Stories Short Story Short Trips 1 Story: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 The People’s Temple 1 image Overview Characters How to Read Reviews 1 Statistics Related Stories Quotes Overview Released Monday, March 2, 1998 Written by Paul Leonard Pages 47 Time Travel Past Tropes (Potential Spoilers!) Pure Historical Location (Potential Spoilers!) Stonehenge Synopsis Arriving at Stonehenge during its construction, the time-travellers soon discover that its mystical origins are steeped in human suffering. But in her attempts to make things better for the slave workers toiling to complete the stone circle, will Sam start a war? Read Read Favourite Favourited Add Review Edit Review Log a repeat Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Owned Save to my list Saved Characters Eighth Doctor Sam Jones How to read The People’s Temple: Books Short Trips Reviews Add Review Edit Review Sort: Newest First Oldest First Most Likes Highest Rating Lowest Rating Username (A-Z) Username (Z-A) Spoilers First Spoilers Last 1 review 24 October 2024 · 447 words Review by deltaandthebannermen Spoilers 1 This review contains spoilers! The People’s Temple is a short story by Paul Leonard which was originally published in BBC Books Short Trips anthology. It was subsequently read by Paul McGann as one of the three stories on BBC Audio’s Earth and Beyond collection which featured the only original material performed by McGann in the wake of the TV Movie – at least until Big Finish came along. The People’s Temple tells of the Doctor and Sam Jones (a companion from the full length novels published at the time) visiting Stonehenge during its construction. The plot revolves around Sam attempting a ‘Barbara in the Aztecs’ by stopping a sacrifice which ultimately leads to her realising that she cannot affect the behaviour of a race of people as different to her as aliens from another world. We meet members of the tribe, in particular Bear and Deer who we meet briefly as children before fast-forwarding to their time as adults and the Doctor and Sam’s arrival. Bear Cub is now Great Bear, the ‘physical’ leader of the tribe, whereas Young Deer is the Deer Man, seemingly the ‘religious’ leader of the tribe. Sam saves a young boy, already perceived as a man by the tribe’s culture, from sacrifice. The setting of Stonehenge is sketchily presented with reference to round huts and wooden and earth defences, as well as, obviously, the stones themselves (one of which crushes a poor unfortunate girl). Overall, The People’s Temple is a little slow and uneventful. The slightly dreary setting is reflected in slightly dreary characters and a slightly dreary plot. The possibility for an interesting dichotomy in the two sides of the tribe represented by Bear and Deer is not really explored and Sam’s contact with Doran, the young sacrificial victim, has some potentially interesting material when he first experiences the TARDIS, but ultimately comes down to Sam realising that, try as she might, she cannot impose her values and culture on to a human who has been brought up in a totally alien culture to hers. I’ve only listened to The People’s Temple about twice since buying the cassette in the late 90s and, were it not for this marathon, I don’t think I would have revisited it any time soon. As it is, I don’t feel it has much listenability although one day I may read the written version to see how close it is and maybe pick up on any aspects I missed from the reading. I will admit that single-voice audio tends to allow my mind to wander whilst listening to it, which can mean salient points are missed from time to time. Like Liked 1 Open in new window Statistics AVG. Rating16 members 3.51 / 5 The Time Scales AVG. Rating4 votes 3.65 / 5 Member Statistics Read 24 Favourited 1 Reviewed 1 Saved 0 Skipped 0 Owned 0 Related Stories Other adaptations of this story: We define an adaptation as a recreation of a similar story but on a different medium or with different characters. The People’s Temple Rating: ??? Story Skipped Audio Book More Actions Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Quotes Add Quote Submit a Quote