Doctor Who: The Massacre

From time to time I hear people say that new Doctor Who misses the point of Classic Who. For instance, his portrayal as lonely and sad, or the implication that he leaves destruction in his wake.

I would argue both of these were present in the original show from the start, as seen in this clip from the First Doctor Serial The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve, from 1966.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Massacre_of_St_Bartholomew%27s_Eve

As a side note, this is one of the episodes where video was lost. I am not responsible for the reconstruction, and unfortunately I have lost where I got this one from. Please add that in comments if you know whom to thank for this one.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• TV
• DoctorWho
• Dalek
• tenthdoctor
• firstdoctor
• TheMassacre
• StBartholomew

[cybertaylor]

even chetterton he never got his name right

[WC3POchannel10A]

John,

Thanks for this treat. I completely agree with your commentary. We saw as time went on the Doctor being wistful at times about his life. The 7th Doctor's farewell to Mel comes to mind. "Think of me will you? The lonesome traveller in his Police Box, his days like crazy paving." And as for leaving destruction in his wake, a number of companions have taken him to task. Tegan really gave the fifth Doctor a sweetly bitter farewell at seeing people die. "It stopped being fun Doctor!

[thatwhichisgiven]

And, hundreds of years later, the guilt he felt because of this, buried and growing for years under different faces and personalities, would burst to the surface on Mars, overwhelm him completely, and give us, for just a few minutes, the Time Lord Victorious.

That poor man. That poor, lonely man.

[CrystalblueMage]

In this moment of loneliness he even contemplates going home - but the painfull realization then dawns on him - even that option is not available to him. Powerful stuff indeed, real pain in his voice.

[cpuwrite]

...but there is another side to that, too--the Doctor HAS INDEED participated in history, in ways that changed entire planets. This was evidenced in the series where the Doctor took on a de facto Egyptian deity trapped on Mars. His companion wanted to go home and get out rather than confront the villain...so the Doctor took her there. The planet was barren. If they hadn't taken on the monster, there would be no home for her. (This one got to the cutting edge of the no do-over rule.)

[cpuwrite]

One of the recurring themes of "Doctor Who" is the tension between The Doctor's High-and-Mighty Time Lord mores about non-interference and slinking around time on the one hand and his concern for his fellow sentients on the other. A good example of this is the one where they covered the volcanic eruption on Santiago, where the Doctor was about to leave a family to die in the blast, but his companion convinced him to save them.

[straker2]

My God, the Doctor all by himself...amazingly powerful, magical stuff!

[BinroWasRight]

This is one of the stories I wish the most still existed in the archives so we could see it for real. *sighs*

[LegoDaleks]

Thank you for uploading this.

[TroughtonLover94]

"my dear Steven, history sometimes gives us a terrible shock. And that is because we don't quite fully understand. Why should we? After all, we're all too small to realise it's final pattern. Therefore don't try to judge it from where you stand. I was right to do as I did. Yes, that I firmly believe."

[MasterKasterborous]

What episodes are the clips from?