Doctor Who: The Massacre

By: BBC

Narrated by: Full Cast, Peter Purves, William Hartnell

The TARDIS materialises in Paris in 1572, a time of great danger and religious strife. Whilst the Doctor pays a visit to famous apothecary Charles Preslin, Steven is befriended by a group of Protestants who come from the household of Admiral de Coligny. Meanwhile, the Catholic Queen Mother, Catherine de Medici, aided by the hated dignitary the Abbot of Amboise, is hatching a plot to kill all French Protestants - starting with de Coligney. Worryingly for Steven, the Abbot bears an uncanny resemblance to the Doctor. And when the plot fails and the Abbot is condemned to death, he is even more alarmed. Was that the Doctor being killed? Or does the Abbot just look like him? The four episodes of this 1966 story no longer exist in the BBC television archives. This audio exclusive has taken the soundtrack and, with linking narration by Peter Purves, the whole thrilling adventure is brought back to life.©1999 BBC Worldwide Ltd; (P)1999 BBC Worldwide Ltd

Critic reviews

a sophisticated and intelligent piece of Doctor Who performed by two of its best ever regulars and a sparkling guest cast (Elton Townend-Jones)

History at its worst.

You think after the Doctor and Steven defeated the Daleks in the last story, they would get a little break. A nice holiday in Paris maybe, not if past adventures were to go by. As the title says, there's going to be a massacre. Parodist Ants vs Catholics never a happy event. Are heroes are in the thick of it. The Doctor vanishes after the first episode and doesn't appear into last. Steven is left to fend for himself for most of story. To add to confusion their is a Doctor look like who is a bad guy. William Hartnell getting a chance to play someone else for awhile. No happy ending in this story. Well they do add a new companion in the last 5 minutes of the show. The schoolgirl Dodo. Good luck kid.

Some Details Missing, But Overall- Average

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Most of my friends are not Doctor Who fans. Those who are, are from the newest revival of the series. I would only recommend this to a die hard fans of the entire series.

This audiobook is taken from the audio track of the TV series with a narrator filling in a few details that are lost without video. A few more details would have made this story more complete. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed it, but I am glad I didn't spend a lot on it.

What aspect of William Hartnell and full cast ???s performance would you have changed?

The cast performance was fine. It would have made more sense with better narration.

Do you think Doctor Who needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

This question needs makes no sense sense the Doctor Who series has countless audio and paper books, comic books, it's own magazine and the longest running sci-fi series ever.

Any additional comments?

Die hard Whovian's, this audiobook is for you. Never heard of Doctor Who or not sure what the series is about...this isn't a good starting point.