The Deadly Assassin: Part Four

Coming in from the outdoors does a world of good for "The Deadly Assassin" as the fourth and final episode of Robert Holmes's seminal story of the Time Lords and their planet Gallifrey cements its contributions to the "Doctor Who" canon with audacious skullduggery, provocative quotes, and a lasting and profound addition to Time Lord mythos capped with a near-apocalyptic climax that leaves the Doctor shaken and the Master (Peter Pratt) stirred.

The Doctor's battle with Chancellor Goth (Bernard Horsfall), now revealed to have been under the Master's spell when he killed Gallifrey's president, kicks them both out of the APC (amplified panatropic computations) matrix, a mortal circumstance for Goth, who confesses on his deathbed as the Master sits nearby, seemingly dead.

Apprised of the situation, Cardinal Borusa (Angus MacKay) reveals himself to be as callous and calculating as Goth, rejecting the story told to him by the Doctor, Castellan Spandrell (George Pravda), and Coordinator Engin (Erik Chitty) before declaring that "we must adjust the truth. . . . in a way that will maintain public confidence in the Time Lords and their leadership," essentially echoing an earlier sentiment that "the Time Lords must not be seen to be leaderless and in disarray" made by Goth, who, in Borusa's fabrication, emerges not as a disgraced villain but as a fallen hero.

Thus does Holmes not only demythologize the Time Lords, dashing any romantic fantasies about them held by fans now gnashing their teeth at his pillorying of them, but he also encapsulates the real-world tenor of the times--Vietnam, Watergate, the political assassinations, the revelations of nefarious acts by the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other government agencies. Borusa's "truth adjustment" recalls the exposure by the publication of the Pentagon Papers of the systematic lying about the state of the Vietnam war by two presidential administrations to "maintain public confidence" in their "leadership."

Tasked with having to reveal Borusa's duplicity after having exhibited uprightness, MacKay delivers a performance convincing enough to invite his own assassination, although he does redeem himself a tad before it's all over.

Meanwhile, the Master has only been feigning death in a ruse as brilliant and diabolical as anything Hannibal Lecter would come up with to purloin the Sash of Rassilon and its concealed but immense power not only to destroy Gallifrey but to cheat what would become the monumental delimiter of Time Lord existence: Robert Holmes's introduction of a maximum of twelve regenerations during a Time Lord's lifespan.

Whether Holmes, or producer Philip Hinchcliffe, or anyone at "Doctor Who," or even at the BBC overall realized the future implications of this is unclear, but it's only in hindsight that it becomes significant. After all, Britain was facing its own economic, political, and social disruptions, and the fate of a television program was hardly a major concern.

The BBC had even wiped many programs, not just "Doctor Who," from its archives because there was little thought to legacy. Who knew how long the series had to run? There was no viable home media market, so apart from syndication older programs had no outlet. With hardly any channels available, even in the United States, programs routinely got the chop, and often without much warning. Thus, programs like "Doctor Who" had trouble enough planning for the next season--if there would be one--let alone projecting years into the future.

As for Peter Pratt, he had some formidable, intimidating shoes to fill. Roger Delgado had of course defined the character in distinct, compelling strokes, and compounding Pratt's portrayal of the Master was not only his need to remain mysterious during the first two episodes, but he was also buried beneath a scarifying, skeletal costume to convey his desiccated, deteriorating condition. That makes it even more effective when he bursts forth in this final episode to reassert the Master's dominant, ruthless demeanor as a worthy nemesis of the Doctor.

Unfortunately, the destruction of Gallifrey is notably underwhelming, hardly conveying the damage implied subsequently, yet another casualty of the series' limited resources although director David Maloney, well-aware of those limitations, stages and frames the action as best he can. (At least the "wobbly walls" are deliberate this time.)

Despite this, "The Deadly Assassin," an essential "Doctor Who" story, departs having altered the series' space-time continuum while promising an exciting future. Or is that past?

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."

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

The Master feigns his death to get away, to enact the cunning plan he has to play, Eye of Harmony revealed, almighty power it can wield, just the Doctor to prevent, the end of days.

When you watch this, you will be struck by just how important it was, for legacy and content, so many episodes that followed would relate to this, The invasion of Time, The Five Doctors, Arc of infinity etc, it is also here that we learn a Time Lord can regenerate a maximum of twelve times.

It is such a fitting end to what's been a truly incredible story, it really is huge, the final conflict between The Doctor and The Master is brilliant, so dramatic. It's political drama at its very best, a pity that we didn't get more Galifrey based stories, sadly The Invasion of Time wasn't quite up to the mark.

The level of detail is remarkable, The Clock, we glimpse it in the first episode, it's hardly noticeable, but it's there. I love touches like that.

It has been a joy to watch. 10/10