The Deadly Assassin Appreciation Thread

[Prydonian]

In honor of the 4 part adventure which introduced the world to Runcible, and gave Tom his first fight with the Master!

[philipdalton]

I would say it was a highly original idea which stood out as different from the rest.

[tch]

Excellent story. Possibly the best story featuring Galifry and the Doctor interacting with his fellow Time Lords.

Shame Tom didn't have any other Master stories till the end of his run. Would have been interesting if Tom's Doctor had crossed paths with the Rani or the Meddling Monk.

[Prydonian]

This one was my absolutel favorite as a kid growing up in America. I am actually getting this on video as a gift from my mum. This story shed some major light on the Society of Time Lords, and we got to see the Master for the first time since the late Roger Delgado's death.

It really works as both a stand-alone adventure (especially edited into a 90 minute movie) and the first of many trips the Good Doctor would take back home to Gallifrey.And is easily the most effective.
We got to meet Runcible, someone he apparently went to school with. Later spin-off media says they went to Prydon Academy, anyway. So did the Master. In fact I always find Runcible's death the most savage in the story, as the Master actually knew him. The Master as a character had never been up this point so desperate in his fight for survival.
And Tom! Oh my, Tom! Tom's Doctor is at his finest as he unravels a sinister plot to have him executed for a murder he didn't commit. The Doctor is at his greatest bid for surviving a story, and this time has no one to help him, at least at first, as he is for the only time in the series, without companions. He even sacrifices his hat and scarf while on the run and does battle with the Master and his sinister agent at the very heart of Gallifrey itself.

The only subsequent Dr Who that featured anything close to this battle between rival Time Lords is, in my humble opinion, the TV Movie in 1996. The dynamic between the Doctor and Master in this story is just that good.

All-around classic! 9/10 as Borusa would say!

[bcm77]

Number 3 on my all time top 10 list. Robert Holmes was the Master of Who writers and he always brought the best out of whichever Doctor he wrote for and this story was no exception.

[Prydonian]

It is therefore honorable that Mr Holmes actually passed away while working on one of his Dr Who scripts (the final parts of The Trial of a Time Lord starring Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor) but sad he never got to complete it as he wanted. Instead, we got Pip and Jane Baker to finish it and they made a muddle of things I am afraid to say.
Back to The Deadly Assassin, Peter Pratt made an excellent Master and it is a shame we only got to see him once in the part. Although the same version would be briefly reprised in The Keeper of Traken by another actor.

And here at my house we just love Bernard Horsfall as Chancellor Goth! Borusa was also at his best here instead of how later portrayals defined him. And of course Runcible! Runcible was a gem though his part small. I wonder sometimes if Runcible ever made it to full Time Lord status and could regenerate.

[Graceful Leonard]

And here at my house we just love Bernard Horsfall as Chancellor Goth!

Bernard Horsfall is one of those actors who has given wonderful performances in so many classic TV shows over the years (in the UK), yet few casual viewers would know his name. John Woodnut was another like that (he played Duke of Forgill in Zygons). I agree, Bernard was excellent in The Deadly Assassin.

[Prydonian]

Yes, being american, I have the sad misfortune of not having seen much of Bernard's work. But I did get the Patrick Troughton serial, The War Games, on DVD last year and lo and behold, there was Bernard again, playing a Time Lord! It was small potatoes compared to the co-star role he got in The Deadly Assassin, but enjoyable nonetheless. I just love watching the man play Goth. He really adds something to the part and I wonder if Tom has ever commented on him?

[Graceful Leonard]

Yes, being american, I have the sad misfortune of not having seen much of Bernard's work. But I did get the Patrick Troughton serial, The War Games, on DVD last year and lo and behold, there was Bernard again, playing a Time Lord! It was small potatoes compared to the co-star role he got in The Deadly Assassin, but enjoyable nonetheless. I just love watching the man play Goth. He really adds something to the part and I wonder if Tom has ever commented on him?

I can't remember whether Tom mentioned him on The Tom Baker Years -- which was out on VHS years ago. I have a feeling he did, but I haven't seen it for years now. I wish they'd release that on DVD.

I remember Bernard also appeared in the Troughton story Mind Robber, playing Gulliver. Another good performance of a very different kind.

[Prydonian]

I have The Tom Baker Years! I watched that bit from The Deadly Assassin just last week. Tom said he found the fight scene with Bernard repugnant as he disagreed with the style of violence being shown. But nothing was said about Bernard as an actor far as I can recall. Btw wasn't he also a Thal in the Jon Pertwee story Planet of the Daleks?