Number 29 sees the Doctor's first visit back to Gallifrey since the trial at the end of his second incarnation.
The Deadly Assassin is usually cited as a prime example of the Hinchcliffe-Holmes "Gothic Horror" period of the series' history - but what do we really mean by that?
In its purest sense, 'Gothic' means "pertaining to the Goths" - the Teutonic tribe which overran the late Roman Empire. Over time it was used to describe something uncivilised or barbarian in general.
In medieval times, Gothic then came to refer to a style of architecture, developed in France from the 12th Century onwards. It was characterised by slender pillars with load-bearing buttresses and pointed arches, windows and doors. It superseded the Romanesque Norman style, which had been characterised by rounded arches. The Gothic style tended towards ornate embellishment. By the time the "Gothic Revival" came round - popular in Victorian times in Britain and across its empire - just about every surface was covered in intricate detailing.
The Arts picked up on the word in the 18th Century - using it to describe a style of painting and literature characterised by remote, isolated settings (castles, mansions and monasteries - ruined or otherwise) and involving mystery and the macabre - but not necessarily the supernatural.
In 1764, Horace Walpole had written The Castle of Otranto, which is generally accepted as the first Gothic novel. It had medieval trappings and supernatural elements - especially a giant ghostly knight in armour and a prophesying skeleton. Walpole's home - Strawberry Hill House in Twickenham - was a product of the early Gothic Revival. He claimed to have dreamt of a gigantic armoured hand, which inspired the book.
The Deadly Assassin is set in the Capitol on Gallifrey. This is presented as a medieval-style environment, despite the high tech trappings. It is dark and gloomy, with ancient cloisters and even a torture chamber, and crypt-like vaults. The people who live and work here include Time Lords with titles deriving from academic and religious institutions - cardinals and chancellors. The Castellan (the title given to the person who oversees a castle or other fortification) is named Spandrell - an architectural feature associated with the Gothic.
And what is the name of the Chancellor who proves to be one of the villains...?
The principal villain of the piece is the Master, but the suave, neatly dressed Delgado incarnation is long dead. Instead we get what looks like a living corpse - a skeletal wraith, lurking in the catacombs.
There's something of the Grand Guignol about his actions - that being the theatre of horror and the gruesome. In his earlier form he only ever used his tissue compression weapon on a single occasion, but here he uses it a number of times. He favours ornate ways to destroy the Doctor - first framing him for murder then having him fight in a nightmarish AI arena against his personal champion. This domain - within the Matrix - is populated with gas-masked figures, creepy clowns and other bizarre characters.
Whilst Philip Hinchcliffe was a great fan of literary science fiction, his script editor was well known as a fan of the horror movie. Films already referenced before this included King Kong, Frankenstein, The Beast With Five Fingers, The Quatermass Experiment, Quatermass II, The Mummy and The Masque of the Red Death. He'll shortly deliver The Mask of Fu Manchu, Jack the Ripper, Dracula and The Phantom of the Opera - all in a single story. The Deadly Assassin adds The Old Dark House and a touch of The Cat and the Canary. (As an ex-policeman he also loved crime drama - hence police procedurals and The Manchurian Candidate in this story).
Holmes stayed on for a few months after Hinchcliffe departed, and it is notable that Season 15 has a couple of stories which could easily have sat comfortably within Seasons 13 or 14. Image of the Fendahl has a haunted house, a haunted forest, black magic covens and Quatermass trappings, whilst the season opener was very nearly a Vampire story, but instead turned out to be a claustrophobic tale inspired by a Gothic poem about spooky goings-on in an isolated Edwardian lighthouse.
In December 1977, Star Wars opened in the UK and Doctor Who was never quite the same again, as spaceships and space opera superseded Gothic horrors and haunted domains. We wouldn't see Holmesian-style stories again until Steven Moffat began writing for the revived series, with gasmask zombies and Weeping Angels...
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