First reappearance of The Master since Frontier in Space (1973). Tragically Roger Delgado who first played The Master died in a car accident and the character was supposed to have a final appearance with The Third Doctor in an unproduced story called The Final Game
The Doctor and Goth's cat-and-mouse game in the Matrix is some of my favourite Dr Who content out there, it's raw, tense, brutal and almost cinematic. It's a shame that The Master's lines can be hard to make out and weren't instead dubbed over because a lot of Peter Pratt's delivery is gloriously vicious. Speaking of voices, Angus Mackay deserves more praise as Cardinal Borusa, the guy has such enthralling cadence it's no wonder he became an esteemed teacher at Time Lord Academy and he and Tom Baker sell that mentor-student relationship so charmingly. They struck gold with this story's cast. 9/10 from Borusa, 10/10 from me.
Interesting to see the Master is clearly regenerating at the end, growing pink flesh back, and lips, and hair. They seem to be trying to leave the part open for a new actor in future.
LMAO! I remember reading about that in DWM back in the day. DW has always had pissy fans. I also recall a bunch of whining when dear old Patrick took over. SMH.
Part 3’s cliffhanger got a lot of controversy for being too violent and when the story was repeated, the cliffhanger was edited. Also the ending where the Master’s face is in the Grandfather Clock is legit Nightmare fuel! Enjoy your nightmares !
The jungle and lake scenes were filmed in Gatton Park (Surrey) which was our school woods. Yeah, I am very old. Although in fairness the school is still there. The lake was actually the school fishing pond. Ironically, however, I never got to actually see the series until the '90's. I did read the Target novelization as a kid and still love both. They filmed an episode of Blake's 7 there too.
The guy playing Goth (the guy working for the Master and hunting the Doctor down) also played the lead Time Lord during 2's trial in The War Games, so you could headcanon that it's the same guy. Also yeah this one's weaker because he's on the brink of death, but that's also why, out of all the Masters, he's the most desperate, because he has everything to lose, so he's gonna be more vicious than usual.
The drowning cliffhanger was a turning point, in the TV morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse restraining how far this recent era's producer Philip Hinchcliffe could push his hard style. She scored a success with campaigning that leaving kids with that scene hanging over them for a week was a too bad impact.
There is so much lore invented - by Robert Holmes alone - in this one story, that it's almost like a soft reboot. Some of it would actually cause complications later on (notably, the first mention of the 12 regenerations limit - seemingly plucked out of the air here, in the probable belief the programme wouldn't make it that far!), but with the show approaching 14 years on air it seems inevitable that more information about the Time Lords must come out. And, of course, it sets up a whole situation with The Master having access to the Matrix... Where have we heard that recently?...
The Actor who played Goth is Bernard Horsfall. He was also in The Mind Robber where he played Gulliver. Also he played Taron the thal leader in Planet of the Daleks.
He was actually the comic baritone for the D'Oyly Carte Company's famous Gilbert and Sullivan productions for most of the 50s. Imagine a singing Master!
The first time I ever really felt afraid watching this show was when the Master's face appeared on that grandfather clock at the end (hey, I was just a kid)...
This whole story was banned in Australia until the late 1980s. It's interesting that you didn't "love it" but then, because it was banned, I'd read the target book many times as a kid before I finally saw it, so I guess it was never confusing to me because of that. It's in this story that you finally realize that the Time Lords are more or less pompous bureaucratic politicians with a highly technological society built on technology that they have no interest in and no longer understand. Borusa is a fun character too. You can see that he really likes the Doctor but balances that admiration with his dry politics. He wants the doctor to know he approves him but doesn't want to step off his pompous stage and get his hands dirty. Also -- the master did invite the doctor to this party. The matrix was going to send telepathic warnings out about the assassination and he redirected them to the Doctor. He could have sent them anywhere but he chose the doctor.
So many firsts in this story! First story set on Gallifrey, first time seeing how that society worked, first time inside the Panopticon, inside the Matrix (the latest time in The Timeless Children), first time learning about the Time Lord's limits, first time it's a solo Doctor story, and on and on. In the UK comic strips this is when many of the 4th Doctor's stories there took place. So much!
During the early Tom Baker years, Doctor Who was frequently targeted by the National Viewers and Listeners Association, a self appointed watchdog group that was critical of any television program that they considered to be too violent or too sexy. A woman named Mary Whitehouse was typically the public spokeswoman for the group. They got themselves into an especially big tizzy over episode three of this story, particularly the cliffhanger where the Doctor is being drowned. The BBC typically just ignored the group's complaints, or defended Doctor Who in the press. Following the brouhaha over this story however, they made the conscious decision to tone down the violence in Doctor Who to forestall further, similar complaints. The rest of this season was already a fait accompli, but in Season Fifteen you'll start to notice a gradual change in the series overall tone. There won't be a whole lot of kicking our way out of trouble at that point, but there will be an increase in humor, sometimes veering into camp.
This story sets up the series and mythos right into new Who. Its the first time we find out time lords can have 13 lives. The costume design for Gallifrey is set here. These 4 episodes set the grounding on the timelord mythos. The orginal plan for the master was for Roger Delgados incarnation to sacrifice himself to save Pertwees Doctor in his final story. Tragically Delgardo was killed in a car crash befote they could film it. They brought the master back like this as a method to keep the charector.
Ultimately, this would be the genesis of getting rid of Hinchcliffe and Holmes. They had been tagged for violence, but this one really kicked it into another gear.
The Crispy or Decayed Master as some fans refer to this version of the Master as played by the great Peter Pratt as original actor Roger Delgado sadly was tragically killed in an accident 3 years since his last appearance on the show which was "Frontier in Space". Tom Baker didn't want a companion and wanted to handle things on his own he instead wanted a talking cabbage as his co-star but the prouducers said No. You also watched the edited version of Episode 3 there was a scene right at the end of the cliffhanger that shows The Doctor being strangled underwater with a Freeze frame that scene is restored onto the DVD and Blu-Ray as it was edited out after the original broadcast due to complaints by a woman called Mary Whitehouse who was appalled about the violence in a kids show and the BBC felt Philip Hinchliffe the producer at the time was reaching a step too far which sadly was asked to leave after season which is a real shame i thought it was a ballsie move and took risks which i feel showrunners of today don't do enough of RTD brilliant writer but is too afraid to take risks which having David Tennant not in Jodie's costume is a prime example.
Cast your mind back to Heaven Sent and the Veil that pursues the Doctor in the confession dial is an old lady from the Doctors childhood who had reached the end of her cycle but her body was trying to keep her alive and she too looked like crispy Master.
No he couldn't. Sidious became the dictator of an entire galaxy and destroyed most of his enemies, while the Master can't even conquer a single planet. Not to mention that in a duel Sidious would win easily.
@@Rocket1377 The Master fails because of the Doctor. He is the sole reason for his failure 99% of the time. If the Doctor was in the Star Wars galaxy, Sidious would fail just as hard. And the Master has conquered Earth twice even with the Doctor around to stop him, so your statement about the Master not even being able to conquer Earth is wrong. Also *SPOILER ALERT* The Master has done more damage in Logopolis alone than Sidious ever has.
There was a good "in joke" that was skipped over having to do with The Doctor's Malfeasance Trial - He was released due to the Intervention of the Celestial Intelligence Agency (CIA)! The Castellan complains about their interference - The name of the actor who played The Castellan was George PRAVDA
Even though the master is a rotting corpse, the actor playing him is great at showing the pure evil of the master, it makes sense that the masters insanity grows as his body deteriorates.
I can't wait for you to watch The Talons of Weng Chiang. Your jaw is going to hit the floor. Ever watched original Star Trek? There's some great stuff in there.
The part 3 cliffhanger is now notorious for being the moment when the Producer's future on the show came into doubt. The complaints issued by Mary Whitehouse, of the National Viewers and Listeners Association, relating to the Doctor's head being held underwater (which, she claimed, would be retained in the mind of a child viewer for a whole week - a lifetime for a small person), added to a cumulative impression that Dr Who was becoming too violent. Or perhaps too horrific. Or both. In any case, it marked a turning point. Philip Hinchcliffe had already considered the moment a little too strong at the editing stage (and had acted, ahead of time, on other moments - such as Noah's transformation into a Wirrn in 'The Ark in Space'), but it seems it was too little too late. It's funny what upsets people, isn't it.
I like to think that The Master's fall into the Eye, might be the reason why he never dies in series. Love the fact, the Doctor avenges the death of the President, saves Gallifrey, and stops a Black Hole from swallowing up this part of the universe...but only gets 9/10. I wonder what would have made it a 10/10?!
The Deadly Assassin is a great political thriller and the best part is that it's entirely set on Gallifrey, which finally gives us the opportunity to explore the Time Lords extensively. It's really interesting then that this story completes their slow transformation from seeming God-like in The War Games to becoming the stuffy bureaucrats they are from this story onward. You get the sense that the Time Lords used to be a race of great ingenuity and innovation, but the ability to time travel and being able to see everything going on throughout time and space (the Time Lord's room of parliament is called the Panopticon for a reason, it literally translates to "all seeing") has stifled any progress on Gallifrey and stagnated Time Lord society. Everyone is obsessed with the "correct" order of things and maintaining control. They've all become obsessed with power, some in terms of worshipping and putting those in power on a pedestal, and others who wants to obtain that power for themselves. Chancellor Goth epitomises all that has gone wrong with Gallifrey and at the same time all of this emphasises and explains how different and at odds the Doctor is with the Time Lords. He's essentially an outcast, an alien on his own planet. Perhaps no other story better explains the Doctor's core beliefs and what makes him tick and why he left Gallifrey in the first place than this story does. The Master of course exploits Goth's hubris and ambition and plots with him to bring down the Doctor. Unbeknownst to Goth though, he was just a pawn in the Master's bigger game to destroy the Doctor and the Time Lords, he was disposable. They took the Master's character in a really interesting direction imo and instead of trying to replicate what Roger Delgado had done with the role, they went with something that fit better into the gothic horror tone of this era. He's the embodiment of hate and only his hate keeps him alive, which of course gives us the revelation that he's dying because he's used up all his regenerations. Establishing the 12 regeneration limit for the first time. I really like how single minded and determined the Master is in this story, his pitiful predicament has made him bitter to the point that he's obsessed with extending his life, while at the same time intent on destroying all those that he considers responsible for his plight in the first place. Along with the 12 regeneration limit introduced in this story, this story also gives us the Eye of Harmony and Rassilon. It's safe to say The Deadly Assassin is one of the most important and pivotal stories ever because of how much it contributes to the lore of the show. It also has a really well done and well executed plot that unfolds in a natural and very engaging manner across its four episodes. The way it combines its political themes with stark surrealism (it does the Matrix over 20 years before the movie of the same name comes out) is brilliant. I also have to give special mention to Tom Baker in this story. He may have had a point when he said he no longer needed a companion after Liz Sladen left (the main reason the Doctor is companionless here is to appease the leading man's ego) because he's at his absolute zenith here. His ability to switch from comedy to being serious seems completely effortless. You would think with Liz Sladen being gone, who of course was on the show before him and was a great support system once he came along, Tom would be a little nervous and apprehensive, but there's nothing of the sort in his performance here. Confidence is oozing off him at this point. The fourth Doctor/Sarah Jane pairing is iconic and is definitely the best and most successful Doctor/companion dynamic of his era, but I'd argue (and this might be controversial) that there's a period from The Deadly Assassin - Horror of Fang Rock (the first story of next season) that I consider Tom's peak as the Doctor specifically in terms of his performances. His chemistry isn't quite as good with his companion during this time (it's still great, I can't wait until next week to see you meet her), but Tom himself went up a level imo. Anyway, fantastic story. The consistency of this era continues to be a strength and the next three stories certainly continue in the same vein.
The Master didn't look like a skeleton because he was on his last regeneration - he just couldn't regenerate out of the awful shape he was in for one reason or another because he was on his last regeneration.
I think the implication is that the master tried to regenerate again despite not having any more regenerations and it failed leaving him in a dying body
I would have to share the opinion, that if the mystery Assassin,...were to be revealed to be Barbara....or, Susan would have been a logical reveal, for revenge on Gallifrey -we would have noticed different "anatomy", before the face reveal. That the same actor playing Goth was a Time Lord, at end of "The War Games" has led speculation that this is the same character.
"A purple thingy!" And Spandrell shooting people with a gun. OK, we have a Time Lord as unwilling to play by the rules as the Doctor - I like him! And the Doctor evidently likes Spandrell and Engin - he actually said goodbye, which he never does. Borusa agrees to spare the Doctor if he leaves? Good! So far they've forced him to regenerated, banished him to Earth in exile for years, sent him on countless missions, sent him to a Dalek filled Skaro, and tried to kill him. *No wonder* he has no intention of staying!
not necessarily. The 2nd Doctor's trial is probably a secret matter that only members of the CIA would know about, And the Time Lords as a whole weren't really into it. So he probably doesn't want to stay because he doesn't want to, Since the idea of him staying on Gallifrey would imply having to be a politician, renegade or not, or somehow living in boring Gallifreyan society.
Goths reveal was a bit predictable but the cat and mouse chase was brilliant love the introduction to the eye of harmony. Love Jess saying no more needles, knowing what's to come
I love this story. But the main issue for me is that it is notoriously difficult to reveal more about something that has been kept mysterious and in the background and not weaken it as a plot point. For me this story, suffers in that it makes this supposedly wise, advanced and just-shy-of-omnipotent civilization seem like a bunch of ignorant old ladies. And so with each time they appear their impact is weakened more and more.
Did you recognise the citadel guard that the Master sent to kill the Doctor while he was in the Matrix? None other than Ibrahim Namin from Pyramids of Mars.
He played "A Stranger" and "Gulliver" in "The Mind Robber", then "First Timelors" in "The War Games". He played "Taron" in "Planet of the Daleks". Finally he played "Chancellor Goth" in "The Deadly Assassin" here. Was Taron the one you were asking about? He's a Thal.
Funny thing is… this was the story that established the 12 regenerations rule, and it was a year after The Brain of Morbius which suggested the Doctor had lived more lives before the First Doctor.
A lot of Classic Who were so horribly drawn out to expand the runtime, but the basic storytelling was fun. I can see some modern fans doing a re-edit to shorten the runtime for a lot of thease older stories sooner or later. Cutting out most of the pointless chase scenes. Perhaps even boosting the playback speed a bit, 1.5x or 2.0x speed just to reduce the drag in some of the slower episodes. I guess given that so many of the storys fron the early episodes have been remade as audio productions, a mix track could expand/substitute some of the story telling to provide more background.
Part Three's cliffhanger is still the most notoriously controversial cliffhanger in Doctor Who history. That drowning ending came in for some intense criticism, particularly from the so-called 'clean-up TV' campaigner Mary Whitehouse, who was notoriously criticized Classic Doctor Who a lot. She often cited it in interviews as one of the most frightening scenes in Doctor Who with her reasoning being that children would not know if the Doctor survived until the following week and that they would "have this strong image in their minds" during that period of time. After the episode was broadcast, the BBC apologised to Whitehouse and, despite the popularity and success of season 14, Whitehouse and her followers managed to successfully convince the BBC drama department that Philip Hinchcliffe and Robert Holmes’ interpretation of the show was unsuitable for children, which would lead to a showrunning shake-up behind the scenes by the end of this season.
it was a real shame as I find this era to be Doctor Who's golden age, yes it was great under Dicks and Letts, especially with the UNIT family and all but this era is pure brilliance, the viewing figures certainly proved that
What makes me smile with mary whitehouse is how she complained about the Doctor drowning with the freeze frame. Yet as she complained about the doctor stopped breathing/moving, failed to spot the big blue wobbly thing the water stopped moving as well because the picture was paused. What a stupid woman she was having no faith in the viewers intelligence. But then she always thought Dr Who was made for the under 5's.
How stupid were her children? Or did she just let them watch so little TV that they didn't know how it worked? As a kid watching TV I knew damn well very early on that Superman, Spider-Man, Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain Kirk, The Doctor, Zorro, MacGyver, Thomas Magnum or whoever else was going to survive no matter how dramatic a cliffhanger they might end or go to commercial on...because it was their freakin' show. Every time they'd go to a freeze frame when KITT or the General Lee was making a big jump and the narrator was like "Ooooo, will they make this one?", kids the world over were like: "Duh". We ate it up, but we knew the game.
@@johngriffiths4373 "But then she always thought" that's wrong - she never did much thinking. Knee-jerk reactionism. She watched a lot of porn, though.
After the Deadly Assassin aired, there was a novel (Legacy of the Daleks) which dealt more behind the scenes of how the Master was burned on Tersurus. It's revealed that Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter, in self-defense, caused the Master to be set on fire there. Susan's marriage to David didn't last. She had been kidnapped by the Master, landed on Tersurus, and escaped, before Goth landed...
This incarnation is affectionately known as "The Crispy Master" and one of my favourites for clinging in and surviving in his dessicated state by possessing other bodies. And fun fact! This is technically the incarnation he was in at the beginning of the TV Movie, where he escaped death as a Snake like creature, which you've seen in the TV Movie, even though he was off screen! So, after nearly 40 Years, Big Finish finally did an explanation for how the Master got a new Regeneration Cycle after surviving as this corpse like incarnation for so long. You'll recall he can Regenerate during the Sound of Drums, despite being on his last life here. Obviously, since the series was cancelled, the Master doesn't pop up again in the TV series between the TV Movie and the Sounds of Drums, but in the Big Finish continuity of Audio Plays it goes into a little more detail Spoilers for some Audio Plays - as some people seem to think this is a major spoiler, though I'm fairly sure Big Finish Plays aren't on the agenda any time soon: The Big Finish Continuity suggests that each time he loses the body he was wearing , he would revert to his crispy state. It's rather hard to track down where the Crispy Master is in his timeline. He might be before one or more of his possessed bodies, between them, or, eventually after the TV Movie. Despite having literally dozens of bodies, he wouldn't actually undergo real regeneration again for decades in real time. Finally; there is *A* story where he does have an actual end (on a Planet named Parik, on an adventure with the 8th Doctor, in a Big Finish story called "Day of the Master.") But it was over 40 years between the appearance of the Crispy Master in this story, and actually closing his loop. Fun little detail: He would however be resurrected by Timelords - as he later recounts to the 10th Doctor. Not just any Time Lords, but Timelords form his personal future, who traveled back in time to avert his death, and embed his fresh corpse with a new Regeneration Cycle. This - paradoxically - would be payment for his future selvs service in the Time war. The Timelords who resurrected him (and who Simm's Master thinks about when he describes the event to the Doctor in "The Sound of Drums"), were in reality his two future selves, working together. The War Master, played by Derek Jacobi, and Missy; who successfully ensure their own revival. The Big FInish Only Master is a cool incarnation played by Alex McQueen. A shame we won't ever see him on screen because he is a crafty bastard and perhaps - because of his new cycle - much more willing to risk himself, doing audacious and reckless schemes. *Technically* is is working for the Time Lords for a bit, as they are by now fully engaged in Cold War with the Daleks, and they try to use him to cripple the Dalek Empire - but this backfires as he instead makes allegiance with a psychotic Rogue Dalek who is considered so unstable even the Dalek Supreme doesn't trust him, and who tries to create his own breakaway Dalek Empire. The Master, predictably, goes off to create chaos, but is eventually recalled to Gallifrey by Lord President Romana and briefly fights in the Time War on the side of Time Lords - though he later eschews the chain of command entirely and goes around causing chaos for both sides as he tries to use the Time War to his advantage, beginning a one man war against the Daleks - and if they get in his way, the Time Lords. Eventually, even that becomes too much, and he makes a genuine and sincere attempt to end the Time War and save the Universe. Curiously, when someone asks him if he wants to save the universe just to rule it, or if he genuinely wants the war to end, a psychic who is present comments that even the Master doesn't know anymore. Suggesting that just as the Time War warped the Doctor's nature, it also began to warp the Master's. However his attempt backfires and he flees the Time War in shame and fear, declaring that all is lost. Dovetailing right into Series 3.
It includes spoilers for New Who episodes - but only those which she's already seen and are on her channel, and for the TV Movie; which she has also already seen and is on her channel. The only *New* spoilers there are from the last 40 years worth of Big Finish Audio Plays, a rather fringe piece of expanded universe that is rarely considered Canon in the main TV series, and I honestly thought were more in the "Oh this is a neat bit of trivia." I've added a spoiler tag per a request, but come on I sincerely doubt she's going to be listening to Big Finish any time soon.
I find this story has some very good idea's - the Matrix, the Master at the end of his regenerations, the Doctor being framed for shooting the President. But the execution isn't great - too much time spent in the Matrix & it was all too trippy / a series of unconnected set pieces, the Masters plot is foiled but he's still running around as a skeleton at the end, we spend the whole story on Gallifrey but find out very little about the Time Lord's (Rasilon mentioned for the first time and some of the idea's around that are great, but feels dumped in at the end), the assassination plot seems to have just ended with very poor explanation. Overall not bad, but can't help feel like it could have been great if they'd limited how much time was spent in the Matrix and expanded on some of the other idea's / concluded things better.
If only the person under the mask was Barbara! This story gets a lot of praise, even ending up on a lot of people's "best episode" lists but I've seen it twice now and I think it's kind of ... dull. I think it ranks highly because it adds to Time Lord lore but I don't think it has much else going for it. The part in the Matrix doesn't matter and I couldn't understand much of what the Master was saying when he was yelling.
This is a fan favourite but was ok for me not the best of this season and as you mentioned trippy I found without an assistant there was no interaction with the viewer
"Oh, and Doctor?"
"Yes?"
"Nine out of ten."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."
A nice moment between teacher and student.
First reappearance of The Master since Frontier in Space (1973). Tragically Roger Delgado who first played The Master died in a car accident and the character was supposed to have a final appearance with The Third Doctor in an unproduced story called The Final Game
In "The Final Game", the Master was to have died in the story, in order to save the Doctor's life...
The final game became planet of the spiders the Lipton character was supposed to have been the master
The Doctor and Goth's cat-and-mouse game in the Matrix is some of my favourite Dr Who content out there, it's raw, tense, brutal and almost cinematic. It's a shame that The Master's lines can be hard to make out and weren't instead dubbed over because a lot of Peter Pratt's delivery is gloriously vicious.
Speaking of voices, Angus Mackay deserves more praise as Cardinal Borusa, the guy has such enthralling cadence it's no wonder he became an esteemed teacher at Time Lord Academy and he and Tom Baker sell that mentor-student relationship so charmingly. They struck gold with this story's cast. 9/10 from Borusa, 10/10 from me.
I find it extremely odd that the mental arena created by a high ranking Time Lord was full of Earth trains, weapons, clothes, a plane, a clown...
@@dupersuper1938 Using the Doctor's own knowledge and memories against him?
@@stevetheduck1425 Exactly. The Master knows how much the Doctor loves Earth so he uses a distorted version of it to wrong foot him
Interesting to see the Master is clearly regenerating at the end, growing pink flesh back, and lips, and hair. They seem to be trying to leave the part open for a new actor in future.
Part three was the one what got Old Mary Whitehouse all in a tizzy! Mary Whitehouse, was the original TV Karen!!!!
"What has happened to the magic of Doctor Who?" wailed the president of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society at the time.
LMAO! I remember reading about that in DWM back in the day. DW has always had pissy fans. I also recall a bunch of whining when dear old Patrick took over. SMH.
And that cycle continues today, it’ll keep going round and never stop…
Part 3’s cliffhanger got a lot of controversy for being too violent and when the story was repeated, the cliffhanger was edited. Also the ending where the Master’s face is in the Grandfather Clock is legit Nightmare fuel! Enjoy your nightmares !
Specifically because the final scene was of Tom Baker's submerged face, one edit of the scene also had it freeze frame on it. Thanks Mary! 🙄
I love The Deadly Assassin precisely because it's different from the series' traditional formula. It's easily in the Classic Who Top 10 for me.
The jungle and lake scenes were filmed in Gatton Park (Surrey) which was our school woods. Yeah, I am very old. Although in fairness the school is still there. The lake was actually the school fishing pond. Ironically, however, I never got to actually see the series until the '90's. I did read the Target novelization as a kid and still love both. They filmed an episode of Blake's 7 there too.
The guy playing Goth (the guy working for the Master and hunting the Doctor down) also played the lead Time Lord during 2's trial in The War Games, so you could headcanon that it's the same guy.
Also yeah this one's weaker because he's on the brink of death, but that's also why, out of all the Masters, he's the most desperate, because he has everything to lose, so he's gonna be more vicious than usual.
In the Avengers episode 'The Cybernauts', he played Oyama, the 'tall' mountain, an epithet as redundant as The 'Deadly' assassin!
He was also one of the Thal explorers in Planet of the Daleks weirdly enough.
The drowning cliffhanger was a turning point, in the TV morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse restraining how far this recent era's producer Philip Hinchcliffe could push his hard style. She scored a success with campaigning that leaving kids with that scene hanging over them for a week was a too bad impact.
Mary Whitehouse was the Original Karen!!!!!
There is so much lore invented - by Robert Holmes alone - in this one story, that it's almost like a soft reboot. Some of it would actually cause complications later on (notably, the first mention of the 12 regenerations limit - seemingly plucked out of the air here, in the probable belief the programme wouldn't make it that far!), but with the show approaching 14 years on air it seems inevitable that more information about the Time Lords must come out. And, of course, it sets up a whole situation with The Master having access to the Matrix... Where have we heard that recently?...
The Actor who played Goth is Bernard Horsfall. He was also in The Mind Robber where he played Gulliver. Also he played Taron the thal leader in Planet of the Daleks.
He's also a 'OO' agent in a James Bond film.
I have to say, Peter Pratt as the Master had such a great voice. Good performance. He just overflowed with menace!
He was actually the comic baritone for the D'Oyly Carte Company's famous Gilbert and Sullivan productions for most of the 50s. Imagine a singing Master!
@Fëanen I heard that. Any clips of him out there?
The first time I ever really felt afraid watching this show was when the Master's face appeared on that grandfather clock at the end (hey, I was just a kid)...
This whole story was banned in Australia until the late 1980s. It's interesting that you didn't "love it" but then, because it was banned, I'd read the target book many times as a kid before I finally saw it, so I guess it was never confusing to me because of that. It's in this story that you finally realize that the Time Lords are more or less pompous bureaucratic politicians with a highly technological society built on technology that they have no interest in and no longer understand.
Borusa is a fun character too. You can see that he really likes the Doctor but balances that admiration with his dry politics. He wants the doctor to know he approves him but doesn't want to step off his pompous stage and get his hands dirty.
Also -- the master did invite the doctor to this party. The matrix was going to send telepathic warnings out about the assassination and he redirected them to the Doctor. He could have sent them anywhere but he chose the doctor.
So many firsts in this story! First story set on Gallifrey, first time seeing how that society worked, first time inside the Panopticon, inside the Matrix (the latest time in The Timeless Children), first time learning about the Time Lord's limits, first time it's a solo Doctor story, and on and on. In the UK comic strips this is when many of the 4th Doctor's stories there took place. So much!
It's sort of like John Simms master when he's a skeleton in New Who. I like that there's some crossover
Yes but Peter Pratt doesn't jump single buildings like a human rabbit.
Yeah, both versions definitely took some inspiration from Emperor Palpatine. The black cloak, the disfigured face, the electricity powers....
@Rocket1377 Both versions? This story predated Return of the Jedi by 6 years?
During the early Tom Baker years, Doctor Who was frequently targeted by the National Viewers and Listeners Association, a self appointed watchdog group that was critical of any television program that they considered to be too violent or too sexy. A woman named Mary Whitehouse was typically the public spokeswoman for the group. They got themselves into an especially big tizzy over episode three of this story, particularly the cliffhanger where the Doctor is being drowned. The BBC typically just ignored the group's complaints, or defended Doctor Who in the press. Following the brouhaha over this story however, they made the conscious decision to tone down the violence in Doctor Who to forestall further, similar complaints. The rest of this season was already a fait accompli, but in Season Fifteen you'll start to notice a gradual change in the series overall tone. There won't be a whole lot of kicking our way out of trouble at that point, but there will be an increase in humor, sometimes veering into camp.
This story sets up the series and mythos right into new Who. Its the first time we find out time lords can have 13 lives. The costume design for Gallifrey is set here. These 4 episodes set the grounding on the timelord mythos.
The orginal plan for the master was for Roger Delgados incarnation to sacrifice himself to save Pertwees Doctor in his final story. Tragically Delgardo was killed in a car crash befote they could film it. They brought the master back like this as a method to keep the charector.
The Doctor wears the most awesome boots in this story.
They belonged to Tom Baker, and he wore them for the rest of his tenure.
Ultimately, this would be the genesis of getting rid of Hinchcliffe and Holmes. They had been tagged for violence, but this one really kicked it into another gear.
This is where Mary Whitehouse criticises Doctor Who for being too violent which is where The Sixth Doctor's tenure gets that criticism later on.
The Crispy or Decayed Master as some fans refer to this version of the Master as played by the great Peter Pratt as original actor Roger Delgado sadly was tragically killed in an accident 3 years since his last appearance on the show which was "Frontier in Space".
Tom Baker didn't want a companion and wanted to handle things on his own he instead wanted a talking cabbage as his co-star but the prouducers said No.
You also watched the edited version of Episode 3 there was a scene right at the end of the cliffhanger that shows The Doctor being strangled underwater with a Freeze frame that scene is restored onto the DVD and Blu-Ray as it was edited out after the original broadcast due to complaints by a woman called Mary Whitehouse who was appalled about the violence in a kids show and the BBC felt Philip Hinchliffe the producer at the time was reaching a step too far which sadly was asked to leave after season which is a real shame i thought it was a ballsie move and took risks which i feel showrunners of today don't do enough of RTD brilliant writer but is too afraid to take risks which having David Tennant not in Jodie's costume is a prime example.
Cast your mind back to Heaven Sent and the Veil that pursues the Doctor in the confession dial is an old lady from the Doctors childhood who had reached the end of her cycle but her body was trying to keep her alive and she too looked like crispy Master.
When it comes to cloaked disfigured megalomaniacs, The Master could give Darth Sidious a run for his money.
No he couldn't. Sidious became the dictator of an entire galaxy and destroyed most of his enemies, while the Master can't even conquer a single planet. Not to mention that in a duel Sidious would win easily.
@@Rocket1377 The Master fails because of the Doctor. He is the sole reason for his failure 99% of the time. If the Doctor was in the Star Wars galaxy, Sidious would fail just as hard. And the Master has conquered Earth twice even with the Doctor around to stop him, so your statement about the Master not even being able to conquer Earth is wrong. Also *SPOILER ALERT*
The Master has done more damage in Logopolis alone than Sidious ever has.
First appearance of The Eye Of Harmony.
There was a good "in joke" that was skipped over having to do with The Doctor's Malfeasance Trial - He was released due to the Intervention of the Celestial Intelligence Agency (CIA)! The Castellan complains about their interference - The name of the actor who played The Castellan was George PRAVDA
Even though the master is a rotting corpse, the actor playing him is great at showing the pure evil of the master, it makes sense that the masters insanity grows as his body deteriorates.
I can't wait for you to watch The Talons of Weng Chiang. Your jaw is going to hit the floor.
Ever watched original Star Trek? There's some great stuff in there.
The part 3 cliffhanger is now notorious for being the moment when the Producer's future on the show came into doubt. The complaints issued by Mary Whitehouse, of the National Viewers and Listeners Association, relating to the Doctor's head being held underwater (which, she claimed, would be retained in the mind of a child viewer for a whole week - a lifetime for a small person), added to a cumulative impression that Dr Who was becoming too violent. Or perhaps too horrific. Or both. In any case, it marked a turning point. Philip Hinchcliffe had already considered the moment a little too strong at the editing stage (and had acted, ahead of time, on other moments - such as Noah's transformation into a Wirrn in 'The Ark in Space'), but it seems it was too little too late. It's funny what upsets people, isn't it.
I like to think that The Master's fall into the Eye, might be the reason why he never dies in series. Love the fact, the Doctor avenges the death of the President, saves Gallifrey, and stops a Black Hole from swallowing up this part of the universe...but only gets 9/10. I wonder what would have made it a 10/10?!
so glad you enjoyed this one and picked up on all the important details one of the BEST Whovian reactors
The Deadly Assassin is a great political thriller and the best part is that it's entirely set on Gallifrey, which finally gives us the opportunity to explore the Time Lords extensively. It's really interesting then that this story completes their slow transformation from seeming God-like in The War Games to becoming the stuffy bureaucrats they are from this story onward. You get the sense that the Time Lords used to be a race of great ingenuity and innovation, but the ability to time travel and being able to see everything going on throughout time and space (the Time Lord's room of parliament is called the Panopticon for a reason, it literally translates to "all seeing") has stifled any progress on Gallifrey and stagnated Time Lord society. Everyone is obsessed with the "correct" order of things and maintaining control. They've all become obsessed with power, some in terms of worshipping and putting those in power on a pedestal, and others who wants to obtain that power for themselves. Chancellor Goth epitomises all that has gone wrong with Gallifrey and at the same time all of this emphasises and explains how different and at odds the Doctor is with the Time Lords. He's essentially an outcast, an alien on his own planet. Perhaps no other story better explains the Doctor's core beliefs and what makes him tick and why he left Gallifrey in the first place than this story does.
The Master of course exploits Goth's hubris and ambition and plots with him to bring down the Doctor. Unbeknownst to Goth though, he was just a pawn in the Master's bigger game to destroy the Doctor and the Time Lords, he was disposable. They took the Master's character in a really interesting direction imo and instead of trying to replicate what Roger Delgado had done with the role, they went with something that fit better into the gothic horror tone of this era. He's the embodiment of hate and only his hate keeps him alive, which of course gives us the revelation that he's dying because he's used up all his regenerations. Establishing the 12 regeneration limit for the first time. I really like how single minded and determined the Master is in this story, his pitiful predicament has made him bitter to the point that he's obsessed with extending his life, while at the same time intent on destroying all those that he considers responsible for his plight in the first place. Along with the 12 regeneration limit introduced in this story, this story also gives us the Eye of Harmony and Rassilon. It's safe to say The Deadly Assassin is one of the most important and pivotal stories ever because of how much it contributes to the lore of the show. It also has a really well done and well executed plot that unfolds in a natural and very engaging manner across its four episodes. The way it combines its political themes with stark surrealism (it does the Matrix over 20 years before the movie of the same name comes out) is brilliant.
I also have to give special mention to Tom Baker in this story. He may have had a point when he said he no longer needed a companion after Liz Sladen left (the main reason the Doctor is companionless here is to appease the leading man's ego) because he's at his absolute zenith here. His ability to switch from comedy to being serious seems completely effortless. You would think with Liz Sladen being gone, who of course was on the show before him and was a great support system once he came along, Tom would be a little nervous and apprehensive, but there's nothing of the sort in his performance here. Confidence is oozing off him at this point. The fourth Doctor/Sarah Jane pairing is iconic and is definitely the best and most successful Doctor/companion dynamic of his era, but I'd argue (and this might be controversial) that there's a period from The Deadly Assassin - Horror of Fang Rock (the first story of next season) that I consider Tom's peak as the Doctor specifically in terms of his performances. His chemistry isn't quite as good with his companion during this time (it's still great, I can't wait until next week to see you meet her), but Tom himself went up a level imo. Anyway, fantastic story. The consistency of this era continues to be a strength and the next three stories certainly continue in the same vein.
So excited for the next three story's
Goth is the Timelord who forced the Second Doctor into the Third Doctor and forced his exile to Earth!
Or he's just the same actor playing a different Time Lord with the same face like Maxil for instance.
@@joshuajoshua2732 not necessarily, since EU has already said that yes, he is Goth.
@@m4str8brun50 this!
The Deadly Assassin is definitely interesting.
Now you know how Doctor Who inspired The Matrix (movie)
The Master didn't look like a skeleton because he was on his last regeneration - he just couldn't regenerate out of the awful shape he was in for one reason or another because he was on his last regeneration.
Sesska, FYI Goth was in the War Games also, as he was one of the tribunal Timelords..
In one of the many novels I have Susan burned the Master when he visited Earth to try to restart the Daleks after their failed FIRST invasion.
I think the implication is that the master tried to regenerate again despite not having any more regenerations and it failed leaving him in a dying body
The word I think you were looking for is surreal.
I would have to share the opinion, that if the mystery Assassin,...were to be revealed to be Barbara....or, Susan would have been a logical reveal, for revenge on Gallifrey -we would have noticed different "anatomy", before the face reveal. That the same actor playing Goth was a Time Lord, at end of "The War Games" has led speculation that this is the same character.
Looking forward to the next story! I'll explain later.
Episode three was an homage to Hitchcocks "North By Northwest".
Can''t wait for Next week's Ep story! it's a good one!!!
"A purple thingy!"
And Spandrell shooting people with a gun. OK, we have a Time Lord as unwilling to play by the rules as the Doctor - I like him! And the Doctor evidently likes Spandrell and Engin - he actually said goodbye, which he never does.
Borusa agrees to spare the Doctor if he leaves? Good! So far they've forced him to regenerated, banished him to Earth in exile for years, sent him on countless missions, sent him to a Dalek filled Skaro, and tried to kill him. *No wonder* he has no intention of staying!
not necessarily.
The 2nd Doctor's trial is probably a secret matter that only members of the CIA would know about, And the Time Lords as a whole weren't really into it. So he probably doesn't want to stay because he doesn't want to, Since the idea of him staying on Gallifrey would imply having to be a politician, renegade or not, or somehow living in boring Gallifreyan society.
Goths reveal was a bit predictable but the cat and mouse chase was brilliant love the introduction to the eye of harmony.
Love Jess saying no more needles, knowing what's to come
Anyone point that one out? "Resistance is Futile"
About 13 years before Star Trek first introduced the Borg.
I love this story. But the main issue for me is that it is notoriously difficult to reveal more about something that has been kept mysterious and in the background and not weaken it as a plot point. For me this story, suffers in that it makes this supposedly wise, advanced and just-shy-of-omnipotent civilization seem like a bunch of ignorant old ladies. And so with each time they appear their impact is weakened more and more.
Did you recognise the citadel guard that the Master sent to kill the Doctor while he was in the Matrix? None other than Ibrahim Namin from Pyramids of Mars.
Is Goth the same actor who played Leader of the Thals in the pertwee story where the daleks were invisible ?
He played "A Stranger" and "Gulliver" in "The Mind Robber", then "First Timelors" in "The War Games". He played "Taron" in "Planet of the Daleks". Finally he played "Chancellor Goth" in "The Deadly Assassin" here.
Was Taron the one you were asking about? He's a Thal.
Yes he was. He also played the lead Time Lord at the Second Doctor’s trial at the end of The War Games.
@@boghag yes thank you and now you mention the other titles I totally recall it now
Don’t feel bad about leaning forward to try and hear better, I have tried to lean to the side to look around a corner when playing a video game. 😂
Funny thing is… this was the story that established the 12 regenerations rule, and it was a year after The Brain of Morbius which suggested the Doctor had lived more lives before the First Doctor.
A lot of Classic Who were so horribly drawn out to expand the runtime, but the basic storytelling was fun. I can see some modern fans doing a re-edit to shorten the runtime for a lot of thease older stories sooner or later. Cutting out most of the pointless chase scenes. Perhaps even boosting the playback speed a bit, 1.5x or 2.0x speed just to reduce the drag in some of the slower episodes. I guess given that so many of the storys fron the early episodes have been remade as audio productions, a mix track could expand/substitute some of the story telling to provide more background.
Horrible post
It's not without precedent. The BBC had made omnibus versions of some stories that trim them down to feature length.
I know what to get our hostess for Christmas...a 🐍...roflmbo
Part Three's cliffhanger is still the most notoriously controversial cliffhanger in Doctor Who history. That drowning ending came in for some intense criticism, particularly from the so-called 'clean-up TV' campaigner Mary Whitehouse, who was notoriously criticized Classic Doctor Who a lot. She often cited it in interviews as one of the most frightening scenes in Doctor Who with her reasoning being that children would not know if the Doctor survived until the following week and that they would "have this strong image in their minds" during that period of time. After the episode was broadcast, the BBC apologised to Whitehouse and, despite the popularity and success of season 14, Whitehouse and her followers managed to successfully convince the BBC drama department that Philip Hinchcliffe and Robert Holmes’ interpretation of the show was unsuitable for children, which would lead to a showrunning shake-up behind the scenes by the end of this season.
it was a real shame as I find this era to be Doctor Who's golden age, yes it was great under Dicks and Letts, especially with the UNIT family and all but this era is pure brilliance, the viewing figures certainly proved that
It’s my favorite era too. Doctor Who became a worldwide cult hit under Hinchcliffe and Holmes’ tenure and for good reason.
What makes me smile with mary whitehouse is how she complained about the Doctor drowning with the freeze frame. Yet as she complained about the doctor stopped breathing/moving, failed to spot the big blue wobbly thing the water stopped moving as well because the picture was paused. What a stupid woman she was having no faith in the viewers intelligence. But then she always thought Dr Who was made for the under 5's.
How stupid were her children? Or did she just let them watch so little TV that they didn't know how it worked? As a kid watching TV I knew damn well very early on that Superman, Spider-Man, Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain Kirk, The Doctor, Zorro, MacGyver, Thomas Magnum or whoever else was going to survive no matter how dramatic a cliffhanger they might end or go to commercial on...because it was their freakin' show. Every time they'd go to a freeze frame when KITT or the General Lee was making a big jump and the narrator was like "Ooooo, will they make this one?", kids the world over were like: "Duh". We ate it up, but we knew the game.
@@johngriffiths4373 "But then she always thought" that's wrong - she never did much thinking. Knee-jerk reactionism. She watched a lot of porn, though.
I haven't decided to this day how I feel about this one :D
Classy, sexy, beautiful woman specimen I appreciate 😍😌
After the Deadly Assassin aired, there was a novel (Legacy of the Daleks) which dealt more behind the scenes of how the Master was burned on Tersurus. It's revealed that Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter, in self-defense, caused the Master to be set on fire there. Susan's marriage to David didn't last. She had been kidnapped by the Master, landed on Tersurus, and escaped, before Goth landed...
You should react to Ninjas vs zombies season 1-2
This incarnation is affectionately known as "The Crispy Master" and one of my favourites for clinging in and surviving in his dessicated state by possessing other bodies.
And fun fact! This is technically the incarnation he was in at the beginning of the TV Movie, where he escaped death as a Snake like creature, which you've seen in the TV Movie, even though he was off screen!
So, after nearly 40 Years, Big Finish finally did an explanation for how the Master got a new Regeneration Cycle after surviving as this corpse like incarnation for so long. You'll recall he can Regenerate during the Sound of Drums, despite being on his last life here.
Obviously, since the series was cancelled, the Master doesn't pop up again in the TV series between the TV Movie and the Sounds of Drums, but in the Big Finish continuity of Audio Plays it goes into a little more detail
Spoilers for some Audio Plays - as some people seem to think this is a major spoiler, though I'm fairly sure Big Finish Plays aren't on the agenda any time soon:
The Big Finish Continuity suggests that each time he loses the body he was wearing , he would revert to his crispy state. It's rather hard to track down where the Crispy Master is in his timeline. He might be before one or more of his possessed bodies, between them, or, eventually after the TV Movie. Despite having literally dozens of bodies, he wouldn't actually undergo real regeneration again for decades in real time.
Finally; there is *A* story where he does have an actual end (on a Planet named Parik, on an adventure with the 8th Doctor, in a Big Finish story called "Day of the Master.")
But it was over 40 years between the appearance of the Crispy Master in this story, and actually closing his loop. Fun little detail: He would however be resurrected by Timelords - as he later recounts to the 10th Doctor. Not just any Time Lords, but Timelords form his personal future, who traveled back in time to avert his death, and embed his fresh corpse with a new Regeneration Cycle. This - paradoxically - would be payment for his future selvs service in the Time war. The Timelords who resurrected him (and who Simm's Master thinks about when he describes the event to the Doctor in "The Sound of Drums"), were in reality his two future selves, working together. The War Master, played by Derek Jacobi, and Missy; who successfully ensure their own revival.
The Big FInish Only Master is a cool incarnation played by Alex McQueen. A shame we won't ever see him on screen because he is a crafty bastard and perhaps - because of his new cycle - much more willing to risk himself, doing audacious and reckless schemes. *Technically* is is working for the Time Lords for a bit, as they are by now fully engaged in Cold War with the Daleks, and they try to use him to cripple the Dalek Empire - but this backfires as he instead makes allegiance with a psychotic Rogue Dalek who is considered so unstable even the Dalek Supreme doesn't trust him, and who tries to create his own breakaway Dalek Empire. The Master, predictably, goes off to create chaos, but is eventually recalled to Gallifrey by Lord President Romana and briefly fights in the Time War on the side of Time Lords - though he later eschews the chain of command entirely and goes around causing chaos for both sides as he tries to use the Time War to his advantage, beginning a one man war against the Daleks - and if they get in his way, the Time Lords. Eventually, even that becomes too much, and he makes a genuine and sincere attempt to end the Time War and save the Universe. Curiously, when someone asks him if he wants to save the universe just to rule it, or if he genuinely wants the war to end, a psychic who is present comments that even the Master doesn't know anymore. Suggesting that just as the Time War warped the Doctor's nature, it also began to warp the Master's.
However his attempt backfires and he flees the Time War in shame and fear, declaring that all is lost. Dovetailing right into Series 3.
SPOILERS. Edit this or delete. Massive spoilers.
@@hornorsilk2901 agreed. Jess does not need an essay filled with spoilers. Delete
Please delete your message as you include spoilers which Jess does not want to know.
It includes spoilers for New Who episodes - but only those which she's already seen and are on her channel, and for the TV Movie; which she has also already seen and is on her channel.
The only *New* spoilers there are from the last 40 years worth of Big Finish Audio Plays, a rather fringe piece of expanded universe that is rarely considered Canon in the main TV series, and I honestly thought were more in the "Oh this is a neat bit of trivia."
I've added a spoiler tag per a request, but come on I sincerely doubt she's going to be listening to Big Finish any time soon.
I did see one classic who spoiler there but now it’s gone. Thank you.
Hello my name is kain I was wondering can you do reaction of the wiggles one little coyote video please
I find best to enjoy the original series as its own thing, since in recent seasons the retconning has got out of hand IMO. But that's just me.
"The Expanse".
Ah the wimpy part 3 cliffhanger.
But you like the wimpy Doctors. Your favourite era is the garbage 80's and its garbage Doctors.
Please don’t read Ben Lowes post it includes spoilers!!
I find this story has some very good idea's - the Matrix, the Master at the end of his regenerations, the Doctor being framed for shooting the President.
But the execution isn't great - too much time spent in the Matrix & it was all too trippy / a series of unconnected set pieces, the Masters plot is foiled but he's still running around as a skeleton at the end, we spend the whole story on Gallifrey but find out very little about the Time Lord's (Rasilon mentioned for the first time and some of the idea's around that are great, but feels dumped in at the end), the assassination plot seems to have just ended with very poor explanation.
Overall not bad, but can't help feel like it could have been great if they'd limited how much time was spent in the Matrix and expanded on some of the other idea's / concluded things better.
This is my favourite story Tom Baker is on top form In this and it being a Master villain story I was never a big fan of the Master.
If only the person under the mask was Barbara!
This story gets a lot of praise, even ending up on a lot of people's "best episode" lists but I've seen it twice now and I think it's kind of ... dull. I think it ranks highly because it adds to Time Lord lore but I don't think it has much else going for it. The part in the Matrix doesn't matter and I couldn't understand much of what the Master was saying when he was yelling.
Susan would have been better!
This is a fan favourite but was ok for me not the best of this season and as you mentioned trippy I found without an assistant there was no interaction with the viewer