The Fourth Doctor - The Deadly Assassin

[Thascales]

THE DEADLY ASSASSIN
by Robert Holmes



Starring Tom Baker with Peter Pratt.

Production Code: 4P

First Transmitted:
1 - 30/10/1976 18:05
2 - 06/11/1976 18:05
3 - 13/11/1976 18:05
4 - 20/11/1976 18:05

'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 powers...' The cornerstone of every Doctor Who story made from this point onwards, The Deadly Assassin is a complete rewrite of the series' format.

The reputation of The Deadly Assassin rests with its violence and its revelations about the Doctor's people and their culture. Politically literate and cynical ('We must adjust the truth'), the serial is the definitive text on the Time Lords. The Doctor's journey into the APC net (which takes up half of the second and all of the third episodes) is a visual and intellectual tour de force of hallucinatory images.

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[Nyki]

I was watching this yesterday, and it reminded me of a theory I had a while back.  I've no idea if it's original or already widely discussed, but I'll throw it out anyway.

WHAT FOLLOWS CONTAINS SPOILERS






There's very little explanation given for why Goth teams up with the Master and plots to destroy the Time Lords.  All he says is that he wants power, but I wonder if there's a clue in the casting.  Goth is played by Bernard Horsfall, who had previously played the unnamed chief judge at the Doctor's trial in The War Games.  He sentenced the Doctor to banishment on Earth, but this was rescinded within a few years, apparently at the request of the CIA.

Now, the judge was clearly a very senior Time Lord, and it's quite feasible that he could either be the Chancellor, or in a position to become Chancellor quite soon.  If this really was Goth, he might have resented the High Council undermining his decision, and the Doctor making a fool of him.  That could have festered to the point where the Master was able to use it for his own ends.

What do you think?

[Saber]

Its an awesome theory and certainly one that I have never considered. I think that I will probably view it slightly differently on my next rewatch now. Whether you are right or not, I like it