So I've been thinking about doing this one for a while. You may have even noticed me mentioning it in a previous essay. Somewhere in the middle of my Season-by Season Reviews, I first started postulating about this. But I let it all simmer for a bit and focused on some other things I wanted to rant about.
Finally, after taking a bit of time for some heavy reflection, I've decided the moment has come to face the issue head-on:
Do I have a new all-time favorite Doctor Who story?
Near the end of my first year of writing Doctor Who Blogs, I did a little countdown. Over the course of multiple entries, I listed my Top Ten All-Time Favorite Doctor Who Stories Ever. Lots of folks seemed to enjoy reading the whole thing. People still dig through my Archives and take the time to look at them.
It was during this series that many first started recognizing me as "The Great Contrarion". Readers expected to see the usual suspects in this line-up. They thought they would read positive reviews of stories like Genesis of the Daleks, Caves of Androzani or even something more modern like Blink. No such stories made it into the line-up. The closest we came to a "stereotypical fan favorite" was Ark in Space (and, perhaps, Robots of Death). My list was comprised mainly of what I felt were extremely intelligently-written adventures like Kinda or Logopolis. Or dramatically-intense stuff like Earthshock.
Coming in at Number One was, more-than-likely, a story no one was expecting. It's held in fairly high regard by most. But I don't think too many others would give it the status I have. But I am, in fact, quite proud of my choice and will stand behind it til the day of my death.
My All-Time Favorite Doctor Who Story Ever is..... The Deadly Assassin.
TIME MAY CHANGE ME
So I just used some pretty strong words, there. "I will stand behind it till the day I die." (love how the quote is only two sentences away and I still paraphrased).
There is a pretty huge flaw in the statement I just made. Basically, new Doctor Who stories are being made all the time. It stands to reason that something might have come along since Deadly Assassin that I might enjoy more. Especially since it is a pretty damned old story.
The stubborn old curmudgeonly side of me wants to deny this. "Nothing will ever top Assassin!" he proclaims, "It's the Classic to end all Classics! Shut up with that stupid stuff about something better coming along! That's never going to happen! Ever!"
"You know what's wrong with kids these days?!" he continues, "They got no tenacity! The minute they run into a problem, they run away and move back into their parents' basement!"
And then, suddenly, he becomes self-conscious.
"Sorry. I'm digressing. Stubborn old curmudgeonly people tend to do that!"
As much as I want to fight the idea, the truth of the matter is: something has come along that may have actually beaten my all-time favorite Doctor Who story.
I may actually like Power of the Doctor better than The Deadly Assassin.
BUT I CAN"T CHANGE TIME
It's a big choice to make, deciding you have a new all-time fave Who tale. It's not something you should rush. There needs to be a lot deliberation. The Pros and Cons of both the contender and the current champion should be heavily weighed and counterpointed against each other. You don't make up your mind about this sort of thing in the heat of moment. You need to keep a clear head.
I've been thinking this over for more than a year. Some might even say that the moment I finished watching Power of the Doctor, this whole mental process began. But, for quite some time, I was reluctant to believe that I'd found something I liked better than Deadly Assassin. There was an extended period of denial before I finally faced the truth.
To this day, I'm still not sure how I feel on the matter. I've loved Assassin for so long. Can I really just dump her like some cold-hearted bastard who's found something younger and prettier? That's just not me. I don't treat my all-time fave stories that way.
And yet, I can't ignore my feelings for Power of the Doctor. She's sleek and enticing. She's the Real 60th Anniversary Special. She's got so much going for her: Old companions returning. UNIT. A rogue's gallery of old foes. Multi-Doctor bantering. The Master's absolutely ridiculous Doctor Costume. There's just sooo much going on! She's absolutely gorgeous.
I just haven't been able to make up my mind. So I decided to bring the debate here to my Blog. To break both stories down to some of their basest components and see which one stands up better under heavy scrutiny. And so, for the rest of the entry, we will examine both of these tales in great detail and see what makes them so wonderful. Hopefully, the process will cause us to see which one is just that little bit better. And then, quite possibly, by the end of this little dissertation - I'll have made a decision.
I doubt it, though!
Here's What We're Going To Do: While both these stories have many magnificent qualities to them, there's a few core traits they share that manage to elevate them above anything else the show has ever given us. I want to start by analyzing those characteristics and comparing them to each other. Under such heavy scrutiny, a winner just might rise to the surface.
I still doubt it, though!
Trait #1: THE EPICNESS OF IT ALL
The thing that dazzles me the most about both of these adventures is just how epic in scale they feel. Particularly since this is Doctor Who: a TV show that is still made on a pretty limited budget. Making content feel grandiose - particularly in the Classic Series - was very difficult to achieve. I think of something like The Invisible Enemy: A story that was meant to be a big majestic space opera. It failed miserably in its effort to achieve that because a space opera needs some serious cashflow to create its effects. Invisible Enemy did not have this. The best it could do was make you a bit hungry for prawns.
Around roughly the same time that Attack of the Prawns was made, however, we also got Deadly Assassin. A story that took the shoestring budget that it was handed and still managed to make us something truly awe-inspiring. Lots of stuff still looks cheap, but that doesn't seem to matter. A great big black obelisk, for instance, emerges from an impossible trap door through a clumsy edit and we still find ourselves interjecting: "Wow! That's the Eye of Harmony! The power source at the Heart of the Time Lord Empire!" It's really quite astounding.
While of Power of the Doctor had a lot more budget put into it, it's still about all the high stakes that are at play within the plot. That's its true appeal. In fact, this all could have been done on Classic Who Money and it still would have worked just fine. The battle on top of the space train could have looked like absolute garbage and the Cyber Planet could have been yet another poorly-disguised quarry and it still would have taken our breath away. The Master's ultimate plan of revenge is what truly fuels the excitement we feel when watching this. Not the flashy visuals.
Of course, both these stories use "cheats" to increase their sense of epicality (totally a word!). A certain amount of fan-servicing is going on to make these tales that little bit more exciting.
In the case of Assassin, we even get some legitimate Lore-Building. This is the first story that allows a closer look at the Doctor's people and the society he grew up in. From this point forward, much of what we know about Time Lords gets established here. That definitely makes the whole adventure feel very important.
Added to that, we get the return of the Master. We haven't seen him for many years. Frontier in Space. was the last time he came onto our screens. This is, perhaps, the most relevant appearance for the villain. Roger Delgado had left an almost indelible stamp on the role. When he tragically died in a car accident, many felt we'd never get the character again. While he's meant to be on the verge of death during the tale, his coming back actually signals a whole new lease on life for the evil Renegade. Which becomes yet another factor that makes Deadly Assassin feel much bigger than the sum of its parts. It's a vital component in a long, ongoing battle between two arch rivals.
But Deadly Assassin can't even come close to the number of fan-pleasing gestures we get in Power of the Doctor. I've already given the grocery list of gigantic nods to the past that this story makes. But there a few more things going on that give the plot an even heavier weight in the overall continuity of the program.
Power of the Doctor came out the same year the BBC was celebrating its 100th Anniversary. At that point, Doctor Who had been involved with fifty-nine of those one hundred years. So executives asked Chibnall to create a story that would heavily acknowledge the show's history. This is part of the reason why the plot is chocked full of Daleks and Cybermen and the Master and Ace and Tegan and Doctors One, Five, Six, Seven, Eight and the Fugitive and a bunch of other stuff like that. It's not the 60th Anniversary Celebration of the show - that would be next year. But it's still a commemorative event.
It's also the final adventure for the Thirteenth Doctor. Jodie's leaving the role. Mandip Gill is also ending her stint as Yaz. Chris Chibnall is handing the Head Writer job back to RTD. Even Segun Akinola won't be doing the incidental music anymore (Hot Take: I like his stuff better than Murray Gold's). Basically, it's the end of an era. The story needs to be large in scale to give everyone the swansong they deserve. This is another reason why we get Daleks and Cybermen and the Master and Ace and Tegan and.... well, you get the point.
In some ways, one might say that Power of the Doctor is the clear winner in this category. With everything that's packed into it, it's just going to feel ridiculously more epic than Deadly Assassin could ever hope to be. In this sense, you would be totally right in your opinion. There is just so much more going on in Jodie's final outing. You can't help but feel that it's far more grandiose in scale.
From another perspective, however, we could be equally impressed by how epic The Deadly Assassin feels without having to resort to so many fan nods. Sure, there's still a few there. I won't deny it. But the fact that there's about 1 000% more of them in Power of the Doctor but the episode comes across as only slightly more epic in scale says something about just how great of a story Assassin is. It doesn't use a bunch of old characters or continuity references to create a massive sense of occasion. Instead, it relies on some really solid writing.
Which brings us quite neatly to our next point....
Trait #2: REALLY SOLID WRITING (DIDN'T I JUST SAY THAT?!)
I can already envision what the Chib-bashers are thinking as they read this:
"Come on Rob!" (it's quite funny how I believe that everyone reading this actually remembers my name!), "You're placing Chris Chibnall up against The Great Almighty Robert Holmes. We know, already, who's going to win this!"
But it should be noted that even the most dedicated haters of the works of Chris Chibnall don't seem to complain about Power of the Doctor. It is an undeniably well-put-together script.
Some might argue that we enjoy it so much because of the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink continuity references that are made all over the place. But most will acknowledge that there's more to the story than just that.
The narrative does have a gorgeous flow to it. Various plot strands are interwoven and build towards something huge and exciting. I'm not even talking about the story's actual climax. It's more the fact that we can tell the Master is brewing some kind of sinister plan that is meant to crush the Doctor once and for all. With the way the plot is constructed, we know this will be something truly brutal. Our jaws will drop when we finally see what the Master is up to.
There are, of course, any number of Doctor Who tales that have been put together in this manner. Dark Water/Death in Heaven would be a great example of this. Especially since it also uses the Master as the main antagonist. Dark Water definitely creates a vibe that this mysterious woman we've been seeing all season is up to something terrible with this strange foundation that is providing afterlife care to the rich. The very end of the episode is absolutely mind-blowing as we discover in rapid succession that the Cybermen are involved and that the Mary Poppins Wannabe is actually the latest incarnation of the Doctor's greatest enemy.
But then we get to Death in Heaven. Not a horrible episode. I'd even go so far to say that there's quite a bit of good in it. It comes quite close to living up to the hype that was built up in the first part of the adventure. But it doesn't quite deliver the goods. Dark Water was moving towards something huge. Death in Heaven, however, just wasn't quite big enough.
This is not an unusual thing for the show. Particularly in the Revived Series. Big plans by evil villains get constructed during the beginning of the plot. But, as those plans get revealed, we feel just a little underwhelmed.
Power of the Doctor manages to avoid this pitfall. It is, perhaps, one of the greatest triumphs of the whole script. The Master's plot to just completely take over the Doctor's identity through forced regeneration completely satisfies all the tension Chibnall was creating as we moved inexorably towards this moment. It's utterly shocking as the transformation ensues. The ludicrous costume he puts together once he's taken over the TARDIS chills us to the very core. Even him just sitting around playing a recorder is completely disturbing. It's an excellent pay-off to everything that the writer was building towards.
But then we have to actually find a satisfactory way to unravel everything the Master has put together. To, essentially, not repeat the mistake of a story like Death in Heaven. This is an even greater achievement in the writing. Chibnall creates a very clever solution to the conflict. A solution that incorporates one of the coolest scenes in the whole history of the show. A scene that also satisfies a fairly long-standing fan theory: Somewhere, in the backwaters of the Doctor's subconsciousness, previous incarnations still linger. Some of them, of course, don't like to wear robes!
This is where we have to truly marvel at the writing. In big stories like these, the pay-off to the build-up doesn't always land. But it all looks quite gorgeous, here.
There are a few other outstanding accomplishments that occur in the authorship of this tale that bear mentioning:
The insertion of Vinder into the story is quite brilliantly handled. Basically, he's a character who's not afraid to commit violence that needed to be present at a crucial moment of the adventure. He really was expertly-woven into the plot. It's excellent the way Chibnall placed him there.
Even more impressive, however, was how he created Cyber-Masters a season earlier so that there would be sufficient regeneration energy available to undo the Master's take-over of the Doctor. That's some excellent arcing on Chibnall's behalf. It reminds me vaguely of what RTD did with the Doctor's hand during his first era, But Chibnall did it all in a considerably less "clunky" manner. .
Altogether, Chibnall created a magnificent script. But how does it stand up against the Great One, Himself?
Admittedly, I won't analyze Holmes' writing quite so deeply. I did so, already, in the post I made during that original Countdown so many years ago. I'd rather not get too repetitious (What?! I haven't posted a link to that entry yet?! What is wrong with me?! https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2016/01/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-1.html).
I will say this, though: Political Thrillers are not to everyone's liking. I remember legitimately struggling with people a few years back because they refused to give the show House of Cards a decent chance (although, I did stop pressuring them after the scandal about Kevin Spacey came out!). They "didn't like stories about politics", they would explain. And I can sympathize with what they're saying. Tales that heavily involve politics can be horrifically tedious.
So it is truly a testament to Holmes' writing that he's able to make Deadly Assassin so intensely engaging. It's almost like he said to himself: "Hey! Let's prove just how amazing of a writer I am by working in one of the most boring genres in the world but still getting everyone to love it!" This trait, alone, shows the strength of his abilities.
Along with making a political thriller engaging, Deadly Assassin gives us a whole delightful series of twists and turns that keep us glued to the screen every second. The Master's secret ally is beautifully masked. We don't see him coming. But, upon re-watch, we see that it was obvious the whole time. I love it when a writer hides something in plain sight and we still don't catch it.
Comparing the two writing styles, however, is like comparing apples to oranges. The stories are very different from each other. Assassin is very dark and atmospheric. Power of the Doctor is a wild thrill ride. Even the core plot structures vary radically. In Chibnall's script, the Master's ultimate plan is revealed halfway through the narrative. The other half of the episode is about undoing what he's accomplished. Holmes takes a much more traditional approach. The Master's intentions are only fully revealed at the climax and are then quickly thwarted.
Which means, quite naturally, that it's near-impossible to determine who wrote a better script.
I am like most fans. I do think Robert Holmes was the best writer in the history of the show. But that's not to say that authors can't, sometimes, reach his caliber once in a while and produce a script that is equal in quality to one of his masterpieces.
Trait #3: "QUITE MASTERFUL"
The third and final trait that makes me love both these stories so much more than any other is the way they feature the Master. Both handle the character in a fascinating manner.
Deadly Assassin does this in the most incredible of fashions. We have never seen the Master quite like this. Nor will we, again. It's curious that, even though he's meant to be the same incarnation in Keeper of Traken, he exhibits very different behavior from "the Corpse Master" we see in his first appearance. They're so unlike each other that I even theorize that a weird sort of partial regeneration occurs between the two adventures. (Read more about it here: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2016/10/chronologies-and-timelines-history-of.html).
In this incarnation, it's like everything the Master ever did to make himself seem presentable has been stripped away. We are witnessing his bare soul. He's now this twisted abomination. Still brilliant. But fueled by the vilest of emotions: He's nothing but bitterness, hatred and complete self-interest.
Which is, of course, the starkest of contrasts from what we got of the Roger Delgado incarnation. He seemed to be doing his best to hide all of those characteristics. In this new form, however, they're all prominently on display. Nothing is concealed. This is the purest, most undiluted version of the Master. I love this portrayal and wish we'd gotten more of it before handing the baton to Geoffrey Beevers. Who did a magnificent job in his own right. But, boy do I love this version of the Corpse Master!
But an equal amount of praise can be heaped on Sacha Dhawan for the job he did in Power of the Doctor. In all of his episodes, I've greatly enjoyed both what he did with the role and how the character was actually written. I appreciate that New Who has tried to add a lot of extra dimension to the Doctor's arch rival. Missy's redemption arc was particularly impressive. But I do love that the Dhawan incarnation was a much more Classical version of the villain. For the most part, he just wants to take over the Universe and crush the Doctor. There were moments that showed interesting nuances to the character. I was particularly fascinated by the way he'd wished that tissue-compressing the Lone Cyberman would have set off the Death Particle. In general, however, he was much more akin to Delgado, Pratt, Beevers, Ainley and Roberts than he was to Simm and Gomez. And I enjoyed that. It was nice seeing the Master go back-to-basics. I especially loved seeing the return of the tissue compressor!
The Master wiping out the Doctor's identity and taking over her body was definitely the fulfillment of his Ultimate Goal (he's actually tried it a few times. ie: Keeper of Traken, Doctor Who - The Movie). For him to achieve this makes Power of the Doctor another "Special Master Story". No, he's not another super-unique version of the character like Pratt was, but he does something no other version of himself ever has. For a brief time, he well-and-truly defeats his greatest foe by taking over her life. It's all the more fitting that he is more in keeping with the way the character was crafted in the Classic Series. As this is more of a Classic Master Plot.
Which means that, in the end, we come to a tie in this category, too. Both stories do something very special and unique with the Master. They just do it in different ways.
OTHER POSSIBLE FACTORS:
Okay, so we examined those special core traits that make both these stories that little bit better than anything else in the show's long history. Thus far, we're just getting tie after tie. Let's see if there's any other aspects to these adventures that might, somehow, set one ahead of the other.
Spoiler Alert: There probably won't be.
Trait #1: ACTUAL FLAWS
Nothing in life is perfect, of course. This even applies to what could be the two greatest Doctor Who stories ever. Both of these tales have problems. But they are marginal, at best.
Could it be, however, that one story's flaws take up a bigger margin than the other? If so, might that help us to finally determine which is the better yarn? Let's take a look at that:
The main problem with Deadly Assassin is highly debatable. In fact, some consider it the best part of the whole story. But then there are others who feel the exact opposite. That the whole adventure is dragged down because of this element.
I'm referring, of course, to the notoriously divisive Episode Three. To some (such as me), it's a magnificent example of suspense and tension. With some delightful surrealism to boot. It's an excellent direction for the plot to suddenly go in for the duration of one episode, And then, suddenly, we're back into the political intrigue stuff. Because Holmes goes that way for an episode, though, that third part is a welcome break from all the politics and stops that element of the plot from becoming too dry and tedious. A brilliant choice for Rob Holmes to make in the structuring of the narrative.
For others, though, it's just a Great Big Nothing Burger that you can easily skip and go straight to Part Four. Where the Doctor is back out of the Matrix and the Real Plot ensues. Aside from the revelation of Goth at the very end of the episode, there are no other developments of any significance. You, literally, can pick up where Part Two left off and not be all that particularly confused!
Ultimately, The Deadly Assassin's flaw can be viewed as a somewhat large one. After all, it seems to take up an entire episode! However, it's really a matter of taste that determines whether it really even is a problem. There are a lot of fans out there that adore Part Three. But there are some that grumble about it.
Power of the Doctor's biggest problem is considerably more tangible. But not as big in size. And there is still a certain degree of subjectivity to it. But, when we get right down to it, we have to be honest about one important thing:
The Daleks are really not all that necessary to the plot.
It is, of course, the Daleks that lure the Doctor into the Master's Ultimate Trap. Which does make them a fairly important cog in the story's machinery. But, really, there are a thousand equally-effective ways to have captured the Doctor that don't require the Skarosian Conquerors.
The only other role the Daleks really play in the whole tale is their plan to activate all the volcanoes on Earth. Why, exactly, they've chosen to do this isn't all that clearly explained. Perhaps they want to do like the Slitheen and change the Earth into a cheap energy source. Or something else like that. Because we're not told why they've created their Volcano Masterplan, however, it comes across more as the writer just saying: "Well! I have to give the Daleks something to do!"
The issue does become somewhat subjective, though, for one simple reason: This is a story that is clearly celebrating some of the greatest elements of the show's past. Clearly, the Daleks needed to be in there, somewhere. And, even though they are somewhat superfluous, we still welcome them with open arms and are willing to let go of the fact that they don't really need to be here. Because, ultimately, they really do need to be here.
If that makes any sense!
Once more, there seems to be a tie going on. While the flaws that both these stories contain are very different, neither seems all that bigger than the other.
Trait #2: ANY "SPECIAL BONUSES"?
Now it's time to get down to the nitty-gritty. Let's try to find any little detail that either of these stories might possess that the other doesn't that might somehow put it ahead in the competition. Even if it's by only the slightest of margins, a winner is a winner!
Power of the Doctor has a certain emotional resonance to it that its competition doesn't quite possess. It's achieved, mainly, in the "holographic reunion scenes" with Ace and Tegan and their respective Doctors. I find Tegan and Five to be especially heartwarming since we actually saw them parting on such bad terms. It really was touching to see old wounds healed. And it was just great to see former Doctors getting back together ever-so-briefly with their companions (I know we've been getting that a bit in the Memory TARDIS in Tales of the TARDIS - but it's not the same!)
On the other side of things, however, Deadly Assassin is dripping with atmosphere. .There's barely a shot in the whole thing that doesn't look moody. In studio, this isn't so difficult. Those big gloomy sets make it much easier to achieve this effect. What's super-impressive, though, is when the story takes us into the Matrix. Which actually gets us to a bunch of outdoor locations. All these scene have a great filmic quality to them that adds tremendously to the vibe the story has created.
Power of the Doctor is visually stunning in its own right. The battle on the roof of the space train looks especially stunning and is a great way to open up the whole adventure. The story does, in many ways, look spectacular. But it doesn't have the same sort of gravitas that the shooting in Deadly Assassin possesses. So, in this instance, Assassin gets the bonus point.
Which means, of course, that we've got another tie. One adventure scores extra for its emotional resonance. The other wins a bonus point for atmosphere.
As expected, there's still no clear winner to be found.
SPECIAL NOTE: One should also mention the super-cool multi-incarnation stuff that occurs in Power of the Doctor and site it as another bonus point. But it is matched by the equally super-cool "Opening Scroll that was used even before Star Wars came out" that we se see in Deadly Assassin. So, no matter what Bonus Point you manage to find in one story, the other will still be able to tie it.
FINAL ULTIMATE CONCLUSION
So, this debate ends exactly the way I expected it would. There's no clear decision on the matter. Mind you, it's easy to predict this sort of thing when you're the one creating the content that will lead to the ultimate conclusion!
But the problem still remains: How do I get this all to fit into my Top Ten All-Time Favorite Doctor Who Story Countdown? It's a serious matter!
I was rather hoping I would make up my mind by the end of this. That one story would rank as First and the other would become Second. And poor 'ole Logopolis would just get bumped out from Tenth Place. No doubt, as the story left, it would proclaim something to the nature of: "It's the end. But the moment has been prepared for...."!
Am I hilarious or what?!
Of course, there is one other alternative. I could rank both in First Place. Let myself have two All-Time Favorite Doctor Who Stories Ever. That way, Logopolis can still stay in the mix. I could even say that my Fave Who Story Ever bi-generated!
And yet, it just doesn't feel right. To me, there should be an ultimate victor. A single King that rules over them all. Or, as the Kurgan once said in The Highlander: "There can be Only One!".
And so, I will continue to deliberate. I will contemplate deeply the merits of both those tales and try to reach an ultimate conclusion. Sadly, the writing of this post has done nothing to assist me in this whole process. This entire Blog is completely useless.
But then, I could have told you that before I wrote this entry.
Which do you think is the best? Deadly Assassin or Power of the Doctor? Or are you one of those walking cliches that thinks Genesis of the Daleks is the greatest Who Story ever?!
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