"If heroes don't exist, it is necessary to invent them."
As I traverse a period of the show full of people's favorite episodes, I find it difficult to form my own opinions while reckoning with decades of received "fan wisdom" (a contradiction in terms, usually, though I digress). The Deadly Assassin is one of the most beloved Tom Baker stories, but I can't say I completely understand why. It's very good, but it failed to break my top 40.
Sorry, an admission first. This is another of the small number of Tom serials that I've seen beforehand. A couple of years ago, I skipped ahead and checked out The Deadly Assassin out of curiosity. I liked it, but I was surprised that it left me cold. I hoped that watching it in order and context would improve it in my estimation, but was confused to feel no change after watching it again last week. I haven't been able to pinpoint exactly why, really.
I think that the complete lack of women in the cast didn't help. This has been pointed out a zillion times, but the Hinchcliffe-Holmes era really is quite male dominated in a way that past eras of the show simply have not been. This obviously isn't something that the production team did on purpose, but it still feels quite strange and alienating to me as I watch it now, forty-some years later.
That aside, there isn't really anything wrong with the story. In fact, the political conspiracy plot is, in and of itself, very good. The Kennedy assassination allusions jumped out to me and were quite funny. My sole real complaint in that respect would be that the Matrix concept takes away from the conspiracy plot, and that the episode and a half we spend there bring that plot to somewhat of a screeching halt. It is a funny story overall, really, coming across as a bit of a send-up of the Time Lords. It's clear that Holmes wasn't overawed by their mystique and power and so sought to make them ridiculous, which with the benefit of hindsight seems like the right move. I know this was (and probably still is) controversial among a number of fans. But really, if you want ancient and powerful civilizations not to be a little bit shit, you're watching the wrong show.
The visual effects in this story are extremely impressive for the time. For example, I thought the "earthquake" in Part Four was convincingly done, and the sequences inside the Matrix are very visually arresting. The competence of this production regime at putting the show together is undeniable at this point in their tenure. Possibly they got just a little too confident, because this is of course the story that catalyzed the complaints of professional worriers like Mary Whitehouse and led to the oncoming change of producers.
I've under-written this post a bit, but there's not a lot to say about this story that hasn't been said already. I liked it. Next?
Ah yes, it's a mid-season break, so we'll be having the 1976 music post. See you then.
(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 3 May 2021.)
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