Doctor Who: The Massacre
by John Lucarotti
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Peter Purves reads John Lucarotti's novelization of his classic First Doctor TV adventure. The TARDIS lands in Paris on August 19, 1572. Driven by scientific curiosity, the Doctor goes to meet and exchange views with the apothecary, Charles Preslin. Before he disappears, he warns Steven to stay "out of mischief, religion and politics." But in 16th Century Paris it is impossible to remain a mere observer, and Steven soon finds himself involved with a group of Huguenots. The Protestant show more minority of France is being threatened by the Catholic hierarchy, and danger stalks the Paris streets. As Steven tries to find his way back to the TARDIS he discovers that one of the main persecutors of the Huguenots appears to be . . . the Doctor Peter Purves, who played Steven in the original BBC TV series, reads this novelization of a fondly remembered classic story, the original episodes of which are lost from the BBC archives. show lessTags
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The novelisation of The Massacre strays some way from the story as broadcast: we experience it as a flashback from the First Doctor's point of view, at a moment when he has temporarily made his peace with the Time Lords and is relaxing in the garden from which he is wrenched for The Five Doctors. Rather than the Doctor disappearing from the scene as he does in the TV story, here he and Steven get completely sucked into the Protestants' attempts to discredit the Doctor's double, the Abbot of Amboise, and to be honest it is all rather confusing; apparently the story had to be rewritten to allow for Hartnell's health (or the unusability of Lucarotti's original script, depending what version you show more believe). We get the impression that because of the Doctor's interference to save Anne Chaplet, the Time Lords get grumpy with him again. Dodo Chaplet, who appears in the last few minutes of the TV version, does not appear at all here except in that her arrival is referred to by the Time Lords in the epilogue. show less
The novelisation of The Massacre strays some way from the story as broadcast: we experience it as a flashback from the First Doctor's point of view, at a moment when he has temporarily made his peace with the Time Lords and is relaxing in the garden from which he is wrenched for The Five Doctors. Rather than the Doctor disappearing from the scene as he does in the TV story, here he and Steven get completely sucked into the Protestants' attempts to discredit the Doctor's double, the Abbot of Amboise, and to be honest it is all rather confusing; apparently the story had to be rewritten to allow for Hartnell's health (or the unusability of Lucarotti's original script, depending what version you show more believe). We get the impression that because of the Doctor's interference to save Anne Chaplet, the Time Lords get grumpy with him again. Dodo Chaplet, who appears in the last few minutes of the TV version, does not appear at all here except in that her arrival is referred to by the Time Lords in the epilogue. show less
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Author Information
10+ Works 918 Members
Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Doctor Who: The Massacre
- Original publication date
- 1987-11-19
- People/Characters
- The Doctor (1st); Steven Taylor; Charles IX, King of France; Catherine de Medici; Gaspard de Coligny; Gaspard de Saux-Tavannes (show all 12); Charles Preslin; Gaston de Laren; Nicholas Muss; Simon Duval; Roger Colbert; Anne Chaplet
- Important places
- Paris, France; Bastille, Paris, France; Louvre, Paris, France; Notre Dame, Paris, France
- Important events
- St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre (1572)
- Original language
- English
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 187
- Popularity
- 174,507
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.34)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 2
