Stories Television Doctor Who (1963-1996) Classic Who S14 Serial: 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Deadly Assassin 1 image Overview Episodes Characters How to Watch Reviews 3 Statistics Related Stories Quotes 3 Transcript Overview First aired Saturday, October 30, 1976 Production Code 4P Written by Robert Holmes Directed by David Maloney Runtime 100 minutes Story Type Companion-Lite Tropes (Potential Spoilers!) Breaking the Fourth Wall, Miniaturisation Story Arc (Potential Spoilers!) Regeneration Limit Location (Potential Spoilers!) APC Net, Gallifrey, The Matrix, The Panopticon Synopsis 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... Watch Watched Favourite Favourited Add Review Edit Review Log a repeat Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Owned Save to my list Saved 4 Episodes Part One First aired Saturday, October 30, 1976 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Robert Holmes Directed by David Maloney UK Viewers 11.8 million Synopsis Gallifrey, planet of the Time Lords. Summoned home by a premonition of murder, the Doctor discovers a dark conspiracy at the highest levels of Time Lord society... and his oldest enemy, who poses a threat to the existence of Gallifrey itself... Part Two First aired Saturday, November 6, 1976 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Robert Holmes Directed by David Maloney UK Viewers 12.1 million Appreciation Index 59 Synopsis The President of the High Council has been killed and the Doctor is the prime suspect. The Time Lords are eager to dispense quick justice and the Doctor must race agains the clock to discover the truth... and an old enemy. Part Three First aired Saturday, November 13, 1976 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Robert Holmes Directed by David Maloney UK Viewers 13 million Synopsis The Doctor has entered the computation Matrix to prove his innocence. But his opponent is prepared for him and the two engage in a mental duel to the death. Part Four First aired Saturday, November 20, 1976 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Robert Holmes Directed by David Maloney UK Viewers 11.8 million Appreciation Index 61 Synopsis The Doctor has won his fight in the Matrix and revealed the assassin. But the Master is not defeated and sets a plan in motion that could destroy the Time Lords. Show All Episodes Characters Fourth Doctor The Time Lords The Decayed Master First Appearance Spandrell First Appearance Engin First Appearance Borusa First Appearance Pandad IV Rassilon First Appearance Show All Characters (8) How to watch The Deadly Assassin: Watch on iPlayer Blu-Ray Time Lord Victorious: Road to the Dark Times Blu-Ray The Collection – Season 14 DVD The Deadly Assassin VHS The Deadly Assassin (VHS) VHS The Time Lord Collection (VHS) Reviews Add Review Edit Review Sort: Newest First Oldest First Most Likes Highest Rating Lowest Rating Username (A-Z) Username (Z-A) Spoilers First Spoilers Last 3 reviews 23 September 2024 · 32 words Review by AndyUK Great story. Is responsible for creating so much of the Gallifreyan lore we know about. Very surreal at times and Peter Pratt's Master was an interesting way of bringing the character back. Like Liked 0 4 June 2024 · 420 words Review by dema1020 Spoilers This review contains spoilers! Deadly Assassin is far from perfect, and has a number of strange quirks to it, but by and large it is a very unique story from the Classic series that kind of has an irreplaceable, vital part of the franchise and its history. Sure, we had gotten scant glimpses of the Time Lords and Gallifrey up until now, but this is a whole new level, building so much into the world in these four short parts and bringing in a lot of new ideas and concepts to the franchise and the Doctor's people. That being said, it is a bit of a double-edged sword. While Deadly Assassin does a number of things right, like getting into multiple chapters and the fun use of colour in their costumes to denote each character's faction and position in Time Lord Society, it isn't perfect either. The danger of stories like this is that they simplify the Time Lords a bit. I find it weird they don't have a word or concept of framing somebody for a crime to the point they have to borrow it from the English language according to the dialogue, even when they prove as a people more than capable of such an action. As always in stories like these and the Gallifrey series, the Time Lords become a little too basic and easily susceptible to manipulation when we subject them to stories like this, and I prefer the air of power and authority they are more generally given from a distance. These are more insignificant concerns though, as Deadly Assassin is creative and entertaining, which matters most to me when evaluating something from Doctor Who. It is still held back by issues with its pacing, but it is an exciting story, a nice take on a politically themed thriller that is definitely worth checking out. It is weird to me that the Doctor is so unfamiliar with Time Lord politics here, and I think that was more done for the sake of exposition and the fact there isn't really a companion in this story. That's part of what makes it so unique and special though, the Doctor being involved in this story on his own without the usual support structure he leans on adds to the tension very nicely here. Still, there are a lot of good characters surrounding him in these four episodes and I really like the ending between the Doctor and Borusa alluding to their history. A great entry in Doctor Who history, to be sure. Like Liked 0 8 May 2024 · 171 words Review by 15thDoctor Spoilers 1 This review contains spoilers! After 13 and a half seasons of randomly pottering around time and space, with the occasional dash of continuity, The Doctor finds himself back home and revealing unprecedented amounts about his his race and home planet. This story has the rare accolade of being both set on Gallifrey and actually being good. It helps that a large chunk of the story is set in a frightening nightmare hallucination, so you never get a chance to get bored of the setting - which is home to assassination, lies and political games. I like that The Time Lords are set up as generally being total bastards. It makes total sense of why The Doctor left his home planet. It was wonderful to see The Master back after all this time - and in a new incarnation. It only increases the grand sense of history this story has. It’s a very special 4 parter that fees like a reward for sticking with the show up to this point and a celebration of its 13 year history. Like Liked 1 Open in new window Statistics AVG. Rating346 members 4.06 / 5 Trakt.tv AVG. Rating344 votes 3.92 / 5 The Time Scales AVG. Rating186 votes 4.35 / 5 Member Statistics Watched 634 Favourited 77 Reviewed 3 Saved 4 Skipped 0 Owned 9 Related Stories Other adaptations of this story: We define an adaptation as a recreation of a similar story but on a different medium or with different characters. Target Collection Doctor Who and the Deadly Assassin Rating: 3.81 Story Skipped Book More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Target Collection Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Quotes Add Quote Link to Quote Favourite BORUSA: Chancellor, all presidents are faced with difficult decisions. It is by their decisions that they are judged. — Borusa, The Deadly Assassin Show All Quotes (3) Open in new window Transcript Needs checking Part One Through the millennia, the Time Lords of Gallifrey led a life of peace and ordered calm, protected from 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 ... [TARDIS] (Now alone in the wooden console room, the Doctor has a vision.) DOCTOR: The Panopticon. Show Full Transcript Open in new window
