIS leaves Paris as the carnage and the slaughter begins…”, and Steven is far from happy. He believes that makeshift companion Anne Chaplet will have been killed in the massacre, and blames the Doctor for not trying to save her, resulting in his decision to leave the TARDIS. As Steven disembarks in Wimbledon Common, we are treated to a rare Hartnell soliloquy (à la “The Dalek Invasion of Earth”) which highlights the more tragic side to the Doctor’s character – not Ian; nor Barbara; nor Vicki; or even his “little Susan” could understand him, and now, like them, Steven has left him. The Doctor is so forlorn that he even contemplates returning to his home world, however, it is not to be as in one of the weirdest companion introductions ever Dodo Chaplet bursts into the TARDIS expecting to find a Policeman, Steven hot on her heels! It seems that Anne Chaplet may have survived after all… unfortunately. She must have had an illegitimate child too, in order to keep the Chaplet surname. Steven’s, I wonder...?

I say ‘unfortunately’ because I cannot stand Dodo. She is horrible. She is stupid. Really, really stupid. It takes her about five minutes to realise that she has wandered into a dimensionally transcendental time machine. “Where’s the telephone? There’s something odd going on here…” she eventually says. When the Doctor suddenly dematerialises the TARDIS, snatching her away from her customary time and place, likely never to return, she does not even care - Steven is more annoyed with the Doctor than she is! I can understand the production team not wanting to re-hash the Ian and Barbara storyline, but this… Roll on

“Who Kill Kennedy” is all I can say.

At the end of the day, “The Massacre” is certainly no lost classic, and if you never listen to it you are not really depriving yourself of a pivotal part of the Doctor Who canon. Generally speaking, I do not think that the standard of Doctor Who’s (almost extinct) third season is up to the standards of the first two years; stories like “The Massacre” and companions like Dodo certainly did not do the show’s third run any favours.

Copyright © E.G. Wolverson 2006

E.G. Wolverson has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

Unless otherwise stated, all images on this site are copyrighted to the BBC and are used solely for promotional purposes.

‘Doctor Who’ is copyright © by the BBC. No copyright infringement is intended.