088 The Deadly Assassin

Started 18-Jun

Most assessments of The Deadly Assassin seem to focus on the presentation of Timelords/Gallifrey in detail for the first time. Indeed this is presented in a way that is fascinating and controversial (for 1976). Viewed in 2019 it's much less so.

This should have been called "The Prydonian Candidate" rather than "The Deadly Assassin". This story is an obvious rip off/homage of "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962)

Right from the start the first episode of this is unrelentingly destabilising. Things happen that seem wrong, confusing and hard to explain. It ends with the Doctor apparently picking up the rifle and doing the shot to bring down the Pres. The Doctor is being brainwashed to commit the most outrageous and heinous crime possible. (I watched the movie last year and this seems soo-o-o-o obvious now.)

From p2 it settles down to a good guys/bad guys procedural and we begin to notice that Gallifrey has been reimagined, maybe even retconned.

There's quite a bit of challenging stuff to overcome for the long term viewer/fan. Timelords are weak and vain and treacherous.. and maybe the society of Time Lords is a bit of a police state? Some are less than impassive, impressive and disinterested. The official excuse is boring 'gods' don't make for interesting characters and sparkling dialogue.

And the Master's back... remember him?

Arguably this is the first sign of 'fanservice' in the series. (That's fanservice in the sense of the producers doing what they think will please fans, not the scanty titillating outfits...)

The previous longest return from the distant past before this was Cybermen in series 12 (unseen since series 6) and Daleks in series 9 (unseen since series 4) and Ice Warriors in series 9 (unseen since series 6). 'Bringing things back' will become a fan spectator sport by the time JNT is in charge.

At this stage I guess it's just a sign that the producers have confidence in their audience to present such daunting, challenging material.

Apart from that it is a sloppy mess, dramatically and narratively.

The Deadly Assassin is one of Robert Holmes weakest efforts. Dramatically it is clearly derivative but it is also a weak story with a plot borrowed from a cop show. (The 'hero' is accused of a crime of which he is innocent and he has to clear his name meanwhile the bad guy twirls his moustache....)

And I'm almost sure there are *zero* female characters. Nearest is the voice of the network 'talking book'. (Yay for Helen Blatch... who'll be back in The Twin Dilemma, fact fans.)

That is a first for DW (and not a good one.)

(Wheel in Space ep1 and Evil of the Daleks ep1 (except for the cafe maybe?), The Nightmare Begins and Mission to the Unknown had no girl speaking parts.... oo-er :-). Never a whole story up to now, mostly because unlike the 87 serials before this, Deadly Assassin has no (female or otherwise) companion character.)

Direction often seems rushed and clumsy. I'll cite the scene where the hypnotised guard attacks the APC Net group and is shot by Spandrell at 20m08s in p3.

Ep3 is a notable departure for the show. I find this less than compelling and not a little violent. Clearly the film budget was saved up for this and was spent on the plane and dressing the quarry. The result is not really DW. It's more like "Death Hunt 3000"... one on one, mano a mano with guns, bombs, jungle, knives, man-traps and guerrilla tactics. The Doctor uses a grenade, poison, a blowpipe, his fists... he's obviously having a very unDoctor like day... against the would be President of the Time Lords of Gallifrey, who's meant to be the leader of the supreme time travelling snoopers of the universe.

Like Masque of Mandragora this has a weak fourth ep. The climax depends on polystyrene rocks and camera shaking. It has a muddy and handwaving explanation. The Timelord "fairy tale" coming true (about neither flux nor wither nor change their state) is uncharacteristically poor exposition from Robert Holmes. Then the Doctor climbs up a service duct to escape from the Master's locking him in the cellar and basically uses his fists to thump the Master. Boring!

Characters are very unTimelord-y and seem a mistake, particularly Runcible and the comedy old blokes getting robed.

The performances are hammy. Eric Chitty and George Pravda are not the best casting. Bernard Horsfall seems to lack impact as Goth. Angus Mackay as Borusa is better but not likeable.

Spandrell is a mixture of doddery investigator and a nasty boss to the Chancellery Guards. Engin is just annoying. Goth and Borusa are better. At least these guys seem to have seen Timelords on TV before.

Peter Pratt as the Master is constrained by his terrible mask prosthetic.

The Master is difficult. The "emaciated face" mask is probably a mistake. Given the "life-like" half face masks that have featured in recent seasons (Davros, Zygons, Sontarans etc) the Master's mask is curious in that it's so static. Surely a less static, more cosmetic mask (like a Phantom of the Opera look) would have been more believable. Robert Holmes will return to this idea in Talons.. and Caves of Androzani.

Perhaps it's some kind of signal that 'Assassin' is a 'bottle' episode? Come to think of it 3 out of 4 eps in this have no location filming. (Face and Robots have 0 out of 4, only film is model work.)

The Doctor (played by Tom) is off the leash here. Gone is the serious "Pyramids"/''Seeds" Doctor. A historic criticism of Tom's performances later in his reign is that he 'barges and rages' through scripts. I think that is starting here. He seems angered and dismissive and off hand and not so charming and in command of the situation and himself. Overall it's disappointing.

UK ratings were skyhigh for this serial. The 'business' is good for the series and will stay good despite all the fan complaints.

In Australia this was unseen on TV until 1987 due to censor action and then it was hidden in a dead timeslot, nestled in a bunch of frequently repeated eps.

Weakest story of series 14... easy.

ABM Rating 2.98/4.00
LJM Rating 3.80/5.00
SPJ Rating 8.00/10   

No. 32 (out of 88)

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