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{{Quote|The innocent to the slaughter...|The Master}}
{{title dab away}}
{{Infobox ClassicTV
{{real world}}
|image           = [[Image:St--4p09.jpg|250px]]
{{ImageLinkTV}}
|story name      = The Deadly Assassin
{{Infobox Story SMW
|series         = [[Doctor Who]] - [[TV stories|TV Stories]]
|novelisation           = Doctor Who and the Deadly Assassin
|number          = [[Season 14]]
|image                  = PRD.jpg
|story number   = 88
|series                 = [[Doctor Who television stories|''Doctor Who'' television stories]]
|doctor         = [[Fourth Doctor]]
|season number          = Season 14 (Doctor Who 1963)
|companions      =  
|season serial number  = 3
|enemy           = [[The Master (Tersurus)|The Master]]<br>[[Goth]]
|story number           = 88
|year            = [[Gallifrey]]: [[Rassilon Era]]
|doctor                 = Fourth Doctor
|writer         = [[Robert Holmes]]
|featuring              = Spandrell
|director       = [[David Maloney]]
|enemy                 = The [[Decayed Master]]
|producer       = [[Philip Hinchcliffe]]
|setting                = [[Gallifrey]], [[APC Net]]
|broadcast date = [[30th October]] - [[20th November]] [[1976]]
|writer                 = Robert Holmes
|format         = 4 25-minute episodes
|director               = [[David Maloney]]
|production code = [[List of production codes|4P]]
|producer               = [[Philip Hinchcliffe]]
|previous story  = [[The Hand of Fear]]
|epcount                = 4
|next story      = [[The Face of Evil]]
|broadcast date         = 30 October - 20 November 1976
}}
|network                = BBC1
==Synopsis==
|format                 = 4x25-minute episodes
"Through the millennia, the [[Time Lord]]s of [[Gallifrey]] led a life of peace and ordered calm, protected against all threats from lesser civilisations by their great power. But this was to change. Suddenly and terribly, the Time Lords faced the most dangerous crisis in their long history…"
|serial production code = [[List of production codes|4P]]
|prev                  = The Hand of Fear (TV story)
|next                   = The Face of Evil (TV story)
|clip                  = Premonition of death - Doctor Who - The Deadly Assassin - BBC|thwr=1
|featuring2=Engin|featuring3=Borusa (The Deadly Assassin){{!}}Borusa|featuring4=Pandad IV{{!}}Pandad IV
}}{{you may|The Deadly Assassin (reference book)|n1=the reference book of the same name}}
'''''The Deadly Assassin''''' was the third serial of [[Season 14 (Doctor Who 1963)|season 14]] of ''[[Doctor Who]]''. It was the only televised story in the original run of ''Doctor Who'' to feature the Doctor without a [[companion]]. Tom Baker had told [[Philip Hinchcliffe]] he could hold the show on his own. With this story already in place, it was seen as a pilot for such companion-less stories. However, it was deemed that a companion was a necessary feature of the show.


==Plot==
This serial saw the return of the Doctor's nemesis, [[Decayed Master|the Master]], but in a heavily decayed state played by [[Peter Pratt]]. [[Roger Delgado]] had died in an automobile accident three years earlier, requiring a new actor to take his place. Afterwards, the Master became subject to a change in appearance and other changes as needed when an actor replaced the role, much like the Doctor, although, from an in-universe perspective, which change of actors should be considered a change of "incarnation" is far less clear-cut.
===Part One===
En route to [[Gallifrey]] in answer to the [[Time Lord]]s' summons, [[Fourth Doctor|the Doctor]] is struck with a premonition in which he appears to assassinate the [[Time Lord]] [[Lord President|President]] from a gallery overlooking the [[Panopticon]].


The [[the Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]] lands in the security area of the [[Citadel]], and Commander [[Hildred|Hilred]] immediately impounds it and orders the arrest of its owner. The Doctor leaves a note on the console warning them of his premonition, and manages to sneak out of TARDIS into the Citadel. He is cornered by a guard, who then is shot dead by an unknown assailant.
Narratively, this serial introduced several aspects and notable figures of [[Time Lord]] society which were used, or referenced again, including [[the Matrix]], Time Lord Chapters, Time Lord headdresses and robes, [[Borusa]] and of course [[Rassilon]]. It also introduced the restriction of a Time Lord to a finite limit of twelve [[regeneration]]s, allowing a maximum of thirteen [[incarnation]]s, after which a Time Lord would suffer permanent death.


The arrival of an unregistered TARDIS in a high-security area increases the tension on an already tense day - the President is resigning, and is about to name his successor. The [[Castellan]] [[Spandrell]] berates Hildred for his incompetence at letting the Doctor, a renegade who apparently is also a murderer, run loose in the capitol.
Later stories revealed that there are exceptions to the rule, such as the Master, who, after exhausting his original cycle, stealing a non-Gallifreyan body ([[TV]]: ''[[The Keeper of Traken (TV story)|The Keeper of Traken]]'') and being executed by the Daleks, ([[TV]]: ''[[Doctor Who (TV story)|Doctor Who]]'') was resurrected by the Time Lords to fight in the [[Last Great Time War]], gaining a new cycle in the process. ([[TV]]: ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'', ''[[The Sound of Drums (TV story)|The Sound of Drums]]'', ''[[The Doctor Falls (TV story)|The Doctor Falls]]''), and the Doctor, who was granted a new regeneration cycle when his [[Eleventh Doctor|final incarnation]] reached the point of death. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Time of the Doctor (TV story)|The Time of the Doctor]]'')


Hildred transducts the TARDIS into the capitol, unaware that the Doctor has secreted back on board. Meanwhile, his moves are being monitored by a dark, robed figure and an unknown associate.
In 2020, ''The Deadly Assassin'' became part of the ''[[Time Lord Victorious (series)|Time Lord Victorious]]'' multimedia event.


The Doctor infiltrates the resignation announcement by stealing a Time Lord's ceremonial robes. While trying to remain incognito in the crowded floor he encounters an old classmate, [[Runcible]], now a newscaster, preparing his broadcast from the Panopticon floor. Runcible greets him coolly while waiting for a signal from a camera operator in the gallery. The Doctor looks up and is horrified to see a staser rifle fixed to the railing near the unattended camera. He causes a commotion as he charges through the room.
== Synopsis ==
Through the millennia, the [[Time Lord]]s of [[Gallifrey]] led a life of peace and ordered calm, protected against all threats from lesser civilisations by their great power. But this was to change. Suddenly and terribly, the Time Lords faced the most dangerous crisis in their long history...


As the President enters and stands at the dais, the Doctor grabs the staser rifle. He aims and fires, and the President falls down dead.
== Plot ==
=== Part one ===
Having dropped off former companion [[Sarah Jane Smith]] back home on [[Earth]], the [[Fourth Doctor]] heads to [[Gallifrey]] in answer to the [[Time Lord]]s' summons. On the way, he is struck by a premonition in which he seems to [[Assassination|assassinate]] the Time Lord [[Lord President|President]] from a gallery overlooking the [[Panopticon]].


===Part Two===
[[File:DA Doctors message.jpg|left|thumb|The Doctor's message to the Time Lords.]]
The Doctor is quickly apprehended by security. The assassination has thrown Gallifrey into a Constitutional crisis, as the President had yet to name his successor. [[Chancellor]] [[Goth]], thought to have been the most likely successor, calls for prompt elections and opts to stand as a candidate. Goth also urges the Doctor's swift trial and execution.
[[the Doctor's TARDIS|The TARDIS]] lands in the security area of [[Capitol|the Citadel]]. Commander [[Hilred]] immediately impounds it and the [[Castellan]] [[Spandrell]] orders the arrest of its owner, who is registered as a wanted criminal. The Doctor leaves a note (written in Gallifreyan script, and bearing an image of the Seal of Rassilon) on the console warning of his premonition and sneaks out of the TARDIS into the Citadel. He is cornered by a guard, who is shot dead by an unknown assailant, who flees before the Doctor can confront them.


At the trial, Goth's prosecution moves swiftly. The Doctor, however, invokes Article Seventeen of the Gallifreyan Constitution, naming himself as a candidate for President who thereby cannot be denied the right to make his claim. Goth is outraged, but [[Chancellor]] [[Borusa]] (the Doctor's former teacher at the Academy) acknowledges that the Article does give him protection. He is grudgingly given twenty-four hours to prove his innocence.
The arrival of an unregistered TARDIS in a high-security area raises the tension of an already tense day — the President is resigning and is about to name his successor. The Castellan berates Hildred for his incompetence in letting the Doctor, a renegade who apparently is also a [[murder]]er, run loose in the capitol.


The robed figure is informed of the Doctor's use of the constitutional loophole by his associate. He had anticipated this. We see that the figure is a horribly disfigured and decaying husk.
Hildred transducts the TARDIS into the capitol's museum, unaware the Doctor has sneaked back inside. Meanwhile, his movements are being monitored by a dark, robed figure and an unknown associate.


The Doctor attempts to convince Spandrell and [[Coordinator]] [[Engin]] of his innocence; his shot was intended for the actual assassin standing in the crowd on the Panopticon floor, and someone is going through great lengths to frame him. He notes that the sights had been fixed on the rifle to intentionally throw off his aim. Spandrell confirms this by aiming at a target himself, and begins to believe the Doctor. They find the Doctor's original blast mark on the wall. The Doctor realizes that the gallery camera would have recorded the actual assassin. Runcible goes to fetch the recording disc from the camera, but screams with horror when he looks into the camera barrel, and is murdered by an unseen person. Running up to the gallery, they find the camera barrel empty except for the miniaturized corpse of the cameraman. The Doctor recognizes this as the work of his arch enemy, [[the Master]], and reasons that he brought him to Gallifrey for a final showdown.
The Doctor infiltrates the resignation announcement by stealing a Time Lord's ceremonial robes. While trying to remain incognito in the crowded floor, he encounters an old classmate, [[Runcible]], who is now a commentator for the local news channel [[Public Register Video]] and preparing his broadcast from the [[Panopticon]] floor. Runcible greets the Doctor coolly, while waiting for a signal from a camera operator in the gallery — who strangely does not answer. The Doctor looks up to the gallery and is horrified to see a [[staser]] rifle fixed to the railing near the unattended camera. He causes a commotion as he charges through the room.


Spandrell and Engin cannot comprehend why there is no bio data extract for the Master in the [[APC Net]] (aka [[the Matrix]]), a network of past and present Time Lord minds that acts as an enormous database and future forecaster. The Doctor decides that there must be an unauthorized second access point into the Matrix, and that the Master had used this to forecast the assassination into his mind, and then wipe all trace from the Matrix. He reasons that either the Master or the assassin working with him must be inside the Matrix, so despite the stern warning from Spandrell, he interfaces with the Matrix to find him.
As the President enters and stands at the dais, the Doctor grabs the staser rifle, aims and fires. The President falls down dead...


The Doctor finds himself in a vast, rapidly shifting terrain, the domain of the assassin. The two engage in a pitched battle of wills, the assassin possessing the definite advantage of having created the virtual reality world inside the Matrix.
=== Part two ===
The Doctor is quickly apprehended by security. The assassination has thrown Gallifrey into a constitutional crisis because the President died before he could name his successor. [[Chancellor]] [[Goth]], thought to have been the most likely successor, calls for prompt elections and opts to stand as a candidate. Goth also urges [[The Doctor's trial (The Deadly Assassin)|the Doctor's swift trial]] and execution.


===Part Three===
At the trial, Goth's prosecution moves swiftly. The Doctor, however, invokes [[Article 17]] of the Gallifreyan Constitution, naming himself as a candidate for President. Under it, he cannot be denied the right to make his claim. Goth is outraged, but [[Lord Cardinal|Cardinal]] {{Arnatt}} acknowledges that the article gives him protection. He is grudgingly given forty-eight hours to prove his innocence.
The Doctor manages to evade the various pitfalls laid for him inside the Matrix, though his physical body (still in Spandrel's office) is enduring terrible and potentially lethal strain. Meanwhile, the assassin is finding the battle of wills extremely taxing as well. The Master increases the power, despite the assassin's plea that it would kill him. In the Matrix, the Doctor manages to gain the upper hand against the assassin, whom is revealed to be Goth. As the world around them erupts in chaos and flames, Goth seizes the Doctor and holds his head underwater, about to drown him.


===Part Four===
The robed figure is told by his associate of the Doctor's use of the constitutional loophole. He has anticipated this. The figure is shown as a horribly disfigured and decaying husk.
The Doctor throws him off and barely manages to escape from the Matrix. He revives in Spandrell's office, and informs the shocked Castellan of the assassin's identity. They trace the location of their lair, where they find the Master's lifeless body - he appears to have taken his own life. Goth, himself near death, reveals that he was bitter and power-hungry on learning he wasn't to be the President's successor. He had found the dying Master on planet [[Tersurus]], his body at the end of his [[regeneration]] cycle, and brought him to Gallifrey to help him fulfill his scheme. However, Goth dies before he can reveal just what the Master's plan was.


Cleared of all charges, the Doctor still has lingering doubts. He wants to know the Master's plan, and doubts that he would accept death so easily. He reasons that the solution lies in the ceremonial relics given to the President upon induction, the [[Sash of Rassilon|Sash]] and [[Rod of Rassilon]], and researches their links with ancient Gallifreyan mythology.
The Doctor attempts to convince Spandrell and [[Coordinator]] [[Engin]] of his innocence; his shot was intended for the actual assassin, who stood in the crowd on the Panopticon floor. Someone is going to great lengths to frame him. He notes that the sights had been fixed on the rifle to intentionally throw off his aim. Spandrell confirms this by aiming at a target — a large [[Seal of Rassilon]] symbol on the wall — himself; he begins to believe the Doctor. They find the Doctor's original blast mark on the wall. The Doctor realises the gallery camera would have recorded the actual assassin. Runcible screams with horror when he looks into the camera barrel.


The Doctor's suspicions are confirmed when the Master is discovered to have faked his death. He steals the Sash and Rod, which are the keys to the [[Eye of Harmony]], the heart of a [[black hole]] captured by ancient Time Lord [[Rassilon]] and source of Time Lord power. The Master seeks the power of the Eye to restart his regeneration cycle, even though Gallifrey would be destroyed. He uses the Rod to unlock the Eye of Harmony, hidden below the Panopticon floor, and begins to release its energy, which would be channeled through the Sash to rejuvenate him. The Doctor wrestles with him as the ground shakes around them. Before the Master can uncouple the last cable from the Eye, the Doctor pulls him away and he falls through a fissure in the floor. The Doctor reconnects the various cables, bringing the crisis to an end.
Running to the gallery, they find the camera barrel empty except for the miniaturised corpse of the [[Cameraman (The Deadly Assassin)|cameraman]]. The Doctor recognises this as the work of his arch enemy, [[Decayed Master|the Master]], and reasons that he has returned to Gallifrey for a final showdown. Runcible goes to fetch the recordings, but when he returns, he falls with a knife protruding from his back.


Borusa is appalled at the damage; half the capitol city lies in ruins, and countless lives are lost, but he accepts Spandrell's claim that the Doctor's actions prevented further catastrophe. Acknowledging their past relationship as teacher and student, Borusa gives him a grade of 9 out of 10. The Doctor departs in the TARDIS, but Spandrell discovers that the Master has survived and escaped in his own [[the Master's TARDIS|TARDIS]].
Spandrell and Engin cannot comprehend why there is no biodata extract for the Master in the [[APC Net]] (aka [[the Matrix]]). This is a network of past and present Time Lord minds that acts as an enormous database and future forecaster. The Doctor decides there must be an unauthorised second access point into the Matrix. The Master used this to forecast the assassination into his mind and then wipe all trace from the Matrix. He reasons that either the Master or the assassin working with him must be inside the Matrix. Despite the stern warning from Engin, he interfaces with the Matrix to find him.


==Cast==
The Doctor finds himself in a vast, rapidly shifting terrain, the domain of the assassin. The two engage in a pitched battle of wills. The assassin has the definite advantage of having created the virtual reality world inside the Matrix.
*[[Fourth Doctor|The Doctor]] - [[Tom Baker]]
*[[The Master]] - [[Peter Pratt]]
*Cardinal [[Borusa]] - [[Angus MacKay]]
*Castellan [[Spandrell]] - [[George Pravda]]
*Chancellor [[Goth]] - [[Bernard Horsfall]]
*Commander [[Hilred]] - [[Derek Seaton]]
*Commentator [[Runcible]] - [[Hugh Walters]]
*Co-ordinator [[Engin]] - [[Erik Chitty]]
*[[Gold Usher]] - [[Maurice Quick]]
*[[Solis]] - [[Peter Mayock]]
*[[Lord President|The President]] - [[Llewellyn Rees]]
*Time Lord - [[John Dawson]]
*Time Lord - [[Michael Bilton]]
*Computer Voice - [[Helen Blatch]]


==Crew==
The Doctor finds himself in a [[jungle]]. He steps on a [[railway]] track, and his foot becomes stuck in the rails as the points change. He looks up to see a masked man driving a train towards him...
*[[Assistant Floor Manager]] - [[Linda Graeme]]
*[[Costumes]] - [[James Acheson]], [[Joan Ellacott]]
*[[Designer]] - [[Roger Murray-Leach]]
*[[Fight Arranger]] - [[Terry Walsh]]
*[[Film Cameraman]] - [[Fred Hamilton]]
*[[Film Editor]] - [[Ian McKendrick]]
*[[Incidental Music]] - [[Dudley Simpson]]
*[[Make-Up]] - [[Jean Williams]]
*[[Producer]] - [[Philip Hinchcliffe]]
*[[Production Assistant]] - [[Nicholas John]]
*[[Production Unit Manager]] - [[Chris D'Oyly-John]]
*[[Script Editor]] - [[Robert Holmes]]
*[[Special Sounds]] - [[Dick Mills]]
*[[Studio Lighting]] - [[Brian Clemett]]
*[[Studio Sound]] - [[Clive Gifford]]
*[[Theme Arrangement]] - [[Delia Derbyshire]]
*[[Title Music]] - [[Ron Grainer]]
*[[Visual Effects]] - [[Len Hutton]], [[Peter Day]]


==References==
=== Part three ===
*The Doctor's [[TARDIS]] is a type 40 protected by a 'double curtain [[trimonic barrier]]' which requires a [[cypher indent key]].
The Doctor prepares for impact, but nothing happens. He gets his foot out and moves on. The Doctor evades the many pitfalls laid for him inside the Matrix. These include being strafed by a [[biplane]] and tracked by the assassin. His physical body, still in the APC room is enduring a terrible and potentially lethal strain. Meanwhile, the assassin is finding the battle of wills extremely taxing as well. The Master increases the power, despite the assassin's plea it will kill him. The Doctor begins to turn the tables on his assailant, first by booby-trapping the hunter's equipment, then by avoiding the water [[poison]]ed by the assassin. He improvises a [[blowpipe]] and shoots a poisoned dart at the assassin, but he is wounded himself.
*[[Goth]] met the Master on [[Tersurus]].
*The number of [[regeneration]]s (12) is established here.
[[File:DA Goth drown.jpg|left|thumb|The Doctor, slipping below the water; drowning within the Matrix.]]
*[[Artron energy]] is mentioned.
As the Doctor comes closer to winning the conflict, the Master sends one of the chancellor's guards now under his power to the APC room to kill the Doctor. Engin spots the guard, [[Solis]], tampering with the controls. Spandrell shoots Solis to protect the Doctor.
*[[Borusa]] has recently become a [[Cardinal]].
*The Time Lords possess a complete biographical history of the Doctor, and all Time Lords.
*[[Rassilon]] is referenced for the first time.
*In order to delay his trial, the Doctor places himself in the running for President. (His resulting ascension to the Presidency is touched upon several times in future adventures.)
*The term [[Mutter's Spiral]] is used for the first time as a Time Lord reference for the location of Earth (presumed to refer to the Milky Way Galaxy).
*The [[CIA]] are first referenced here.
*The Doctor's trial is dated 309906.


===[[:Category:Gallifrey|Gallifrey]]===
In the Matrix, the Doctor gains the upper hand against the assassin, who reveals himself as Goth. The Doctor tricks Goth into firing his rifle while in a cloud of [[swamp gas]]. As the world around them erupts in chaos and flames, Goth seizes the Doctor and holds his head underwater, about to drown him.
*The Doctor arrives on [[Presidential Resignation Day]].
*The Doctor invokes [[Article 17 of the Constitution]].
*References are made to ''[[The Book of the Old Time]]'' and the [[Dark Time|Old Times]].
*[[Shobogan]]s are hooligans on Gallifrey.


===[[:Category:Gallifreyan artefacts|Gallifreyan artefacts]]===
=== Part four ===
*The [[APC Net]] is part of (or possibly separate from) [[The Matrix]].
The Doctor throws Goth off and escapes from the Matrix. He revives in Spandrell's office. He informs the shocked Castellan of the assassin's identity. They trace the location of their lair, where they find the Master's lifeless body — he seems to have died of natural causes. Goth, himself near death, admits he was power-hungry and bitter on learning he wasn't to be the President's successor. He had found the dying Master on the planet [[Tersurus]], his body at the end of his [[regeneration]] cycle, and brought him to Gallifrey to help him fulfil his scheme. Goth dies before he can reveal just what the Master's plan was.
*The [[Eye of Harmony]] sits below the [[Citadel]] on [[Gallifrey]], and [[Rassilon]] was one of the creators of it.


===[[:Category:Gallifreyan Chapters|Gallifreyan Chapters]]===
Cleared of all charges, the Doctor still has lingering doubts and wants to know the Master's plan. He doubts the Master would accept death so easily and reasons that the solution lies in the ceremonial relics given to the President on induction, the [[Sash of Rassilon|Sash]] and [[Rod of Rassilon]], and researches their links to ancient Gallifreyan mythology.
*[[Prydonian Chapter|Prydonians]], the 'notoriously devious' sect to whom the Doctor belongs, colour-coded scarlet and orange.
*[[Arcalian Chapter|Arcalians]], who wear green.
*[[Patrex Chapter|Patrexes]], who wear heliotrope


==Story Notes==
The Doctor's suspicions are confirmed. The Master has faked his own death. He steals the Sash and Rod, which are the keys to the [[Eye of Harmony]], the heart of a [[black hole]] captured by ancient Time Lord [[Rassilon]]. It is the source of Time Lord power. The Master seeks the power of the Eye to restart his regeneration cycle, even though Gallifrey would be destroyed by doing so. He uses the Rod to unlock the Eye of Harmony, hidden below the Panopticon floor. This begins to release its energy, which would be channelled through the Sash to rejuvenate him.
*[[Bernard Horsfall]] previously played Guilliver in [[The Mind Robber]], one of the Time Lords in [[The War Games]] and a Thal Taron in [[Planet of the Daleks]].
*[[Roger Murray-Leach]] reused his symbol from [[Revenge of the Cybermen]] as the [[Seal of Rassilon]].
*[[Mary Whitehouse]] complained particularly about the end of Part 3, with the Doctor being drowned, so much so the BBC edited their master tape (the episode was preserved albeit in lower quality in international copies).
*The story had a working title of '''The Dangerous Assassin'''.
*The title is a tautology - an assassin is, by definition, deadly. This redundancy was parodied in the spoof ''[[The Curse of Fatal Death]]''.
*This is the first TV story to feature the Doctor without a companion, and the only one to occur during the 1963-89 original series. The [[Doctor Who (1996)|1996 telefilm]] and revival series would feature the Doctor on occasion collaborating with "one-off" companions (such as [[Donna Noble]] in ''[[The Runaway Bride]]''), and in ''[[Midnight (TV story)|Midnight]]'', the Doctor has an adventure by himself, away from his companion. All that said, ''The Deadly Assassin'' remains unique as the only televised ''Doctor Who'' adventure to date in which there is no companion or companion-surrogate at all.
*This story features an exclusively male cast, except for a female computer voice.
*This is the first story set entirely on Gallifrey.
*This is the only story where every character is of the same race (Gallifreyan).
*This story featured the first use of narration, by [[Tom Baker]] which began at the beginning of the first episode;
:''Through the millennia, the Time Lords of Gallifrey led a life of peace and ordered calm, protected against all threats from lesser civilisations by their great power. But this was to change. Suddenly, and terribly, the Time Lords faced the most dangerous crisis in their long history...''


===Ratings===
[[File:DA Master face in clock.jpg|thumb|The Master as he departs Gallifrey in his TARDIS.]]
*Part 1 - 11.8 million viewers
The Doctor wrestles with the Master. The ground shakes around them. Before the Master can uncouple the last cable from the Eye, the Doctor pulls him away, and the Master falls through a fissure in the floor. The Doctor reconnects the cables, bringing the crisis to an end.
*Part 2 - 12.1 million viewers
*Part 3 - 13.0 million viewers
*Part 4 - 11.8 million viewers


===Myths===
Borusa is appalled at the damage; half the capital city lies in ruins and countless lives are lost. Even so, he accepts Engin's claim that the Doctor's actions prevented further catastrophe. Recalling their old relationship as teacher and student, Borusa gives the Doctor a grade of 9 out of 10. Spandrell and Engin accompany the Doctor back to the museum, and say their farewells; the Doctor then departs in the TARDIS. Spandrell and Engin then discover that the Master has survived and escaped in his own [[the Master's TARDIS|TARDIS]], disguised as a [[grandfather clock]]. Spandrell expresses confidence that the Doctor and the Master [[The Keeper of Traken (TV story)|will cross paths again]], and has a feeling the universe is not big enough for the two of them. Before the Master's TARDIS dematerialises, the face of the grandfather clock is replaced by that of the Master, with the sound of his laughter heard over the TARDIS dematerialisation sound...
* This is the only story to reference the fact that Time Lords get 12 regenerations and 13 lives. Recent interviews with the production team behind the 2005-present revival (including [[David Tennant]] in ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' #415) have made it appear as if the allocation of 13 lives in this story is a piece of minutae unique to this story. In fact, the 13-life limit has been a major plot element of at least two other stories, both of which involve villains attempting to steal the Doctor's remaining regenerations: [[DW]]: ''[[Mawdryn Undead]]'' and [[Doctor Who (1996)|the 1996 TV movie]]. Both productions also reference the 13-life limit in dialogue. A more subtle reference to this occurs in [[DW]]: ''[[The Next Doctor]]''.


===Filming Locations===
== Cast ==
*Betchworth Quarry, Pebblehill Road, Betchworth, Surrey
* [[Fourth Doctor|Doctor Who]] - [[Tom Baker]]
*Wycombe Air Park, Clay Lane, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
* [[President (The Deadly Assassin)|The President]] - [[Llewellyn Rees]]
*Royal Alexander and Albert School, Rocky Lane, Merstham, Surrey
* [[Goth|Chancellor Goth]] - [[Bernard Horsfall]]
*[[BBC Television Centre]] (TC3 and TC8), Shepherd's Bush, [[London]]
* [[Spandrell|Castellan Spandrell]] - [[George Pravda]]
==Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors==
* [[Cardinal]] {{Arnatt}} - [[Angus MacKay]]
* If the Time Lords summoned the Doctor back to Gallifrey, why does no one know who he is? ''They didn't. The Master and Goth did.''
* [[Decayed Master|The Master]] - [[Peter Pratt]]
* Why don't the Time Lords who the Master kills regenerate? ''The [[Staser]] weapons used by the Time Lords are designed to inhibit regeneration.''
* [[Runcible|Commentator Runcible]] - [[Hugh Walters]]
* Surely the high-ranking Time Lords are already aware of the Master since the high-council have both warned the Doctor regarding (See [[Terror of the Autons]]), and sent the Doctor after (See [[Colony in Space]]) him in previous stories. In fact Borusa should know him personally since he must have encountered him while teaching the Doctor, with whom he was also at school. ''(The Master's biographical data had been purged, he was in control of the Matrix, and he had the Chancellor working on his side. Removing most official records of his existence would not have been difficult. Some individual members of the High Council may or may not have known of him, but it's doubtful that the Castellan would have questioned all of them in the time allotted.)''
* [[Engin|Co-ordinator Engin]] - [[Erik Chitty]]
* The technology on Gallifrey seems somewhat low-tech for such a powerful race. The capitol has comparable surveillance, security and forensic facilities to Earth in the 1970's. ''(The Time Lord's policy of isolationism has led to some forms of technological stagnation. Even the Doctor remarks, when discussing the APC, that it would be disregarded as "junk" in some parts of the universe.)''
* [[Hilred|Commander Hilred]] - [[Derek Seaton]]
* It is not explained how the Master discovered the truth about the real uses of the Rod and Sash of Rassilon, etc. when no-one else seems to know. ''(He did have access to the forgotten depths of the Matrix records when he was stealing the plans for the doomsday weapon. See [[DW]]: [[Colony in Space]]).''
* [[Gold Usher (The Deadly Assassin)|Gold Usher]] - [[Maurice Quick]]
* How could all the power of the Time Lords devolve from the Eye of Harmony, and none of them be aware of it? ''When the Doctor said that, he didn't mean that Gallifrey is still powered by the Eye, only that it had been the initial source of power the first Time Lords had used and had since been forgotten.''
* Time Lords - [[John Dawson]], [[Michael Bilton]]
* Considering [[Runcible]] was only stabbed, and with no extra wound to indicate being stabbed in both hearts, shouldn't he have regenerated? ''(The Master clearly did not want Runcible left alive, so obviously killed him in such a way that regeneration would not have been an option. He may have inhibited regeneration using something like a staser, or Runcible may simply not have been able to regenerate.)''
* [[Solis]] - [[Peter Mayock]]
* When the president is assassinated, the time lord who the Doctor swapped robes with is in front of the president but when the Doctor sees the assassination in the Tardis the Time Lord is not present.
* Voice - [[Helen Blatch]]
* Having established, through Runcible's newscast, that the livery for the Prydonian chapter is the scarlet / orange combination, the costume department takes the curious move of clothing a major Prydonian character - Cardinal Borusa - in the purple robes (which are supposed to belong to the Patrex chapter).
* Just before the "train attack" in the APC Net, the Doctor's enemy is seen within three different trains, all of which are of too wide a gauge to even fit on the tracks. Indeed, the train that actually runs the Doctor down turns out to be a far smaller vehicle than any of those three, making their (lack of) purpose in the plot very obscure. ''(The landscape of The Matrix was a percieved reality and thus was subject to a battle of wills. The Doctor and Goth were mentally fighting over the size of the 'train'.''
* Why didn't the Time Lords simply use their time scanning technology to see what really happened at the assassination?
* The guard the Master kills in episode one is seen alive and well in episode two.<br />


==Continuity==
=== Uncredited cast ===
*[[DW]]: ''[[The Keeper of Traken]]'', ''[[Logopolis (TV story)|Logopolis]]'', and ''[[Castrovalva (TV story)|Castrovalva]]'' follow the Master's continuing quest for a new body, whilst ''[[The Five Doctors]]'' continues on this idea, as does the [[Doctor Who (1996)|1996 telefilm]].
* Public Register Video cameraman - [[Brian Nolan]]
*[[PDA]]: ''[[Last of the Gaderene]]'' and [[EDA]]: ''[[Legacy of the Daleks]]'' explain how the Master became how he appears. However, in terms of televised adventures, there is no indication that the Master seen here is necessarily the same incarnation of the Master as last seen portrayed by [[Roger Delgado]] in [[DW]]: ''[[Frontier in Space]]''.
*Goth's brother Rath appears in [[NA]]: ''[[Blood Harvest]]''.
*Engin reappears in [[EDA]]: ''[[The Eight Doctors]]''.
*[[DW]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'' recalls some artistic elements of this story, particuarly the Time Lord collars introduced in this story as well as the Seal of Rassilon.
*This story features the first voice over at the beginning of the episode, the second occurrence is [[DW]]: ''[[Doctor Who (1996)|Doctor Who]]''. The third is [[DW]]: ''[[The End of Time]]''.
*This story establishes that Time Lords do use proper names on their homeworld (previous uses have either been aliases, or of ambiguous origin such as [[Morbius]]; and rank-and-file Time Lords seen in stories like [[DW]]: ''[[The War Games]]'' and ''[[The Three Doctors]]'' had gone unnamed).
*Also established in this story is the fact that Time Lords are allotted twelve regenerations and thirteen lives, which becomes a major plot element hereafter, referenced in stories such as [[DW]]: ''[[Mawdryn Undead]]'' and the 1996 TV movie. It also serves as the first on-screen contradiction of the "mystery Doctors" allegedly seen in [[DW]]: ''[[The Brain of Morbius]].''
==Timelin
==


For the Doctor:
== Crew ==
*This story occurs after: [[DW]]: ''[[The Hand of Fear]]''
* [[Assistant Floor Manager]] - [[Linda Graeme]]
*This story occurs before: [[TN]]: ''[[Ghost Ship]]''
* [[Costumes]] - [[James Acheson]], [[Joan Ellacott]]
* [[Designer (crew)|Designer]] - [[Roger Murray-Leach]]
* [[Fight Arranger]] - [[Terry Walsh]]
* [[Film Cameraman]] - [[Fred Hamilton]]
* [[Film Editor]] - [[Ian McKendrick]]
* [[Film sound|Film Sound]] - [[Graham Bedwell]]
* [[Incidental Music]] - [[Dudley Simpson]]
* [[Make-Up]] - [[Jean Williams]]
* [[Producer]] - [[Philip Hinchcliffe]]
* [[Production Assistant]] - [[Nicholas John]]
* [[Production Unit Manager]] - [[Chris D'Oyly-John]]
* [[Special Sounds]] - [[Dick Mills]]
* [[Studio Lighting]] - [[Brian Clemett]]
* [[Studio Sound]] - [[Clive Gifford]]
* [[Theme Arrangement]] - [[Delia Derbyshire]]
* [[Doctor Who theme|Title Music]] - [[Ron Grainer]]
* [[Visual Effects]] - [[Len Hutton]], [[Peter Day]]


=== Uncredited crew ===
* [[Assistant Floor Manager]] - [[Linda Graeme]] ([[INFO]]: ''The Deadly Assassin'')
* [[Booking assistant|Booking Assistants]] - [[Carol Atterbury]], [[John Holland]] ([[INFO]]: ''The Deadly Assassin'')
* [[Contracts assistant|Contracts Assistant]] - [[Nansi Davies]] ([[INFO]]: ''The Deadly Assassin'')
* [[Costume assistant|Costume Assistant]] - [[Brian Hoyle]] ([[INFO]]: ''The Deadly Assassin'')
* [[Design assistant|Design Assistant]] - [[John Price Jones]] ([[INFO]]: ''The Deadly Assassin'')
* [[Director's assistant|Director's Assistant]] - [[Joan Elliott]] ([[INFO]]: ''The Deadly Assassin'')
* [[Electronic Effects]] - [[A. J. Mitchell]] ([[INFO]]: ''The Deadly Assassin'')
* [[Facilities assistant|Facilities Assistants]] - [[Jennie Betts]], [[Carol Vigurs]] ([[INFO]]: ''The Deadly Assassin'')
* [[Film operative|Film Operatives]] - [[Albert Crush]], [[Bob Johnson]] ([[INFO]]: ''The Deadly Assassin'')
* [[Film sound assistant|Film Sound Assistant]] - [[Terry Elms]] ([[INFO]]: ''The Deadly Assassin'')
* [[Floor assistant|Floor Assistant]] - [[Philip Livingstone]] ([[INFO]]: ''The Deadly Assassin'')
* [[Grams operator|Grams Operator]] - [[James Cadnam]] ([[INFO]]: ''The Deadly Assassin'')
* [[Grip]]s - [[Stan Swetman]] ([[INFO]]: ''The Deadly Assassin'')
* [[Location chef|Location Chef]] - [[Brian Casey]] ([[INFO]]: ''The Deadly Assassin'')
* [[Make-up assistant|Make-Up Assistants]] - [[Hadsera Coouadia]], [[Judith Dalton]] ([[INFO]]: ''The Deadly Assassin'')
* [[Script Editor]] - [[Robert Holmes]] ([[INFO]]: ''The Deadly Assassin'')
* [[Senior cameraman|Senior Cameraman]] - [[Peter Granger]] ([[INFO]]: ''The Deadly Assassin'')
* [[Technical manager|Technical Manager]] - [[Peter Valentine]] ([[INFO]]: ''The Deadly Assassin'')
* [[Visual effects assistant|Visual Effects Assistants]] - [[Dave Bezkorowajny]], [[Steven Drewett]] ([[INFO]]: ''The Deadly Assassin'')


For the Master:
== Worldbuilding ==
*This story occurs after: [[EDA]]: ''[[Legacy of the Daleks]]''
=== Books ===
*This story occurs before: [[DW]]: ''[[The Keeper of Traken]]''
* ''[[The Book of the Old Time]]'' is mentioned.


==DVD and Video Releases==
=== The Doctor ===
* According to Coordinator Engin, the Doctor's [[brain]] "must have an unusually high level of [[artron energy]]".


=== Galaxies ===
* The term [[Mutter's Spiral]] is used by the Time Lords.


'''VHS'''
=== Gallifrey ===
*It was released in episodic format in the UK in [[October]] [[1991]]. It was also re-released & remastered for the [[W H Smith]] exclusive Time Lord Collection in [[2002]] with a better quality freeze frame cliffhanger for Episode 3.
* [[Shobogan]]s are hooligans on Gallifrey.
*This story was released in the US [[March]] [[1989]] in edited omnibus format.


==== Gallifreyan technology ====
* [[Excitonics|Applied excitonics]] is the science used to create the excitonic circuitry the [[biodata]] bank of the Time Lords is made of.


==== Gallifreyan law ====
* [[Article 17]] could be invoked to present one's claim for the post of President. No candidate for the presidency could be debarred or restrained from this liberty (with the exception of condemned murderers).
** [[Chancellor]] [[Goth]] wished to amend the details of this article once he were elected.


'''DVD'''
==== Gallifreyan Chapters ====
*The DVD was released on 11th May 2009 in the UK.
* [[Prydonian Chapter|Prydonians]], the "notoriously devious" sect to whom the Doctor belongs, are colour-coded scarlet and orange.
* [[Arcalian Chapter|Arcalians]] wear [[green]].
* [[Patrex Chapter|Patrexes]] wear [[heliotrope]].


==== Gallifreyan culture ====
* The Doctor arrives on [[Presidential Resignation Day]].
* [[The Doctor's trial (The Deadly Assassin)|The Doctor's trial]] is dated [[309906]].
* [[Runcible]] appears to use the term "face-lift" as slang for "[[regeneration]]".
* Accused of the assassination of the Lord President, the Doctor faces the possibility of being sentenced to death in a [[vaporisation]] chamber.
* According to [[Engin]], [[precognition]] is impossible.


Special Features include;
==== Gallifreyan history ====
*Commentary by [[Tom Baker]], [[Bernard Horsfall]] and [[Philip Hinchcliffe]]
* References are made to [[Dark Time|Old Times]].
*The Matrix Revisited Cast, crew and critics look back at the making of this story, featuring director [[David Maloney]], designer Roger Murray-Leach and the founder of the National Viewers and Listeners Association, Mary Whitehouse
*The Gallifreyan Candidate A look at Richard Condon’s novel The Manchurian Candidate, a major influence on the plot of The Deadly Assassin
*The Frighten Factor What exactly is Doctor Who's "Frighten Factor"? A diverse panel of experts try to answer the question
*Radio Times Billings Listings for this story presented in a PDF file [DVD-ROM – PC/Mac]
*Photo Gallery
*Coming Soon Trailer
*Production Information Subtitles
*Easter Egg
===Notes:===
*Editing for DVD release completed by [[Doctor Who Restoration Team]].


==Novelisation==
==== Gallifreyan organisations ====
* Security in the Capitol is a duty of the [[Chancellery Guard]].
* The [[Celestial Intervention Agency]] (aka "CIA") are mentioned.


=== Individual Gallifreyans ===
* {{Arnatt}} has recently become a [[Lord Cardinal|Cardinal]].
* Borusa was a teacher to the First Doctor at the Time Lord Academy. In that age, according to the Doctor, he had stated that truth can be found only in [[mathematics]].


[[Image:Deadly Assassin novel.jpg|right|75px]]
=== Places ===
* The Doctor bought a [[hookah]] in a "cash and carry" in [[Constantinople]].


:
=== TARDISes ===
''Main article: [[Doctor Who and the Deadly Assassin]]''
* [[The Doctor's TARDIS]] is a [[Type 40]] protected by a "double curtain [[trimonic barrier]]" which requires a [[cypher indent key]].
* [[The Master's TARDIS]] is disguised as a grandfather clock. It dematerialises after the Doctor's TARDIS leaves Gallifrey.


== Story notes ==
* The story had a working title of ''The Dangerous Assassin''.
* The title is generally considered a [[tautology]] — an assassin is, by definition, deadly. This redundancy was parodied in the spoof ''[[The Curse of Fatal Death (TV story)|The Curse of Fatal Death]]''. However, [[Robert Holmes]] denied that the title was tautological, saying, "There are plenty of incompetent assassins." ([[INFO]]: ''The Deadly Assassin'')
* This is the first TV story to feature the Doctor without a companion and the only one during the 1963-89 original series. The [[Doctor Who (TV story)|1996 telefilm]] and revival series featured the Doctor on occasion collaborating with "one-off" companions (such as [[Donna Noble]] in ''[[The Runaway Bride (TV story)|The Runaway Bride]]'') and in ''[[Midnight (TV story)|Midnight]]'', the Doctor has an adventure by himself, away from his companion. All that said, ''The Deadly Assassin'' remains unique as the only televised ''Doctor Who'' adventure to date in which the Doctor appears but there is no companion or companion-surrogate at all. The episode ''[[Heaven Sent (TV story)|Heaven Sent]] ''also features an entire story with only the Doctor and no companions, but the actress [[Jenna Coleman]] appears in the episode as part of the Doctor's mind manifestation.
* This story features an exclusively male cast, except for the female computer voice provided by [[Helen Blatch]].
* [[Helen Blatch]] (Voice) is uncredited on-screen for part one but credited in ''Radio Times''.
* This is the first story set entirely on Gallifrey, as well as the first story whose cast is entirely made up of [[Time Lord]]s and the first televised story in which no human characters appear.
* This story featured the first use of narration, performed by [[Tom Baker]] at the beginning of part one:
::''Through the millennia, the Time Lords of Gallifrey led a life of peace and ordered calm, protected against all threats from lesser civilisations by their great power. But this was to change. Suddenly, and terribly, the Time Lords faced the most dangerous crisis in their long history...''
::This text was also shown as a roller caption, superimposed over the Cloisters set.
* The biplane used in the Matrix sequences in episode three is a 1949 {{w|Stampe SV.4|Stampe SV.4C}}. The plane used in filming, registration G-AWXZ, was also used in the films {{wi|Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade}} and {{wi|The Mummy (1999 film)|The Mummy}}. ([[INFO]]: ''The Deadly Assassin'')
* The Doctor is without companions at the end of the story, making the period between this story and the next one of the few plausible spots during the show's run which allows for placement of any number of additional ''Doctor Who'' stories in literature, audio, or comics. This allows the inclusion of companions that are exclusive to these adventures. A similar instance occurred between ''[[The Invasion of Time (TV story)|The Invasion of Time]]'' and ''[[The Ribos Operation (TV story)|The Ribos Operation]]'', that one allowing for the inclusion of later developments such as [[K9]].
* Artistic elements introduced in this story, particularly the Time Lord collars and the Seal of Rassilon, appear on multiple later occasions in stories featuring Time Lords.
* This story establishes that Time Lords do sometimes use proper names on their homeworld; previous uses have either been aliases or of ambiguous origin such as [[Morbius]]; rank-and-file Time Lords seen in television stories like ''[[The War Games (TV story)|The War Games]]'' and ''[[The Three Doctors (TV story)|The Three Doctors]]'' had gone unnamed.
* This story introduces the iconic character [[Rassilon]], who would be referenced often. Rassilon would be seen via a form of projection in ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'' and in person in ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'' and ''[[Hell Bent (TV story)|Hell Bent]]''. It also greatly expands on the Time Lord society and mythology hinted at in ''[[The Three Doctors (TV story)|The Three Doctors]]'' and only briefly glimpsed in ''[[The War Games (TV story)|The War Games]]''. This story introduces the characters of Borusa and the Castellan, recurring roles in later Gallifreyan stories. This story also establishes Gallifreyan civilisation, including the first mention of the Time Lord Academy, the Prydonians, the titles of Chancellor/President, and other aspects of Time Lord culture and hierarchy.
* The novels ''[[Last of the Gaderene (novel)|Last of the Gaderene]]'' and ''[[Legacy of the Daleks (novel)|Legacy of the Daleks]]'' explain how the Master became how he appears. However, in terms of televised adventures, there is no indication whether or not the Master seen here is necessarily the same incarnation of the Master as last seen portrayed by [[Roger Delgado]] in ''[[Frontier in Space (TV story)|Frontier in Space]]''. The 2017 ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' comic strip story [[COMIC]]: ''[[Doorway to Hell (comic story)|Doorway to Hell]]'' follows on from this by depicting the Delgado version of the Master regenerating.
* Part three's cliffhanger of the Doctor being drowned quickly became infamous for its terrifying nature, which caught the attention of media watchdog [[Mary Whitehouse]] and led to her lambasting the show. Because of intense negative reactions from the public, [[Philip Hinchcliffe]] was replaced as producer the following season and the BBC wiped the offending cliffhanger from the master 625 line PAL colour videotape, one of only a small amount of post-1974 ''Doctor Who'' footage to be affected in such a way; however, off-air U-matic videotape recordings of the uncensored broadcast were still left intact, and it was from these that footage of the infamous cliffhanger was sourced when the scene was restored on home media releases.
* Part of the disturbing nature of the drowning scene at the end of part three came from the fact that Tom Baker suffers from aquaphobia and thus was experiencing a real fear of drowning during filming. Baker was reportedly so worried of the cliffhanger scaring kids that he visited a random family to watch part three with them and hear their responses.
* This serial introduces the fact that a [[Time Lord]] has a [[regeneration]] cycle of only twelve regenerations for thirteen lives. This becomes a major plot point for the character of [[The Master]] in particular in later serials as he has reached the end of his regeneration cycle by the events of ''The Deadly Assassin''. Following his [[resurrection]] to fight in the [[Last Great Time War]] as depicted in the revived series, the Master has a new regeneration cycle as seen in ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'' and ''[[The Doctor Falls (TV story)|The Doctor Falls]]'' which feature the Master suffering injuries that require regeneration though only the regeneration in ''Utopia'' is seen on-screen. [[The Doctor]] himself also suffers from this limitation: though he claims to [[Clyde Langer]] in the serial ''[[Death of the Doctor (TV story)|Death of the Doctor]]'' from ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'' to have 507 regenerations, this is proven to be a lie in ''[[The Time of the Doctor (TV story)|The Time of the Doctor]]'' where the Doctor receives a new cycle at the end of his [[Eleventh Doctor|final incarnation]].
* At one point, Spandrell has to read aloud a disturbing letter that the Doctor has written for him. In rehearsals, he used a note written in English and thus had not bothered to learn the lines. When it came time to shoot the scene, [[David Maloney]] and the set designer switched it for a note written in Gallifreyan without telling [[George Pravda]]. The second Spandrell opens the note, he goes visibly pale and sweat springs from his forehead, and stumbles over his words as he struggles to remember them— the appropriate shocked reaction.
* There is a scene where the Doctor is sitting on a chair trying to manipulate Spandrell, who begins explaining why he can't help the Doctor; and the Doctor shoots up from his chair mid-line and looms over Spandrell to intimidate him with his size — he audibly falters and his voice shakes. This was an ad-lib from [[Tom Baker]], and [[George Pravda]] was just reacting with surprise to Baker unexpectedly going off-script.
* At one point, it was planned to include a humorous title card at the end of part four reading, “We thank the High Court of Time Lords and the Keeper of the Records, Gallifrey, for their help and co-operation”. Ultimately, however, this was removed for fear that it lampooned the production too much.
* [[David Maloney]] worked closely with designer [[Roger Murray-Leach]] and costume designer [[James Acheson]] to give Gallifrey a consistent, cohesive look. Although he would eventually be replaced on the serial by [[Joan Ellacott]], Acheson contributed the Time Lords' distinctive high-collared apparel, while Murray-Leach reused a symbol he had designed for ''[[Revenge of the Cybermen (TV story)|Revenge of the Cybermen]]'' as the Prydonian seal. Both would become enduring elements of Gallifrey's portrayal in ''Doctor Who'', with the latter subsequently coming to be known as the “[[Seal of Rassilon]]”.
* [[Robert Holmes]] disliked the previous portrayal of the Time Lords as omnipotent god-like beings, so he re-invented them as corrupt beureaucrats. He questioned why such a perfect society could produce so many criminals and renegades.
* [[Robert Holmes]] and [[Philip Hinchcliffe]] reintroduced the Master in a transitional state so that their successors wouldn't be saddled with a version of the character they might find unsuitable.
* The shot of Goth trying to drown the Doctor was filmed at the swimming pool of the Royal Alexandra and Albert School in Merstham, Surrey, because the pond water was too dirty.
* [[Peter Pratt]]'s uncomfortable mask was originally fitted with tubes which were intended to give the impression of fluid circulating around the Master's atrophied skull. However, this element was discarded when it was discovered that the effect was not visible under the studio lights.
* The original cliffhanger to part two was the Doctor being attacked by the samurai. The train sequence was added when the episode overran.
* Part three originally included a scene where a [[spider]] crawls up the Doctor's arm. This was scrapped when [[Bill Slater]], the Head of Serials, thought it would be too scary for children.
* Filming the scene where Goth tries to drown the Doctor was challenging for [[Tom Baker]], who has a fear of water.
* For a while, it was thought that episode four might introduce a new companion character. [[Robert Holmes]] had come up with the idea of the Doctor being accompanied by a [[Charles Dickens|Dickensian]] street urchin, whom he would mentor in the manner of [[My Fair Lady|Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle]]. As such, Holmes considered setting the climactic encounter between the Doctor and the Master in [[Victorian era|Victorian]] [[London]]. However, the new companion's introduction was eventually postponed until later in the season.
* The scene where the Doctor is attacked by a biplane was supposed to be filmed at the Redhill Aerodrome in Redhill, [[Surrey]].


*Novelised as ''[[Doctor Who and the Deadly Assassin]]'' by [[Terrance Dicks]] in [[1977]]
=== Influences ===
==External Links==
* ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manchurian_Candidate_(1962_film) The Manchurian Candidate]''
* ''[[North by Northwest]] ''(the plane sequence)
* ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Samurai Seven Samurai] ''(a samurai appears in the Matrix)


=== Ratings ===
* Part one - 11.8 million viewers
* Part two - 12.1 million viewers
* Part three - 13.0 million viewers
* Part four - 11.8 million viewers


*{{bbcepguideclassic|deadlyassassin/|The Deadly Assassin}}
=== Myths ===
*{{dwrefguide|who_4p.htm|The Deadly Assassin}}
* This is the only story to reference the fact that Time Lords get twelve regenerations for a total of thirteen lives, and the remainder of the classic series is consistent with the [[Second Doctor]]'s implication in ''[[The War Games (TV story)|The War Games]]'' that Time Lords can regenerate an unlimited number of times unless their body is too badly damaged. ''Early interviews with the production team behind the 2005 revival (including [[David Tennant]] in ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' [[DWM 415|#415]]) had made it appear as if the allocation of thirteen lives in this story is a piece of minutia unique to this story. In fact, the thirteen life limit has been a major plot element of at least four other stories, all of which involve villains attempting to steal the Doctor's remaining regenerations: ''[[The Keeper of Traken (TV story)|The Keeper of Traken]]'', ''[[Mawdryn Undead (TV story)|Mawdryn Undead]]'', ''[[The Ultimate Foe (TV story)|The Ultimate Foe]]'', and [[Doctor Who (TV story)|the 1996 TV movie]]. All of these stories referenced the thirteenth life limit in dialogue. Other Time Lords have been encountered since ''The Deadly Assassin'' in later stories who have reached their thirteenth and final incarnation, namely [[Azmael]] and [[Salyavin]].''
*{{briefhistory|serials/4p.html|The Deadly Assassin}}
::* In ''[[The Time of the Doctor (TV story)|The Time of the Doctor]]'', the [[Eleventh Doctor]] acknowledged this limit as well and revealed that he was actually in his final incarnation, due to the Tenth Doctor using two and not counting his war incarnation. He was able to regenerate again at the end of this story only due to being granted a new cycle of regenerations by the Time Lords. The ability of the Time Lords to do this was revealed in [[TV]]: ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'', when it is offered to the Master; in [[TV]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums (TV story)|The Sound of Drums]]'', it is confirmed that a new cycle was bestowed upon the Master during the [[Last Great Time War]] which has allowed the Master to regenerate at least four times since he was granted the cycle. ([[TV]]: ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'', ''[[The Doctor Falls (TV story)|The Doctor Falls]], ''[[COMIC]]: ''[[The Then and the Now (comic story)|The Then and the Now]], [[Fast Asleep (comic story)|Fast Asleep]]'')
*{{locguide|deadlyassassin|The Deadly Assassin}}


{{season 14}}
=== Filming locations ===
{{Master stories}}
* Betchworth Quarry, Pebblehill Road, Betchworth, Surrey
{{Time Lord stories}}
* Wycombe Air Park, Clay Lane, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
[[Category:Fourth Doctor episodes|Deadly Assassin, The]]
* Royal Alexander and Albert School, Rocky Lane, Merstham, Surrey
[[Category:Stories set on Gallifrey|Deadly Assassin, The]]
* [[BBC Television Centre]] (TC3 and TC8), Shepherd's Bush, [[London]]
[[Category:1976 television stories|Deadly Assassin, The]]
 
[[Category:The Master episodes|Deadly Assassin, The]]
=== Production errors ===
[[Category:Time Lord episodes|Deadly Assassin, The]]
{{Discontinuity}}
[[Category:Gothic stories|Deadly Assassin, The]]
* The guard the Master kills in part one begins to fall before the sound effect for the staser is heard. He is also seen again alive and well again in part two.
* The corpse of the technician is clearly seen to be a Palitoy Action Man figure.
* Near the end of part four, when the Master chases the Doctor up the Panopticon stairway, the Sash of Rassilon is over his shoulder. Before he puts it back down his front you can clearly see the brown cardboard backing.
* After Hilred unlocks one of the TARDIS doors, the second guard to go through bumps into the other door.
 
== Continuity ==
* The story begins with the [[Fourth Doctor]] returning to [[Gallifrey]] due to a summons he received; this matches the end of [[TV]]: {{cite source|The Hand of Fear (TV story)}}.
* Reviewing the Doctor's history, the [[Time Lord]]s find records of his [[exile to Earth]] by the [[Malfeasance Tribunal]], as occurred in [[TV]]: {{cite source|The War Games (TV story)}}, and also of his sentence eventually being lifted, as occurred in [[TV]]: {{cite source|The Three Doctors (TV story)}}. The latter decision is revealed to have been taken at the intercession of the [[Celestial Intervention Agency]]. [[Chancellor]] [[Goth]] is played by [[Bernard Horsfall]], who also played the [[First Time Lord (The War Games)|leader of the Tribunal]] in ''The War Games''; although there is no evidence in-dialogue within ''The Deadly Assassin'' itself that he is playing the same character (and indeed, other sources suggested otherwise), [[PROSE]]: {{cite source|Future Imperfect (short story)}} and [[PROSE]]: {{cite source|The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)}} would later suggest that Goth was indeed the First Time Lord from the trial.
* The [[Decayed Master]] returns to using the [[Tissue Compression Eliminator]], once used by the [[The Master (Terror of the Autons)|"UNIT era" Master]] in [[TV]]: {{cite source|Terror of the Autons (TV story)}}, and the Doctor recognises the weapon's effects. Tissue compression would become one of the Master's default M.O.s in his [[Tremas Master|next incarnation]].
* This story introduces the [[Eye of Harmony]], the singularity from the heart of a [[black hole]] which an ancient [[Founders of Gallifrey|Gallifreyan founder]] brought back to [[Gallifrey]]. Its narrative of events echoes, but does not quite match, the history of [[Omega]]'s experiments as given in [[TV]]: {{cite source|The Three Doctors (TV story)}}, and gives [[Rassilon]] as the name of the Founder. Later sources would solidify the idea that Omega and Rassilon were contemporaries who worked together on the experiment. The creation of the Eye and [[disappearance of Omega]] would be depicted or referenced in many later stories including [[COMIC]]: {{cite source|Star Death (comic story)}}, [[PROSE]]: {{cite source|The Legacy of Gallifrey (short story)}}, [[COMIC]]: {{cite source|The Final Chapter (comic story)}} and [[PROSE]]: {{cite source|The Book of the War (novel)}}.
* The Doctor recalls that Time Lords are telepathic; [[Susan Foreman]] was depicted with psychic abilities as early as [[TV]]: {{cite source|The Edge of Destruction (TV story)}} and [[TV]]: {{cite source|The Sensorites (TV story)}}, and the idea had also recently been referenced in [[TV]]: {{cite source|The Brain of Morbius (TV story)}}, where the Doctor instinctively recognises [[Morbius]]'s mental presence even before they physically meet.
* This story introduces the idea that Time Lords have finite [[regeneration cycle]]s adding up to only twelve [[regeneration]]s. Acquiring more regenerations would remain a key part of the Master's motivation in eras to come, starting with his next televised appearance in [[TV]]: {{cite source|The Keeper of Traken (TV story)}} and as late as [[TV]]: {{cite source|Doctor Who (TV story)}}. The regeneration limit would also become a major plot point for [[the Doctor]] themself in [[TV]]: {{cite source|The Time of the Doctor (TV story)}}.
* A great number of stories went on to address the circumstances which reduced the Master to his [[Decayed Master|decayed]] form, including [[PROSE]]: {{cite source|Legacy of the Daleks (novel)}} and [[AUDIO]]: {{cite source|The Two Masters (audio story)}}, both of which also attempt to address how and why Goth found him on the planet [[Tersurus]].
* The planet Tersurus, only mentioned here, would also serve as the setting of the notorious comedic special [[TV]]: {{cite source|The Curse of Fatal Death (TV story)}}.
* The Master escapes Gallifrey in [[Goth's TARDIS|a TARDIS disguised as a grandfather clock]]; he is still using it when he next appears on television in [[TV]]: {{cite source|The Keeper of Traken (TV story)}}, in addition to [[Melkur (The Keeper of Traken)|another, more advanced TARDIS]]. [[AUDIO]]: {{cite source|Dominion (audio story)}} would later clarify that this clock-TARDIS was Goth's own TARDIS, easily stolen by the Master with Goth now dead.
* Goth's brother [[Rath]] appears in [[PROSE]]: {{cite source|Blood Harvest (novel)}}.
* [[Coordinator]] [[Engin]] reappeared in [[PROSE]]: {{cite source|The Eight Doctors (novel)}}, [[PROSE]]: {{cite source|Dalek Combat Training Manual (reference book)}}, [[COMIC]]: {{cite source|Sky Jacks (comic story)}} and [[WC]]: {{cite source|Incoming Transmission (webcast)}}.
* [[Borusa]] reappeared a number of times, starting with [[TV]]: {{cite source|The Invasion of Time (TV story)}}, being revealed to have taken on the Presidency after the Doctor ran off.
* One of the entries in the [[Masterplan Journal]] given in [[PROSE]]: {{cite source|The Secret Diary of the Master (short story)}} was set in the lead-up to this story, while the Master and Goth were formulating their evil plan.
 
== Home video and audio releases ==
=== DVD releases ===
The DVD was released on 11 May 2009 in the UK.
 
==== Special Features ====
* Commentary by [[Tom Baker]] ([[Fourth Doctor|The Doctor]]), [[Bernard Horsfall]] ([[Goth]]) and [[Philip Hinchcliffe]] (Producer)
* ''[[The Matrix Revisited (documentary)|The Matrix Revisited]]'' — Cast, crew and critics look back at the making of this story, featuring director [[David Maloney]], designer [[Roger Murray-Leach]] and the founder of the National Viewers and Listeners Association, [[Mary Whitehouse]]
* ''[[The Gallifreyan Candidate (documentary)|The Gallifreyan Candidate]]'' — A look at Richard Condon's novel ''The Manchurian Candidate'', a major influence on the plot of ''The Deadly Assassin''
* ''[[The Frighten Factor (documentary)|The Frighten Factor]]'' — What exactly is ''[[Doctor Who]]''{{'}}s 'Frighten Factor'? A diverse panel of experts try to answer the question.
* ''[[Radio Times]]'' Billings — Listings for this story presented in a PDF file [DVD-ROM – PC/Mac]
* Photo Gallery
* Coming Soon Trailer - ''[[Delta and the Bannermen (TV story)|Delta and the Bannermen]]''
* Production Information Subtitles
* [[Easter Egg]]: Original BBC teaser for the serial. To access this hidden feature, press left at Photo Gallery on the Special Features menu to reveal a hidden ''Doctor Who'' logo.
 
Editing for the DVD release was completed by the [[Doctor Who Restoration Team]].
 
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
File:The Deadly Assassin DVD UK cover.jpg|DVD Region 2 UK cover
File:The Deadly Assassin DVD Australian cover.jpg|DVD Region 4 Australian cover
File:The Deadly Assassin DVD US cover.jpg|DVD Region 1 US cover
</gallery>
* It was released as [[DWDVDF 52|issue 52]] of ''[[The Deadly Assassin (TV story)|The Deadly Assassin]]''.
 
=== Blu-ray releases ===
* It was included as part of the ''Time Lord Victorious: Road to the Dark Times'' Blu-ray on [[9 November (releases)|9 November]] [[2020 (releases)|2020]].
 
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
File:Road To The Dark Times UK.jpg|thumb|Time Lord Victorious: Road To The Dark Times box-set
</gallery>
 
=== VHS releases ===
* It was released in episodic format in the UK in October 1991. It was also re-released and digitally remastered for the [[W H Smith]] exclusive ''[[The Time Lord Collection]]'' in [[2002 (releases)|2002]], with a better quality freeze frame cliffhanger for part three.
* This story was released in the US in March 1989 in edited omnibus format, two years before the UK release in episodic format. The US release was issued in a printed cardboard slipcase — bearing a flash reading ''Celebrating 25 Years of Doctor Who'' — as opposed to a plastic video case.
 
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
File:The Deadly Assassin VHS US cover.jpg|VHS US cover
File:The Deadly Assassin VHS UK cover.jpg|VHS UK cover
File:The Deadly Assassin VHS Australian cover.png|VHS Australian cover
</gallery>
 
==== Box sets ====
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
File:Time Lord Collection VHS Australian box set cover.jpg|The Time Lord Collection Australian VHS cover
</gallery>
 
=== Digital releases ===
* The story is available for streaming in Canada and the US through BritBox or Amazon Instant Video in the UK.
* It is available on the ''Best of Tom Baker ''bundle on iTunes, alongside ''[[Genesis of the Daleks (TV story)|Genesis of the Daleks]], [[The Hand of Fear (TV story)|The Hand of Fear]] ''and ''[[The Talons of Weng-Chiang (TV story)|The Talons of Weng-Chiang]]''.
 
== External links ==
* {{bbcepguideclassic|deadlyassassin/|The Deadly Assassin}}
* {{radiotimes|2010-08-27/the-deadly-assassin|The Deadly Assassin}}
{{dwcast}}
{{dwrefguide|who_4p.htm|The Deadly Assassin}}
* {{briefhistory|serials/4p.html|The Deadly Assassin}}
* {{locguide|deadlyassassin|The Deadly Assassin}}
{{DWTV}}
{{Decayed Master stories}}
{{TLV}}
{{TitleSort}}
[[de:The Deadly Assassin]]
[[es:The Deadly Assassin]]
[[fr:The Deadly Assassin (TV)]]
[[ru:Беспощадный убийца]]
 
[[Category:Doctor Who (1963) television stories]]
[[Category:Television stories set on Gallifrey]]
[[Category:1976 television stories]]
[[Category:The Master television stories]]
[[Category:Decayed Master stories]]
[[Category:Time Lord television stories]]
[[Category:Season 14 stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in the Rassilon Era]]
[[Category:Four part serials]]

Latest revision as of 20:06, 3 November 2024

RealWorld.png

You may be looking for the reference book of the same name.

The Deadly Assassin was the third serial of season 14 of Doctor Who. It was the only televised story in the original run of Doctor Who to feature the Doctor without a companion. Tom Baker had told Philip Hinchcliffe he could hold the show on his own. With this story already in place, it was seen as a pilot for such companion-less stories. However, it was deemed that a companion was a necessary feature of the show.

This serial saw the return of the Doctor's nemesis, the Master, but in a heavily decayed state played by Peter Pratt. Roger Delgado had died in an automobile accident three years earlier, requiring a new actor to take his place. Afterwards, the Master became subject to a change in appearance and other changes as needed when an actor replaced the role, much like the Doctor, although, from an in-universe perspective, which change of actors should be considered a change of "incarnation" is far less clear-cut.

Narratively, this serial introduced several aspects and notable figures of Time Lord society which were used, or referenced again, including the Matrix, Time Lord Chapters, Time Lord headdresses and robes, Borusa and of course Rassilon. It also introduced the restriction of a Time Lord to a finite limit of twelve regenerations, allowing a maximum of thirteen incarnations, after which a Time Lord would suffer permanent death.

Later stories revealed that there are exceptions to the rule, such as the Master, who, after exhausting his original cycle, stealing a non-Gallifreyan body (TV: The Keeper of Traken) and being executed by the Daleks, (TV: Doctor Who) was resurrected by the Time Lords to fight in the Last Great Time War, gaining a new cycle in the process. (TV: Utopia, The Sound of Drums, The Doctor Falls), and the Doctor, who was granted a new regeneration cycle when his final incarnation reached the point of death. (TV: The Time of the Doctor)

In 2020, The Deadly Assassin became part of the Time Lord Victorious multimedia event.

Synopsis[[edit] | [edit source]]

Through the millennia, the Time Lords of Gallifrey led a life of peace and ordered calm, protected against all threats from lesser civilisations by their great power. But this was to change. Suddenly and terribly, the Time Lords faced the most dangerous crisis in their long history...

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

Part one[[edit] | [edit source]]

Having dropped off former companion Sarah Jane Smith back home on Earth, the Fourth Doctor heads to Gallifrey in answer to the Time Lords' summons. On the way, he is struck by a premonition in which he seems to assassinate the Time Lord President from a gallery overlooking the Panopticon.

The Doctor's message to the Time Lords.

The TARDIS lands in the security area of the Citadel. Commander Hilred immediately impounds it and the Castellan Spandrell orders the arrest of its owner, who is registered as a wanted criminal. The Doctor leaves a note (written in Gallifreyan script, and bearing an image of the Seal of Rassilon) on the console warning of his premonition and sneaks out of the TARDIS into the Citadel. He is cornered by a guard, who is shot dead by an unknown assailant, who flees before the Doctor can confront them.

The arrival of an unregistered TARDIS in a high-security area raises the tension of an already tense day — the President is resigning and is about to name his successor. The Castellan berates Hildred for his incompetence in letting the Doctor, a renegade who apparently is also a murderer, run loose in the capitol.

Hildred transducts the TARDIS into the capitol's museum, unaware the Doctor has sneaked back inside. Meanwhile, his movements are being monitored by a dark, robed figure and an unknown associate.

The Doctor infiltrates the resignation announcement by stealing a Time Lord's ceremonial robes. While trying to remain incognito in the crowded floor, he encounters an old classmate, Runcible, who is now a commentator for the local news channel Public Register Video and preparing his broadcast from the Panopticon floor. Runcible greets the Doctor coolly, while waiting for a signal from a camera operator in the gallery — who strangely does not answer. The Doctor looks up to the gallery and is horrified to see a staser rifle fixed to the railing near the unattended camera. He causes a commotion as he charges through the room.

As the President enters and stands at the dais, the Doctor grabs the staser rifle, aims and fires. The President falls down dead...

Part two[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor is quickly apprehended by security. The assassination has thrown Gallifrey into a constitutional crisis because the President died before he could name his successor. Chancellor Goth, thought to have been the most likely successor, calls for prompt elections and opts to stand as a candidate. Goth also urges the Doctor's swift trial and execution.

At the trial, Goth's prosecution moves swiftly. The Doctor, however, invokes Article 17 of the Gallifreyan Constitution, naming himself as a candidate for President. Under it, he cannot be denied the right to make his claim. Goth is outraged, but Cardinal Borusa acknowledges that the article gives him protection. He is grudgingly given forty-eight hours to prove his innocence.

The robed figure is told by his associate of the Doctor's use of the constitutional loophole. He has anticipated this. The figure is shown as a horribly disfigured and decaying husk.

The Doctor attempts to convince Spandrell and Coordinator Engin of his innocence; his shot was intended for the actual assassin, who stood in the crowd on the Panopticon floor. Someone is going to great lengths to frame him. He notes that the sights had been fixed on the rifle to intentionally throw off his aim. Spandrell confirms this by aiming at a target — a large Seal of Rassilon symbol on the wall — himself; he begins to believe the Doctor. They find the Doctor's original blast mark on the wall. The Doctor realises the gallery camera would have recorded the actual assassin. Runcible screams with horror when he looks into the camera barrel.

Running to the gallery, they find the camera barrel empty except for the miniaturised corpse of the cameraman. The Doctor recognises this as the work of his arch enemy, the Master, and reasons that he has returned to Gallifrey for a final showdown. Runcible goes to fetch the recordings, but when he returns, he falls with a knife protruding from his back.

Spandrell and Engin cannot comprehend why there is no biodata extract for the Master in the APC Net (aka the Matrix). This is a network of past and present Time Lord minds that acts as an enormous database and future forecaster. The Doctor decides there must be an unauthorised second access point into the Matrix. The Master used this to forecast the assassination into his mind and then wipe all trace from the Matrix. He reasons that either the Master or the assassin working with him must be inside the Matrix. Despite the stern warning from Engin, he interfaces with the Matrix to find him.

The Doctor finds himself in a vast, rapidly shifting terrain, the domain of the assassin. The two engage in a pitched battle of wills. The assassin has the definite advantage of having created the virtual reality world inside the Matrix.

The Doctor finds himself in a jungle. He steps on a railway track, and his foot becomes stuck in the rails as the points change. He looks up to see a masked man driving a train towards him...

Part three[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor prepares for impact, but nothing happens. He gets his foot out and moves on. The Doctor evades the many pitfalls laid for him inside the Matrix. These include being strafed by a biplane and tracked by the assassin. His physical body, still in the APC room is enduring a terrible and potentially lethal strain. Meanwhile, the assassin is finding the battle of wills extremely taxing as well. The Master increases the power, despite the assassin's plea it will kill him. The Doctor begins to turn the tables on his assailant, first by booby-trapping the hunter's equipment, then by avoiding the water poisoned by the assassin. He improvises a blowpipe and shoots a poisoned dart at the assassin, but he is wounded himself.

The Doctor, slipping below the water; drowning within the Matrix.

As the Doctor comes closer to winning the conflict, the Master sends one of the chancellor's guards now under his power to the APC room to kill the Doctor. Engin spots the guard, Solis, tampering with the controls. Spandrell shoots Solis to protect the Doctor.

In the Matrix, the Doctor gains the upper hand against the assassin, who reveals himself as Goth. The Doctor tricks Goth into firing his rifle while in a cloud of swamp gas. As the world around them erupts in chaos and flames, Goth seizes the Doctor and holds his head underwater, about to drown him.

Part four[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor throws Goth off and escapes from the Matrix. He revives in Spandrell's office. He informs the shocked Castellan of the assassin's identity. They trace the location of their lair, where they find the Master's lifeless body — he seems to have died of natural causes. Goth, himself near death, admits he was power-hungry and bitter on learning he wasn't to be the President's successor. He had found the dying Master on the planet Tersurus, his body at the end of his regeneration cycle, and brought him to Gallifrey to help him fulfil his scheme. Goth dies before he can reveal just what the Master's plan was.

Cleared of all charges, the Doctor still has lingering doubts and wants to know the Master's plan. He doubts the Master would accept death so easily and reasons that the solution lies in the ceremonial relics given to the President on induction, the Sash and Rod of Rassilon, and researches their links to ancient Gallifreyan mythology.

The Doctor's suspicions are confirmed. The Master has faked his own death. He steals the Sash and Rod, which are the keys to the Eye of Harmony, the heart of a black hole captured by ancient Time Lord Rassilon. It is the source of Time Lord power. The Master seeks the power of the Eye to restart his regeneration cycle, even though Gallifrey would be destroyed by doing so. He uses the Rod to unlock the Eye of Harmony, hidden below the Panopticon floor. This begins to release its energy, which would be channelled through the Sash to rejuvenate him.

The Master as he departs Gallifrey in his TARDIS.

The Doctor wrestles with the Master. The ground shakes around them. Before the Master can uncouple the last cable from the Eye, the Doctor pulls him away, and the Master falls through a fissure in the floor. The Doctor reconnects the cables, bringing the crisis to an end.

Borusa is appalled at the damage; half the capital city lies in ruins and countless lives are lost. Even so, he accepts Engin's claim that the Doctor's actions prevented further catastrophe. Recalling their old relationship as teacher and student, Borusa gives the Doctor a grade of 9 out of 10. Spandrell and Engin accompany the Doctor back to the museum, and say their farewells; the Doctor then departs in the TARDIS. Spandrell and Engin then discover that the Master has survived and escaped in his own TARDIS, disguised as a grandfather clock. Spandrell expresses confidence that the Doctor and the Master will cross paths again, and has a feeling the universe is not big enough for the two of them. Before the Master's TARDIS dematerialises, the face of the grandfather clock is replaced by that of the Master, with the sound of his laughter heard over the TARDIS dematerialisation sound...

Cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Uncredited cast[[edit] | [edit source]]

Crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Uncredited crew[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Books[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • According to Coordinator Engin, the Doctor's brain "must have an unusually high level of artron energy".

Galaxies[[edit] | [edit source]]

Gallifrey[[edit] | [edit source]]

Gallifreyan technology[[edit] | [edit source]]

Gallifreyan law[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Article 17 could be invoked to present one's claim for the post of President. No candidate for the presidency could be debarred or restrained from this liberty (with the exception of condemned murderers).
    • Chancellor Goth wished to amend the details of this article once he were elected.

Gallifreyan Chapters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Gallifreyan culture[[edit] | [edit source]]

Gallifreyan history[[edit] | [edit source]]

Gallifreyan organisations[[edit] | [edit source]]

Individual Gallifreyans[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Borusa has recently become a Cardinal.
  • Borusa was a teacher to the First Doctor at the Time Lord Academy. In that age, according to the Doctor, he had stated that truth can be found only in mathematics.

Places[[edit] | [edit source]]

TARDISes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Story notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The story had a working title of The Dangerous Assassin.
  • The title is generally considered a tautology — an assassin is, by definition, deadly. This redundancy was parodied in the spoof The Curse of Fatal Death. However, Robert Holmes denied that the title was tautological, saying, "There are plenty of incompetent assassins." (INFO: The Deadly Assassin)
  • This is the first TV story to feature the Doctor without a companion and the only one during the 1963-89 original series. The 1996 telefilm and revival series featured the Doctor on occasion collaborating with "one-off" companions (such as Donna Noble in The Runaway Bride) and in Midnight, the Doctor has an adventure by himself, away from his companion. All that said, The Deadly Assassin remains unique as the only televised Doctor Who adventure to date in which the Doctor appears but there is no companion or companion-surrogate at all. The episode Heaven Sent also features an entire story with only the Doctor and no companions, but the actress Jenna Coleman appears in the episode as part of the Doctor's mind manifestation.
  • This story features an exclusively male cast, except for the female computer voice provided by Helen Blatch.
  • Helen Blatch (Voice) is uncredited on-screen for part one but credited in Radio Times.
  • This is the first story set entirely on Gallifrey, as well as the first story whose cast is entirely made up of Time Lords and the first televised story in which no human characters appear.
  • This story featured the first use of narration, performed by Tom Baker at the beginning of part one:
Through the millennia, the Time Lords of Gallifrey led a life of peace and ordered calm, protected against all threats from lesser civilisations by their great power. But this was to change. Suddenly, and terribly, the Time Lords faced the most dangerous crisis in their long history...
This text was also shown as a roller caption, superimposed over the Cloisters set.
  • The biplane used in the Matrix sequences in episode three is a 1949 Stampe SV.4C. The plane used in filming, registration G-AWXZ, was also used in the films Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and The Mummy. (INFO: The Deadly Assassin)
  • The Doctor is without companions at the end of the story, making the period between this story and the next one of the few plausible spots during the show's run which allows for placement of any number of additional Doctor Who stories in literature, audio, or comics. This allows the inclusion of companions that are exclusive to these adventures. A similar instance occurred between The Invasion of Time and The Ribos Operation, that one allowing for the inclusion of later developments such as K9.
  • Artistic elements introduced in this story, particularly the Time Lord collars and the Seal of Rassilon, appear on multiple later occasions in stories featuring Time Lords.
  • This story establishes that Time Lords do sometimes use proper names on their homeworld; previous uses have either been aliases or of ambiguous origin such as Morbius; rank-and-file Time Lords seen in television stories like The War Games and The Three Doctors had gone unnamed.
  • This story introduces the iconic character Rassilon, who would be referenced often. Rassilon would be seen via a form of projection in The Five Doctors and in person in The End of Time and Hell Bent. It also greatly expands on the Time Lord society and mythology hinted at in The Three Doctors and only briefly glimpsed in The War Games. This story introduces the characters of Borusa and the Castellan, recurring roles in later Gallifreyan stories. This story also establishes Gallifreyan civilisation, including the first mention of the Time Lord Academy, the Prydonians, the titles of Chancellor/President, and other aspects of Time Lord culture and hierarchy.
  • The novels Last of the Gaderene and Legacy of the Daleks explain how the Master became how he appears. However, in terms of televised adventures, there is no indication whether or not the Master seen here is necessarily the same incarnation of the Master as last seen portrayed by Roger Delgado in Frontier in Space. The 2017 Doctor Who Magazine comic strip story COMIC: Doorway to Hell follows on from this by depicting the Delgado version of the Master regenerating.
  • Part three's cliffhanger of the Doctor being drowned quickly became infamous for its terrifying nature, which caught the attention of media watchdog Mary Whitehouse and led to her lambasting the show. Because of intense negative reactions from the public, Philip Hinchcliffe was replaced as producer the following season and the BBC wiped the offending cliffhanger from the master 625 line PAL colour videotape, one of only a small amount of post-1974 Doctor Who footage to be affected in such a way; however, off-air U-matic videotape recordings of the uncensored broadcast were still left intact, and it was from these that footage of the infamous cliffhanger was sourced when the scene was restored on home media releases.
  • Part of the disturbing nature of the drowning scene at the end of part three came from the fact that Tom Baker suffers from aquaphobia and thus was experiencing a real fear of drowning during filming. Baker was reportedly so worried of the cliffhanger scaring kids that he visited a random family to watch part three with them and hear their responses.
  • This serial introduces the fact that a Time Lord has a regeneration cycle of only twelve regenerations for thirteen lives. This becomes a major plot point for the character of The Master in particular in later serials as he has reached the end of his regeneration cycle by the events of The Deadly Assassin. Following his resurrection to fight in the Last Great Time War as depicted in the revived series, the Master has a new regeneration cycle as seen in Utopia and The Doctor Falls which feature the Master suffering injuries that require regeneration though only the regeneration in Utopia is seen on-screen. The Doctor himself also suffers from this limitation: though he claims to Clyde Langer in the serial Death of the Doctor from The Sarah Jane Adventures to have 507 regenerations, this is proven to be a lie in The Time of the Doctor where the Doctor receives a new cycle at the end of his final incarnation.
  • At one point, Spandrell has to read aloud a disturbing letter that the Doctor has written for him. In rehearsals, he used a note written in English and thus had not bothered to learn the lines. When it came time to shoot the scene, David Maloney and the set designer switched it for a note written in Gallifreyan without telling George Pravda. The second Spandrell opens the note, he goes visibly pale and sweat springs from his forehead, and stumbles over his words as he struggles to remember them— the appropriate shocked reaction.
  • There is a scene where the Doctor is sitting on a chair trying to manipulate Spandrell, who begins explaining why he can't help the Doctor; and the Doctor shoots up from his chair mid-line and looms over Spandrell to intimidate him with his size — he audibly falters and his voice shakes. This was an ad-lib from Tom Baker, and George Pravda was just reacting with surprise to Baker unexpectedly going off-script.
  • At one point, it was planned to include a humorous title card at the end of part four reading, “We thank the High Court of Time Lords and the Keeper of the Records, Gallifrey, for their help and co-operation”. Ultimately, however, this was removed for fear that it lampooned the production too much.
  • David Maloney worked closely with designer Roger Murray-Leach and costume designer James Acheson to give Gallifrey a consistent, cohesive look. Although he would eventually be replaced on the serial by Joan Ellacott, Acheson contributed the Time Lords' distinctive high-collared apparel, while Murray-Leach reused a symbol he had designed for Revenge of the Cybermen as the Prydonian seal. Both would become enduring elements of Gallifrey's portrayal in Doctor Who, with the latter subsequently coming to be known as the “Seal of Rassilon”.
  • Robert Holmes disliked the previous portrayal of the Time Lords as omnipotent god-like beings, so he re-invented them as corrupt beureaucrats. He questioned why such a perfect society could produce so many criminals and renegades.
  • Robert Holmes and Philip Hinchcliffe reintroduced the Master in a transitional state so that their successors wouldn't be saddled with a version of the character they might find unsuitable.
  • The shot of Goth trying to drown the Doctor was filmed at the swimming pool of the Royal Alexandra and Albert School in Merstham, Surrey, because the pond water was too dirty.
  • Peter Pratt's uncomfortable mask was originally fitted with tubes which were intended to give the impression of fluid circulating around the Master's atrophied skull. However, this element was discarded when it was discovered that the effect was not visible under the studio lights.
  • The original cliffhanger to part two was the Doctor being attacked by the samurai. The train sequence was added when the episode overran.
  • Part three originally included a scene where a spider crawls up the Doctor's arm. This was scrapped when Bill Slater, the Head of Serials, thought it would be too scary for children.
  • Filming the scene where Goth tries to drown the Doctor was challenging for Tom Baker, who has a fear of water.
  • For a while, it was thought that episode four might introduce a new companion character. Robert Holmes had come up with the idea of the Doctor being accompanied by a Dickensian street urchin, whom he would mentor in the manner of Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle. As such, Holmes considered setting the climactic encounter between the Doctor and the Master in Victorian London. However, the new companion's introduction was eventually postponed until later in the season.
  • The scene where the Doctor is attacked by a biplane was supposed to be filmed at the Redhill Aerodrome in Redhill, Surrey.

Influences[[edit] | [edit source]]

Ratings[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Part one - 11.8 million viewers
  • Part two - 12.1 million viewers
  • Part three - 13.0 million viewers
  • Part four - 11.8 million viewers

Myths[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • This is the only story to reference the fact that Time Lords get twelve regenerations for a total of thirteen lives, and the remainder of the classic series is consistent with the Second Doctor's implication in The War Games that Time Lords can regenerate an unlimited number of times unless their body is too badly damaged. Early interviews with the production team behind the 2005 revival (including David Tennant in Doctor Who Magazine #415) had made it appear as if the allocation of thirteen lives in this story is a piece of minutia unique to this story. In fact, the thirteen life limit has been a major plot element of at least four other stories, all of which involve villains attempting to steal the Doctor's remaining regenerations: The Keeper of Traken, Mawdryn Undead, The Ultimate Foe, and the 1996 TV movie. All of these stories referenced the thirteenth life limit in dialogue. Other Time Lords have been encountered since The Deadly Assassin in later stories who have reached their thirteenth and final incarnation, namely Azmael and Salyavin.

Filming locations[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Betchworth Quarry, Pebblehill Road, Betchworth, Surrey
  • Wycombe Air Park, Clay Lane, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
  • Royal Alexander and Albert School, Rocky Lane, Merstham, Surrey
  • BBC Television Centre (TC3 and TC8), Shepherd's Bush, London

Production errors[[edit] | [edit source]]

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
  • The guard the Master kills in part one begins to fall before the sound effect for the staser is heard. He is also seen again alive and well again in part two.
  • The corpse of the technician is clearly seen to be a Palitoy Action Man figure.
  • Near the end of part four, when the Master chases the Doctor up the Panopticon stairway, the Sash of Rassilon is over his shoulder. Before he puts it back down his front you can clearly see the brown cardboard backing.
  • After Hilred unlocks one of the TARDIS doors, the second guard to go through bumps into the other door.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Home video and audio releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

DVD releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

The DVD was released on 11 May 2009 in the UK.

Special Features[[edit] | [edit source]]

Editing for the DVD release was completed by the Doctor Who Restoration Team.

  • DVD Region 2 UK cover

    DVD Region 2 UK cover

  • DVD Region 4 Australian cover

    DVD Region 4 Australian cover

  • DVD Region 1 US cover

    DVD Region 1 US cover

Blu-ray releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • It was included as part of the Time Lord Victorious: Road to the Dark Times Blu-ray on 9 November 2020.
  • Time Lord Victorious: Road To The Dark Times box-set

    Time Lord Victorious: Road To The Dark Times box-set

VHS releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • It was released in episodic format in the UK in October 1991. It was also re-released and digitally remastered for the W H Smith exclusive The Time Lord Collection in 2002, with a better quality freeze frame cliffhanger for part three.
  • This story was released in the US in March 1989 in edited omnibus format, two years before the UK release in episodic format. The US release was issued in a printed cardboard slipcase — bearing a flash reading Celebrating 25 Years of Doctor Who — as opposed to a plastic video case.
  • VHS US cover

    VHS US cover

  • VHS UK cover

    VHS UK cover

  • VHS Australian cover

    VHS Australian cover

Box sets[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Time Lord Collection Australian VHS cover

    The Time Lord Collection Australian VHS cover

Digital releases[[edit] | [edit source]]

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

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Doctor Who television stories
 
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Season 12: 1974-1975
Season 13: 1975-1976
Season 14: 1976-1977
Season 15: 1977-1978
Season 16: 1978-1979
Season 17: 1979-1980
Season 18: 1980-1981
 
Seasons 19-21: Peter Davison
Season 19: 1982
Season 20: 1983
Children in Need 1983
Season 21: 1984
 
Seasons 21-23: Colin Baker
Season 21: 1984
Season 22: 1985
Season 23: 1986
 
Seasons 24-26: Sylvester McCoy
Season 24: 1987
Season 25: 1988-1989
Season 26: 1989
 
TV Movie & 2013 specials: Paul McGann
TV Movie: 1996
Specials: 2013
Minisodes
 
Series 1: Christopher Eccleston
Series 1: 2005
Regular episodes
 
Series 2-4: David Tennant
Series 2: 2005-2006
Minisode
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
Series 3: 2006-2007
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
Animated special
Series 4: 2007-2010
Minisode
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
Minisodes
Animated special
Seasonal specials
 
Series 5-2013 specials: Matt Smith
Series 5: 2010
Regular episodes
Series 6: 2010-2011
Christmas Special
Minisodes
Regular episodes
(Part 1: Apr 2011)
Regular episodes
(Part 2: Aug 2011)
Minisode
Series 7: 2011-2013
Christmas Special
Minisodes
Regular episodes
(Part 1: 2012)
Minisode
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
(Part 2: 2013)
Specials: 2013
 
Series 8-10: Peter Capaldi
Series 8: 2014
Regular episodes
Series 9: 2014-2015
Christmas Special
Minisode
Regular episodes
Christmas Special
Series 10: 2016-2017
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
Christmas Special
 
Series 11-13: Jodie Whittaker
Series 11: 2018-2019
Regular episodes
New Year Special
Series 12: 2020-2021
Regular episodes
New Year Special
Series 13: 2021
Minisodes
Regular episodes
Seasonal specials
 
60th Anniversary Specials: David Tennant
Specials: 2023
Minisodes
60th Anniversary Specials
 
Season 1 (2023)-present: Ncuti Gatwa
Season 1: 2023-2024
Christmas Special
Regular episodes
v • e
Decayed Master stories
Television
Audio
Prose
Comics
Video games
Considered
not part
of the DWU
* Substantial appearances only; see a full list of appearances here
v • e
Time Lord Victorious
Television
Webcast
UNIT Field Logs
Daleks!
Time Fracture tie-ins
Other
Audio
Full cast
Short Trips
Audiobooks
Prose
Novels
Short stories
Eaglemoss
Collections
Time Fracture
Show Companion
Other
Features
UNIT Field Logs
Comics
Games
Stage plays
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