"The Deadly Assassin" is a remarkable piece of television, basically existing to allow Robert Holmes to draft his own version of Gallifrey. Before this, we had occasional glimpses of Time Lords, now we have a four-part story set in their society. With the production team also indulging Baker's insistance that the show could work without a companion. It's like every rule the series had up to this point was consciously junked, right down to the near-plotless third episode, as The Doctor and Goth fight within the Matrix.

Holmes reinvents the whole mythos behind the series, and wilfully put a huge dent in its' continuity (famously, much to the objection of many fans at the time - Jan Vincent Rudzki's insane contemporary review in DWAS' TARDIS newsletter at the time is one of the most famous pieces of fanzine writing on the series). My own personal standing on continuity is that it can be tweaked if the new stuff's any good, and "The Deadly Assassin" paints a fantastic picture of Gallifrey. If anything, it's a more realistic version than the brief glimpses we had previously... It's totally believable that these Time Lords wouldn't be able keep track of renegades such as The Doctor or The Master. It's certainly considerably more interesting than the glimpses we were given before.Any advanced scoiety will have its' downsides, regardless of its' power. Considering how old and doddery The Doctor's been at times (say, the Hartnell era), the two old Time Lords aren't much of a stretch, and the bureacracy just adds another reason why The Doctor would have stolen a TARDIS and left in the first place.

The whole story is a brave gamble, equal to the revisionism Andrew Cartmel would bring to the show a decade later. It's also a slick, pacey, literate political thriller, with a snaking plot, blessed with terrific direction, especially during the Matrix scenes, which could be from a feature film. The sytory uses several different devices to compensate for the lack of a companion, with The Doctor narrating to the camera, Spandrell and Engin taking it in turns to play companion, and the nice idea of Runcible introducing the Presidential resignation. Holmes' script is peppered with wit and satire, and has aged well.

Tom Baker is simply marvellous, the setting not requiring The Doctor to be modest about his considerable abilities, and he's a delight, managing to pull off simply narrating the opening scenes to the camera, excellent especially during the trial, and when letting lose his detective skills with Spandrell and Engin. It's a dynamic, thrilling performance, showing The Doctor at his most cunning.

The story is peppered with well-realised characters. Bernard Horsfall brings his usual weight to the misguided Goth, while Angus Mackay defines Borusa with a smart, clipped performance, his scenes with Baker being especially brilliant as the latter effortlessly drops the arrogance to bring a believable tutor/pupil relationship to the screen. George Pravda makes an excellent crusty old detective, with Erik Chitty doing his usual sweet, senile old man act as Spandrell's sidekick Engin.

However, the real acting honours go to Peter Pratt. Though layers of make-up (well, a great big mask) he manages to imbue The Master with real hatred. And this is one of the redefinitions from "The Deadly Assassin". Finally The Master is a believable enemy for The Doctor, not of the suave charm of Roger Delgado, or any of this "old friend" rubbish. Finally The Master is basically out to kill The Doctor. It's been a long time coming, and it adds that extra layer of danger to the story.

Sadly, with all this in favour, the story does have a big problem. After three-and-a-half episodes of smashing clichés, Holmes then whips out a whole string of them in the last ten minutes, with The Master faking his own death, trying to drain the power from the surrounding universe, being stopped by The Doctor, falling down a chasm and escaping to fight another day, complete with stilted commentary from Spandrell and Engin. It's a pretty asinine ending to such a majestic story. I've heard the theory posited that Holmes purposefully did this, having realised that the sole point of The Master is to kill The Doctor, and clearly not being able to do this. It's a fine theory, but sadly it doesn't make the ending any easier to swallow.

Despite this, the story still has a massive amount in its' favour. It's certainly one of the most essential Doctor Who stories for the huge amount of backstory we're given on both the character and the Time Lords, the glorious reinvention of The Master as a creditable enemy, the cracking pace and its' bravery.

Review written: 20/05/2006
"The Deadly Assassin" VHS @ Amazon.co.uk