Doctor Who: That time when the Doctor ran for presidency to get out of a death sentence

Would you want this man to be your President? Find out about how this criminal and convicted murderer nominated himself for Gallifrey’s highest position of power – and won!

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)

Remember that time on Doctor Who when the Doctor offered to be President of the most powerful civilization in the universe…just to avoid an execution? We do. Here’s the story behind one of the Doctor’s boldest moments.

You’re on trial for your life. The charge: assassinating the previous President. You know you’ve been framed, but the evidence is stacked against you. The sentence is death. What do you do?

Simple: offer yourself as a candidate for the presidency, of course!

This particular moment, from the Tom Baker classic The Deadly Assassin, has always stood out to me. It’s one of the boldest ways the Doctor has ever escaped execution in his life. Especially when you consider that on this occasion, he’s not on an alien world this time, at least not to him. Instead, he’s on his home planet of Gallifrey.

The scene is handled so well, too. It’s literally just before sentence is about to be carried out at his trial that he makes his move and says, “Article 17”: the exact legal right that can help him to gain more time.

Goth, the only other candidate for presidency and basically running the trial, (and has no motive whatsoever in seeing the Doctor dead,) believes that the right doesn’t extend to murderers. That is, until Cardinal Borusa interrupts and basically says, “Well, actually…”

The greatest part of all of this is that it doesn’t directly result in the Doctor’s freedom permanently. Just an extra seventy-two hours. So the Doctor basically nominated himself for presidency simply to postpone his execution by just a couple of days! It’s a move so bold and so outrageous that only the Doctor could do it!

The Doctor nominating himself as President would later be focused on in The Invasion of Time.

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC.)

Gallifreyan scandal

This moment has always stood out to me, for several reasons. One is the fact that it’s one of the Doctor’s bolder ways of getting out of trouble. Usually, he uses his sonic screwdriver or picks a lock to escape a cell before execution can be given.

But things are so desperate this time that the only way he can escape his certain death sentence is by offering himself to be President of Gallifrey. A position that he would surely hate. After all, considering he ran away from Gallifrey in the first place, being its ruler and therefore being…responsible just doesn’t suit him at all.

(Of course, having said this, he has been President a couple of times now, which I’ll get to in a moment.)

It also shows that, on Gallifrey, at least, the Doctor has a firm grasp of politics. If things were different, and if he had ever wanted to stay on Gallifrey, it’s possible he could have been a great leader for it. Instead, he’s someone who uses a technicality just to buy himself some time.

Another reason this moment is so fantastic is that, frankly, it’s hilarious. Especially when you consider the impact that this would have had on Gallifreyan society in terms of major news for the planet. The Deadly Assassin featured a news report that demonstrated how seriously Time Lords take politics. So imagining the scandal when the Time Lords found out that a convicted murderer was running for office is beyond brilliant.

Especially since, by the end of the story, that candidate technically won by default!

The Doctor became President for the first time in The Invasion of Time. But it certainly wasn’t the last…

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)

The Doctor as President

This was actually something that was addressed in the following season with The Invasion of Time. While not the strongest of Doctor Who stories, it’s great in how it addresses the loose thread from The Deadly Assassin. Because at the end of the earlier story, Goth was killed after being revealed as the President’s assassin. And, considering the only other candidate was the Doctor…

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It all leads to the Doctor eventually claiming the Presidency in The Invasion of Time. But not because he actually wants to rule Gallifrey. No, this is just a part of one of his grand plans. One that involved a lot of trickery, subterfuge and eccentricity (even by the Doctor’s standards). He also had to deal with Vardans (which he had planned for) and Sontarans (which he definitely hadn’t). And by the end, he wasn’t President anymore, anyway.

The time when he was made President against his will in The Five Doctors lasted considerably longer, however. And when he kicked Rassilon out of power in Hell Bent, he briefly assumed the role again. That is, until he ran away once more.

Regardless of the number of times that the Doctor has been President, the fact that the first time happened just to escape execution will always be the one that stands out the most. Mainly because it’s something that only the Doctor could get away with!

Have you watched The Deadly Assassin? Do you remember when the Doctor offerred himself up for the presidency? Do you think he should be president of Gallifrey ever again? Let us know in the comments below.