The Massacre (TV story)

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.

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...

Plot
to be added

Cast

 * The Doctor / The Abbot of Amboise — William Hartnell
 * Steven Taylor — Peter Purves
 * Dodo Chaplet — Jackie Lane
 * King Charles IX — Barry Justice
 * Catherine de Medici — 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
 * Men — Will Stampe, Ernest Smith
 * Guards — Jack Tarran, Leslie Bates

Crew

 * 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

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 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.


 * 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.

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

 * Ealing Television Film Studios
 * Windmill Lane near Wimbledon Common

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.


 * The actual massacre occurred on St Bartholomew's Day, not St Bartholomew's Eve.

Continuity

 * PDA: Salvation attempts to explain why Dodo is where she is at the end of this story.
 * The Doctor faces another double of himself in DW: The Enemy of the World (and in some sense DW: Meglos and DW: Arc of Infinity). His companions meet natural doubles (as opposed to androids or shape-shifters) of themselves on three other occasions: Romana in DW: The Androids of Tara; Nyssa, in DW: Black Orchid; and Peri, in BFA: The Church and the Crown.

Timeline

 * This story occurs after White on White
 * This story occurs before Salvation

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).

Novelisation

 * 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.