OK, well its time for yet another post and this one is actually another revisitation of an old post I did on this blog, which is indeed one of the oldest I've ever done on the blog and the post in question is on the classic Doctor Who story - The Daemons from the Jon Pertwee era. But is this story still stand up as a classic??? Well let's find out....
And....yes....the usual warning will be coming right up....
SPOILERS WILL BE AHEAD!!!
STORY
Right, so story starts with one of the residents of Devil's End, a small village in Wiltshire, dying of fright from seeing something in the local graveyard. The local village doctor says that the man simply died of a heart attack, but the local white witch Miss Hawthorne (Damaris Hayman) insists there is evil afoot.
The BBC are also at this time doing coverage of the excavation of the Devil's hump, an ancient burial ground. Miss Hawthorne also interrupts the broadcast and warns the archaeologist, Professor Horner (Robin Wentworth) that if he opens the tomb then he will bring death and disaster upon the village. The Doctor at this time having been watching the live coverage on TV, decides to go to the dig himself with Jo (Katy Manning).
On arriving at the dig, the Doctor is too late to stop Horner from opening the tomb and there is a freak gust of snow and ice that blows out of the tomb, apparently killing the Doctor and Professor Horner. The Doctor is soon dug out (or excavated) off the earth and snow and taken to the local pub, the Cloven Hoof, where he lies in a coma.
In the meantime however, a certain familiar looking figure who goes by the name of the Magister, dressed as a Reverend, has been holding ritual ceremonies to try and bring about the appearance of a demon called Azal (Stephen Thorne). This is of course the Master (Roger Delgado) who has been at work trying to raise the demon Azal, who in actual fact is a creature from another world, who has been lying dormant but has been on Earth for over 100,000 years.
The Doctor soon recovers from his coma, after a freak heat wave hits the village, and he then explains his theory to the locals, and he is accompanied by Sergeant Benton (John Levine) and Captain Mike Yates (Richard Franklin). The Doctor tells them that Azal is a daemon from the planet Damos, who came to Earth to try and advance the human race and pass on their knowledge as part of an experiment, however, man is in danger of being destroyed if Azal chooses to.
The Master also finally summons Azal and speaks with him, and he asks that Azal pass on his power to him in order to fulfil his desire to rule the Earth. Azal considers this but says there is another one of the Master's race here, referring to the Doctor, he said he will speak with him also before making up his mind, and that he will appear once more, but he says he will either choose to pass on his power or to destroy the Earth.
And another problem arising from these circumstances is that Azal's awakening causes a heat barrier to be place around the village, preventing anyone from leaving the village or from any one to enter it, as the UNIT commander Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) soon finds out when he tries to get to the village. The Doctor contacts the Brigadier and tells him there might be a way for him to gain access to the village, but it will involve building heat exchanger energy machine that will help bypass the barrier, and the Doctor soon comes to the Brig (within resonable distance of the barrier) to help them build it.
As this is all going on the Master then through his hypnotic powers of persuasion gets quite a few of the village locals on his side, and to help him with this ritual ceremony in the cavern's of the church, in order to summon Azal once more and so he can control the daemon. The Master soon successfully summons Azal for the last time, just as he does, Jo and Mike enter the cavern and witness Azal grow to huge size right infront of them. The Doctor also manages to get into the cavern and past the Master's gargoyle and heavy Bok (Stanley Mason) whom he has been using throughout the story for his own evil ends. The Doctor once in the cavern confronts the Master and Azal in deciding the fate of the planet......
THOUGHTS
The Daemons is without a doubt one of Jon Pertwee's best stories, made back in 1971, when the series made the crucial change in tone from the doomish Quatermass style that appeared in Pertwee's first season. The story, which was penned under the psuedonym of Guy Leopold, was actually written by Barry Letts and Robert Sloman, and its another excellent script.
Letts and Sloman make very clever use of the themes of witchcraft, demonism, religion, faith and duplicity, and I also like how they explain the background of the daemons helping man throughout the ages in advancing their knowledge. You could almost say that the Daemons were babysitters for mankind and they helped instruct them in how to grow, although the Doctor at one point does state to Azal, that thanks to him now man can blow up the world and probably will, which is something Azal says that the planet smells of failure. This ultimately points to man being his own downfall, and to Azal the Earth is just a failed experiment which he is in danger of destroying.
The characters in the show are all well catered for, especially the UNIT members, Benton and Yates, who are given more to do here than usual in a Doctor Who story. Yates and Benton make their way to the village and get tangled up in the choas of what happens there, being beaten, abducted, and giving chase to the baddies.
Benton particularly is given plenty to do in helping out Miss Hawthorne, in the church where he beaten up telekinetically on a marked stone, and staving off an attacker in the pub, as well as finally giving in to having a dance with her at the end! It also makes a nice change of pace to have the Brigadier separated from his team, as he goes off to a dinner at the start of the show, but later comes into the show when he is informed that his helicopter has been taken by Yates and Benton, and the heat keeps him apart from the Doctor and the others.
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)
In terms of the performances, the cast are all on excellent form here from the regulars to the supporting performers.
Starting with Jon Pertwee, well he had wonderfully grown into his part of the Doctor by then and plays him as well in this story as he ever has, and his relationship with Jo has blossomed very nicely by the end of their first season together. And by then the Doctor and Jo really have formed a great partnership.
As for Jon's notable scenes, as a few examples there is the scene where the Doctor in the first episode appears to magically control his car, Bessie as it drives around and comes back to him in his garage, much to Jo's amazement. And in the scene the Doctor tells off Jo for being interested in the live TV show of the dig and he says to her "You know, Jo, for a reasonably intelligent young lady, you have the most absurd ideas!" and then we see Bessie drive out the garage by itself.
And when the car returns the Doctor tells off Bessie, saying "Bessie, how dare you go
gallivanting around like that!" and Bessie toots the horn and the Doctor says "Are you sorry?" and Bessie toots again and the Doctor says "Very well, I forgive you. Now go back to your parking place before I changed my mind!". And as Captain Yates enters, having witnessed Bessie, the Doctor asks Jo to explain how it managed to drive itself and Jo suggests to the Doc "I don't know. I suppose you did it" and the Doctor smiles and says "Naturally". And the Doctor tells Jo and Yates "Naturally. Or should I say
scientifically. Solenoids and a solar mechanism in Bessie and...." he holds up a remote control "a radio control unit here. You see how easy it is to be a magician?!".
Then there is the scene where the Doctor and Jo later re-enter the barrow chamber where Professor Horner was excavating his dig. But all of a suddeny, the gargoyle, Bok, enters the chamber and screeches at them both and the Doctor takes out a trowel and shouts at Bok "Clokleda partha mennin
klatch!!!" and Bok soon flees. And after, Jo asks "Was that a spell that you said?" and the Doctor says "No, it's the first line of
an old Venusian lullaby, as a matter of fact. Roughly translated it goes,
'Close your eyes, my darling. Well, three of them, at least!".
Another good scene is when the Doctor tells off Jo for berating the Brigadier's suggestion to bomb their way through the heat barrier that Azal has created but the Doctor advises that it would be useless and he goes off to help the Brig build a heat exchanger, so they can penetrate the barrier. And Jo says to the Doc before he goes "Of all the idiotic plans! As if blowing things up solves anything!" and the Doctor says "Jo, the Brigadier is doing
his best to cope with an almost impossible situation. And since he is your
superior officer, you might at least show him a little respect!" and he leaves with Jo looking rather hurt.
Then there is the fun moment where the Doctor, tied to a post, is about to burned alive by the villager, Bert, who is under the Master's control but Miss Hawthorne suddenly interrupts and refers to the Doctor as a powerful wizard named "Qui Quae Quod". And Bert says to Miss Hawthorne "If he's such a great magician, let's see him untie hiself!" and the Doctor goes along with Miss Hawthorne's ruse and says "You choose to mock the
great Qui Quae Quod? Well, I will not!".
And as Sergeant Benton shoots a lamp and a weathercock on a church tower as the Doctor orders them to shatter and move as if by magic. The Doctor then gives Bert a warning as he is about to activate Bessie "Let my familiar spirit bring that car to me!". And then Bessie moves towards Bert and it nearly rolls over him but Bert falls down in between the car. And Miss Hawthorne looks amazed and says to the Doctor "You really ARE a magician!" and the Doctor tells her
her "I'm sorry to disappoint you, madame, but I were, I'd hardly need your assistance in extricating me from this, this sacrificial gift wrapping!".
her "I'm sorry to disappoint you, madame, but I were, I'd hardly need your assistance in extricating me from this, this sacrificial gift wrapping!".
Katy Manning, up next also does very well as Jo Grant and by then she had firmly established her role in the show (and she's at her cutest looking in this show in that outfit she wears!).
Katy also has her moments too in the show such as the scene near the start where Jo debates with the Doctor about the existance of magic. And Jo says to the Doctor "Yes, but suppose something
was to happen and nobody knew the explanation. Well, nobody in the world, in
the universe! Well, that would be magic, wouldn't it?". However the Doctor dismisses the suggestion and says to Jo "You know, Jo, for a
reasonably intelligent young lady, you do have the most absurd ideas!" and suddenly Bessie drives off on its own. And when Bessie comes back, the Doctor reveals his radio control for the car and he says to Jo "You see how easy it is to be a magician" and Jo says "How infuriating can you get?!!". And the Doctor teasingly asks her "Would you like to see more?" and Jo smiles and says "No, thanks, I've had enough of your knavish tricks!".
Another good scene is when the Doctor explains to Jo, Benton, Yates and Miss Hawthorne about the Daemons and how they were behind all the goings on at the dig. And as the Doctor tries to explain how the Daemons influenced man throughout the ages and gave them knowledge, Jo says "Yes, and you say they come from another planet. Well
then, what's all this jazz about witchcraft and covens and so on?". And the Doctor replies "Look, don't you see? All
the magical traditions are just remnants of their advanced science, and that is
what the Master is using!". And the Doctor goes on to explain his concern about how the Daemons could choose to pass on his power or destroy the world and Jo asks "What, this Daemon could destroy the world?". And the Doctor gravely answers "What does any scientist do
with an experiment that fails? He chucks it in the rubbish bin!" and Jo ponders a horrible thought "The end of the world!".
And lastly there is the scene near the end (SPOILER!!!!!!) where Jo stands in the way of the Doctor as Azal is about to kill him with lightning from his fingers. And Jo shouts "NO, HE'S A GOOD MAN!! KILL ME, NOT HIM!!" and this confuses Azal and sends him into turmoil and he shouts for everyone to leave the church. And afterward, the Doctor says to the others "Well, by a ridiculous and foolhardy act of self-sacrifice, Jo here has managed to save us" and Jo looks surprised and says "I did?". And the Doctor goes on to explain "You did. You see, Azal couldn't face an act as irrational and as illogical as her being prepared to give up her life for me" and he lookws at Jo's cowal and says "Look, Jo, why don't you go and get out of that ridiculous garb?!" and she smiles and says "OK".
Roger Delgado once again is also great as the Master, who poses as the village vicar, named the Magister but is in fact trying to summon the Daemon, Azal for his own purposes.
Roger has plenty of his own highlights but I will try and mention only a few such as his first scene where Miss Hawthorne demands to see the Magister and she threatens to use violence if she doesn't get to see him. And the Master suddenly appears and says "Dear me, I hope violence will not be necessary. Good evening, Miss Hawthorne, what can I do for you?".
Then in the following scene with the Master, Miss Hawthorne argues with the Master "Have you no concern for the souls in your care?" and The Master says "The soul as such is a very dated concept. Viewing the matter existentially...." and Miss Hawthorne gives up and says "Existentially?!! You're a blockhead!". But then the Master takes off his glasses and says to her "Miss Hawthorne, one moment. You're very distressed, I can
see that. You know, you really are worrying unduly. There's nothing to worry about...." and he tries to hypnotise her but fails.
And then we have the Master's regular chanting as he tries to summon Azal during his ritual ceremonies at the church. And Roger as the Master get's to deliver that immortal line "As my will so mote it be!" as he throws incense at the altar. And during his summoning he also utters the lines "By the power of earth, by the power of air, by the power
of fire eternal and the waters of the deep, I conjure thee and charge thee
Azal. Arise, arise at my command, Azal! AZAL!!!".
Another good scene is when the Master addresses the villagers at a meeting at the vicarage where he tries to win them over but instead he delivers an ultimatum to them. And the Master says "Now please, as I was telling you, the whole world can be
ours. I only need two things. Your submission and your obedience to my will!". However the villager Squire defiantly says to the Master "What's all this about obedience and submission?! I thought you said we were going to rule!". And the Master boldly says to the Squire "You rule?! Ha! You're all less than dust beneath my feet! and the Squire says "Preposterous!". However this really angers the Master, who shouts "You choose to question me, do you? Very well, I'll give
you another choice. Obey me or I shall destroy you!". And as the Squire says "I'm getting out of here" the Master summons Bok, who kills the Squire and the Master then says to the shocked villagers "Right, does anybody else agree with the Squire? Thank
you. It does my heart good to know I have such a willing band of followers".
Then we have the scene where the Master has summoned Azal to appear in person and the Doctor has also managed to get into the church to state his case but the Master demands Azal destroy the Doc. And the Master says to Azal "Well?! You waste time! I order you to kill him Azal!" but Azal says "I command! I do not obey!" and the Master looks surprised "But I called you here and you came". And Azal explains he came because it is time to decide the fate of the Earth as his experiment and the Master then insists "Then fulfill your mission by granting the ultimate power
to me. Who else is there strong enough to give these humans the leadership they
need?!!". And as the Doctor makes his own case for how although Azal gave knowledge to man, he has devised weapons that could destroy the world. And Azal asks "Is man such a failure then?! Shall I destroy him?!" and the Master shouts "No! A strong leader can force him to learn!".
And lastly there is the scene where (SPOILER!!!!!!!) the Master is finally captured by UNIT and he his held at gunpoint and the Doctor says to the Master "And look after him. I want to deal with him later!". And the Master looks at the Doctor and says "Do you, Doctor? You always were an optimist, weren't you?" and the Doctor smiles and says "Thank you for the compliment!".
Nicholas Courtney next up is great once again here as the Brigadier and he get's some of the best lines in the story and indeed moments as the Brig.
And for starters there is the scene where the Brigadier, who is in bed after having attended a dinner party, is on the phone to UNIT. And the Brig asks on the phone "I suppose it wouldn't do any good to ask for Captain
Yates or Sergeant Benton? MY HELICOPTER???! WHERE TO???!! Devil's End. Yes, yes, I
see. Get my car here right away. Yes, and if they do contact you, tell them to
stay put!" and he hangs up.
Then there is the scene where the Doctor meets with the Brigadier at the opposite side of the heat barrier at Devil's end. And in the scene the Brig complains about how one of the UNIT helicopters was destroyed by the heat barrier and he says "Twenty thousand pounds of UNIT money gone up in a puff of
smoke!" and the Doctor says "You have the mind of an accountant, Lethbridge Stewart!". And the Doctor tries throwing a rock at the heat barrier, which disintegrates it and the Doc says "Even rock!" and the Brigadier tells him "Wood, rock, four inch armour plate. You name it, we've
tried it. It's impenetrable!" but the Doctor corrects him saying "A hasty and innaccurate assessment, Brigadier!".
Another good scene comes after the Doctor has drawn a circuit diagram for Sergeant Osgood, who is given the task to built the heat exchanger but Osgood is still not quite certain about how it works. And the Doctor exasperated says "Good grief, man! Its as simple as Einstein's special theory of relativity!" but the Brigadier says "We'll manage, Doctor" and the Doctor tells them to get it ready as soon as they can and drives off. And the Brigadier looks on at the Doctor as he drives away and he turns to Osgood and says "Do you know, Osgood? I sometimes wish I worked in a bank!".
And last of all there is scene where at the end of the story with everything wrapped in and a Mayday dance in progress. And Yates asks the Brigadier "Fancy a dance, Brigadier?" and the Brigadier smiles and says "That's kind of you, Captain Yates. I think I'd rather have a pint!" and they both smile and make for the pub.
John Levine and Richard Franklin are also both very good in their respective roles of Sergeant Benton and Captain Yates, as they too have comfortably grown into their roles, and they share a nice bit of banter with each other. And Levine has a fun moment where the Brigadier goes off to his dinner party and Benton complains to Yates "It's all right for some, isn't it, sir? And we're stuck here with a television and a plate of corned beef sandwiches!".
Then we have the scene where Benton moans while
watching the TV that his rugby team lost in the first episode, and he
flicks a coin he lost in a bet to Yates. And Yates grins at Benton, saying "Thirteen nil" and Benton says "They're lucky it wasn't a hundred and thirteen nil! Useless lot!".
As for Franklin's own scenes worth noting, there is the one where Yates tells the Brigadier over the radio about the events that have been happening up at the village. And Yates says to the Brigadier "
Yes, sir. I know it sounds a bit wild" and the Brig says "It does indeed, Yates. Let me talk to the Doctor, over". However Yates tells the Brig "I'm afraid you can't, sir. He's gone up to the dig with Jo" and the Brigadier asks "I see. Yes, well, Yates, any further revelations?" and Yates tells the Brig "Just one, sir. We've found out who's at the bottom of all this. Its the Master. Over and out!".
And getting back to Levine there is the scene where Bert near the end of the 4th episode tries to make a run for it but Benton pounces on him and points his gun at him and says "Oh, no, you don't, chummie. We've all got a date with the
Master, haven't we!".
As for the guest cast of the show, Damaris Hayman does a fine job with her character of Miss Hawthorne, the headstrong and stubborn white witch who forecasts doom and disaster on the village, although her performance is also a tad cheesy.
Regardless of this, Damaris has some good scenes also such as the one where Miss Hawthorne meets with the Master early on and she protests over his lack of concern for the excavation of the dig. And Miss Hawthorne says to the Master "We are all in mortal peril, Vicar! Have you no concern
for the souls in your care?!". And the Master tells her that the concept of the soul is very dated and he prefers to view the matter existentially and she interrupts him saying "Existentially?! Oh, you're a blockhead, sir!". But as the Master tries to hypnotise her, she manages to resist it and she tells him "
Must believe. Oh, why should I believe you? A
rationalist, existentialist priest indeed!". And the Master, furious, shouts "Listen to me!" and Miss Hawthorne defiantly tells him "You're a fool, sir. If you won't help me, I must find
someone who will!".
Then there is the scene where Miss Hawthorne and Benton are attacked by one of the Mayday dancers in the local pub and Miss Hawthorne knocks out the man with her crystal ball. And Benton, all bruised from the attack asks "What happened?" and Miss Hawthorne tells him "I hit him with my reticule. On these occassions, the outcome is a certainty!". And as Benton is about to go outside, Miss Hawthorne stops him and says "No, Sergeant, wait. Look, I know these people. They're
not wicked. Well, most of them anyway". And Benton asks "So?" and Miss Hawthorne says "So, it's up to us to explain to them how mistaken they
are. Now, listen carefully!".
And lastly there is the scene where Miss Hawthorne prevents the Doctor from being burned by the villagers for being percieved to be a "black witch". And Miss Hawthorne protests "Stop! You will bring a terrible retribution upon
yourselves if you persist!" and the leader of the bad villagers, Bert shouts "Shut up, you silly old fool!". And Miss Hawthorne says "You would dare to harm the great Wizard Qui Quae Quod?! You wouldn't listen to me before and now you're in the
power of the Magister. You know I speak the truth!". And as Bert insists that the villager, Thrope get on with burning the Doctor, Miss Hawthorne interrupts again "No, wait, listen to me. Under the Magister you have been
frightened, injured, your property destroyed!! Serve the great Qui Quae Quod. In
him lies peace and great joy!!".
As for the other supporting cast members, Don McKillop does very well in his role as the local pub landlord, Bert, who is under the control of the Master. And McKillop's best line comes when Bert talks to a few customers in the pub about the possibility of the devil making an appearance up at the dig that Professor Horner is about to excavate. And Bert says to the customers "Well, I'll tell you. if the Old'un does come along here
tonight, he can have my best room. My bread and butter, he is!".
Rollo Gamble is also pretty good as the Squire Winstanley, who ends up defying the Master, which costs him very dearly indeed in the end and you actually end up feeling sorry for his character as he is sceptical of the supernatural events at the village but soon comes under the hammer from the Master.
And this is especially notable in the scene where Winstanley meets with the Master, who tells him he wants Winstaley to call a village meeting. And the Master further says "I control the forces that have been released in Devil's
End over the last few hours" and Winstanley "All that fuss up at the dig? You're trying to tell me it was you?!". And the Master says "Exactly" but Winstanley refuses to accept it and says "That's ridiculous!" and the Master angrily says "You need proof, do you?! Very well you shall have it!" and he concentrates and suddenly a strong wind blows things about the room". And this panics Winstanley who pleads with the Master "Stop it! Stop it!" and the Master stops and the wind subsides and he says "Well?" and Winstanley says "I'll do anything you say".
Alec Linstead next also does well in his role as the UNIT solider, Sergeant Osgood, who builds the heat exchanger for the Doctor, so that the UNIT soldiers can penetrate the heat barrier.
And Linstead has a good moment where he get's the heat exchanger working and he is quite excited that it works. However the Brigadier is fed up with the noise it makes and tells him to switch if off but Osgood say "I'm sorry, sir, I can't. I must finish the tests". And the Brig impatiently asks "Well, how long are you going to be?!" and Osgood says "About a minute, sir. I've got the hang of it now" but then there is a puff of smoke and Osgood looks up with his face covered in soot and he says "Half an hour, sir. At least!".
And last of all Stephen Thorne is excellent in his role as the Daemon, Azal although his appearance is rather brief as you only really see him in the last episode, but the effects and make-up for his character are actually very good, and yes those are tights he is wearing in the scenes where you see his hooves!
Thorne also makes great use of his booming voice for the part and he has a couple of good scenes, starting with the one where Azal makes his first appearance to the Master. And the Master asks Azal "Give me your knowledge and your power!" and Azal asks "Why?" and the Master says "So that I may rule these primitives on Earth here, and
help them to fulfill your plan!". And Azal says "You are not one of their kind" and the Master says "No, I am superior to them. That's why I should be their leader!". However, Azal says "There is another here of your race. I would speak to him" and the Master boldly says "I think not!" and Azal warns him "Take care, creature! With your few pitiful grains of
knowledge, you have summoned me here, but I am not your slave and you are not
immortal!".
And Azal tells the Master "I am the last of the Daemons. This planet smells to me of
failure. It may be that I shall destroy it. You still wish me to come once
more?!" and the Master says "I do!" and Azal tells him "Very well. Now go!" and he Master leaves as Azal shrinks again and heat haze surrounds the cavern.
And lastly (BIG PLOT SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!) there is the scene where the Doctor speaks with Azal as the Daemon makes his final appearance. And Azal tells them "I have decided. I shall pass on my power!" and the Master delighted says "O might, Azal, I thank you!" but Azal says "But not to you!" and he points at the Doctor instead and says "To him!". However this frightens the Doctor, who suddenly shouts out "NO! No, I don't want it!!". So this leaves Azal with no choice but to pass his power to the Master, who asks what he will do with the Doctor and Azal says "He is not rational. He is disruptive. He must be
eliminated!".
But as Azal starts to zap the Doctor with electric bolts from his fingertips, Jo steps infront of the Doctor and shouts out that she be sacrificed instead, which sends Azal into a fury of confusion and he puts his hands to his head, sending the electrical surge through his body and he stumbles. And Azal shouts out "THIS ACTION DOES NOT RELATE!! IT HAS NO DATA!! IT DOES NOT RELATE!! GO!! LEAVE ME!! ALL OF YOU!!!" and everyone flees the church just before it blows up.
DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
As I finally move onto the director and music paragraphs, starting with the direction, Christopher Barry does an excellent job here with the story and given its unusual five episode length (only three stories in the show's history were that length) it is actually very well paced and rarely ever lags. Barry already was one of the stalwart directors of the show as his involvement in Doctor Who goes all the way back to the first ever Dalek story during the William Hartnell era. So overall this is one of Barry's best serials that he directed for the series.
As for the music score, Dudley Simpson once again provides the fully electronic score for the serial and its another fine one, which fits the story's tone very nicely with its moody, creepy passages aswell. And Simpson's music is also nicely backed up by some great sound effects from the show's sound effects designer, Brian Hodgson, who provided the sounds effects for the show from its beginning until 1972.
FLAWS (Warning this section may contain the odd spoiler!)
As for the story's flaws.....well yeah OK, The Daemons does have some here and there.
And my main problem with the story is where (SPOILER ONCE AGAIN!!) Azal cannot understand Jo's decision to save the Doctor from being killed by him, by offering herself as a sacrifice instead. The decision seems to totally baffle Azal and send him into self destruct mode, but I suppose that Azal is a creature that only deals in absolutes and can't handle the notion of such an intervention of selfless-ness.
However, you can't help but think, wait a minute, in order to defeat this guy all we had to do is just confuse him????? And that's it???? Surely we should have thought of that sooner! The resolution of ridding the world of Azal seems just a bit pat and convenient that all it takes is one action to confuse him and that's him taken care of!
Another issue I had with the story was to do with the way the Doctor put down Jo in the scene where she says "of all the idiotic things, as if blowing things up solves anything!" regarding the Brigadier's decision to try and bomb their way through the barrier. So, the Doctor tells off Jo saying that he is doing his best to cope with the situation and she should show the Brig more respect, yet he was only reprimanding the Brigadier for making that very suggestion a minute ago himself! So basically this makes the Doctor a big of a hypocrite!
I also thought the idea of Benton shooting the lamp and the weather cock were a bit daft as he does shout out for the lamp shatter, fair enough, but he doesn't really shout out Benton should do with the weathercock. So, Benton basically assumes he has to shoot it and nothing else really! I felt basically Benton wouldn't have really been able to pick up the Doctor's voice from that distance when he wasn't shouting.
Then there is the issue with Bok, the seemingly indestructable gargoyle under the Master and Azal's command and how the UNIT soldiers fail to cope with it. Yet you think all they need to do is get the UNIT soldiers to distract Bok, while others could sneak past it and infiltrate the church if that's what they wanted to do! Although in the end there isn't much the UNIT soldiers could have done against the towering 20 feet high Azal once they got in right enough!
Its also another one of the stories where you think the Time Lords could have gotten involved for once as they could have let the Doctor use the TARDIS to land outside the heat barrier and take the Brig and his men and then travel inside the village itself! But again I guess that would be too easy and the Time Lords would rather that the Doctor figured it out himself and they only interrupt anyway when there's something of interest in it for them.
And last of all by this time surely to God the Doctor and UNIT should have guessed that the Master might have been behind the goings on in the village as he was the main antagonist for the other four stories in that season, so why not this one! So when the Doctor works out that the Master has been using the latin term "Magister" instead of the Master, the Doc should surely be thinking "Well its no bloody surprise, he's been behind all the other troubles we've had of late!!".
Anyway that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
So to sum up, The Daemons is indeed a bona-fide classic Doctor Who story and its one that's got all the elements that make a great one with a fine cast, great script, a towering monster, not to mention another appearance of the Master, although at this point they had overused him just a bit much. And any of the stories flaws are greatly outweight by its plusses and it also is the story where the UNIT family were operating at its peak and each of the UNIT regulars were given the most to do with Benton and Yates getting plenty of time to shine onscreen.
So after 46 years, The Daemons is still very much worth checking out and it remains one of the great classics of the original series.
Right, so that's it for now and I will return again soon with yet another post in the near future. In the meantime however, I might aswell take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy Easter weekend and I'll catch you's soon.
Till then have a good one!
No comments:
Post a Comment