Having seen the assassination of the President of the Council of Time in a vision, the Doctor returns to his home world, Gallifrey. There he is pursued by the Chancellery Guards but manages to avoid capture and breaks into the Panopticon, where he actually watches the President being murdered. The Doctor is arrested and convicted for the murder. To escape execution he proposes himself as candidate for the presidency. Having convinced Castellan Spandrell that he is innocent, the Doctor discovers that his old enemy the Master is behind the plot. To find out who has been aiding the Master the Doctor has to fight for his life in the fantasy world of the Amplified Panatropic Computer, also known as the Matrix, where he defeats the real murderer, Chancellor Goth. The Master, whose body has reached the end of his regenerations, wins the instniments of the presidency to tap the power needed to start a new cycle of lives. But if he releases the power of the Black Hole kept captive under the Panopticon, Galliftey will be destroyed. The Doctor succeeds in defeating the Master, who escapes.

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The Doctor:  Tom Baker

Guest Appearances:
The Master: Peter Pratt
President: Llewellyn Rees
Cardinal Borusa: Angus Mackay
Chancellor Goth: Bernard Horsfall
Castellan Spandrell: George Pravda
Commander Hilred: Derek Seaton
Coordinator Engin: Eric Chitty
Commentator Runcible: Hugh Walters
Time Lords: John Dawson, Micheal Bilton
Gold Usher: Maurice Quick
Solis: Peter Mayock
Voice: Helen Blatch

Producer: Phillip Hinchcliffe
Script Editor: Robert Holmes
Writer: Robet Holmes
Director: David Maloney
Designer: Roger Murray-Leach
Costume: James Acheson, Joan Ellacott
Make up: Jean Williams
Visual Effects: Len Dutton, Peter Day
Music: Dudley Simpson

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Novelized as "Doctor Who and the Deadly Assassin" by Terrance Dicks (0 426 11965 7) first published by Wyndham Publications (now Virgin Publishing Ltd) in 1977 with cover by Mike Little. Target library number 20.

"The Deadly Assassin" was united with the two subsequent stories, "The Face of Evil" and "The Robots of Death" and was released in the USA as "The Further Adventures of Doctor Who". The book was only available through book clubs and only as a hardback. The publishers were Nelson Doubleday, Inc. and the artist's signature (Daniel Horne) on the cover is dated 1985.

In May 1989, the book was paired with "Doctor Who and The Seeds of Doom" for release as one of the "Doctor Who Classics" series from Star Books.

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Released as "The Deadly Assassin", in October 1991 in episodic format, (BBCV 4645) with cover by Andrew Skilleter. Unusually, the US & Canada release occurred earlier than in the UK, but only as an omnibus edition (Warners catalogue # E1161) with a photomontage cover.

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This is the only time that the Doctor is without a companion.
This is the first story featuring the Master since "Frontier in Space" (QQQ), and the last until "The Keeper of Traken" (5T).
Chancellor Goth played by Bernard Horsfall, previously played a Time Lord in the sixth's seasons story "The War Games" and as Gulliver in the same season's "The Mind Robber" and also appeared as Thal Taron in season ten's "Planet of the Daleks" - all three directed, like "The Deadly Assassin", by David Maloney.
The Prydonian seal seen in this story (later referred to as the 'seal of Rassilon') previously was used as the Vogans' emblem in the twelfth's season story "Revenge of the Cybermen" , a result of both stories having Roger Murray-Leach as the designer.

All four episodes exist in color on videotape. Due to complaints about the freeze frame ending of episode 3, showing the Doctor being drowned, the episode was re-edited so that the credits began a few seconds early. The re-edited version is the one that now exists in the archives. Fortunately the missing section was recovered from an off-air recording. This was used to restore the episode, but the picture quality drops in the last few seconds. This complete version was released on video.

Studio recording in Stage TC3. (15-17 October 1976)
Studio recording in Stage TC8. (1-2 September 1976)
Betchworth Quarry, Pebblehill Road, Betchworth, Surrey. (26-27 July 1976)
Royal Alexandria and Albert School, Rocky Lane, Mertsham, Surrey. (28-30 July 1976)
Booker Aerodrome, Wycombe Air Park, Clay Lane, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. (30 July 1976)

Episode 1 - As the guards enter the TARDIS to arrest the Doctor, one of them has some difficulty getting through the door.
Episode 1 - When the Doctor has constructed his decoy with his pipe and hat, one of the Council guards turns and looks right at Tom Baker as he's sneaking out of the TARDIS (his decoy having worked). It's blatantly obvious that anyone with eyes in their head would actually have seen him had they been looking at him like that!
Episode 1 - When one of the guards is shot by the Master right next to the Doctor, the guard cringes slightly before the sound of the gun and the light go off.
Episode 3 - Sorris (the guard sent to kill the Doctor) is shot in the shoulder, but dies clutching his stomach.
Episode 4 - In one of the final scenes, the Master's grandfather clock TARDIS is seen at an angle, and you can clearly see that it's just a board with a door held up with some planks of wood. So much for that wonderful Time Lord technology.
Episode 4 - Eric Chitty shows us how he feels about the Master when he comes out with the line: "Thank you for helping us defeat the Baster".