I left my treadmilling a bit late today, I didn't even start until after 9pm. But I got it done, so that counts right? I am also exhausted, so this is going to be brief.

The Deadly Assassin - Parts 3 & 4

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

The entirety of the third episode, aside from a couple very brief cutaways, was set inside an artificially constructed reality inside a computer matrix. As such, it was a pretty oddball sequence with a desprate game of cat and mouse across a wilderness landscape puncuated by moments of pure surreality. I liked it a lot. The cliffhanger, though, was particularly disturbing. The Doctor finally comes face to face with his pursuer, who turns out to be the presumptive next Gallifreyan president under the influence of the Master, and the Doctor ends up apparently drowned in a lake. Of course in the final episode he comes roaring back and finally manages to escape the computer matrix. The big ending is where we get a huge info-dump of Time Lord history, including the twelve regeneration limit and the work of Rassilon to tame a black hole and create the Eye of Harmony. The Master's plan was to make use of two historical artifacts to which only the Gallifreyan president has access, and to draw power direclty from the Eye of Harmony in order to kickstart a new regeneration cycle. In the end, of couse, the Doctor defeats him. Also in the end, of course, the Master gets away to wreak havoc another day.

This certainly ranks as one of the most important stories in the entire history of Doctor Who, and it still holds up well. It also serves as a clean breaking point in the series, leaving the Doctor free to start fresh with a new companion and with the culture of the Time Lords finally fully fleshed out. I enjoyed it immensely.

Tomorrow, I finally arrive at Leela the savage girl. I'm just gonna say that Louse Jameson came along right when I was hitting puberty, and I liked her a lot. We'll see how well she holds up to my memory.

STATS:

Doctor(s): Fourth
Companion(s): None
Episode(s): The Deadly Assassin - Parts 3 & 4
Steps Walked: 6,527 today, 1,504,677 total
Distance Walked: 3.42 miles today, 748.57 miles total
Weight: 258.18 lbs (five day moving average), net change -49.12 lbs