The Deadly Assassin

"Why should anyone want to assassinate a retiring president?"

Writer: Robert Holmes
Format: TV
Broadcast: 30th October - 20th November 1976
Series: 14.03

Featuring: Fourth Doctor

Synopsis

Gallifrey. Planet of the Time Lords. The Doctor has finally come home, but not by choice.

Summoned by a vision from The Matrix, he is drawn into a web of political intrigue and assassination. Nothing is quite what it seems, and in the shadows lurks his oldest and deadliest enemy...

Verdict

The Deadly Assassin was a great adventure and a very good and interesting story to watch my young cousin - our first serial together for quite some time! I thought this would be a good choice for him to watch and I was delighted when he failed to recognise the emaciated incarnation of the Master as his return would have been something of a surprise to him. I love the setting of Gallifrey for just about any story and whilst this one was obviously in the series' early days regarding the Doctor's home planet, I thought it provided a very intriguing look at the politics of the planet of the Time Lords. The Doctor getting the projection that the retiring President was going to be assassinated was quite a great way to start and I loved how the ending of part one made it look like he was responsible for the murder. That was probably the best cliffhanger but looking at the story through the eyes of a nine-year-old and his reactions told me that the other two cliffhangers were just as equally good. The way the identity of the dark figure was concealed and gradually revealed was excellent and for anyone who didn't know that he was the Master beforehand, the reveal must have been a tremendous surprise. I thought it was superb but I also admire how brave it was to take a character like the Master and present him in an entirely new form given the tragic death of Roger Delgado. This story is obviously crucial to the history of Doctor Who as it cements the Time Lord limit on regeneration and we witness its effects on the Master firsthand. The traits of the character were still there at the end of his life and I liked that the TCE was still a favoured weapon. I do like that device because of how deadly it is and once we saw its use, we knew the Master was on Gallifrey and that was very exciting. I thought the references to The War Games and The Three Doctors were excellent in recalling the past involvement of Gallifrey and the Time Lords in the series and whilst the story as a whole is a good one, I thought part three was a little tedious. I don't think we required an entire episode being devoted to the Doctor's struggle in the reality-projected Matrix and whilst there was a lot of action, it seemed a little too long. I thought Tom Baker though was outstanding in this story and he really didn't seem to miss a companion at all which was a positive. The story's conclusion regarding the Sash of Rassilon, the Great Key and the Eye of Harmony would set the future regarding Time Lord society and I liked how there was a battle between the Doctor and the Master. The ambiguity surrounding the ending being quickly summed up with the Master escaping in his own TARDIS was great and I like how the character was able to live on past the death of its actor. Overall, a very good adventure!

Rating: 8/10