Assassination Assassination was a specialised form of murder , in which the victim was a prominent individual — often the leader of a government . A person who carried out an assassination was called an assassin . The First Doctor told Vicki that it was acceptable to hire an assassin in Roman times , and these assassins were preferably " dumb " , i . e . mute , so that they couldn ' t speak out against their employer . ( TV : " All Roads Lead to Rome " ) According to Ian Chesterton , " Hashashin " was used in English in the form of the word " assassin " . ( TV : " Five Hundred Eyes " ) Occurrences . In 64 , a centurion hired Ascaris to assassinate the lyre player Maximus Pettulian . After the assassination was carried out , the First Doctor posed as Maximus , making it appear that he had some somehow survived . Believing the Doctor to be Maximus , Ascaris tried to assassinate the Doctor , but was overpowered by the Doctor and Vicki . ( TV : " The Romans " ) In 1289 , the Mongol warlord Tegana tried and failed to assassinate Kublai Khan . ( TV : " Assassin at Peking " ) In 1400 , there was a failed plot to assassinate King Henry IV of England and restore the deposed Richard II to the throne . The conspirators included the author Geoffrey Chaucer and his son Tom . ( AUDIO : " The Doctor ' s Tale " ) In 1572 , fearing the influence of Admiral Gaspard de Coligny on her son , Charles IX of France , Catherine de Medici had Marshal Tavannes and the Abbot of Amboise hire an assassin , codenamed Bondot , to assassinate the Admiral . While on his way back from a council meeting , Bondot attempted to shoot the Admiral , but failed , and fled . The Abbot was killed for his failure and de Colingy was killed in the St Bartholomew ' s Day massacre . ( TV : " The Massacre of St . Bartholomew ' s Eve " ) In 1628 , George Villiers , Duke of Buckingham was assassinated by John Felton . ( AUDIO : " The Church and the Crown " ) In April 1865 , the Fifth Doctor averted an assassination attempt upon the life of President Abraham Lincoln in Richmond , Virginia . ( PROSE : " Blood and Hope " ) During the 19th century , there were several attempts to assassinate Queen Victoria . ( TV : " Tooth and Claw " ) On 28 June 1914 , the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria - Hungary by Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo , Bosnia triggered a series of events that rapidly escalated into Earth ' s first global conflict : World War I . Unknown to the general populace , however , the start of the war was influenced by the Nemesis . ( PROSE : " Human Nature " ; TV : " Silver Nemesis " , " The Family of Blood " ) The Ninth Doctor and James Stevens were present at the assassination of U . S . President John F . Kennedy in Dallas , Texas on 22 November 1963 . ( TV : " Rose " , PROSE : " Who Killed Kennedy " ) On 29 November 1963 , the British Minister of Defence Stephen Mulryne was assassinated by David Ritchie . ( AUDIO : " " ) In 1968 , Martin Luther King was assassinated . This led to many riots in the United States . ( AUDIO : " The Age of Revolution " ) On 3 February , 1980 , Isley was sent to assassinate a target in Cuba . While on the mission , her android nature was discovered , and she " eliminated " fifty witnesses . This caused a diplomatic incident between the US and Cuba and caused the US to suspend its android - making program . ( PROSE : " Nuclear Time " ) In 1981 , there was a failed attempt to assassinate the Pope . ( PROSE : " The Assassin ' s Story " ) On 30 March 1981 , John Hinckley Jr attempted to assassinate US President Ronald Reagan . ( PROSE : " The Assassin ' s Story " ) In 2002 , Stephen Keyser and Walter Jacobs made separate attempts to assassinate Sherilyn Harper , both of which failed . ( AUDIO : " The Fearmonger " ) In 2008 , used the Toclafane to assassinate President Arthur Coleman Winters . ( TV : " The Sound of Drums " ) In 2097 , the female Pope visited Mars to anoint the first Martian bishops . This was done to improve relations between Martians and the human s . The Dalek s made an assassination attempt . ( PROSE : " The Gallifrey Chronicles " ) The Fourth Doctor was accused of assassinating the Lord President on Gallifrey . In reality , Goth carried out the assassination under orders from the Master . ( TV : " The Deadly Assassin " ) Kevin was a hired assassin sent by Drel McCavity . ( PROSE : " The Resurrection Casket " ) The First Doctor witnessed the assassination of President William McKinley . ( PROSE : " Byzantium ! " ) " Executive action " was old CIA terminology for assassination . The pharmaceutical company The Pharm granted Billy Davis executive action for dealing with test subjects for Reset . ( TV : " Reset " ) Like World War I , World War VI was sparked by an assassination . The assassination of Ingrid Bjarnsdottir , commissioner of the Icelandic Alliance , by the Peking Homunculus began a war between them and the Supreme Alliance of Eastern States led by Magnus Greel in the year 5000 . ( TV : " The Talons of Weng - Chiang " ; PROSE : " Doctor Who and the Talons of Weng - Chiang " ; AUDIO : " The Butcher of Brisbane " ) In alternative timeline created by the Player s , the Duke of Wellington was assassinated on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815 , which allowed Napoléon Bonaparte to win the battle and create a vast empire which encompassed most of the world . ( PROSE : " World Game " ) In another alternative timeline , Margaret Thatcher , the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom , was assassinated by her fellow Conservative Party politician Heathcliffe Bower in 1984 . However , the proper timeline was restored by the Fifth Doctor . ( PROSE : " The Assassin ' s Story " ) Mrs Foyle created the Remonstration Bureau in the posthuman future . For a price , it would assassinate almost anyone in time and space . Some of the killers who worked for her were Lamia and Mr Stripes , the Great Nobodaddy , Hugo Mabuse and Bradleigh , Irma Vep , Mistress Orlando and the Knight Immortal . ( PROSE : " The Book of the War " )