Full disclosure here, the Massacre is by far my favorite First Doctor adventure so my review will hardly be very impartial.
After the events of the Daleks' Master Plan, The Doctor and Steven arrive in Paris in the year 1572. It's the height of the French Wars of Religion and there's a great deal of tension between the majority Catholics and the Huguenots (French Protestants).
The Doctor seems very keen on meeting up with a certain apothecary by the name of Charles Preslin. Steven remain behind at a tavern not far from where the Tardis is parked. Because of the tensions between the Catholics and the Huguenots, there's a nightly curfew in Paris. The curfew is coming up shortly, and The Doctor hasn't returned. Steven ends up staying with some Huguenots, Gaston and Nicholas, that he has befriended while waiting for The Doctor.
Gaston, Nicholas and Steven run into a young serving girl, Anne Chaplet, on their journey back to Gaston and Nicolas' home. Anne has overheard that there is a plot to massacre the Huguenots of Paris, such as was done most infamously several years ago in a town called Wassy.
Gaston and Nicholas decide to shelter the frightened young girl, and arrange to have her join the Admiral Gaspard de Coligny's staff, a highly placed Protestant minister.
The next day, Steven ventures to Preslin's shop, in hopes of finding The Doctor. The Doctor is nowhere to be found and when he returns to the Huguenot residence, he shocked to discover that the Abbot of Ambrose, who's recently arrived in Paris looks exactly like The Doctor. Steven is now on the run from the Huguenots, who are now convinced that Steven is a Catholic spy.
Steven, still believing that the Abbot of Ambrose is The Doctor, decides to venture to the Abbot's house. There, he hears about a plot to kill the "Sea Beggar". "The Sea Beggar", as is turns out is a codeword for Admiral de Coligny. Steven tries to warn the Huguenots about the plot against "The Sea Beggar", but they are still suspicious of Steven. With nowhere else to go, Steven decides to hide out in Preslin's shop. Anne, however, has followed Steven as she's been dismissed from the Admiral's staff.
Steven and Anne go to the Abbot's residence and discovers the identity of the Sea Beggar, and also discovers that the Abbot is not The Doctor. Armed with this knowledge, Steven and Anne escape the Abbot's residence and rush to warn the Huguenots of the plot. The Marshal of France, Tavannes, who has been one of the powers behind the plot, has the Abbot killed for allowing Steven and Anne to escape.
Steven and Anne are too late with their warning. The assassination attempt, however, fails to kill the Admiral but he's severely wounded. Steven and Anne return to Preslin's shop, since they've got nowhere else to go.
Meanwhile, the Queen Mother Catherine de Medici, the real power in Paris has ordered that the Huguenots be massacred the next day, St. Bartholomew's Day. Tavannes thinks that the Queen Mother has gone too far, but nonetheless follows his orders.
Much to the surprise of Steven, The Doctor returns to Preslin's shop early the next morning. He tell Steven that they must leave Paris immediately. The Doctor sends Anne to her aunt's house, warning her to remain inside the next day. Steven and The Doctor make their way to the Tardis and depart Paris just as the Massacre begins at curfew.
A short ten-minute visit to modern-day Wimbledon closes out the story, and introduces us to our new companion, who is a modern day descendant of Anne who goes by the name of Dodo Chaplet.
The Massacre is a bit of an unusual story in that it deals with a subject that even modern-day Doctor Who has steered well clear of - religion. The real Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day occured on August 23rd, 1572 and was believed to be instigated by Catherine de Medici. It also took place two days after the attempted assassination of the Admiral de Coligny. Therefore, much of the history in the story is factually correct, except for the fact that the real Massacre took place on St. Bartholomew's Day, rather than St. Bartholomew's Eve. The Catholics and the Huguenots simply didn't trust and each other. The Huguenots feared either being martyred for their religion, or being forced to convert to Catholicism. The Catholics feared the growing power of the Huguenots, now that the future Henry IV (a Protestant) is now in the line of succession for the throne of France. For you history buffs out there, Henry IV became famous for the line "Paris is well worth a Mass". This line was in reference to his later conversion from Protestantism to Catholicism.
The fact that the Massacre tackles a rather touchy subject (religion) is perhaps one of the main reason I find this story so fascinating. The Catholic leaders don't come off too well in this story, while the Huguenot leaders are seen (at least in this story) as much more sympathetic. The Catholic leaders, especially the Queen Mother Catherine de Medici, play off Catholic fears of the Huguenots and cause one of the great massacres of the French Wars of Religion. I think give the nature of the Massacre, it would have been rather difficult to write a version of this story that would engender some sympathy for the Catholic leadership. Imagine if this story were filmed today, and I'm sure there would be some Catholics claiming that Doctor Who is somehow anti-Catholic. Never mind historical accuracy, simply choosing to film this story (about a massacre of Protestants by Catholics) would be evidence enough for some.
The Massacre is also quite unusual in that The Doctor basically disappears for the middle two episodes of the story. William Hartnell is still present, playing The Doctor's doppleganger the Abbot of Ambrose. Because of this, it is Peter Purves' Steven who is the leading man in this story. I think Peter handles being the leading man quite well.
The Massacre is, by far, one of the darkest stories ever done by Doctor Who. There can be no real happy ending, as the Massacre still occurs (as The Doctor would say, history must not be altered) and somewhere between 5,000 and 30,000 French Huguenots are killed, both inside and outside of Paris. I think that a major reason they decided to have the new companion be a descendant of Anne Chaplet, the serving girl that Steven befriends during the story. The new companion, Dodo Chaplet, is introduced to viewers at the end of episode four, in a short ten minute epilogue that takes place at Wimbledon Green in modern-day England. This was the happy ending that one otherwise couldn't have for the Massacre.
Sadly, the Massacre is another one of the missing stories, so the only way to experience this is through the fan-made reconstructions, the audio soundtracks (my choice) or the Target novelization. But I highly encourage you to take the time and experience this particular story. The chance to see Steven play the leading man, William Hartnell's performance as the cold and calculating Abbot of Ambrose and the rather unusual subject matter make the Massacre a rather unique and interesting addition to the canon of Doctor Who.
