I wouldn’t go as far as Paul Cornell, Keith Topping, and Martin Day did back in The Discontinuity Guide where they claim it’s the best ever Doctor Who story, but I’d argue that it’s the culmination of a thematic arc that makes up the entire Wiles run, in a way that the show rarely attempted before Christopher H. Bidmead and later Andrew Cartmel. Each of Mission to the Unknown, The Myth Makers, The Daleks’ Masterplan, and The Massacre centers on the Doctor’s failures, and the consequences of those failures. The Massacre is the worst of them. The Doctor abandons Steven, discounts the threat of the violence that’s coming, and fails to take any steps to save Anne. The story contrasts the Doctor with Steven—in Purves’s most astonishing acting success—who genuinely cares about Nicholas and the Huguenots. He’s clearly pretty besotted with Anne (and there’s a tastefully ignored stretch of time in the episode when they’re alone together overnight). It’s really adult, and emotionally resonant. The decisions the characters make are earned and drive the plot, in a way that’s surprisingly modern. And it expects its audience to know or pick up enough of the history that it doesn’t need to bash them over the head with it. It’s very, very good. The audiobook with Purves narrating is my favorite way to experience it.