The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve was transmitted in February 1966, temporarily moving away
from the science fiction style usually associated with Doctor Who. This story stands up extremely
well as an adult costume drama for which the BBC was once renowned. The Massacre was the
third and last of the marvellous historical scripts written for Doctor Who by John Lucarotti.
Unusually, it features characters straight out of the history books. My character, Nicholas
Moos, was actually a Huguenot, or Protestant of German descent. He served as an interpreter,
assistant and personal secretary to the Admiral de Colligny. He was also a close friend of
the Admiral and resided in his house in Paris. Admiral de Colligny was played by Leonard
Sachs. He was head of the Protestant cause in France. He won the respect of both Catholics
and Protestants by his unselfish devotion to what he believed were the true interests
of his native land. He gained the favour of the young Catholic King Charles IX, and after
gaining his friendship, became one of his personal advisors. The French King Charles
IX, played by Barrick Justice, was only 22 years old at the time of the story. On hearing
about the assassination attempt on his friend de Colligny, the King broke his tennis racket
in anger. This act is an actual recorded historical event and can also be found in the story.
The notorious Catholic Queen Mother, Kathleen de Demici, was played by Joan Young. She was
a major force in French politics during the 30 years of Roman Catholic Huguenot Wars.
She ruled for many years as regent for her son Charles IX, and she also continued to
dominate him for the duration of his reign. The relationship between the Admiral de Colligny
and her son infuriated her, as she thought that it would jeopardise the power that she
currently held over the young King. She regarded their friendship as a threat to her ambitions,
as de Colligny, with his powerful council, could potently stand in her way.
Leonard Sacks was to return to Doctor Who in 1983 to play Lord President Borussa in
the Peter Davison story, Ark of Infinity. The massacre boasted other notable actors
who added to the already reputable cast. For this story, these included Marshall Tervans,
played by Andre Morel, who achieved fame for the quarter-mast films. The apothecary Charles
Preslin was played by Eric Chitty, who also returned to Doctor Who to play the Time Lord
Engin in the 1976 Tom Baker story, The Deadly Assassin. Anne Chapelet was played by Annette
Robertson. Gaston Leran was played by Eric Thompson, the father of the actress Emma Thompson,
and the writer and narrator of the wonderful children's series, The Magic Roundabout.
Roger Colbert was played by Christopher Tranchel, who was twice to return to Doctor Who, firstly
a year later in 1967, playing Jenkins in the Patrick Troughton story, The Faceless Ones,
and then again in 1978, playing Andred in the Tom Baker story, The Invasion of Time.
Sadly, no episodes of the massacre survive. In fact, very little material, photographic
or otherwise, exists for this story. The loose canon team have therefore used some quite
creative techniques to produce this reconstruction. We join the Doctor and his travelling companion,
Stephen Taylor, played by Peter Purvis, just after their epic 12-part adventure with the
infamous Darlings. The TARDIS arrives in Paris, France in the summer of 1572. The religious
tension is stretched to breaking point by the large Cubano presence in the city that
have assembled for the royal wedding between the Protestant Prince Henry of Navarre and
the Catholic Princess Marguerite, sister of the King. The Doctor and Stephen are unaware
that they've arrived just a few days away from the massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve.