Doctor Who - The Deadly Assassin Revisited "Never a straight answer to a straight question!"

OK, so I figured I would do another post revisitation and its another Doctor Who one and yet again its another Tom Baker and the story I will re-cover is The Deadly Assassin.  So 41 years on, is this story still good???  Well let's find out....

And the usual warning is coming at you.....

SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!

STORY

So the story begins not long after the Doctor (Baker) now in his fourth incarnation, has parted company with Sarah Jane Smith (Lis Sladen) as he travels to Gallifrey he has a premonition of the assassination of the president of the Time Lords.  The Doctor arrives on Gallifrey however the chancellory guard are sent immediately to impound the TARDIS, which is classified as a type 40, which is no longer in service.  The Doctor manages to sneak out of the TARDIS and make his way to a lift which leads to the main tower, where he is about to be arrested by a soldier, who is killed by a mysterious figure.

The Doctor then manages to sneak back to the TARDIS and watches a newscast by a reporter named Runcible (Hugh Walters) who reports that the president is set to retire and to name his successor.  Runcible also talks with Cardinal Borusa (Angus MacKay) who is a former teacher of the Doctor from his days at the Time Lord academy.  The TARDIS is then transducted into the museum within the Capitol and the Doctor borrows some Gallifreyan Time Lord robes.  Meanwhile several floors below the main tower, we see the Master (Peter Pratt) who is now severely emaciated in form, speak with a masked accomplice and the Master tells them that the trap is set and the Doctor must die quickly.

The Doctor then makes his way into the ceremonial chamber, the Panoptican, and he speaks with Runcible before the President appears.  The Doctor then spots a camera up at an unguarded catwalk and next to the camera is a sniper rifle, which leads the Doctor to race up toward the catwalk, fighting past the crowd of Time Lords.  The Doctor arrives at the catwalk and takes the sniper rifle as he appears to spot the assassin in the crowd, the Doctor takes aim and fires and at that point the President collapses, dead.

The Doctor is then immediately assumed to be the killer and arrested and under interrogation he insists that he was framed for the murder.  The head of security, Castellan Spandrell (George Pravda) questions the Doctor and starts to believe his story and asks for archivist, co-ordinator Engin (Erik Chitty) to help him in a private investigation into the crime with the Doctor.  The Doctor also invokes article 17 at his trial, which allows him to announce himself as a candidate for the presidency, which allows him a stay of execution as well before his sentence can be carried out, much to the chagrin of one of the prime candidates for the presidential role, the ambitious Chancellor Goth (Bernard Horsfall).   

The Doctor begins to help Spandrell in his investigation and shows him the sniper rifle he used had the sights fixed so there wasn't a chance that he could have hit the preisdent if he tried.  The Doctor also suggests that the access the video camera box next to the catwalk which could possibly reveal who the real assassin might be, however before they can get there the Master removes the tape and kills Runcible and his technician.

The Doctor then is shown by Engin, the Matrix, which is a large neural network in which thoughts can be beamed directly into another person's mind and presented as virtual reality, which the Doctor realises the Master himself has used the Matrix and created the premonition of the president's murder and projected into the Doctor's mind.  The Doctor then decides to try and track the Master by joining his mind into the Matrix, however by doing so he could risk being killed, as if he dies in the Matrix he will also die in reality and with that the Doctor enters the Matrix where he faces a series of dangers and nightmares, which will eventually lead him to finding the identity of the killer....

THOUGHTS 

The Deadly Assassin is unique in itself as it is one of the few stories and the only one up to this point where the Doctor does not have a companion and its a very entertaining one in its own right, penned by the script editor at the time, Robert Holmes (who singled handedly contributed more to the series history than any other writer).  The story also expanded on the background of the Time Lords and it was the first story to exclusively feature Gallifrey as prior to this we had briefly seen Gallifrey in the Jon Pertwee story, The Three Doctors, but the planet was unnamed back then.

The Time Lords themselves are presented as a somewhat orderly and pompous race and their somewhat outlandish clothes and robes actually make the story quite stylish and individualistic.  But the story is also notable for finally revealing how long a Time Lord can live as they can regenerate 12 times after this time they will die and this is clearly also highlighted in the story that the Master already had used up his regenerations and is on his last legs which explains his decrepit form.

It also introduces a few other concepts such as the CIA, which is an amusing take on American acronym, which Engin reveals as the Celestial Intervention Agency, who allegedly played a part in commuting the Doctor's exile on Earth.  It also introduced the Eye of Harmony, which is the power source for the Time Lord's time travel, which was later housed in the Doctor's own TARDIS in "Doctor Who: The Movie" starring Paul McGann.

So the story certainly broke alot of new ground for the show and certainly was a landmark in that regard in expanding on the Time Lords mythology and background.  You could also say that the story in a way was a precursor to the Matrix film series as the premise of the films aren't all that different in terms of the actual matrix itself in that its a large neural network in which people live in a virtual reality and its the same here with the Doctor in the 3rd episode as he enters the matrix and fights for his survival.  

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

As for the performances well they are all very good here.

Starting with Tom Baker as usual providing some wonderful stuff and by this time he had grown very comfortably into the role as the Doctor and he has some great lines in the show as well as some great scenes.

These include the moment where the Doctor disguised in robes has a chat with Runcible, the reporter, who asks him he has had a face lift and the Doctor says "Several so far!".  And as the Doctor watches out for the guards he looks down at whinces and pats his knee and Runcible asks "Are you alright?" and the Doctor says "Oh, just a twinge in the knee!".  But then the Doctor suddenly notices looking up, a rifle on the railing and he starts to run to get up there, shouting "Let me go!" and he get's up to the gallery and takes the rifle and looks down as the President arrives and the Doctor takes aim and fires..... 

Another good scene is where the Doctor pleads Article 17 during his trial and he says "I wish to announce myself as a candidate for the presidency!" which causes an outrage.  And Chancellor Goth angrily says "The application is frivilous!" and the Doctor says "No, sir! I invoke Article Seventeen of the Constitution which is a guarantee of liberty and says, in part, that no candidate for office shall in anyway be debarred or restrained from presenting his claim!".  And Goth says "He is abusing a legal technicality!" but the Doctor says "No, sir.  I am claiming a legal right!".

There is also the scene where the Doctor tells Spandrell and Engin of the possibility that the Master could have manipulated the Matrix to beam the premonition of the president into his mind, but Engin insists that the Master would have to have incredible mathematical skill and asks how good was he and The Doctor says "He's brilliant!  Absolutely brilliant!  Almost up to my standard!".  And the Doctor also states how the Time Lords technology does not compare to other worlds and how the Master could manipulate it easily "Child's play to the Master. Do you think this stuff is sophisticated? There are worlds out there where this kind of equipment would be considered prehistoric junk!".

And then we have the scene (SPOILER!!) with the great line when the Doctor tries to question the dying Chancellor Goth, and tries to find out what the Master's plan was, but Goth dies, and the Doctor says "Never a straight answer to a straight question!  Typical politician!".

And last of all there is the scene when the Doctor has Engin play him an old recording that speaks of the Eye of Harmony and the Doctor finally manages to put the pieces together regarding what the Master's plan was.  And the Doctor says "What a stupendous egotist!" and Engin asks "Who?" and the Doctor says "The Master!  He'd have destroyed Gallifrey, the Time Lords, everything, just for the sake of his own survival!".  But then Spandrell comes in with the Master's syrgine that he used earlier to apparently kill himself and the Doctor smells the residue of its contents and he suddenly realises the Master is far from dead.  And he tells Spandrell "Its a neural inhibitor!  Spandrell, we've been fooled!  The Master he's still alive!".     

George Pravda is also excellent in his role as Castellan Spandrell, the head of security in the Capitol who has a rather amusing cynical word weary quality to his performance and he also has some good scenes in the story.

Pravda also has some good scenes that include the one where Spandrell chastises his head of the guards, Commander Hildred for losing the Doctor.  And Hildred tries to defend himself saying "But we have him trapped in the communications tower, Castellan".  However this prompts a sarcastic reply from Spandrell who says to Hildred "Well done, Hildred. An antiquated capsule, for which you get adequate early warning, tranducts on the very perimeter of the Capitol. You are informed that the occupant is a known criminal, whereupon you allow him to escape and conceal himself in a building a mere fifty three stories high. A clever stratagem, Hildred!".

Then there is the scene where Spandrell hears out the Doctor's case to try and prove his innocence and he shows him the sights had been fixed on the rifle he tried to use to shoot the assassin.  And the Doc says "I saw him draw a staser and step forward. I aimed a bolt at him, but at that time I didn't know the sights had been fixed".  However, Spandrell looks sceptically at the Doctor and says "One of the High council.  Its getting better and better!" and the Doctor asks "What is?" and Spandrell says "Your story.  But still a story.  Where is the evidence, Doctor?!".  And the Doctor realises where it is "I'll tell you where the evidence is.  In the Public Register camera. I was standing right beside it" and Spandrell smiles and says "Doctor, you may end up as President!".

And last of all there is the scene at the end (SPOILER!!!) where we see the Master leave Gallifrey in his TARDIS (disguised as a grandfather clock).  And Engin asks Spandrell "Where do you think they're heading?" and Spandrell says "Out into the universe and between you and me, I don't think its big enough for the both of them!".

Bernard Horsfall is great in his role as the ambitious Chancellor Goth who (PLOT SPOILER!!!!!!) turns out to be the assassin who is used by the Master for his own nefarious ends.

Horsfall also has some good scenes that include the one where just after the President has been killed, Goth insists the trial for the Doctor's role as the alleged assassin start immediately.  And Goth says to Spandrell "Castellan! The President is dead. The trial will start immediately" but Spandrell says "I will need more time" and Goth asks "Time for what?" and Spandrell says "There are unanswered questions" and Goth firmly says "That, presumably, will be the purpose of the trial!".  And Cardinal Borusa objects saying this against the Time Lords traditions of fairness and justice but Goth says "

This is a constitutional crisis. The President died without naming his successor. An election must be held within forty eight hours!".  And Borus interrupts saying "But that is a separate matter" which prompts Goth to shout "No, Cardinal! The Time Lords must not be seen to be leaderless and in disarray. The assassin must be tried and executed before the election".

WARNING: This paragraph is in itself a SPOILER!!! 

And lastly there is the scene where Goth confronts the Doctor in the Matrix as the two of them are set to fight one another.  And Goth, searching for the Doctor shouts out "Where are you, Doctor? You can't win, Doctor! You might as well give up now!".  And the Doctor asks "What do you want from me?" and Goth says "Only your life, Doctor!  Your life for my Master!" and the Doctor offers "I'll make a bargain with you" but Goth shouts "No bargains!  Show yourself, Doctor, get it over with!".  The Doctor however then insists "No, you show YOURSELF first!  You're REAL self!" and Goth says "Very well, Doctor" and he takes off his mask revealing his face.  And the two of them then engage in an intense fist fight, which ends with Goth nearly drowning the Doctor and he shouts at him "You're finished, Doctor!  You're finished!!".   

This scene itself caused big controversy at the time of its broadcast as Mary Whitehouse, the president of the then National viewers and listeners association said it was one of the most frightening scenes that featured in the show.  As a result the master tape for the episode had the ending trimmed for future broadcasts but it still exists in NTSC (the American TV format) and was restored for the VHS and DVD release.

Angus MacKay also does a great job as Cardinal Borusa, the pompous and authoratative figurehead in the Capitol who looks down on those around him and tries to play down the reality of the assassination so public perceptions wouldn't tarnish Goth's reputation.

MacKay has quite a few good scene too but I will only mention a couple, the first being where Borusa cheeikly dismisses the reporter, Runcible, one of his former students when Runcible tries to ask him a question.  And Borusa says "Runcible, you had ample time to ask me questions at your mispent years at the academy.  You failed to avail yourself of the opportunity then and it is too late now.  Good day!" and he walks off! 

And secondly there is the scene near the end when Borusa reflects on the damage the Master had caused in Gallifrey.  And Borusa says "Half the city in ruins.  Untold damage.  Countless lives lost!" but Engin offers "But if it weren't for the Doctor, it could have been much worse" and Borusa says "Yes indeed, I am conscious of the debt we owe the Doctor. But Gallifrey has never know such a catastrophe, such devastation. What will we say?".  And the Doctor smiles and says "Well, you'll just have to adjust the truth again, Cardinal. What about subsidence owing to a plague of mice?".  And this leads into the great line from Borusa "As I believe I told you long ago, Doctor, you will never amount to anything in the galaxy while you retain your propensity of vulgar facetiousness!".

Erik Chitty is also pretty good in his role as the elderly Time Lord, Co-ordinator Engin, who helps Spandrell and the Doctor and he provides a bit of charm to the story as Engin is something of an affable old fella.

And I will just mention one of Erik's scene and its the one where the Doctor is asked to help Engin do a bio of the Master for their records.  And Engin asks the Doctor "What about his character?" and the Doctor simply says "Bad!" and Engin sighs saying "Oh, Doctor, could you please be a little more specific?!".

And a little later in the scene, Engin reveals a very important piece of information relating to the life cycle of a Time Lord when the Doctor comments on the unlikeliness of the Master just accepting the end of his regeneration cycle.  And the Doctor says "And the more I think about it the less likely it seems?" and Engin asks what and the Doctor says "Well, that the Master would meekly accept the end of his regeneration cycle. It's not his style at all".  And Engin says "After the twelfth regeneration, there is no plan that will postpone death".

And the Doctor goes on to ask Engin about the President's role "What's so special about the President, Engin?" and Engin says "Nothing. He's simply an elected Time Lord, usually from some senior position. He holds the symbols of office, but otherwise he's no different from any other Time Lord".  

And Engin tells the Doctor about the items that the President carries and he later let's him listen to the recording about the legendary Time Lord, Rassalon.  But Engin all too enthusiastically parrots on about the Gallifreyan history to the Doctor "And today we tend to think of Rassilon as the founder of our modern civilisation. But in his own time he was regarded mainly as an engineer and an architect. And, of course, it was long before we turned aside from the barren road of technology.....".  And the Doctor smiles and interrupts Engin and politely says "Yes, that's all very interesting. Could we hear the transgram?".

And last of all is Peter Pratt as the Master, however for me he is the weak link in the cast as his performance simply cannot live up to the menace and charm that Roger Delgado originally brought to the role so well during the Pertwee era.  And here Pratt delivers a far more one note, serious performance and he doesn't really provide any real threat to the character.

Regardless of that though Peter still does have some good moments and he makes good use of his dramatic voice behind the mask he wears throughout the story as the Master is in bad shape and at the end of his regeneration life cycle.  And one Peter's good moments comes when the Master has a private meeting with a hooded figure, who tells that the Doctor has gain entrance to the Panopticon and the Master says "Of course, he knows he is entering a trap. But how can he resist such a bait?!".  And the figure asks "The hope of preventing an assassination?" and the Master says "Quixotic fool. He will die quickly. Make certain he dies very quickly!" and he looks up to the camera and we see the Master's skin is extremely ameciated and he looks almost like a skeleton!

And later there is the scene where the Master tries to trap the Doctor in the Matrix but in doing so he will effectively kill Goth, who is still attached to the machine.  And the Master berates Goth by shouting "You wistful, craven-hearted, spineless poltroon!  You failed me!".  Then the Master says of the Doctor "There is only one chance now.  I must trap him in the Matrix" and Goth pleads with him "No, Master, no!  For pity's sake!  The connections. You'll kill me!" and the Master angrily says "I have no time to waste on you!" and he presses a button that causes a fire that surrounds Goth, who screams.  And afterward, we see Goth's skin is charred and he is now dying and he says weakly to the Master "You fiend!  Why did I believe in you?!" and the Master takes out a needle and says "I'll cheat them yet!  I'm not beaten!".

And last of all there is the scene between the Doctor and the Master after they have found (SPOILER!!) Hildred's miniaturised dead body (courtesy of the Master's matter condensing gun, which shrinks people to death).  And the Doctor angrily asks the Master "Why have you brought me here?!" and the Master says "As a scapegoat for the killing of the President! Who else but you, Doctor? So despicably good, so insufferably compassionate. I wanted you to die in ignominious shame and disgrace!".  And as the Doctor tries lunging at the Master, he shoots him and orders Engin to give him the sash of Rassalon.  And the Master tells Engin "They're not dead. Stunned. They'll live long enough to see the end of this accursed planet, and for the Doctor to taste the full bitterness of his defeat!

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

As for the direction, David Maloney does a great job with the story and he keeps the story's pace quite taut throughout and in particular he creates a great sense of tension and suspense during the story's nightmare sequences in the Matrix where the Doctor is involved in a psychological game of cat and mouse.  These sequences feature some memorable moments such as the Doctor getting his foot caught in a railtrack only to face an oncoming mini railtrain coming straight at him as well as nod to North by Northwest where the assassin tries to gun down the Doctor in a plane armed with machine guns and also the climactic fight scene between the Doctor and the assassin (Goth).

As for the music, Dudley Simpson provides another excellent score which for a change features some organ music, which perfectly suits the dramatic tone of the scenes in the Panoptican and its actually the aspect that stands out the most regarding the story.  So overall its another very fine score from the series regular composer of the time until the end of the 1970s.  

FLAWS (Warning: this section may also contain spoilers!)

So regarding flaws.... does The Deadly Assassin have any???  Well it does have some but nothing too major.

But to kick off with what flaws it does have I would say one of them comes down to the portrayal of the Time Lords as just yet another pompous (not to mention all English accented!) race with high opinions of themselves, which makes for a somewhat narrow minded view of what could very well be a very diverse race of aliens.  But to be fair this story was only the first proper introduction of the race and is only the first story to fully feature on Gallifrey (in fact I might be wrong but it could be the only one!). 

The story also does feature one or two comical moments such as the scene in the nightmare sequence where the Doctor supposedly falls over the edge of a cliff.  However we in fact just see that Tom Baker is dangling from a very slight and small ledge and then all of a sudden a samurai warrior turns up and pulls out his sword and cuts the Doctor's scarf in two, which he was using to try and climb back up.

The climactic fight scene between the Doctor and Goth in the matrix is also a bit comical as during the fight scene we can clearly see Tom Baker's stunt double (played by the series stalwart stunt actor, Terry Walsh) wearing a curly black wig, and the fight scene in those moments looks pretty daft and undercuts the effectiveness of the fight itself.

I also found it a bit strange how Commander Hildred (Derek Seaton) would take such pleasure in being rather sadistic towards the Doctor as he essentially tortures him for information, it doesn't really seem to be holding with as Borusa himself said the Time Lords traditions of justice and fairness.  But then again the guy is a guard, so this is probably the first bit of action he's had in quite a while and he doesn't get to torture too many presidential assassins, so perhaps he was allowed to go a bit nuts here!

Another issue I had was to do with not so much Goth being the assassin, that part is OK in itself, but its more to do with the fact that they don't really disguise his voice very well in episode three when the Doctor fights Goth in the Matrix world especially when we hear Goth's laugh when he flies the bi-plane and shoots at the Doctor.  I mean its pretty bloody obvious at this point that Goth is the assassin as he is not disguising his voice at all here!  And when it get's to the final reveal, Goth's cover is already totally out the window and we know full well he is the assassin before he even takes off his mask!!

And last of all there is the scene where the Doctor asks the Master "Why have you brought me here?!" and the Master says he brought him as a scapegoat for killing the President.  Now yeah OK, I get that, but surely the Doctor already knows this, because earlier on when he was being interrogated by Spandrell he tells him "I've been framed!" and "Someone has gone to a great deal of trouble to get me into this mess!".  So by saying that, the Doctor knows that the Master is behind it, so there is no need for him to ask why he was brought to Gallifrey in the first place, so this moment is a bit redundant and if anything it just serves to spell it out to the audience. 

Anyway so that's for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum it all up, The Deadly Assassin is easily one of the best stories of the Tom Baker era of the show.  It features some great performances from its cast, a very solid script by Robert Holmes that reveals quite alot of crucial information about Time Lord history not to mention their life cycle.  It also is very well directed by the series veteran director, David Maloney, who had already directed quite a few classics in the series (The Mind Robber, War Games, Genesis of the Daleks to name a few) and this one is no exception.

The story also stands alone (or maybe not, not too sure!) in being quite unique in that its perhaps the only one where the Doctor has no companion, yet the the supporting characters more than make up for this as they are so well written, and Spandrell and Engin still stand in nicely as the Doctor's companions here.

So if you haven't checked out The Deadly Assassin yet, I'd definitely recommend it.

And so I will leave it there (wow two posts in one day, haven't done that for a while!) and say goodbye for now and I'll back soon with yet another post.

Till then ciao for the now!