The Deadly Assassin - Episode 2

After being totally thrilled with the opening episode this episode doesn’t waste any time in getting going. They add something to the reprise when they show someone else holding the gun which kills the President. The scene where the Doctor is being tortured does highlight why having a companion would be good for the Doctor.

The ‘trial’ is a weird scene because it starts with the Doctor sketching and its clear that Bernard Horsfall’s character is trying to manipulate things. He clearly has aspirations to become President and its obvious even to a blind spielsnake that he’s working with the Master. The Master’s mask is very good. It might be a bit primitive but it still looks creepy. In his first scene he still isn’t named but its moments later when we see a figure in the camera and it’s clear that it what the Master use to do. When the Doctor finds out that the Master is on Gallifrey his attitude changes a great deal. Tom Baker has been very good so far in this story and it weird to see how different he has been since Elisabeth Sladen has left the show. Baker’s argument he didn’t need a companion are proven here.

The Doctor invokes article 17 to avoid being executed. Robert Holmes has invented some things in this story which become part of Doctor Who’s folklore. Not sure that this is one of them but it’s a good plot device to use and helps move the story enough and gets the Doctor out of his current predicament (and into another one).

The Doctor decides that he is going to try and convince Spandrell by proving that he couldn’t have shot the President. George Pravda returns to the show and is again someone that the Doctor (and thus the viewer) can trust and effectively becomes the Doctor’s companion.

It’s in this episode where the Doctor goes into the Matrix and this is where the episode shows its greatness to everyone. The Doctor is in peril pretty much from the moment he arrives in the matrix. These scenes are fantastically directed by David Maloney who is one the best directors to have ever worked in Doctor Who purely based on his consistently high quality. To try and pick out a particular highlight would be unfair to those moments that I don’t choose. The cliffhanger is a great one with the Doctor about to be mowed down by a train. This is a great end to a great episode. I think that my original thoughts about this being a fantastic story are spot on and this has to be one of the best Tom Baker stories that there has been. Half way through and I still want to watch the next two episodes now but I suppose I have to wait.