A Land of Fear

I watched this to examine a range of dramatic representations of the French Revolution. It's disappointing to reflect that it was made the same year as the magnificent and moving dramatisation of some of the same events in 'La Terreur et la Vertu', which (to my knowledge) has never been broadcast here in Britain.

The 'Doctor Who' historical adventures were originally intended to be part of the series' 'educational' remit, but 'The Reign of Terror' is perhaps only educational if you are reviewing the literary influence of Emma Orczy on English-language depictions of the Revolution. This adventure is essentially a time-travel riff on 'The Scarlet Pimpernel', with its focus on smuggling people out of Paris, British spies, and the apparent ease with which prisoners can be extricated from the Conciergerie or snatched from execution carts.

Historically, it peddles the post-Thermidore 'légende noire' as popularised in Victorian and Edwardian English-language popular fiction: an interpretation of events and characters popularised by Carlyle and reiterated by novelists. Unfortunately, this was taken up as a kind of substitute historical canon and is the basis for what most people here *think* they know about the Revolution and its protagonists. It might be too much to hope that a popular television series would try to challenge that.

The fact that episode 4 is called 'The Tyrant of France' grated on my nerves even before I started to watch: it is, simply, factually wrong. (Had it been used ironically, the unfolding political drama could have been more effective and poignant.) No-one even pronounces Robespierre correctly in terms of where the 3 syllables are (It's "Rob-ess-pyer", not "Robes-pi-erre" - which is why some engravings of the time misspelled it by putting an 'r' between the 'e' and 's'): Barbara is as bad as my old history teacher at school for that! Napoléon's role is also depicted misleadingly: in reality, he had been helped in his career by Augustin, Maximilien's brother, and would have been in danger had he been near Paris.

I can only bear this if I rationalise it in Whoniverse terms as taking place in some kind of Thermidorian AU or simulation. The fact that a key character uses the name 'Le Maître' does allow for some retconning of the narrative in Whovian terms, which might explain some of the historical strangeness. I recommend 'La Terreur et la Vertu' as a corrective (sadly, there isn't a subtitled version available).