Doctor Who/Recap/S14/E03 The Deadly Assassin

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< Doctor Who‎ | Recap‎ | S14
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...
—The Opening Narration, as read by The Doctor
"Vaporisation without representation is against the constitution!"
—The Doctor protests his punishment

Summoned to Gallifrey and with no companion at his side, the Doctor has no sooner arrived than he apparently assassinates the Time Lord President, and is arrested. However, it becomes apparent that this is a plot of the Master's - having used up all his regenerations, the Doctor's Evil Counterpart is a wizened husk and can gain a new set of regenerations if he can get hold of the Presidential regalia: the Sash and Rod of Rassilon are really the keys to the Eye of Harmony, source of Time Lord power.

The Doctor escapes execution by virtue of standing as a Presidential candidate, then enters the virtual reality of The Matrix (no, not that one) to track down the Master, and a deadly chase ensues in the surreal landscape. The Doctor discovers that the Master has been using Chancellor Goth, the leading presidential candidate - Goth is killed, but the Master already has the regalia. The Master begins opening the Eye of Harmony but is stopped by the Doctor and falls into a fissure. The Time Lords elect the Doctor as the new President, but he slips away and absconds, followed shortly afterwards by the Master, whom the Doctor believes to have died.

This serial is important in that it is the first to take place entirely on Gallifrey. In addition, many details of Time Lord society are revealed (the 13 regeneration limit, Rassilon, the political system, swanky Time Lord regalia, etc.), thus answering many of the whys of Who.

This story is best known for having no companions - making it the only pre-1989 one not to feature them. Ultimately this proved the companion's use as The Watson, as it was hard to convey the Doctor's thoughts without someone for him to explain them to, and the post-2005 stories with no regular companions tend to have a guest character filling the role temporarily.

Tropes

"I think he's ruthless and determined; a typical CIA agent."

Spandrell: Well done, Hilred. An antiquated capsule, for which you get adequate early warning, transducts on the very steps of the Capital. You are warned that the occupant is a known criminal, therefore you allow him to escape and conceal himself in a building a mere 53 stories high. A clever stratagem, Hildred. You're trying to confuse him, I take it?

  • Loophole Abuse: The Doctor is accused of killing the President of Gallifrey, the punishment for which is execution. However, the president had not named a successor before he was killed so an election must be held. So to put off his execution long enough to figure out what's really going on, the Doctor invokes some obscure law that lets him submit himself as a candidate so the Time Lords can't execute him until after the election.
  • The Master: Is a decaying husk of a Time Lord.
  • Monster Clown: A brief (but memorable) glimpse in the Matrix.
  • Name's the Same: No, not that virtual reality called the Matrix...
  • Nice Hat: The Time Lord's iconic headpieces debut in this serial.
  • Not-So-Harmless Villain: Even literally decaying, the Master is ".. not nearly so infirm as I look."
  • Opening Monologue: Not used again until the TV movie.
  • Opening Scroll: The only story in the series to use one.
  • Pinch Me: The Doctor is able to avoid Goth's traps in the Matrix by denying that they exist.
  • Platonic Cave: The Matrix.
  • Propaganda Machine
  • Resistance Is Futile: The Master says this verbatim.
  • Something Completely Different: This is the Doctor's only solo story with no companion in tow. This was ultimately deemed undesirable in the long run.
  • Technicolor Toxin: In the Matrix sequence, the poison Goth pours into the only source of drinking water is green.
    • Off-the-Shelf FX: In fact, it looks very much like green food colouring, still in its original bottle.
  • Those Two Guys: Spandrell and Engin.
  • Year Inside, Hour Outside: Time runs more quickly in the Matrix. The Doctor's adventures take up an episode and a half; to the Time Lords watching, it takes about four minutes.
  • You Look Familiar: Chancellor Goth is played by Bernard Horsfall, who also played the Time Lord who sentenced the Doctor to exile in "The War Games". Some Expanded Universe works make them the same character, but he wasn't cast with this in mind.
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