Doctor Who: Every Tom Baker/Hinchcliffe Era Story Ranked From Worst To Best

6. The Deadly Assassin

This is an episode which is as steeped in behind the scenes politics as the episode itself. Created because Tom Baker wanted to do a solo adventure, Holmes wrote it in a way that he felt would showcase that he needed a companion whilst also commenting on the ethics of American treatment of the Kennedy assassination and the CIA. Blimey. There are even little things like how the production team found abandoned costumes after the extras had ran off home because they couldn€™t stand the heat during the 32 degrees centigrade heatwave (which to an English person feels like you€™re hugging a lava lamp). Then those who stayed wanted higher wages because they were digitally repeated. Then there€™s the on screen politics, as Holmes wanted to explain why this previously angelic society had created so many renegades like Morbius and the Master by portraying them as petty, corrupt and hiding behind their godlike image. Alan Barnes, an executive producer of the Doctor Who audio dramas, called it the era€™s ultimate gothic horror story since it was full of betrayal, hidden underground tunnels and even the villain€™s name is €œGoth€. Plus, Hinchcliffe and Holmes wanted their third season to take risks so they did a third episode which is 80% dialogue free as the characters chase through a nightmarish mental realm. All of this works together to create an incredibly murkily atmospheric whole which feels like the centre of a much larger, grimmer world. A testament to uncomfortable origins creating a genuinely uncomfortable result.