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Trivia / Doctor Who S14 E3 "The Deadly Assassin"

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  • Author Phobia: The Doctor spends most of the third episode being tortured, beaten to a pulp and drowned in a jungle. This has an added frisson when you remember that Robert Holmes had fought in Burma while still a teenager. In addition, Tom Baker has a phobia of water (severe enough that he could only shower because he couldn't stand baths).
  • Blooper: One scene has the Doctor Spiking the Camera during a scene. This isn't that unusual since the Fourth Doctor had shades of a Fourth-Wall Observer and loved larking about in front of the camera that only he knew was there, but the trouble is that the camera is supposed to be a shot from the scope of a sniper rifle. The resulting effect is that it gives the impression that the Doctor knows the sniper is there, when it's in fact a key point that he doesn't, ruining the interpretation of the scene.
  • Edited for Syndication: Following public outcry from Media Watchdog Mary Whitehouse, the infamous cliffhanger for Part Three, where Goth attempts to drown the Doctor, was directly cut from the episode's master tape, one of only a small amount of Doctor Who footage post-1974 to be subjected to such a fate. However, off-air U-matic recordings of the uncensored 1976 broadcast still existed, and these were used to recover the deleted footage for later home media releases and re-airings decades later (though some re-airings, such as those on Roku TV, preserve the censored ending).
  • Enforced Method Acting:
    • At one point, Spandrell has to read aloud a disturbing letter that the Doctor has written for him. In rehearsals, he used a note written in English and thus had not bothered to learn the lines. When it came time to shoot the scene, the director and set designer switched it for a note written in Gallifreyannote  without telling the actor. The second Spandrell opens the note, he goes visibly pale and sweat springs from his forehead, and stumbles over his words as he struggles to remember them— the appropriate shocked reaction.
    • The infamously brutal cliffhanger to Part Three in which Goth holds the Doctor underwater to drown him ended up being a bit more horrifying than anticipated thanks to the genuine terror in Tom Baker's eyes, as he cannot swim and has a terrible phobia of bodies of water. The director praised his intense performance, but both of them expressed a lot of worry that it was too frightening for the show— concern shared by deranged Media Watchdog Mary Whitehouse. The ongoing and messy media furore created by how legitimately upsetting the scene is to watch was a significant factor in the show getting ReTooled into a Lighter and Softer format later on, with the Doctor's character being altered from someone who did experience occasional terror and pain, into The Trickster's version of The Ace (bordering on Invincible Hero) who didn't react to situations with as much emotional depthnote .
  • Inspiration for the Work: The story was heavily inspired by The Manchurian Candidate.
  • Reality Subtext: The Master has only been played by one actor before this, and is canonically about the same age as the Doctor, so in and of itself it's rather bizarre that he's already hit the twelve regenerations limit that's never even been mentioned before. But when you remember Roger Delgado's untimely Real Life death and the part it played in the previous Doctor leaving, it starts to make a lot more sense. Holmes and the production team were in a real sense raising the character from the dead.
  • Role-Ending Misdemeanor: The notorious cliffhanger of the Doctor's head being held underwater was the final straw for the Moral Guardians who felt the show had become too violent. While The BBC publicly defended the programme, Philip Hinchcliffenote  was removed as producer and moved onto the adult police thriller series Target in 1977, and his replacement Graham Williams, who had created Target, was specifically instructed to lighten the tone of the storylines and reduce violence.
  • Stunt Double: It's quite easy to spot when it's (longtime stunt-Doctor) Terry Walsh in the fistfight scene in the river — Tom Baker's fine hair hangs down almost straight when wet, but Terry's synthetic wig repels water and remains in Quirky Curls.
  • Throw It In!: There's a part where the Doctor is sitting on a chair trying to manipulate Spandrell. Spandrell begins explaining why he can't help the Doctor, and the Doctor shoots up from his chair mid-line and looms over Spandrell to intimidate him with his size — he audibly falters and his voice shakes. This was an ad lib from Tom Baker and George Pravda was just reacting with surprise to Tom unexpectedly going off-script.
  • What Could Have Been: Episode 4 would have had a Credits Gag thanking the High Council of the Time Lords for their participation; this was nixed for being a little too cheeky.
  • Working Title: The Dangerous Assassin, which Robert Holmes did away with because it didn't sound right to him.
  • You Look Familiar:
    • Chancellor Goth is played by Bernard Horsfall, who also played the Time Lord who sentenced the Doctor to exile in "The War Games". Expanded Universe works make them the same character because the subtext is too good to ignore, but he wasn't cast with this in mind. He happened to be a favorite of the director of this serial, who had also cast him as Gullivernote  and Taron.
    • George Pravda (Castellan Spandrell) previously played Denes and Jaeger.
    • Hugh Walters (Runcible) previously played William Shakespeare.

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