Doctor Who: The Deadly Assassin
I have to wonder what it must have been like in 1976 to tune in when "The Deadly Assassin" first aired. Up until now, our only glimpses of Gallifrey had been of a couple of all-powerful guys who seemed to wield a whole lot of power. Well, that and the weird Steed-wannabe from "Terror of the Autons."
But while we'd had a scene or two here and there that took place on Gallifrey (we only found out its name in an off-hand line in "The Time Warrior), we'd never actually had a whole story that took place there, much less explored the intricate society of the Time Lords. What exactly was it about the Time Lords that made it so that the Doctor left, fleeing to explore the universe? What led to the creation of a mind such as the Master (and later the Rani)? And were the Time Lords really as all-powerful as we'd been led to believe in just about every story until now?
Or could it be they were a bit less stringent than we'd thought? Oh sure, they'd exiled the Doctor to Earth for interfering, but didn't they then make him turn around and do the same thing time and again? The third Doctor was constantly sent on assignment by the High Council and he always made some type of change to the society he visited? And that is to say nothing of the outright interference in Dalek history the Time Lords attempted to do just two seasons earlier in the classic "Genesis of the Daleks."
So, were the Time Lords all a case of do as I say, not as I do?
Only the genius that is Robert Holmes could pick up on this and craft a story around it. The Doctor has been summoned back to Gallifrey. We're not sure where the summon comes from, but it's apparently not official because as soon as he shows up, he's a wanted criminal. Then the President of the High Council is assigned, apparently by the Doctor and things are looking really bad.
Here's where part of the genius of this story comes in--Holmes takes the standard Who cliche of Doctor arrives somewhere and is suspected of whatever nefarious plot is underway and turns it on its ear. Holmes is playing with our comfort level with the show and really showing off. Holmes helped create this template and now he's doing something new with it. And the results are one of the definitive classics in all of Who history.
"The Deadly Assassin" is one of those stories that is a dividing line in the series. It casts a different spin on everything that came before it and it has a definitive impact on every story that comes after it. Yes, you can argue that later stories took a lot of the luster out of Gallifrey, but "Assassin" works because it gives us just enough of the Time Lord society to keep things interesting while it doesn't give us all the answers or (worse yet) weaken the Time Lords to the point that they're a bunch of actors dressed up in funny costumes. The theme of corruption within the ruling poers of Time Lord society and how that corruption is played out is a theme that Holmes will come back to several more times in the course of the show (of course, those are both in the sixth Doctor's era, so don't hold your breath waiting for the pay-off).
So, you've got this look inside the society of the Time Lords and if that is all "Deadly Assassin" were, it might be enough. But it's not. The story features the return of the Master, for the first time since Roger Delgado's tragic death. And before you know it, the Doctor and the Master are once again engaged in their typical game of cat and mouse, all of it culminating in a virtual reality jaunt inside the Matrix that could have deadly consquences.
Ah yes, the famous cliffhanger to episode three. The one that drove Mary Whitehouse ape and pretty much lead to the BBC slowly removing Hinchcliffe from the producer's chair. It's a shame Whitehouse had that much sway and could get this done becuase the show is on an up-tic and a run starting here that will virtually be unparalleled for the rest of the show's run. This is a story that demands attention, it redefines our assumptions about Doctor Who and its pretty damn entertaining to boot.
Not bad for four episodes.
But back to my point. The scenes inside the Matrix are a grim reality, a virutal world in which the Doctor is running for his life. It's interesting to see the 4th Doctor on the run for his life in such a deadly game, especially given how self-confident and reassured he normally is. A Dalek doesn't phase him, this week's meglomaniac doesn't phase him, but here he's fighting for his life inside a virtual world. It's a take-off of "The Most Dangerous Game" in a lot of ways but it's so well directed and so-well acted you probably won't care that much. And yes, a brutal pursuit like that can be violent. Honestly, I've never seen why Mary Whitehouse got so upset about the cliffhanger to episode three, but then again perhaps when it first aired it was a bit boundary pushing. In today's world of TV, it's probably nothing and wouldn't get much notice. I'm not sure if this isn't some sad statement to how desensitized to this type of thing we've all become.
That said, "Deadly Assassin" is an undisputed classic. It's probably the high point of a a great season. It's a fascinating look at Gallifrey, it changes our assumptions about the Time Lords and it's a damn fine adventure story to boot. It's not one I'd show to a novice Who fan to try and hook them. But once they've got in and got their feet wet, it's one of the "must see" stories of the original series run.