The Reign of Terror

Starring William Hartnell
Episodes 1-6
1964
155 minutes
2 CD's

Written by
Dennis Spooner

Directed by
Henric Hirsch

Produced by
Verity Lambert

Original Airdate
Aug 8 - Sept 12, 1964

UK Release Date
February  2006

BBC Radio Collection
ISBN 0563523425

Cover Blurb

The TARDIS arrives in the midst of the French Revolution in the remastered soundtrack of a classic story starring William Hartnell, with linking narration by Carole Ann Ford.

"The events will happen, just as they are written..."

Materializing in a forest, the Doctor and his three companions discover themselves to be 12 kilometers 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 gallows.

Ian receives information about James Stirling, an English spy with information vital to the revolution.  No-one seems o 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 wit the leader of the revolution himself: Robespierre!

With Robespierre's downfall imminent, and the revolution about to reach its climax, the Doctor and his friends must extricate themselves from Paris, before events overtake them and they too become victims of Madame Guillotine...

Carole Ann Ford, who played Susan in these six BBC TV episodes from 1964, provides linking narration fro the story.  In a bonus interview she also recalls the experience of making The Reign of Terror.

• "The Reign of Terror" was the final story of the first season of Doctor Who.  It is an historical story set during the French Revolution.  Sadly, episodes 4 and 5 are currently missing but do exist as audio recordings.
   

• The existing episodes (1, 2, 3, & 6) have been released on VHS and have linking narration provided by actress Carol Ann Ford (who actually recorded the linking narration back in 1993 before the project was shelved).  Included with her narration are sound clips from the two missing episodes, photographs and some of the only segments of existing footage (silent 8mm film).  Even with this excellent release, this is the first time that the two missing episodes are available commercially.
   

• Watch for a classic 1st Doctor scene in episode 2 when Hartnell stumbles into a "chain gang" of forced labor and eventually stages his escape.
   

• The end of episode 6 of "The Reign of Terror" is unusual as it features a voiceover of Hartnell talking about traveling through the universe with the backdrop of space superimposed.
   

• This story marks the end of the missing audio releases (due to the fact that this is the final missing story to be released).  The releases began in 1999 with "The Massacre" and ended seven years later with the release of this story.
   

• As an added bonus, narrator Carole Ann Ford (Susan) is interviewed at the end of the second CD.
   

• The audio recording of this story was done separately by David Holman and Richard Landen using home audio equipment.
   
• Mark Ayres, of the Doctor Who Restoration Team, did extensive work on this audio release by digitally remastering these recordings.