THE DEADLY ASSASSIN

[Tony]

Here we are discussing Terrance Dicks' novelization of THE DEADLY ASSASSIN! If you want to hear your review of or comments on this book read on the air, or you have a specific question about the book, please post it here by no later than 5pm CST on Friday, April 2!

[Damon]

Good read the Master is at their most Mastery behaviour 3 stars

[Dave]

There's so much about this story that is good that it would be difficult for Terrance Dicks to make any improvements. The only one I can think of is the omission of Tom Baker's voiceover at the beginning. It isn't awful, but I always thought it a poor fit, and I'm not sorry it's gone.
There is one problem with the story that is easier to miss on TV than in the book, probably because prose allows time to reflect. All the characters are Time Lords. Several are killed. Not one of them regenerates. Of course, most of the dead were killed with Gallifeyan guns, so maybe they were made to forestall regeneration, but Runcible was stabbed and, from the disdain he shows for the Doctor for having regenerated a mere three times, he's at, or close to, the beginning of his regenerative cycle. And yet he's stone dead.
This forgetfulness on the part of the original production team is only exacerbated by Dicks doing what Hinchcliffe did a few stories ago, and forgetting that the Doctor has two hearts, which Dicks should have been fully aware of since he was script editor when it was established in Spearhead from Space.
All that aside, it's not a bad read. Much of the humour is retained, which is no mean feat.
And Sarah doesn't faint!

[Michael]

Geoffrey Beavers could read a takeout menu and I'd be interested in listening to it as an audiobook. So, it should could as no shock that I got this one when it was released on audio years ago and eagerly dove into it.

It's a pivotal and influential story from a pivotal and influential era. And Terrance Dicks does a solid job of adapting it for the page. But it never quite felt as great as the televised version did. Dicks does a nice job of recreating the Doctor's battle in the Matrix when few lines are uttered for the entirety of episode three.