The Deadly Assassin - Episode 3

The information text on this episode says that this is one of the most controversial in the shows history and it’s not hard to see why. The story takes place largely in the matrix and apart from a few cutaway scenes, this story takes place in the matrix and with just the Doctor and Goth. It’s a rare thing to balance the story to this degree and its only because of Robert Holmes that this works. I think that if it were done by someone else then it wouldn’t have worked as well.

I often wonder what would happen in this episode if there were a companion and I think that it would lose quite a lot because just having the Doctor means that the viewer can just focus on him. There is a nice chase going of between the Doctor and the masked individual. When its revealed that Goth is the masked hunter it doesn’t really come as a great surprise but that’s not a problem because the whole chase has been so good that its at least a relief that they dispense with not mentioning what everyone must have known. I think that Bernard Horsfall gives another solid performance and this is perhaps his best. He manages to stand up to Tom Baker performance wise and speaking of Baker, this is his best episode I think since he took over the role.

The location work is superb and the high quantity of location filming means that this episode (and story) have a different vibe than previous stories. I mentioned in the previous episode’s review that David Maloney did a great job directing this story and it’s even better in this episode because Maloney uses the locations to their best and even though its filmed in a british quarry, it’s possible that some of them could be filmed in a rainforest and its funny watching the really hot summer on the screen when its equally just as hot outside during one of the warmest summers in a long time.

The cliffhanger is possibly the most controversial moment of them all. There is a shocking sight of Goff on fire but that’s not compared to when the Doctor is being held underwater by Goth and the shot freezes on him. This is another solid episode and I can’t find any fault with this episode whatsoever. This has been a great run of episodes and the problem with the story being as ‘controversial’ as it is perceived to be is that it is effectively the best that the Hinchcliffe era will get.