Update:
On Googling the error code it seems this problem occurred for the Win 8.1 preview back in June, but I couldn't find any evidence of a fix. The only suggestion I could find was that perhaps the graphics drivers needed to be updated, but after updating to the latest drivers the problem is still the same - still crashes at the same point, same error message.
I also notice that Microsoft Support doesn't seem to be available at the moment - great timing guys :s