The Deadly Assassin: Part Three

Despite the notoriety of its cliffhanger ending, which incited the most vociferous condemnation by media watchdog Mary Whitehouse of the violence perpetrated in "Doctor Who," the third episode of "The Deadly Assassin" marks a palpable decline in the intrigue and suspense this absorbing story of conspiracy and skullduggery had produced over its first two episodes. It amounts to nothing more than an episode-long corridor- or tunnel chase filmed on location amidst verdant foliage as the cultural referents move from the political intrigue of the John Kennedy assassination and "The Manchurian Candidate" to the 1932 action thriller "The Most Dangerous Game" with a nod to Alfred Hitchcock thrown into the mix.

To be sure, the concept is solid, even revolutionary: As the Doctor, Castellan Spandrell (George Pravda), and Coordinator Engin (Erik Chitty) realize that the evil, renegade Time Lord the Master (Peter Pratt) might be behind the assassination of the Gallifreyan president and its attendant conspiracy that includes manipulation of the APC (amplified panatropic computations), the repository that contains the data extracts of all Time Lords living or dead, in essence a matrix of Time Lord experiences comprising a virtual parallel universe, the Doctor insists on entering the APC to discover evidence of the Master's plotting and, if necessary, to confront the Master's surrogate who might still reside in the APC.

This is pretty much what the "The Matrix" came up with, although "Doctor Who" hardly had the resources to come within a thousand miles of that landmark 1999 movie's visual spectacularity. Instead, the Doctor and the Master's co-conspirator play cat-and-mouse, with the Doctor mostly the mouse, in the Surrey countryside, and if you haven't figured out by now who the co-conspirator is, you haven't been paying attention.

However, you may be excused for not paying too much attention here since director David Maloney's solid framing captures routine hunt-'em-down sequences enlivened by some dubious reasoning. When the big-game hunter pursing the Doctor, realizing that the Doctor will need drinking water, poisons a small pond, he leaves behind the empty poison bottle, which of course the Doctor conveniently finds.

Given that the APC enables endless manifestations of situations and artifacts, Maloney, writer Robert Holmes, and the rest of the production crew do try to create a fantastical alternate reality, one controlled by the Master's surrogate, but technical and budgetary limitations ultimately stunt what they can do, leaving Tom Baker to gamely carry the action, which includes a menacing biplane winking at a famous scene in Hitchcock's 1959 movie "North by Northwest."

After the knife-edged intrigue of the first two episodes, this third installment, despite its celebrated-slash-notorious cliffhanger, drowns in scenic dreariness.

One casting note: Playing a chancellery guard under the Master's spell is Peter Maycock, who played a similar role in "Pyramids of Mars," coincidentally co-written by Holmes. Maycock was better off kneeling before the might of Sutekh.

POINT TO PONDER: Confirmation bias is the tendency to accept only facts and opinions you agree with. It is extremely difficult to avoid. Are reviews "helpful" only if they validate your confirmation bias? Are they "not helpful" if they contradict it? Thanks to the pervasiveness of confirmation bias, a simple thumbs-up or thumbs-down is essentially useless as an indicator of whether a review is or isn't "helpful."

The Master has the Doctor in the matrix, where he fights an adversary and his cheap tricks, duelling Time Lords on the stage, like they're trapped within a cage, Gallifrey's future in the swamp and in the mix.

Part three continues the story, albeit in completely different fashion, the first two were very much espionage thrillers, Part three is an escape of reality, a deadly game of cat and mouse in a world of terror and monsters.

Watching this I firmly believe The Doctor is lost in the Matrix, as bonkers and surreal as it is, it's produced so well, that the unbelievable feels believable, Tom and Bernard Horsfall play it to perfection, the acting is incredible. It looks and sounds terrific, a very tight production.

Best bit of all though, that cliffhanger, arguably the best of all time. I can see Mary Whitehouse's face now.

Masterful. 10/10

Review of all 4 episodes:

Many fans rate this as one of the best and they are correct to recognise the huge quality of this story as well as its importance in building (and changing) the folklore of the Time Lords and The Doctor. It has everything, Tom Baker on top form, a classic villain, sparkling dialogue, humour, action, material which is important in the history of the series as well as some fresh and unnerving ideas. All this is done with brilliance in direction, acting and writing.

The Doctor has been called back home to Gallifrey. On his way there he has a pre-cognitive dream in which he appears to assassinate the Time Lord President. When he arrives he has to go on the run as he is presumed to be a criminal. He then tries to prevent the President's assassination but instead is made to look like the assassin himself. Behind all this, it turns out, is his old arch- enemy The Master. Now at an end to his cycle of regenerations (we are told Time Lords have a maximum of 12) his body is extremely emaciated but his evil and cunning are as strong as ever.

The Master, played now by Peter Pratt, looks and sounds great and his dialogue and Pratt's acting are excellent. There is also a host of superb and perfectly acted guest characters. The wonderful Borusa, Spandrell, Goth, Runcible and Engin are all fabulous. This adventure is also somewhat unique in that there is no companion for The Doctor.

The section of the story where The Doctor enters 'the matrix', a technically created world which seems real and has real dangers (sound like a forerunner of the film The Matrix to anyone?) is surreal and extremely innovative and clever in its different and interesting creativity.

A real all time classic story. 10/10