Doctor Who: The Deadly Assassin (BBC DVD)
Picture: B-
Sound: B- Extras: A
Episodes: A
Many
fans of Doctor Who regard The Deadly Assassin episodes as a high point in Tom Baker's run on
the show. Baker's unique take on the
time-traveling, seemingly ageless sci-fi adventurer combines a biting wit with
a strong physical presence and the trademark long scarf that many casual fans
identify as the the "definitive" Doctor Who. One of the reasons Deadly Assassin weighs so heavily among the hundreds of Who stories
aired over the decades is that it establishes so many pillars of the show's
canon.
Drawn back to his home world of Gallifrey during a time of tumult in the
planet's ruling body, the Doctor runs afoul of an old nemesis who tries to
exact revenge on him while restoring his own ravaged body in the bargain. The four-part story (number 88 in the series)
originally aired on BBC 1 in 1976, and for the first time fully fleshed out the
labyrinthine politics of the Time Lords and Gallifrey. Also introduced is the idea of the Matrix, a
fully realized, virtual world where the memories and experiences of every Time
Lord are stored for posterity. Heavy on intrigue, many viewers and critics believe that Deadly Assassin was influenced by the Manchurian Candidate and the
assassination of JFK in the previous decade. Certainly, producer Philip
Hinchcliffe and others have not disputed this influence, and the story
certainly benefits from the source material.
Another notable aspect of The Deadly
Assassin is the lack of a companion for the Doctor. Tom Baker wanted to try his hand at going it
alone after the departure of companion Sarah Jane Smith (played by Elisabeth
Sladen), and the series creators complied, setting the stage for the story's
solo adventures on Gallifrey. Although the concept of companions are central
to the show's mythos, their lack in this story actually enhances the plot, and
George Pravda makes a brilliant ad hoc Time Lord companion in the role of
Castellan Spandrell. Baker and Pravda work so well together that one can see an
almost Holmes-Watson partnership, and indeed, there are mysteries aplenty to be
solved in The Deadly Assassin.
Like all of BBC's Who releases, this disc is replete with extras. The Matrix Revisited details the story behind
the making of The Deadly Assassin,
and includes interviews with the creators and Tom Baker himself. The
Gallifreyan Candidate provides an invaluable look at the original movie version
(reviewed elsewhere on this site) The Manchurian Candidate, its cultural resonance, and some
of the relationships between it and The
Deadly Assassin. Finally, Frighten
Factor looks at Doctor Who's penchant for scaring its audience, and the
nature of fear itself. The photo gallery
and Radio Times Listings are also nice features, but one of the best of the
"lesser" extras is the Note Subtitles option, which the viewer can
enable while watching the episodes. This feature works like VH-1's Pop-up Video for Doctor Who, providing informative and funny notes
about various moments in the show as the viewer watches.
Doctor Who: The Deadly Assassin
provides plenty of classic Who action and features Tom Baker at the height of
his powers in the role he is most identified with. This disc deserves a place in any serious Doctor Who fan's
collection.
- Scott Pyle
