A Real Let-down

In its early seasons Doctor Who was meant to alternate between historical adventures that would teach British children about history, foreign cultures, and the like and science fiction stories that would slip in real scientific knowledge. "The Reign of Terror" was one of those "historical" stories, but it fails as both a work of fiction and as a teaching tool.

The story takes place in France in the summer of 1794, at the close of the radical Jacobin party's rule of France. The Doctor and his companions encounter fleeing French noblemen and the companions are captured by soldiers of the Republic. The Doctor must of course try to rescue them, but other forces are already at work in France and our heroes are soon up to their necks in intrigue.

There are however serious problems with this piece. One is the shallow and one-sided view of the history it covers. The Revolution is shown in a purely negative light, with no effort to explain why people would support it or how it reached the state it did. The Doctor and his friends aren't dealing with real history so much as a pastiche of The Scarlet Pimpernell.

What's perhaps even worse for a historical, it gets its history wrong. According to "The Reign of Terror," Robespierre's Jacobin regime is replaced by Napoleon's Consulate. This isn't the case. The Directory replaced the Jacobins, and Napoleon didn't overthrow the Directory and establish the Consulate for another five years or so, after his return from the failed Egyptian campaign.

While not as flamboyantly inaccurate as "The Gunfighters," this story still gets things wrong, and badly enough that it doesn't fulfill its stated purpose. Get it if you're a completist, but otherwise I wouldn't bother.

They seek him here, they seek him there!

I found this particular historical adventure to be quite excellent in many aspects, the writing, the acting, sets, and costumes.
The crew of the TARDIS land in the midst of the French Revolution, Ian, Barbara and Susan are subsequently captured and sentenced to meet their fate at the hands of Madame Guillotine. And it's up to the Doctor to travel on to Paris and save their lives.
This is the first historical not to be written by John Lucarotti, who provided excellent scripts for both 'Marco Polo' and 'The Aztecs', instead it is written by Dennis Spooner, someone that would also help out the show as script editor for several years.
The story and depiction of the time frame retain the very brutal atmosphere of the 'Reign of Terror' but focus more the characters and the lengths taken to save the lives of the innocent, much in the same vain of 'The Scarlet Pimpernel'.
William Hartnell is in top form as the Doctor as he dons the guise of a Governor of a Regional Province to try and gain information regarding the whereabouts of his companions.
Everyone is in fine form and although there might be some historical inaccuracies, they do not detract from the overall enjoyment of this six part season 1 finale.
Although episodes 4 & 5 are missing, Carole Ann Ford (Susan) does a marvelous job in providing a summarized narration of the events that transpire in those episodes, along with some excellent photos, clips and audio clips.

Right in the middle of the French Revolution

The final story of Doctor Who's first season takes place in one of the Doctor's favourite periods. After affirming that he has finally gotten Ian and Barbara back home, the TARDIS crew step out and soon realize they are in France. A quick investigation in an abandoned farmhouse gives them the time period, during the Reign of Terror.

They find that it's not a really nice place to be. Susan, Barbara, and Ian are captured by Revolutionary soldiers and sent to the Conciergere Prison in Paris. The Doctor runs afoul of an oafish overseer in charge of some tax-evaders doing manual labour, and his trips across the countryside have some nice accompanying incidental music. The jailer in the Conciergere would be the last person to get a Red Cross service medal or be canonized for sainthood. Yet the prison governor, Lemaitre, is curious about Ian, who is imprisoned with a wounded and dying English prisoner named Webster, who gives him a secret message concerning a secret agent in France named James Stirling.

Yet it's the dingy cells and unpleasant characters such as the soldiers, the jailer, and overseer, who effectively add to the period detail.

Not everybody appears to be from the dregs of humanity, though. Jules and Jean, in the manner of The Scarlet Pimpernel, are two rebels who stage raids, rescuing prisoners who have appointments to keep with Madame Guillotine. As an example of honorable humanity, he tells Barbara and Susan regarding their separated comrades, "I shall not rest until the four of you are together again."

The Doctor has some real fun with his regional deputy uniform, complete with feathered hat, cloak, and epaulets, which he appropriates to rescue his friends.

Episodes 4 and 5, "The Tyrant Of France" and "A Bargain Of Necessity", are missing, but Carole Ann Ford (Susan) fills in the blanks as Nicholas Courtney did for The Invasion. Apart from her narration, there are photo stills, recordings from the soundtrack, and some moving footage. This is where Robespierre finally comes out.

There are some continuity errors. Webster, the dying prisoner in Ian's cell, tells him to go to the Chien Gris inn, yet later, Ian remembers it as The Sinking Ship (Vaisseau Qui Coule). Chien Gris means Grey Dog in French. Also, Napoleon's role in Robespierre's overthrow is historically inaccurate; at least they get Paul Barras's role more or less correct. Despite Robespierre not controlling the Terror, he is made as the chief villain here.

However, the spirit of adventure and knowledge is maintained in the Doctor's speech to his crew at the end of the story, in a voice over amid a starry sky: "Our lives are important-at least to us-and as we see, so we learn... Our destiny is in the stars, so let's go and search for it..."

The second tape contains the surviving episodes of two Patrick Troughton stories, episodes 1 and 3 of the 6-part The Faceless Ones, set at Gatwick Airport, and involving aliens kidnapping passengers using Chameleon Tours as a front. But for additional knowledge, this story is the last story of Ben and Polly. And Samantha Briggs is played by Pauline Collins, best known as Sarah in Upstairs Downstairs. She's very plucky here. There's also Episode 1 and a few brief clips from The Web Of Fear, which feature a return of the robot Yeti. A pity that the episode featuring the debut of Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart was lost.