The Massacre

War of God

My favourite writer is back, merged somewhat with Donald Tosh. Mix them with a bit of Paddy Russell and you get magic. Paddy in this story becomes the first female director of Who. With Verity producing and Julia Smith to direct the Smugglers later on, it's great that there was such a female influence on the Hartnell era. War of God is a rather good title, too. It's all very positive so far, and we know this will have looked good.

Apparently Steven would be surprised what the Doctor has in his wardrobe. He wouldn't if he'd met any of the JNT Doctors. The Doctor wants to go and see Preslin, but doesn't want Steven to come with him. Just what is the Doctor doing during the course of this story? Good old Steven, though. "I'm not going to sit in the TARDIS while you gallivant around Paris". That's the right attitude, but promising the Doctor he won't get into trouble is just silly. He's been with the Doctor long enough by now to know better. This story has a huge number of Time Lords, and the first is Erik Chitty, better known as Engin, playing Preslin. We also have Christopher Tranchell, who is Andred, playing Roger Colbert, and Leonard Sachs (Borusa 3) playing de Coligny. As if that wasn't enough, Teligny is played by the bumbling old Time Lord whose robes the Doctor takes in the Deadly Assassin. Some people might say such a high Time Lord presence isn't a coincidence. It was part of the Wiles master plan. Maybe not.

The world of 1572 is well presented. You're told everything you need to know without being subjected to an info-dump, mainly through Steven posing as an Englishman who doesn't know of the latest developments in France. There's also a good turn from Eric Thompson (Emma's dad) as Gaston. He could easily have been the dull, clichéd "one who doesn't trust the regulars". A Cassandra, who has no reason to hate them, but does because the plot requires it. In a way he is, but his state of mind, and his fears, and the way they are played, make it justifiable for him to be so suspicious of Steven. And yet he's not outright hostile, just wary. At this point, anyway. We also get a lovely cliffhanger, as it turns out the Abbot is the Doctor! Or is he? Wonderful opening. Flawless in every respect. 10/10.

The Sea Beggar

Yes, after defending Gaston, he's quite vile here. Of course, he's also there to show that, though the Huguenots are the "goodies" in this story, they're far from perfect themselves. But his remark of, "you're too kind to these nothings" when Muss shows a little humanity towards Anne is quite chilling. And Steven gives Gaston quite a good reason for not trusting him by admitting that he's friends with the Abbot (who he thinks is the Doctor). I like the way Anne angrily defends Steven when they claim he's a spy. She trusts him, "because he's kind and gentle". Which is ever so sweet. I did enjoy the exchange between Steven and Gaston later in the episode, where Steven says that he has some important news and Gaston replies, "I've got some for you too, get out of here!" That's as bad as "what a stupid fool YOU are"! And there's a sword fight, of sorts, though Steven spoils it a bit by not actually fighting back. I really like the cliffhanger, too, where you find the de Coligny is the Sea Beggar that the Queen Mother has instructed will be killed. 10/10.

Priest of Death

Well, that title is dreadful, but everything else is spectacular. Particularly as Steven and Anne appear to have slept together. Is that the first instance of people in Doctor Who having sex since Ian and Barbara in the Romans? Steven wants to go and see the Abbot, and puts on a disguise...a hat and a cloak! Not exactly brilliant there, Steven. When they get there he's found out pretty easily (surprise, surprise), so he uses an actual plan and pretends he's brought Anne back. He finds out about the plot and escapes easily to warn Muss. So de Coligny is saved, and the Marshal has the Abbot killed. Ever since he showed up everything planned carefully seems to be going wrong. This is meant to make us think the Abbot actually is the Doctor, making everything go wrong for the Catholics. Which makes it more of a shock when he is murdered. 10/10

Bell of Doom

That's possibly even worse. Bell of Doom? I will really miss these silly individual episode titles. The reunion between Anne and Steven is very sweet at the beginning of this episode. It's a joyous moment, too, when the Doctor shows up. It's a bit like in the Keys of Marinus when he makes a sudden appearance after having been away for two weeks. I love how he ignores the questions about where on earth he went, "I was unavoidably delayed," and just takes charge of matters so quickly and efficiently, particularly when he finds out it's 1572. But is this the callous first season Doctor telling Anne to go away, not interested at all in anything but saving his and Steven's own skins, or does he really think telling her to go home and stay indoors tomorrow will help her? I'm not entirely sure. It's interesting that the argumentative Steven doesn't really argue with the Doctor here, even though he's sending Anne away, and knows he won't see her again. Their farewell could have been played a little better. Not to the ridiculous overblown extent it would be today, but a little more than we do get, although the sad, tense farewell does set the scene quite well.

The scene between Tavannes and the Queen Mother is superb. I'm not sure it's really Doctor Who, but it's brilliant nonetheless. Tavannes is shocked that the Queen Mother says there won't be a list of those to be killed, and that the people of France, "know their enemies". She says that the fact innocent people will die is worth it, because "France will breathe pure air after tomorrow," which is fairly horrific. Tavannes quickly accepts innocent people dying, but says that Henry of Navarre has to be spared, or France risks provoking a war. She agrees, but says, "if one Huguenot life escapes me tomorrow, we may both regret this act of mercy," to which he coldly replies, "not mercy, policy". These are two vile people, but they really are hogging the great lines, and Tavannes still has two more, as he tells Duval to, "unleash the wolves of Paris. None are to be spared," and of course, the famous, "at dawn tomorrow this city will weep tears of blood". Sorry for going into so much detail, but it's such a fantastic scene, and so unlike anything we've seen in Doctor Who.

Then of course, there's the small matter of the massacre itself, and then the scene between the Doctor and Steven in the TARDIS. Steven's anger at the Doctor is fantastic, and his tirade about his lack of regard for human life is played well by Purves, even if his storming out on the Doctor is rather undermined by him coming back a couple of minutes later to warn about policemen, after which it's never mentioned again. I would have liked something to come out of it, but that isn't the fault of the Massacre. The Doctor's speech to himself is rather moving. Dodo's accent is peculiar, I'm glad she dropped it, and why does the Doctor say she looks like Susan? He essentially abducts her, so maybe we are back to first season Hartnell after all? Okay, the ending is a little clumsy, but the story itself is magical. 10/10

Conclusion

I'm not sure it's Doctor Who, but whatever it is it's wonderful. Peter Purves does a superb job taking the lead role in this story, and Anne makes a very sweet assistant. I'd rather have her than Susan. I like Dodo, though, so maybe not instead of her. This is the last script with Lucarotti's name on it, and it's no coincidence all three have been favourites. It's a little bleak, and the suggestion that Anne survived isn't particularly convincing, but it's a very powerful and engaging story. This is my favourite story so far, just surpassing the Romans. Sadly, with one exception, the quality of the Hartnell stories is about to nosedive. If I were to make a complaint about this story, it's the lack of Hartnell. It seems fine at the moment, but with hindsight, and knowing what a small part he plays in many stories coming up, it is sad, but again, it's not a fault of this story, but of the later ones. I love historicals, and at this point in my marathon my top four stories are all historicals. That there are only three more (well, Black Orchid counts too, but that's ages away) makes me sad.

Average rating: 10

Old Rating: 10

New Rating: 10