Product Details

• Actors: William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison
• Writers: Sydney Newman
• Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: May 31, 1995
• Run Time: 85 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301802748
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #219,867 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Doctor (Tom Baker) becomes embroiled in a political assassination plot after returning to his home planet of Gallifrey in this gripping and historically significant 1976 serial from the venerable British science-fiction series Doctor Who. As Who scholars know, the Doctor had not returned to Gallifrey since the 1969 serial The War Games, but after receiving a summons in the previous story, The Hand of Fear (which saw Elisabeth Sladen's departure from the series), the Doctor again ventures home in time to see the retirement of the Time Lords' president; unfortunately, the leader is killed during the ceremony, and the murder pinned on the Doctor. The Master (Peter Pratt) is revealed as the mastermind behind the crime, and the Doctor must enter the virtual reality world of the planet's computer system, the Matrix, in order to find his archenemy. Though not a fan favorite at the time (die-hards found its depiction of the Gallifreyan government too close to more Earthly ones), The Deadly Assassin has found favor in the ensuing decades thanks to its many firsts in the Doctor Who universe (it's the first serial to feature the Doctor without a companion, the first to introduce the Matrix, and the first to expand on the workings of the Time Lords--and then there's that whole business about the Matrix 30 years before the big-screen epic), as well as its imaginative and suspenseful direction.

Fans will find a wealth of supplemental material on the conception and execution of Assassin on the DVD; Baker, producer Phillip Hinchcliffe, and costar Bernard Horsfeld (the formidable Chancellor Goth) provide a lively commentary track, and all three return for "The Matrix Revisited," a half-hour making-of featurette that traces the serial's inception from Sladen's departure through the controversy sparked over its violent fight scenes. The "Gallifreyan Candidate" featurette is a sluggish comparison of Assassin with its inspiration, The Manchurian Candidate, while "The Frighten Factor" utilizes a vast number of clips from all 10 Doctors' adventures to discuss the scarier aspects of the show. There's also the by-now standard subtitle production notes, photo gallery, and Radio Times listing in PDF format; the Easter Egg-savvy will find BBC 1's preview for Deadly Assassin, which followed the final episode of Hand of Fear. --Paul Gaita

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Doctor Who at its most controversial, May 30, 2009

By 

Nathan Redmond "Brade Runnar" (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doctor Who: The Deadly Assassin (Story 88) (DVD)

What can be said about The Deadly Assassin? It's great. It's full of mystery and intrigue, action and suspense, and Tom Baker fortunately not having a companion to upstage him. I daren't talk about the story further; rather, I shall discuss both the DVD and the controversy the story created during transmission.

Ever hear of Mary Whitehouse? I suspect most Americans don't know her, but since this is a British show and she didn't really like it, I feel the need to talk about her. She was an ultra-conservative bint who complained from the 1960's through the 1990's about how so-called "depravity" in BBC programmes (that is, sex, violence and profanity) was culturally retarding the UK. Strangely, she never seemed to complain about anything on ITV (the other major UK broadcaster at the time); I guess it's because they aren't funded by the government, and therefore don't matter. Pink Floyd ripped on her in their album Animals in 1977 (and in America, Tipper Gore hilariously misinterpreted the line "Hey you, Whitehouse" from the album as anti-American).

She started to get her knickers in a twist about Doctor Who in the early 1970's (probably not long after Terror of the Autons was broadcast), but most people didn't listen to her. But then, after part three of this serial was broadcast, she unleashed a vicious attack. She was not very happy about the cliffhanger, where the Doctor's head is held underwater in a memorable freeze-frame shot. The BBC apologized and removed the shot from the master tape.

However, recordings made during the original broadcast exist with the original ending intact, and have been used to restore the ending for the DVD. Speaking of, the DVD includes an audio commentary featuring Tom Baker, Bernard Horsfall and producer Philip Hinchcliffe, along with three documentaries concerning the production of the story, the influence that "The Manchurian Candidate" had on the episode, and the most frightening moments in Doctor Who respectively. Whitehouse (who died in 2001) is featured in the former documentary; it should be a real hoot to hear her attack the show, like that footage of Michael Grade in The Trial of a Time Lord's special features.

All in all, a great episode wrapped up in a nice DVD package. Recommended.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tom Baker's Finest Hour, December 1, 2001

By 

S. Nyland "Squonkamatic" (Six Feet Of Earth & All That It Contains) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Doctor Who - The Deadly Assassin [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Finally. No more sidekicks or distractions. No silly sub plots about stuff not relevant to the central story. No hysterical damsels to rescue, no ridiculous contraptions to rig, and no ubiquetous Alien Menace or Killer Robot or other sort of threat run amok. Finally, an episode that seems to be more concerned about the character of the Doctor than about using him as a storytelling device. Doctor Who follows the Time Lord's summon back to Gallifrey and finds himself caught up in a complex weave of murder and deception unleashed by The Master, a villain so worthy of The Doctor that Baker even concedes "He's absolutely brilliant - he's almost on my level" ... of mathematics. I actually see a lot of little pokes at the Warren Comission and House Select Comittee on Assasination's probes into the JFK enigma in the opening acts. But the "money melon" section of this adventure is where the Doctor enters the so-called Matrix to do battle with the Master's patsy in a kill or be killed deathmatch worthy of a Walter Hill movie. It is simply one of the best sequences from the history of the Who series, and the various acts of the adventure allow Baker to shine forth as an actor capable of several roles -- action hero, crime sleuth, scientific wizard and, above all, a Man who keeps his sense of humor even when being tortured. This is the adventure that also features my alltime favorite line from the whole series -- "Only in mathematics shall we find truth", and don't miss the shrunken body in the camera with the Kung-Fu grip. A must have for any serious Who fanatic and a great introduction to Baker's character: why not start with the best? Very highly recommended.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Once Upon a Time Lord..., June 10, 2009

By 

Eric J. Draves (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Doctor Who: The Deadly Assassin (Story 88) (DVD)

Every once in a while a TV show decides to put out something different and special, perhaps for better ratings or to stir up the stagnant continuity. In many ways, this is Doctor Who's big moment, smack dab inbetween the two most memorable companions of the Fourth Doctor, and running during the show's midpoint, the 13th anniversary.

Many things make this story stand out from the others-- the Doctor has no companion; the journey to his homeworld for the first time since "The War Games"; the colorful High Council costumes; the unusual method by which the Doctor gets out of his death sentence; a decrepit and decaying foe from the past...

But even with these things, what will strike today's viewers the most is that this story contains the first ever mention of a virtual world called THE MATRIX, some 20+ years before it was shamelessly ripped off for a movie.

I wasn't bothered by the controversial "drowning" incident as much as by the unresolved plot holes that dot the story like singularities. I won't bother the reader with excruciating details, but they'll be easy enough to find. However, this story shines on its own just for being different and is a real treasure.

This is where Tom Baker gets his wish-- to appear in a story with no companions-- and as a result he is surrounded by them the rest of his scarfbearing days. He also gets to narrate, which he doesn't do again until "Shada".

I would recommend this story to anyone wanting to know more about the Doctor's homeworld. Of course, no single story contains everything you might need to know, so I would also recommend "The Invasion of Time" as a companion piece.