Doctor Who - The Television Stories

Doctor Who - The Stories

The Reign of Terror

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Appreciation

Archives

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First and Last

The Plot

Quote of
the Story

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Synopsis

Susan and Barbara on their way to the Guillotine

Materialising in a forest, the Doctor and his three companions discover themselves to be 12 kilometres from Paris. This is the 18th century and France is the scene of an ongoing bloody battle between royalists and revolutionaries. Following a blaze at a rural farmhouse, Ian, Barbara and Susan are separated from the Doctor and arrested as traitors, their destination the city’s gaol.

Ian receives information about James Stirling, an English spy with information vital to the revolution. No-one seems to know where Stirling is, and locating him becomes Ian’s priority. The Doctor meanwhile, arrives in Paris in the guise of a Regional Officer, and before long he has an audience with the leader of the revolution himself Robespierre!

With Robespierre’s downfall imminent, and the revolution about so reach its climax, the Doctor and his friends must extricate themselves from Paris, before events overtake than and they too become victims of Madame Guillotine…

Source: BBC Audio

General Information

Season:	1
Production Code:	H
Story Number:	8
Episode Numbers:	37 - 42
Number of Episodes:	6
Number of Missing Episodes:	2
Percentage of Episodes Held:	67%
Production Dates:	June - August 1964
Broadcast Started:	08 August 1964
Broadcast Finished:	12 September 1964
Colour Status:	B&W
Studio:	Lime Grove (Studio G) and BBC Television Centre (TC4)
Location:	White Plain (Denham Green, Buckinghamshire) and Isle of Wight Farm (Gerrards Cross)
Writer:	Dennis Spooner
Directors:	Henric Hirsch (1, 2 & 4-6) and John Gorrie (3)
Producer:	Verity Lambert
Associate Producer:	Mervyn Pinfield
Story Editor:	David Whitaker
Editor:	Caroline Shields
Production Assistant:	Timothy Combe
Assistant Floor Manager:	Michael Cager
Designer:	Roderick Laing
Costume Designer:	Daphne Dare
Make-Up Designers:	Jill Summers (1 & 2) and Sonia Markham (2-6)
Cameraman:	Peter Hamilton
Incidental Music:	Stanley Myers
Special Sounds:	Brian Hodgson
Studio Sounds:	Chick Anthony and Ray Angel
Lighting:	Howard King
Title Music:	Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Delia Derbyshire
Number of Doctors:	1
The Doctor:	William Hartnell (The First Doctor)
Number of Companions:	3
The Companions:	Carole Ann Ford (Susan), Jacqueline Hill (Barbara Wright) and William Russell (Ian Chesterton)
Additional Cast:	Keith Anderson (Robespierre), Tony Wall (Napoleon), Neville Smith (D'Argenson), Peter Walker (Small boy), Laidlaw Dalling (Rouvray), Robert Hunter (Sergeant), Ken Lawrence (Lieutenant), James Hall (Soldier), Howard Charlton (Judge), Jack Cunningham (Jailer), Jeffry Wickham (Webster), Dallas Cavell (Road Works Overseer), Denis Cleary (Peasant), James Cairncross (Lemaitre), Roy Herrick (Jean), Donald Morely (Jules Renan), John Barrard (Shopkeeper), Caroline Hunt (Danielle), Edward Brayshaw (Léon Colbert), Ronald Pickup (Physician), Terry Bale (Soldier), John Law (Paul Barrass), Patrick Marley (Soldier)
Setting:	France (1794)
Villain:	Colbert

The Episodes

No.	Episodes	Broadcast (UK)	Duration	Viewers (Millions)	In Archive
37	A Land of Fear	08 August 1964	24'24"	BBC One: 6.9	16mm telerecording
38	Guests of Madame Guillotine	15 August 1964	24'04"	BBC One: 6.9	16mm telerecording
39	A Change of Identity	22 August 1964	25'23"	BBC One: 6.9	16mm telerecording
40	The Tyrant of France	29 August 1964	24'46"	BBC One: 6.4	Missing
41	A Bargain of Necessity	05 September 1964	23'51"	BBC One: 6.9	Missing
42	Prisoners of Concergerie	12 September 1964	25'04"	BBC One: 6.4	16mm telerecording

Total Duration

2 Hours 28 Minutes

Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions)

6.7

Doctor Who Magazine Poll (1998)	64.29% (Position = 103 out of 159)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2009)	63.37% (Position = 144 out of 200)

Archives

Only episodes 1, 2, 3 and 6 exist as 16mm telerecordings. Episode 6 was returned by a private collector in May 1982. 8mm home movie clips exists for parts of episodes 4 and 5.

Notes

This story was a replacement for a postponed and ultimately abandoned David Whitaker six-parter about sixteenth century Spain after the Armada, which was to have been directed by Gerald Blake.

It is reported that the idea for a French Revolution story was suggested by cast member William Russell (who plays Ian Chesterton).

In a number of listing guides during the 1970’s, this story was called "The French Revolution". This appears to derive from a promotional article in the BBC listings magazine Radio Times entitled "Dr Who and the French Revolution".

Director Henric Hirsch suffered from exhaustion during the making of this story, and was unable to direct episode 3, "A Change of Identity". John Gorrie (who had previously directed "The Keys of Marinus") temporarily stepped in. John Gorrie however, did not receive an on-screen credited for his involvement in this episode.

The second episode features Doctor Who's first ever location filming with a second-unit taping a body double for William Hartnell in a poplar-lined lane at White Plains near Denham and on a lane and a field at Gerrards Cross both in Buckinghamshire. These shots were with Brian Proudfoot doubling for William Hartnell (as he was busy rehearsing for "The Sensorites") and were used to depict The Doctor walking through the countryside supposedly toward Paris.

William Russell appeared in episodes 2 and 3 ("Guests of Madame Guillotine" and "A Change of Identity") only in pre-taped inserts, as the actor was on holiday during the recording of these episodes.

We learn that the French Revolution it seams is The Doctor's favourite period of Earth history. As usual he has no money on him and is forced to barter with his ring.

Susan's first scene in the first story of the show, "An Unearthly Child", involved Barbara Wright lending her a book on the French Revolution, which Susan then opened and began to vocally criticise.

All six episodes were lost in the BBC's stock clearance of the 1970s. However, a copy of "Prisoners of Conciergerie" was returned by a private collector in 1982. Then in 1987, copies of "A Land of Fear", "Guests of Madame Guillotine" and "A Change of Identity", along with another copy of "Prisoners of Conciergerie", were found in Cyprus. As a result, only two episodes (parts 4 and 5, "The Tyrant of France" and "A Bargain of Necessity") currently still missing.

For the planned VHS video release of this story Carole Ann Ford recorded an introduction and a segment to bridge the missing two episodes. However, this part of the VHS release was cancelled. Her linking narration (but not introduction) can be heard on this tape.

The remaining episodes of this story were released as part of "The Reign of Terror Collectors' Box Set" in November 2003. These were the final Doctor Who episodes to be released on VHS by BBC Worldwide.

First and Last

The Firsts:

The first Doctor Who story to contain (during the second episode) the first ever location filming.

The first story that is only partially held. It is complete except for episodes four and five.

The first Doctor Who story to be written by Dennis Spooner.

The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Henric Hirsch.

The Lasts (Subject to Future Stories):

The last story of Season One.

The remaining episodes this story were released as part of "The Reign of Terror Collectors' Set". This was the final Doctor Who episodes to be released on VHS by BBC Worldwide.

The Plot

WARNING: May Contain Spoilers

Hide Text

On the Road to Paris

The Doctor, Susan, Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton arrive in what they believe to be England. However, it is soon clear that the TARDIS has brought the four time travellers to France in 1794 - one of the bloodiest years of the French Revolution.

They have arrived in a wood twelve kilometres from Paris. Nearby they come across a round down farmhouse. When they venture inside they find the farmhouse contains clothes - some of which are put to good use by the travellers - and fake papers. The travellers deduce that the building is being used as a staging post in an escape chain for counter-revolutionaries who have been rescued from the guillotine.

Before long a band of revolutionary soldiers arrive and believing them to be counter-revolutionaries they capture Ian, Barbara, and Susan. They are taken to the Conciergerie Prison in Paris where they will then face the guillotine. The parting action of the soldiers is to set fire to the farmhouse – unaware that The Doctor is still inside.

A Long Walk to Paris
The Doctor having been left for dead in a burning farmhouse is rescued by a young boy who tells him his friends have been taken to the Conciergerie Prison in Paris. The Doctor sets off after them and, after a brief period press-ganged into a road mending crew for lack of papers, he eventually reaches Paris.

Things are looking grim for Ian, Barbara and Susan. They are all sentenced to death as traitors without a chance to speak in their own defence, and are all promised the guillotine for their crimes. Ian though manages to escape from the prison while Barbara Wright and Susan are rescued en-route to the guillotine by two organisers of the escape chain.

Barbara and Susan in Prison
Ian eventually meets up with his friends and they all find themselves caught up in the machinations of an English undercover spy, James Stirling - alias Lemaitre. Meanwhile The Doctor, posing as a civic dignitary, has arrived at the Conciergerie Prison in search of his friends. Twice he is brought before the great tyrant, Robespierre himself, and has to talk himself out of trouble.

When Susan finds herself recaptured Barbara and Ian agree to assist Lemaitre in return for his help in freeing her. Ian and Barbara journey to an inn called the Sinking Ship to spy on a clandestine meeting between Robespierre's deputy and an even more ambitious man, Napoleon Bonaparte, who are plotting the tyrant's downfall.

They subsequently report back to Stirling and as events reach their climax Robespierre is overthrown. With his rule ended he is dragged off to prison, to await the time when he will be guillotined himself.

With Susan rescued the four travellers are all re-united at last. They then slip quietly away and return to the TARDIS in the wood.

Ian Chesterton

Susan and Barbara on their way to the Guillotine

Will Susan and Barbara Survive the Guillotine?

Susan and Barbara

The Doctor Tries to Free Susan and Barbara

The Doctor With the Jailor

The Doctor with Barbara and Ian

Robespierre is Seized

Quote of the Story

'Our lives are important, at least to us, and as we see so we learn.'

The Doctor

Release Information

Format	Title	Release Date (UK)	Code Number	Cover Art	Remarks
VHS	The Reign of Terror Box Set	November 2003	BBCV 7540	Photo-montage	Part of "The Reign of Terror Box Set" (BBCV 7335). Features Carole Ann Ford narrating the missing episodes 4 & 5.
DVD	Doctor Who: Lost in Time	November 2004	BBCDVD 1353	Photo-montage	Includes brief clips made by a fan pointing a mute 8mm cine camera at a TV screen during transmission. (enhanced with parts of the soundtrack).
CD	The Reign of Terror	February 2006		Photo-montage	Narrated by Carole Ann Ford (Susan). Includes a bonus interview with Carole Ann Ford. Double CD Release.
CD	The Reign of Terror	Due: August 2010		Photo-montage	Narrated by Carole Ann Ford (Susan). Part of the "Doctor Who: The Lost TV Episodes: Collection One 1964-1965" Box Set.

In Print

Format	Title	Release Date (UK)	Publisher	Author	Cover Art	Remarks
Novel	The Reign of Terror	August 1987	Target No. 119	Ian Marter	Tony Masero	ISBN: 0-426-20264-3

Doctor Who CMS Magazine (An Adventure in Space and Time)	Issue 8
Doctor Who Magazine Archive	Issue 204

Photo Gallery

The Regular Cast

The First Doctor

Susan

Barbara Wright

Ian Chesterton

On Release

VHS Video Cover

VIDEO

Lost In Time DVD Cover

VIDEO

Soundtrack CD Cover

AUDIO

The Lost TV Episodes: Collection One CD Cover

AUDIO

In Print

Target Book Cover

NOVEL

Who's Who

Who Me

Episodes of the
First Doctor

Season 1

References





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