W. The Massacre

Season Three - 1965/1966

Story Editor: Donald Tosh (1-3), Gerry Davis (4)
Writers: John Lucarotti and Donald Tosh (4 - last scene only)
Director: Paddy Russell
Produced by: John Wiles
Designer: Michael Young
Incidental Music: Stock

Synopsis

The Doctor decides it is time for a rest and the TARDIS sets down in Paris in 1572. While the Doctor visits the famous Charles Preslin, Steven is befriended by a group of Huguenots.

The Huguenots rescue a young serving girl, Anne Chaplet, and discover a plan by the Queen Mother to have all French Protestants massacred. Steven is confused when the Abbot of Amboise, an exact double for the Doctor, is executed after a failed attempt to assassinate the Protestant Admiral de Coligny.

The Doctor and Steven manage to meet up, and escape in the TARDIS as a massacre breaks out. Steven is apalled that history, or the future, cannot be changed.

The TARDIS then lands on Wimbledon Common in 1966, where a young woman enters the TARDIS thinking it is a real police box. Her name is Dodo Chaplet, proving that the Chaplet family survived.

Regular Cast

  • Steven Taylor: Peter Purves
  • Dodo Chaplet: Jackie Lane

Guest Cast

  • Anne Chaplette: Annette Robertson
  • Nicholas Muss: David Weston
  • Roger Colbert: Christopher Tranchell
  • Abbot of Amboise: William Hartnell (1-3 - uncredited for 1-2)
  • Gaston De Levis: Eric Thompson (1,2,4)
  • Simon Duval: John Tillinger (1,2,4)
  • Landlord: Edwin Finn (1-2)
  • Captain of the Guard: Clive Cazes (1,3)
  • Charles Preslin: Erik Chitty (1)
  • Marshall Gaspard De Saux-Tavannes: Andre Morell (2-4)
  • Admiral Gaspard De Coligny: Leonard Sachs (2-4)
  • Old Lady: Cynthia Etherington (2-3)
  • Charles IX: Barry Justice
  • Catherine De Medici: Joan Young (3-4)
  • Teligny: Michael Bilton (3-4)
  • Priest: Norman Claridge (3)
  • Officer: John Slavid (4)
Uncredited:
  • Third Man: Will Stampe (4)
  • Priest: Hugh Cecil
  • Old Man: Juba Kennelly
  • Usher: George Romane
  • Sergeant: Reginald Jessup
  • Councillors: Nigel Bernard, Robert Pearson, Leslie Shannon, Graham Tonbridge
  • Double for Steven: John Clifford
  • Citizens of Paris: Margo Abbott, Robert Bartlett, Donald Campbell, Declan Cuffe, Elizabeth Digby-Smith, Leila Forde, Ursual Glanville, Joanna Hobson, Gerry Holmes, Harry Hynes, Elaine Laniado, Pat Leclerc, Eric Mills, Harry Mitchell, Larry Noble, Edward Phillips, Len Russell, Fred Taylor, Vic Taylor, John Terrell, Alan Wakeling, Marguerite Young
  • Guards: Appleby, Derek Chafer, John Freeman, Pat Gorman, James Haswell, Montagu Howard, Arthur McGuire, Roy Pearce, Mike Reid, Vic Taylor, Francis Whilley
  • Tavern Customers: Peter Day, Ken Dougall, Edward Granville, Emmett Henessy, Ken McGarvie, Charles O'Rourke, Dennis Plenty, David Ronowski
  • Extras: John Beerbohm, Andre Cameron, Jean Channon, Norton Clark, Valerie Cox, Reg Cranfield, Eddie Davis, Charles Erskine, Susan Farr, Elizabeth Forbes, Charles Gilbert, David J Graham, Daphne Green, Katie Heal, Bill Howles, Ralph Katterns, Joan Kurchi, Susan Lane, Derek Martin, David Olive, Ricki Patterson, John Pollock, Fred Rawlings, Valerie Stanton, Peter Blair Stewart, Tom Sye, Valerie Taylor

Original broadcast on the BBC

Channel Title Date Viewers Rating
BBC 1 103. War Of God Saturday, 5 February 1966 17:15 - 17:40 8.0M 52%
BBC 1 104. The Sea Beggar Saturday, 12 February 1966 17:15 - 17:40 6.0M 52%
BBC 1 105. Priest Of Death Saturday, 19 February 1966 17:15 - 17:40 5.9M 53%
BBC 1 106. Bell Of Doom Saturday, 26 February 1966 17:15 - 17:40 5.8M 53%

Studios

  • Ealing Television Film Studios
  • Riverside Studio 1

Outside Locations

  • Wimbledon Common, South London

Working Titles

Alternative Title: The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve

Notes

William Hartnell only appears as the Abbot of Amboise in parts two and three; the Doctor is absent from these episodes.