Ep. 103 War of God

"Many things frighten people in Paris these days."

   This is a welcome change from the frantic pace of the previous 12 days.  Where the Dalek Masterplan was fast paced (and often shoddy) this is a story that is taking its time and allowing the characters a chance to breathe and ...well, act. 
    Peter Purves is a good actor, but was given next to nothing to work with over the last 12 episodes.  This was a nice episode for him.  The Doctor goes off in his own direction, leaving Steven to discover what is going on.
    What is going on is a much darker story than the average Doctor Who.  In 1572 the religious strife that was tearing France apart exploded with a series of Catholic led assassinations of prominent Huguenots (more or less Protestants).  The assassinations led to mob violence that killed thousands in the course of a few days.
    The TARDIS lands the two travelers in Paris, the day after the Catholic Princess Margaret married the Protestant Henry of Navarre.  The Doctor goes off to find a French scientist named Preslin, leaving Steven to his own devices.
    He quickly winds up in the company of a group of Huguenots in the employ of Admiral de Coligny.  They are a fairly rowdy bunch almost constantly trying to get a rise out of the local Catholic majority.  One of them openly spits out wine that was drunk in toast to the Catholic princess.
    Steven is about ready to leave and try to find the Doctor when a servant girl, chased by several guards, darts past him into the tavern that he just vacated.  The Huguenots drive off the Catholic guard leaving the girl in peace.
    The Huguenots don't think twice about what might have sent a servant girl running off into the street, but Steven does.  She tells them that she overheard a captain speaking to another man about things being like Vase.  Steven is as in the dark as I am until it's explained to him that there was a slaughter of Huguenots in a small town south of Paris. 
   The girl, Anne, is sent off to de Coligny for protection.  Steven waits for the Doctor, who doesn't return before curfew.  Steven accepts an offer to stay with the de Coligny, not knowing that his every move in the tavern is being watched by an agent of the Abbott of Amboise.
   The "cliffhanger" of this one reveals that the Abbott of Amboise is a dead ringer for the Doctor.

Next up: The Sea Beggar