History Recap / DoctorWhoS14E3TheDeadlyAssassin

The Doctor escapes execution by virtue of LoopholeAbuse (to everyone's annoyance) and becomes a Presidential candidate, granting him immunity for a few days. He is able to demonstrate that the sights on the gun he was using were tampered with to a degree that would make it impossible to hit a target, convincing at least a few of the other Time Lords of his innocence. The only other candidate is Chancellor Goth. The Doctor convinces a few sympathetic Time Lords to hook his brain up to the virtual reality of The Matrix (no, not [[Film/TheMatrix that one]]). The Matrix is a knowledge database, which is made up of the VirtualGhost brainwaves of dead Time Lords.

'''Production code:''' 4P

This four-episode serial first aired from October 30 to November 20, 1976.

* LoopholeAbuse: The Doctor is accused of killing the President of Gallifrey, the punishment for which is execution. However, the president had not named a successor before he was killed, so an election must be held. So to put off his execution long enough to figure out what's really going on, the Doctor invokes Article 17 of the Time Lord Constitution that lets him ''submit himself as a candidate'', because the article is a guarantee of liberty that states no candidate may be barred from presenting his claim (there is a clause prohibiting convicted criminals from being candidates, but since the Doctor's trial is still in progress, he technically isn't a convict yet, and the crimes of his previous regenerations don't count, as he'd already served out his sentence for those), so the Time Lords can't execute him until after the election.

%% One quote is enough. Others can go in Doctor Who's quotes page.

* FormulaBreakingEpisode: This is the only television story with no companion in tow. This was ultimately deemed undesirable in the long run; in the revival series and expanded universe, there are many stories with no regular companion, but those will invariably have a one-off character filling the companion role.

This story is also known for having no companions. Ultimately, this proved the companion's use as TheWatson, as it was hard to convey the Doctor's thoughts without someone for him to explain them to. The post-2005 stories with no regular companions tend to have a guest character filling the role temporarily, with the exception of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E11HeavenSent Heaven Sent]]", where the Doctor spends the majority of the episode by himself and which can be seen as a spiritual successor to this serial.

* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Creator/PhilipHinchcliffe considered the previous incarnation of the Master a "Comic-opera villain" and wanted something conspicuously scarier and more threatening for his return. Well, it worked...

->''Through the millennia, the Time Lords of Gallifrey led a life of peace and ordered calm, protected against all threats from lesser civilisations by their great power. But this was to change. Suddenly and terribly, the Time Lords faced the most dangerous crisis in their long history...''

Another Creator/RobertHolmes classic. This serial is important in that it is the first to take place entirely on Gallifrey. In addition, ''many'' details of Time Lord society are [[WorldBuilding revealed]] for the first time: the 12 regeneration limit, the political system, the chapter houses (Prydonian, Arcalian, etc.), the swanky Time Lord regalia and their giant hats, the Sash and Key of Rassilon, the Eye of Harmony, and the Matrix. The story also introduced the Doctor's mentor Borusa and, perhaps most notably, mentioned Rassilon for the first time. Bernard Horsfall (previously seen as Time Lord who sentenced the Doctor to exile in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames "The War Games"]]) returns as Chancellor Goth.[[note]]Though the casting wasn't entirely deliberate, there's nothing to indicate that it's not the same character, and one small hint that it is. And anyway, the subtext is just too good to ignore, so the [[Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse stories in other media]] take this and run with it[[/note]] And finally, the Master returns, played by Peter Pratt. Judging from the Master's atrocious complexion, he's seen far better days since the last time he appeared and will, in extended universe audios, appropriately enough become known as "The Crispy Master".

* AuthorAvatar: Creator/PhilipHinchcliffe suggested that Creator/RobertHolmes cast Bernard Horsfall as Goth because the writer saw the actor as a younger, more handsome version of himself.

* ParentService: The story features no companion for this job and the rest of the cast are either old men or a hissing walking corpse, so an excuse is found to dress the Doctor in an unfastened see-through pirate shirt and tight skinny leggings and get him wet, complete with him tossing back his wet hair and striking a pose. Even official programme guides comment about how dashing and sexy Creator/TomBaker looks in this one. If you prefer a more conventionally handsome look for your men, the serial also delivers Bernard Horsfall in silver lipstick and eyeshadow.

The one that pissed off [[MoralGuardians Mary Whitehouse.]] [[note]] OK, they pretty much ''all'' pissed her off, but this one in particular made her really irate. She made enough of a fuss that the BBC decided to let Creator/PhilipHinchcliffe go after this season, despite the high viewing figures and critical acclaim under his tenure and replace him with Graham Williams with orders to make the show LighterAndSofter. [[/note]]

** ObviousRulePatch: Goth takes a note that once he is in office, the first item on his to-do list will be to amend Article 17 so that it cannot be used in such a way again.