In case you’d not noticed, it’s been a funny old year. Coronavirus has meant the delay or cancellation of various events, including Record Store Day, which usually happens in the Spring but has, instead, been split across three dates: 29th August, 26th September, and 24th October 2020. The first of these “drop dates” included a special vinyl version of The Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Eve soundtrack.
The annual Record Store Day usually involved in-store parties, live performances, and very limited vinyl releases, and was originally scheduled to take place on 18th April 2020.
For this year’s, Demon Records presents a narrated full-cast TV soundtrack of the legendary historical adventure, The Massacre of Bartholomew’s Eve. It’s limited to 2000 copies. Here’s the synopsis:
The Massacre is the lost fourth serial of the third season of Doctor Who, which starred William Hartnell as the First Doctor in BBC series Doctor Who. In this 4-part serial, first shown on BBC TV in February 1966, the TARDIS materialises in Paris in 1572, a time of great danger and religious strife. The Catholic Queen Mother, Catherine de Medici, is hatching a plot to kill all French Protestants, and the Doctor and Steven are quickly caught up in events. While Steven is befriended by a group of Protestants, the Doctor has a perfect double in the shape of the hated dignitary, the Abbot of Amboise. One of them is about to lose his life!
Presented across 2 x heavyweight 180g pieces of vinyl, in a striking ‘Parisian Blaze’ splatter, this narrated TV soundtrack evokes a classic Doctor Who adventure in all its aural magnificence. The vivid sounds of 16th Century Paris in turmoil, and the encroaching terror of the massacre, are all accompanied by the eerie sonics of composer’s Ron Grainer and Delia Derbyshire’s theme tune.
Written by John Lucarotti, this dramatic story now survives only as a sound recording. Linking narration is provided by Peter Purves (Steven) and the cast includes Eric Thompson as Gaston, André Morell as Tavannes, Leonard Sachs as de Coligny, and Annette Robinson as Anne.
The coloured vinyl LPs are presented in a gatefold sleeve with illustrated inner bags and full episode billings, cast and credits.
So did you manage to get a copy? If not, you might want to pop to your local independent vinyl store (adhering to social distancing rules, blah blah blah), or check out eBay. Sometimes, these RSD exclusives then go on Amazon (thus defeating the whole point of supporting indies); this might be the case here too, but we don’t know so don’t bet on it, if you’re desperate.
