One of the most
iconic, divisive stories in the Doctor Who
canon, `The Deadly Assassin` comes loaded with baggage. With no companion and
set entirely on Gallifrey it broke the narrative mould, especially the surreal
episode 3, while certain scenes caused such strong controversy that the future
direction of the series was affected. Fans at the time pilloried it for
supposedly ruining the Time Lord mystique if not the wider mystery of the
central character. Yet this is not the whole picture. The story most resembles
one of the BBC’s classic period dramas housing a gaggle of verbose eccentrics
dressed in colourful finery, steeped in procedure and tradition. They shuffle
through the rituals as they always have and the Panopticon even has a church
organ plus a wonderfully applied echo to emphasise its cathedral like status.
If Spandrell had to catch a coach and horses to go see Engin it wouldn’t look
out of place! Doctor Who of this era
was always theatrical and populated by larger than life characters but `The
Deadly Assassin` is the chance to do this on the Doctor’s home world. It may
present a futuristic exterior but this is Victorian political melodrama of the
most enjoyable kind.
