Time Stream #22 - The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve

          Another story in this run of reconstructions, “The Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Eve” (simply “The Massacre” from here on out), is a story that surprised me on a few levels. First off, this is one I had NEVER seen. I’ve heard the audio, but had never watched a reconstruction of it before now. There are some publicity photos that are repurposed here and there, as well as what I can only presume to be telesnaps for the majority of the story, but it’s one of the more static recons I’ve experienced. I’m sure a lot of this is to do with the story itself. It’s not a lot of action and is very “talky”, with loads of secret meetings and nefarious goings-on. This leads to the second surprising thing for me.

 

Doctor Who has never really shied away from politics, even if in allegorical form, so all of the political intrigue here wasn’t jarring. The matter of religion, on the other hand, well that’s an entirely different thing. It can be said that “faith” as a concept – whether religious or not – has been a keystone of Doctor Who throughout its history, but religion, as presented in “The Massacre” is quite different. The divide between Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots) in 16^th Century France was simply massive and the show is taking sides in no uncertain terms. It’s as if an episode written today was set during “The Troubles” in Ireland and chose a side. The recent Series 9 two-parter “The Zygon Invasion”/”The Zygon Inversion” showed how to have such a discussion without turning into an “‘X’ is right, ‘Y’ is wrong” argument. Compared to a story like “The Aztecs” which presented things a little bit more balanced, “The Massacre” makes no pretense as to which denomination it supports.

As to the story itself, it’s quite a good one, if a bit rote by Doctor Who standards. As is common, the TARDIS crew splits up early in the story, although there is the new wrinkle that the Doctor is currently traveling with just one companion, Steven. There are the usual intrigues with the goodies and the baddies, Steven befriends a young girl, Anne Chaplette who seems like good companion material but is left behind, presumably to be killed in, well, The Massacre. Then we are given something new, and it’s here that the loss of actual footage is most keenly felt. The “main” bad guy is the Abbot of Amboise, a double for the Doctor. However, unlike other stories <coughTheChasecough>, the double here is actually played by William Hartnell. There are very few stills of Hartnell as the Abbot, and no moving footage, but judging by audio alone his performance is miles away from his acting as the Doctor. There are no line fluffs, no “hmm”-ing, just a quietly sinister character.

There are two other things that stick out from this story, and both are from the last episode. The Doctor’s speech at the end when it seems that Steven has stormed out of the TARDIS for good is simply magnificent. It was recreated in “An Adventure in Space and Time” but listening to the original was touching in a way I never expected. As the Doctor reminisces about the companions who have left him, there is a hint (and this is played up more in AAISAT) that Hartnell himself is sad that so many of his co-stars have left the series. It’s a rare insight into the Doctor’s psyche.

Secondly the end of the episode brings us the introduction, such as it is, of Jackie Lane as Dodo Chaplet. She randomly shows up in the TARDIS, mistaking it for a real police box, and shows no real wonder or incredulity at the “bigger on the inside” timeship. Steven returns, and Dodo’s appearance and last name makes him think she must be descended from Anne Chaplette. I feel Steven is really grasping at straws, although stranger things have happened.

“The Massacre” is a story that on paper has a lot going for it: historical with great dramatic implications, a double for the Doctor, a new companion. Judging it by the recon seems harsh, and I frankly haven’t read the novelization in 20+ years. There’s a lot going on that a recon can’t capture and it’s not a bad story overall. This is one that I would love to have even one episode found just so we can see and give “The Massacre” its proper due. Until then, it’s a story that I appreciate and one which deserves to be seen, but never really becomes as good as the sum of its parts.

NEXT EPISODE: The Ark

"The Massacre" novelization cover, courtesy The TARDIS Data Core at tardis.wikia.com

Time Stream #21 - The Daleks' Master Plan

          A new year, a new Time Stream entry! We go for the big guns this time around with the longest story (depending on how you classify “The Trial of a Time Lord”) of the classic series, “The Daleks’ Master Plan”. I actually finished watching this between Christmas and New Year’s Day, but holidays being what they are, it’s taken a while to gather my thoughts on this monolith of a story.

          Following immediately on from “The Myth Makers” we have the Doctor, Steven and (ho-hum) Katarina land on the planet Kembel (last seen in “Mission to the Unknown”) where the Doctor is searching for a cure for Steven, who still suffers from the poison he received last episode. Right from the start, all hell breaks loose. There are Daleks! There is treachery from Guardian of the Solar System, Mavic Chen! More Daleks! Nicholas Courtney! Oh, let’s do this one in a list, shall we…

          1) Kevin Stoney as Mavic Chen. I always think of “The Invasion” first when I think of Kevin Stoney, but he’s wonderfully over the top here as well. There are some moments when I wonder how anyone could be fooled by him at all, and others where he plays it so subtly that it’s no wonder he became Guardian.

          2) Okay, let me get it out of the way right here. Katarina was a TERRIBLE idea for a companion. Actually, I’ll amend that: there is a nugget of a good idea in a companion from ancient Greece, but Katarina was not it. Adrienne Hill was given nothing to work with, and comes across as ridiculously wooden. As I mentioned in a previous post, there was NO reason to have this new companion come on board, one that the Doctor would have to explain every little thing to. She didn’t understand a KEY for crying out loud. Katarina’s death in Part Four meant nothing to me as a viewer, and could have had so much more impact if it had been Vicki sacrificing herself. Ugh, everything about Katarina depresses me.

          3) Nicholas Courtney. Even when he’s not the Brigadier, it’s so good to see him with the Doctor. I’m a huge fan of Courtney and it may just be nostalgia, but there are some of the trappings of the Brig in his portrayal of Bret Vyon. My one complaint is that his death seemed a little too “off-screen” for such a major event.

          4) “The Feast of Steven” – probably the MOST lost of the lost episodes, as copies weren’t made for overseas sale, thus the only copies were most definitely destroyed. It really is a bit of fluff, but just going by soundtrack and telesnaps, it’s a diverting bit of fluff. The first “Christmas episode” has some enjoyable bits like the Doctor giving his “I’m a citizen of the universe, and a gentleman to boot!” line, the title cards (which I assume are not part of the recon and were actually in the episode), and of course the madness at the end of the episode where Hartnell wishes the viewers at home a Happy Christmas. The whole episode just made me smile.

          5) The return of the Meddling Monk. I wasn’t entirely thrilled with the Monk back in his first appearance in “The Time Meddler”, but I feel he was used to much better effect here, even if his main role was to pad out the story a bit. He’s a little more sinister and cunning, and lord help me, is the device he uses to disable the TARDIS lock a sonic something? I’m going to say yes. Plus, the Doctor’s ring comes in handy once more. I kind of want to see this ring show up again in the new series, but that is me totally fanboying.

          6) Finally, Sara Kingdom. It’s hard for me to believe that Sara and Katarina were both in this story. Katarina was such a non-starter as a character, but Sara is strongly developed, has a character arc, and in stark contrast to Katarina, her death actually means something! Her rapid aging because of the Time Destructor is, frankly, pretty intense, but I was genuinely sad to see her go. She was an interesting character and one I would have liked to see continue for a few more stories.

          “The Daleks’ Master Plan” isn’t necessarily a story you watch in one sitting, running around five hours. But broken up episodically or maybe two at a shot, it moves along pretty darn well. There is definitely padding out of the story, but that happens in four parters, so an epic story like this is bound to have some fluff. The guest cast is consistently superb, and Katarina is disposed of pretty quickly so as not to drag down the story with “what is a key?” type nonsense. Watching it over the holidays I was predisposed to liking Episode Seven, but even without that runaround, the story is just plain enjoyable. Because of the length it’s not one I would rewatch regularly, but it is absolutely worth seeking out and enjoying.

NEXT EPISODE: The Massacre

"Mission to the Unknown" and "The Mutation of Time" novelization covers, courtesy The TARDIS Data Core at tardis.wikia.com