The Deadly Assassin
(DVD)

 

Starring Tom Baker
4 Episodes
1976
94 minutes (color)
Single Disc



 

 

Production Notes
Doctor Who
Tom Baker

The Master
Peter Pratt

Written by
Robert Holmes
Directed by
David Maloney

Produced by
Philip Hinchcliffe

Original Airdate
Oct 30, 1976 - Nov 20, 1976

R1 DVD Release Date
September 2009

Warner Home Video
#3000022932


U.K. Cover


 



Cover Blurb
 

 

Gallifrey.  Planet of the Time Lords.  The Doctor has finally come home, but not by choice. 

Summoned by a vision from the Matrix, he is drawn into a web of political intrigue and assassination.  Nothing is quite what it seems, and in the shadows lurks his oldest and deadliest enemy.


 

 



 

 

 

DVD Features

  • The Matrix Revisited:

 A thirty minute documentary on the making of "The Deadly Assassin".  Interviewees include Tom Baker (4th Doctor), David Maloney (director), Philip Hinchcliffe (producer), Roger Murray-Leach (designer), Jan Vincent-Rudzki (Doctor Who Appreciation Society founding president) and founder of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association - and long time critic of Doctor Who - Mary Whitehouse.
 

 
  • The Gallifreyan Candidate:
 A brief, ten minute featurette that looks at the similarities between "The Deadly Assassin" and the 1962 film "The Manchurian Candidate" (from which the Doctor Who story was based).
 

 
  • The Frighten Factor:
 A comprehensive look at the "behind the sofa" phenomenon of Doctor Who - it's ability to both frighten and thrill children.  Interview range from producers and script editors from Doctor Who to TV histories to child psychologists.
 

 
  • Photo Gallery:
 Once again we are treated to many rare production stills and quite a few behind the scenes ones as well.
 

 
  • Information Text:
 Lots of trivia and tidbits of Whovian detail are provided.  The text appears intermittently along the bottom of the screen and is written by members of the Doctor Who Restoration Team.
 

 
  • Radio Times Listings:
 Accessible from any computer with a DVD drive, a PDF of some of the original Radio Times press clippings.
 

 
  • Audio Options:
 The audio commentary for this release include Tom Baker (4th Doctor), Bernard Horsfall (Chancellor Goth), and producer Phillip Hinchcliffe. 
 

 
  • Easter Eggs:
 There is 1egg included in this release.  Scroll further down to find more details.  For a full list of known Easter Eggs and screen grabs of them click HERE.
     



 

 

 

Easter Egg

#1. CONTINUITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
(Original Broadcast)


Go to the 'Special Features' menu.
Click on the hidden Doctor Who logo to the left of the 'Photo Gallery'.

   

 

 

 

 

 

Additional Notes
  • Consistently ranked high amongst fans, "The Deadly Assassin" is the only Doctor Who story not to have a companion in it.
  • This story also marks the return of one of Doctor Who's most popular villains, The Master (not seen since "Frontier in Space" some 3 years previously).  It would be another 5 years before the character would be resurrected again (this time in the story "The Keeper of Traken").
  • This story was one of the most controversial adventures at that time.  The producers received quite a bit of flack for what was then considered an extremely violent scene with the Doctor being drowned at the end of episode 3.  This event purportedly had a role in the departure of Philip Hinchcliffe as producer of Doctor Who.  Ironic, since his 3 years on the show are now considered to be one of the "Golden Ages" of Doctor Who.
     
  • Shortly after transmission, the controversial drowning cliffhanger was removed from the master tape - meaning that no broadcast quality version existed of the original cliffhanger.  The Doctor Who Restoration Team have gone to great lengths to restore this scene using off air recordings from the first transmission in 1976.
  • George Pravda (Castellan Spandrell) made his first appearance for Doctor Who in the Troughton story "The Enemy of the World" as Denes and was also in "The Mutants" with Jon Pertwee.
  • Bernard Horsfall (Chancellor Goth) had appeared 4 years earlier in the Pertwee story "Planet of the Daleks" as Commander Taron.  Prior to his "Planet" appearance he was a Timelord in "The War Games" and as Gulliver in "The Mind Robber."
     
  • The U.K. never released "The Deadly Assassin" in an omnibus format.  When it was released in the U.K. it was already in its unedited episodic format.  To understand the events it is worth noting that in the U.K. videos have a certificate rating system (much like movies do here in North America).  As fate would have it, it was scheduled to release in 1989, but at the time it was to be given a PG rating.  Since BBC Worldwide considered Doctor Who as a children's program, they withheld the release until it got a lower U rating.  So, in 1989 the U.S. went ahead with the release while the U.K. held off.  The U rating was given to "Deadly Assassin" in 1991.  By that time, however, the practice of editing Doctor Who episodes together was abandoned in favor of releasing them in their original episodic version.  The end result is that North America got the omnibus version in 1989 while the U.K. got the unedited one 2 years later in 1991.  Now, twenty years later, fans in North America can enjoy the complete and unedited version of this story.  :)
  • As with all of the DVD releases to date, the Doctor Who Restoration Team did extensive work on this story.  More information on the restoration of this story can be read at their website HERE.