The Deadly Assassin

You will never amount to anything in the galaxy until you tame your propensity for vulgar facetiousness.

The Deadly Assassin is probably one of the most famous stories in Doctor Who. In addition to it being a quality story by Robert Holmes, it set up many ideas and visuals regarding Time Lords and Gallifrey, the rule of twelve regenerations being one of the most prominent. It is also the story that went beyond the pale for Mary Whitehouse, who used the cliffhanger in Episode Three of an enemy drowning the Doctor as evidence that the show was too violent and needed to be changed. It was this influence that led to a toned down feel during the majority of the Graham Harper era (once Robert Holmes was reigned in a bit) and hamstrung John Nathan-Turner several times during his era.

Plot Summary

The Doctor lands on Gallifrey, having just had a vision of the President of the High Council being assassinated. The Citadel guards investigate the unauthorized landing and work to unlock the TARDIS. Castellan Spandrell does a bit of research and discovers that the only non-decommissioned Type 40 TARDIS is in the hands of a known criminal (referencing back to The War Games).

The Doctor eludes the guards as they enter the TARDIS. He is discovered by one guard but an unknown figure shoots the guard down and the Doctor flees into the tower. Commander Hilred reports back of the Doctor's movements and brings Spandrell a note from the Doctor, warning of the attempt on the President's life. Spandrell takes the letter to Chancellor Goth while the Doctor doubles back into the TARDIS.

Goth approves Spandrell's request to pull more guards to search for the Doctor and orders the TARDIS be moved to the Panopticon to prevent the Doctor from escaping. After moving, the Doctor slips out and disguises himself in another Time Lord's formal robes. Spandrell meanwhile has pulled the Doctor's bio extract from the Matrix, learning of the Doctor's membership in the most prestigious political class but also noticing that someone else has accessed the Doctor's extract.

In the Panopticon, the Doctor observes a gun on the balcony and rushes up to it. From the balcony, he spies someone holding a gun and moves to shoot them. However, the person shoots first, felling the President. The Doctor is arrested and taken for interrogation.

Castellan Spandrell asks the Doctor questions and seems skeptical of his guilt. The Doctor is taken before Chancellor Goth for a quick trial. Various witnesses come forward describing the Doctor's activities. But rather than introducing a defense, the Doctor invokes an old bit of Gallifrean law and declares himself a candidate for the Presidency. With this, the trial is postponed 48 hours until after the election. The Doctor is released to Spandrell's charge and the Doctor proposes that he convince Spandrell that he is innocent. Spandrell agrees and they head to the Panopticon to investigate.

In the Panopticon, the Doctor points out that the sights on the rifle he used were changed. They find the bullet hole from his shot, indicating that he did not kill the President. A low level Time Lord named Runcible is sent to retrieve the data tapes from the balcony cameras. Inside, Runcible finds the compressed body of the regular technician. Runcible passes out and a hooded figure steals them.

Seeing the compressed body, the Doctor realizes the Master is involved, although Spandrell is unfamiliar with him. Reviving Runcible, he is sent off to deliver the tapes to the overseer of the Matrix. However, Runcible is killed and the remaining tapes stolen as well.

In the Matrix room, the Doctor explains to Spandrell and Co-Ordinator Engin who the Master is and he realizes that the Master is manipulating the Matrix. He redirected the Matrix prediction of the death of the President to the Doctor to pull him in. The Doctor elects to enter the Matrix and try to flush the Master out. Engin is skeptical but agrees.

Waking up in the Matrix, the Doctor is attacked by various masked figures, the Master's voice taunting him as they do so. He gets his foot caught in a train track with a train threatening to run him down. It disappears and the Doctor realizes that it is all illusion. He attempts to deny the reality, but a voice appears telling him that it is in control. The Doctor is shot at by a plane and he is wounded. Again he denies the reality and the wound disappears.

The control figure appears as a masked hunter to reassert the reality. The Doctor's wound reappears as he runs away. Hiding, he sees the hunter leave to poison the water supply. The Doctor steals a grenade and sets a trap for the hunter, although it fails to kill him. Seeing the poison bottle, the Doctor fashions himself a tube and drinks from untainted puddles.

With the same straw, the Doctor fashions a blow dart using thorns and the last bit of poison in the bottle. He shoots the hunter with the dart as the hunter shoots him. Both wounded, the Doctor runs into a swamp. He then offers to surrender if the hunter reveals himself. The hunter removes the mask to reveal Chancellor Goth. As Goth shoots, the Doctor dives out of the way and the shot ignites the marsh gas. Burned, Goth attacks the Doctor and tries to drown him. But the Doctor gets free and the stress of his wounds and trying to maintain the reality is too much and Goth disappears from the Matrix.

Furious at Goth's failure, the Master tries to sabotage the Matrix to trap the Doctor inside, not caring that it will also kill Goth. The Doctor pulls himself out and Engin shuts the system down. Using the information the Doctor learned, the group heads into the lower tunnels to find the Master's lair. The Master appears to be dead and Goth is dying. He admits to working for the Master in exchange for becoming President but does not reveal what the Master's plan is.

The Master's body is sent to the Panopticon but when Cardinal Barusa hears the story, he orders it reported that Goth was killed trying to stop the Master. Guards are sent to stazer Goth's body to add to the tale and they find a syringe in the lair. Checking it's contents, the Doctor recognizes it as a neural inhibitor and that the Master is still alive. He also learns from Engin that the Key and Sash of Rassilon could be used to reveal the Eye of Harmony which would keep him alive (he has run out of regenerations) but would destroy Gallifrey in the process.

The Doctor, Spandrell and Engin go to the Panopiticon to find the Master alive. He stuns the Doctor and Spandrell with a stolen stazer and forces Engin to give him the Sash of Rassilon, believing it will keep him safe from the Eye of Harmony. He then locks the door. The Doctor wakes and climbs through an old service duct into the main room where the Master has brought up the Eye of Harmony and is disconnecting it from it's stabilization tubes. He distracts the Master long enough to get a drop on him. They fight but the Doctor knocks him down and moves to reconnect the stabilization tubes. The shaking causes a crack to open in the floor and the Master falls in. The Doctor finishes reconnecting the tubes and the planet stabilizes.

After, Barousa quietly dismisses the Doctor although thanking him in his own way. The Doctor leaves Gallifrey, saying goodbye to Spandrell and Engin as well. As he departs, Spandrell and Engin notice the Master leaving in his own TARDIS, having gained enough energy from the Eye of Harmony to continue on for a while, although not enough to actually regenerate.

Analysis

This is a highly enjoyable story. The Fourth Doctor is highly entertaining in a mix of seriousness and also flippancy. The lack of a companion does not hinder the story in Episode One and Spandrell functions very well as a companion stand-in. Engin also does well to complete the typical Holmes double team with Spandrell.

The story is quite well paced and leaps all around to keep you guessing. Episode One is a bit of a police chase with the excellent cliffhanger of the Doctor appearing to have shot the President. Episode Two slows down a bit as the Master steps in and the Doctor/Spandrell team is formed. Episode Three is just surreal. Nominally it's a chase but the environment is so out of the ordinary that it just draws you in with real tension. Episode Four is the traditional confrontation and fight but the best part is that it doesn't feel rushed like a number of final episodes can feel.

Another thing that really stands out is the gothic majesty of Gallifrey. A bit of Gallifrey had been seen before in The War Games and The Three Doctors but that had been limited to a small set of rooms. This story expanded the Citadel but did it with a great scope that really carried a sense of drama that was missing before (although hinted at in The War Games) and definitely absent in later Gallifrey stories such as The Invasion of Time and Arc of Infinity. Even tight sets such as the Matrix control room give that sense of age and mystery. It's excellent work by both the set design and the direction.

Goth's reveal as the minion of the Master was not that much of a surprise. Good old Scooby-Doo logic kept it that it had to either be him or Barusa and Goth made more sense. That being said, he made a good villain and it was nice to see them bring back the actor from the Doctor's sentencing in The War Games. It added a nice level of consistency that is often absent in Doctor Who.

If I had to bring up any negatives, it would be the Master. Not the performance, I rather enjoyed Peter Pratt's performance and the slight bit of mad hysteria made sense given how desperate the Master was to stay alive. His plan made some sense as well in it's own demented way and it was nice to see him not back out or be tricked into working against it by the Doctor. No, my gripe comes from the limitations of the mask.

It was a well constructed mask but it is very obviously a mask. The Master's jaw never moves when he is speaking and that immediately takes away from what he is supposed to be. Worse, because the mouth remains shut, the Master's voice is very muffled and there are several points of dialogue where it simply becomes impossible to hear what he is saying. It is an unfortunate side effect of the make-up that does seriously detract from the quality of the performance, which is a shame as Peter Pratt really did make a nice transition from the late Roger Delgado.

The Deadly Assassin is definitely not a story to be shown as an introduction. It is too steeped in mythology and enjoyable as the Doctor's performance is, it is too far removed from normal with the absence of a companion to be something to expect. Nevertheless, it is an excellent and very engaging story, well worth a few watches. Plus it has the distinction of ruffling the feathers of Mary Whitehouse and any story that does that is definitely one to enjoy.

Overall personal score: 4.5 out of 5