Before "The Matrix" there was "The Deadly Assassin".



In 1999 the Wachowski brothers release their phenomenally successful film, "The Matrix". The film earned $171 million in the USA and $460 million worldwide.<ref>Box Office Mojo: The Matrix.

BUT 23 years earlier there was "The Deadly Assassin"



Why am I raising this point? Because both "The Matrix" and "The Deadly Assassin" touched on a philosophical concept that was first explored some 2500 years ago in great detail by the Greek philosopher, Plato.

And "The Deadly Assassin" covered this idea much better and more originally than the Wachowski brothers.



In an interview the Wachowski brothers were asked:

"Do you believe that our world is in some way similar to 'The Matrix', that there is a larger world outside of this existence?"

Wachowski brothers: "That is a larger question than you actually might think. We think the most important sort of fiction attempts to answer some of the big questions. One of the things that we had talked about when we first had the idea of The Matrix was an idea that I believe philosophy and religion and mathematics all try to answer. Which is, a reconciling between a natural world and another world that is perceived by our intellect."



Now 2500 years ago, Plato discusses that there exists the world beyond our senses - a world of perfect forms that exist outside space and time. He gives a story:

Inside a cave there are people chained to it's walls. Bound so that vision is restricted, they cannot see one another. The only thing visible is the wall of the cave upon which appear shadows cast by models or statues of animals and objects that are passed before a brightly burning fire. Breaking free, one of the individuals escapes from the cave into the light of day. With the aid of the sun, that person sees for the first time the real world and returns to the cave with the message that the only things they have seen inside the cave are shadows and appearances and that the real world awaits them if they are willing to struggle free of their bonds. The shadowy environment of the cave symbolizes for Plato the physical world of appearances. Escape into the sun-filled setting outside the cave symbolizes the transition to the real world, the world of full and perfect being, the world of Forms, which is the proper object of knowledge.



Outside of what we perceive with the senses exists the truth. As The Doctor says in "The Deadly Assassin, "Only in Mathematics will we find the truth". Our senses can deceive us. We have biases and prejudices. We have weaknesses and emotions. But the universe has laws of motion. It has science. It has a logical order.......AND I DO NOT MEAN INTELLIGNET DESIGN!!!!!

What Plato was saying was:

The theory of Forms may best be understood in terms of mathematical entities. A circle, for instance, is defined as a plane figure composed of a series of points, all of which are equal distance from a given point. No one has ever actually seen such a figure, however.



What people have actually seen are drawn figures that are more or less close approximations of the ideal circle. In fact, when mathematicians define a circle, the points referred to are not spatial points at all; they are logical points. They do not occupy space. Nevertheless, although the Form of a circle has never been seen—indeed, could never be seen—mathematicians and others do in fact know what a circle is. That they can define a circle is evidence that they know what it is. For Plato, therefore, the Form “circularity” exists, but not in the physical world of space and time. It exists as a changeless object in the world of Forms or Ideas, which can be known only by reason. Forms have greater reality than objects in the physical world both because of their perfection and stability and because they are models, resemblance to which gives ordinary physical objects whatever reality they have. Circularity, squareness, and triangularity are excellent examples, then, of what Plato meant by Forms. An object existing in the physical world may be called a circle or a square or a triangle only to the extent that it resembles (“participates in” is Plato's phrase) the Form “circularity” or “squareness” or “triangularity.”



The perfect forms of the world around us exist beyond space and time in a dimension beyond our sensory experience. Yet we can come to understand the Forms of reality through Mathematics and Philosophy.



In "The Deadly Assassin" (and "The Matrix") there is a world that is inhabited by the mind - one that exists beyond pysical reality.

Dr Who was doing Plato's philosophy - and the Wachowski brothers ripped it off for millions!!!!!



Because of this, and also due to it being such a well made story, I argue that "The Deadly Assassin" is probably the best in the Dr Who canon. This is mostly due to it's tackling of Philosophical concepts that Plato had started so long ago, and how it was the genesis for films like "The Matrix". However, the action, direction, script and plot for the story was infallible. It has to be the perfect Dr. Who story, even though it is the only one that has no companions accompanying The Doctor - a novel idea that I think should have been explored further. The action in the story was excellent - the Master was as devious and corrupt as ever - and his aesthetic finally matched the character that he possesses (there was no dark Delgado charm to hide the evil of his ways). Bernard Horsfall, together with Julian Glover, is the best supporting actor to feature in Dr. Who history (in my opinion) and his hunting down of The Doctor within The Master's thought matrix provided some of the most intense and suspenseful moments in the series history. Watching The Doctor using geography, physical endurance and stealth to overcome an enemy was a real change to the usual sonic screwdriver, Venusian akido or some scientific babble that only parially makes sense, as is the case in most other stories. I don't actually have a problem with this, I just found "The Deadly Assassin" to be a welcome change to the usual story format and a unique glimpse into Time Lord society. The story really is a stand alone as a work of sci fi narrative genius from the prestigious Mr. Holmes.



Therefore, I must assert that "The Deadly Assassin" did everything that "The Matix" did 20+ years before the Wachowski Brothers put finger to keyboard. "The Matrix" had awesome special effects, soundtrack, style, and sexy cast, but there really is nothing new in its concepts. Just take Plato's "The Republic" and Dr . Who, "The Deadly Assassin", and you basically have all that was covered in "The Matrix" narrative.



"The Deadly Assassin" is not just a bloody fantastic Dr. Who story, but also an excellent piece of 'science faction' that pioneered the cerebral territory that was to be such a commercial success for the Wachowski Brothers.

I agree that The Deadly Assassin was a great story.  The Master was so scary and evil in that.  A pity they didn't do more stories what that version of him.



The first Matrix film was great, but I felt that the sequels were a waste of time.  The first one had a perfect ending which should have been left at that.

Again, I totally agree with you, dude.



"The Matrix" - although it was a complete rip off of Plato's philosophy and "The Deadly Assassin" (see below) - was still a good 'effects' film from Hollywood, and it had one of those loose endings that left you wondering - but not enough to make you say "I want more!"

.........and the more we got was so compolicated and dragged out that it was more confusing than  the Iraq Oil for Wheat scandal!

I still think 'The Caves of Androzani' is the best 'The Deadly Assassin' is also by Robert Holmes so I like it.

Robert Holmes was one of Dr Who's finest writers.  Most of his stories were classics, with interesting characters.



But The Power of Kroll was pretty bad, and The Two Doctors really didnt come together as well as it should have.



To be fair, that story was forced on him by JNT, so I'll forgive him for that one!

This is consistant in Holmes' career. He wrote four scripts for Blakes 7 and the one where he was given the most criteria to write to (Traitor) is the weakest. The Power of Kroll came with the need to find a segment of the Key to Time (OK), which was now the biggest ever monster in the show's history (...OK...). Five years later he rewrote it as The Caves of Androzanni, minus the Key or big monster. With the only proviso the need to regenerate the Doctor



So I'd like to imagine the lost epic Yellow Fever and How to Get It would have been great, but the evidence suggests otherwise.

Knowing how the stories were in the JNT era, I doubt that Yellow Fever would have been any better than The Two Doctors.



From what Ive read, Holmes would have had to put in: The Master, The Rani, The Autons, all in a Singaporean setting.



Too many ingredients spoil the broth I think!

...and probably more...on research conducted by filming the taxie ride back to the airport...add in a last minute cahnge of continent, and it sounds pretty good!

So what would be the best Master story featuring Anthony Ainley?



For my money, I thought Survival was pretty good.  Im a bit partial to Planet of Fire as well......

Best? but there's so many worst to choose from...!



I'd plug for either of his first two.

I like all of the Robert Holmes stories except The Krotons. I really want to watch the Space Pirates but sadly most of it is Missing.

I hate Planet of Fire! Its got a Stupid name and the Plot and Acting is the worst ive seen in a long time. This is my least favourite Davison story let alone the whole TV show.

Mine is The King's Demons, by a long shot. Pretty much everything is wrong with this script. To add insult to injury, when they used to release two parters on video they'd team them up with another whole story. Not this one.

I thought Time Flight was the worst Ainley one.



The production team tried to aim for the sky with that one, and ended up getting the ground instead....



One of the worst 5th Doc stories too

I think that the best thing about "The Deadly Assassin" and what sets it apart from the Matrix is that it didn't rely much on fancy special effects however the message still got across.  It was a superb piece of writing.

The best stories were the ones that didn't just rely on the effects.



The mood, tension and dynamics of the plot were the most importants things.  Special effects should always compliment the already good story, not the other way around.



I do agree that The Deadly Assassin is a very good story - despite the critics of the time complaining about the alledged violence in it - thank you Mary Whitehouse!!!!

Let's consider the evolution of effects--Doctor Who and the Silurians first CSO, The Leisure Hive first Quantel and slave camera, The Trial of a Time Lord first motion control camera.



Effects definitely don;t make the story!

I agree totally!



What was best in Eccleston's tenure as The Doctor? (Voted by Doctor Who Mag and most fans you speal to) :



"The Empty Child"'/ "The Doctor Dances"



The only really major effects in this story were Rose hanging by rope amid the london blitz.....

other than that, it was a story that relied on the sublime. Dark elements and atmospheric story telling involving a little boy wearing a gas mask with an innocent voice calling for his Mummy.

This leads to one of the most terrifying moments in Dr Who history where the cast are surrounded by gas mask wearing zombies that calling for Mummy..........the cliffhanger being resolved by the greates non - event in Dr Who history ("GO TO YOUR ROOM!")

........now that's classic stuff. Minimal effects, everyday things going all weird and creepy, and The Doctor resolving the situation with a quick bit of improvisation - a move that he wasn't sure would work at all.



........and this is exactly what Steven Moffat wanted to do with the story. Make it creepy, atmospheric, and totally up to the story and cast for it to be memorable and haunting.

(ref. Dr Who Magazine's Interview with Steven Moffatt, Issue 364, January, 2006)



That's what makes classic Dr Who - intense scenes that lock the character(s) into a situation of life or death with an enemy that seems ordinary, yet has a dark, mysterious quality that plays on the subconscience. Stories that focus on the characters and how they react to horrifying situations. Stories that are driven by intelligent dialogue, tight direction and subliminal intriugue - the formula of 'classic Dr Who'.

(the effects are just the 'cherry on top')



Other stories that did this so damn well:



1) "The Deadly Assassin" (see below)

2) "Genesis of the Daleks" (the Daleks feature the least in this story, but it's the feeling that they are there, about to become the most dominantly evil race in the universe that makes this such a good yarn - and of course, the Nazi subplots/innuendo)

3) "The Caves of Androzani" (a phantom living in caves below, oggling over Peri, and the Doctor becoming a hero - something his 5th incarnation needed to redeem his 'mistake' with Adric)

4) "The Seeds of Doom" (The Doctor at his most volatile, rude and acerbic - facing off against human adversaries who like to put people into mulchers, use them for experiments, and make molotov coktails. And there's the Krynoid - turning people's blood into vegetable soup, spreading like a Triffid on steroids across London.......the plants are alive!!!!!)

5) "Spearhaed From Space" ( a dialogue driven story and the first of 'intelligent' Dr Who. Shop window dummies go rampaging - ordinary everyday reality becomes a nightmare!)

6) "The Pyramids of Mars" (ancient History was more important than we thought when we slept through the subject at school!!!!! Sutekh existed and is ready to give us his gift of death. Played by Gabriel Woolf - here was an enemy who was devious and corrupt - ultra malevolent. Never raised his voice, just spoke with cool tones of sadism, and chucled when he saw pain. No great effects - just another great yarn, with excellent acting, scripts and direction)

There were a few more computer generated effects than that in them! But considering they blew an entire fifth of the 13 episode budget on The End of the World...! You could see every penny on the screen, and it's probably why it comes so early in the run. But it didn't make it the best!

I prefer a well written tense story over a special fx spectacle anyday.



JNT tried to make Dr Who into a SW clone during his time, and failed miserably.



If the story isn't any good in the first place, then no amount of special fx will save it.