Doctor Who - The Deadly Assassin [DVD] [1976]

It's good to see The Deadly Assassin out on dvd as my VHS tape had deteriorated to near-unwatchability. Viewing it again I was struck by how well-paced, gripping and witty it is, dragging only a little in the final episode, which has rather a lot of backstory shoe-horned into it. I was also struck by something I haven't seen anyone else comment on: there are no women in it whatsoever, not even as extras - & this single-sex exclusivity contributes to the Oxbridge College/House of Lords feel of the story.

The extras are a mixed bag; a mildly interesting piece on the feud between Mary Whitehouse and the BBC over the horror content of the show being followed by a somehow rather slight piece about how children perceive fictional representations of frightening situations and things. The 'making of' is okay - and reminds the viewer of how unusual the story - a political paranoia thriller - was in terms of Doctor Who; and there's a decently-done documentary on parallels between The Deadly Assassin and The Manchurian Candidate.

Rather more interesting to me was an interview with a long-time fan, who reminded us that, at the time it was broadcast, the story was most controversial for up-ending the previously-presented image of the Time Lords as elevated, aloof, almost god-like beings. In showing them as duplicitous, corrupt and self-serving, and possessed of technology that the wider universe would see as dated and anything but elevated, it was scandalously revisionist. As a youngster I remember being offended at the time by the elements I now find witty, sophisticated and wholly enjoyable. And looking down the longer lens of history I see a shift from the utopian idealism of the late Sixties (see the original Star Trek for any number of God-like beings) to the dystopian, cynical grimness of the mid-Seventies.

One can pick small holes: why is the Time Lord Goth's world in the Matrix so filled with references to World War I? Did Rassilon's Star have to look quite so much like a petrol pump? Couldn't they have made the shrunken dead look just a little less like Action Men? But overall it's full of great performances - especially from Tom Baker; great set and costume design; all in service of one of Robert Holmes's sharpest scripts.

Two little words: Bob Holmes! So get it! Not convinced? Well Read on.

If you're not a fan, trampling over people to grab their own copy first then delve in with an open mind!

This is not your average Dr Who & had Mary Whitehouse raging at the BBC. This is a time where everyone just agreed to disregard every rule of children's Science Fiction & created a one off vision of Dr Who at it's most horrifying.

It's virtually impossible for me to write this review without saying the words: Dark, Gothic or Horror. Because it represents all those words perfectly!

Dark: Because of the lack of over lit sets, the Masters clobber & the fact that the theme of story is "The death of many, to save one life"

Gothic: Because of the casts robe costumes, Catheaderal like sets, Church Organ Music & a certain characters name!

And..

Horror: Because the Doctor gets Tortured, shot, drowned, framed, almost poisoned, he falls off a cliff, smacked over the head with a Gun handle.. it goes on! Also, the Master looks like he has had all the skin on his face ripped off & gave every kid who's parents complained; Nightmares!

This is one of my favourites because of it's uniqueness. We see Galifrey at it's best, the companion is dropped & Dr Who has to use cunning, violence & guile in order to defeat his arch enemy.

There is so much more about this story I could say but I'll leave that to the countless number of fans who praise this story!

So if you haven't seen it, then do so before you die because everything about this story apart from the fake spider in the bush is simply commendable & gives a very apt representation of how Dr Who could have been a perfect show if it was aimed at adults & not children.

When ever I accidentally see a clip from, or have the patience to watch an episode of the New series, & begin to cringe from over acting, weep from lack of a characteristic music score.. I just remember this little number!

Ladies & Gentlemen: Behold.. at long last.. "THE DEADLY ASSASSIN!"

"Predictable as a Hare Doctor.." - The Master

a four part doctor who story from tom baker's third year in the role comes to dvd. at the time when he was so into the part and on top of his game that he could ask the producers if the doctor could travel without a companion. That wasn't a suggestion they were going to go with long term, but they do try this one companionless adventure in the meantime.

summoned back to his homeworld gallifrey at the time of a change in leadership, the doctor arrives just in time to try and stop someone killing the outgoing president. only there's more going on here than meets the eye. framed for murder the doctor has to race against time to save his homeworld from an old enemy.

studio bound in the first second and fourth episodes but this doesnt seem to matter. all thanks to some good set design and some excellent costumes. the supporting cast all play it dead straight and turn in good work as a result. particularly appealing are george pravda as castellan spandrell - old and jaded but no fool - and erik chitty as his somewhat befuddled assistant engin.

the third episode is set almost entirely in a virtual reality setting with the doctor battling a villain there. it conjures up some pretty nightmarish imagery. and even though it was made in 1977 it's so well done that no cgi would enhance the effect at all.

the first cliffhanger resolution is perhaps a little bit of a cheat, adopting the old republic serials technique of getting out of things via judicious re-editing, and the third is rather violent and graphic and got the show into a lot of hot water. but those are minor complaints. this is classic who and it's great to have it on dvd at last.

the extras are as follows:

as usual: production information subtitles that will give informaiton about the production whilst you watch the story.

a photo gallery of stills from the story and it's production.

radio times listings for the broadcast of the story that can be viewed as pdf files when watching the disc on a computer.

english language subtitles.

english language language tracks.

english audio descriptive.

a trailer for the next release in the range, the seventh doctor story delta and the bannermen. like some of these it tries for drama via lots of fast cutting and thus epileptics and those who have a problem with such things might find it not easy to watch.

for an easter egg watch the disc on a computer, move the pointer over the left hand side of the screen when on the first page of special features, and when a hidden doctor who logo lights up click on it see a short trailer for the story shown on the bbc at the end of the preceding one back in 1976.

there's a commentary from tom baker, producer philip hinchcliffe, and actor bernard horsfall who plays a time lord in the story.

other extras are documentaries:

the matrix revisited is a thirty minute long look at the making of the story. a very in depth and high quality production it's well worth a look. in tom baker admits the suggestion of no companion wasn't wise. the designer gives some very interesting information about how some crowd scenes were done. and there's a discussion of the third cliffhanger and how people responded to it. which is all food for thought.
Although this is regarded as a classic story now, back when it was broadcast some elements of doctor who fandom didn't like it all. because among other things it gave a wildly different portrayal of the timelords to what had been seen in the show before. In this documentary they interview a fan who wrote criticism of the story at the time. the points he makes are worth a listen, even if you don't agree with them.

the gallifreyan candidate is an eleven minute look at the manchurian candidate, the book and later film that gave some of the inspiration for this story. what looks as if it is going to be a rather spurious documentary full of hot air does get interesting as it goes along and is worth watching if you've never read the book or seen the film. but any doctor who connections in the documentary are soon forgotten about it and it becomes solely about the manchurian candidate.

the frighten factor is a seventeen minute long documentary about what makes the programme frightening. it uses clips from both the old and the new series, and although what it says is all rather obvious it is all quite interesting. but what shocks is the sight of early 70's barry letts producer, when interviewed in this, without any hair and not looking very well. we can but hope he gets better soon.

not a bad batch of extras, but a dvd worth getting for the story alone