Customer Reviews

Doctor Who - The Daemons [VHS]

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The final story to Season Eight has its detractors, who consider it a load of rubbish, and its supporters, who declare it as one of the best in the series. I'm happy to say I belong to the latter group.

The plot: Professor Horner, an archaelogist is digging into a barrow at Devil's End that he claims contains treasure by a Bronze Age chieftain. Local resident and white witch Olive Hawthorne is against the dig, as she claims Satan will appear. After all, it is Beltane, 30 April. Something clicks in the Doctor's mind and he and Jo rush over to Devil's End. He is too late, and powerful forces send the Doctor and kills Horner.

The forces have been unleashed by the Master, masquerading as the local reverend, and he intends to invoke Azal, the last Daemon, so he can rule the world with the power given by the Daemon. The Dæmons were an alien race who gave mankind knowledge to evolve, but amorally. To make matters worse, the Master has Azal create a heat barrier encircling Devil's End, trapping the local inhabitants in, and locking everyone else out, so the Doctor and his friends are left to fend for themselves.

Here is one story where the fan/viewer can see the entire UNIT team at work, not only professionally, but in a family sort of way, where everyone looks after each other and shows genuine concern. Yates and Benton are akin to the big brothers to Jo's little sister, the Doctor is the grandfather, and the Brigadier is the uncle of the family. Jo's concern for the Doctor is all so apparent here.

In the confrontation scene between the Doctor, the Master, and Azal, who is a fearsome, satyr-like creature standing 30' tall, the Time Lord launches effective arguments for why Azal should just leave and let mankind grow up, at their own pace. "Thanks to you, he can blow up the world and he probably will. He can poison the river, the land and the air he breathes, he's already started." When the Master says that he alone possesses the strong leadership needed, the Doctor retorts with "I seem to remember someone else talking like that. Who was the bounder? Hitler. Yes, Adolf Hitler. Or was it Genghis Khan?" The Doctor's moral character in the confrontation distinguishes him as a champion for Earth and its people.

One of the best cliffhangers of the series comes at the end of Episode 2, when Bok, the stone gargoyle, traps the Doctor and Jo inside the cavern where they find Azal's miniaturized spaceship. How is it resolved? Yeah, right, like I'm going to tell you.

One goof noticeable is the fight between Sergeant Benton and Garvin, the Master's servant. The shotgun held by Garvin breaks during their struggle and he carries on, holding both pieces together.

The appearance of the heat barrier, the thick black marks on buildings denoting its presence, and the attempts to penetrate are some of the outstanding special effects.

The Daemons is one of those stories whose colour prints were lost during the BBC purge. Episode 4 survived, but the colour synchronized restoration from the black and white prints of the other four episodes gives it a film look. With #4 still in its original condition, the interior video shots are a big contrast to the outdoor film footage. It makes me wonder, well, why not do it to the B&W print of #4 to give the whole story a film look? Still, this is only a minor complaint.

The regulars give their best as usual, but Damaris Hayman (Miss Olive Hawthorne) is one of the best non-regulars I have seen in the entire series. John Scott-Martin has a non-speaking role as one of the villagers, and John Owens (Thorpe) may be familiar as a recurring character in The Two Ronnies.

Jo Grant is the hero of the hour, as what she does causes Azal's defeat. No, you have to watch it to find out what I mean.

The debate between science and magic is another subtopic presented here, between the Doctor and Jo and later, he and Miss Hawthorne at opposite ends. What appears to be magic in conjuring the Daemon is explained as highly advanced science, with the ceremony a means of controlling the psionic forces and the Daemon himself. To the Doctor, anything can be explained by science, as he demonstrates with to Jo by causing his yellow Roadster Bessie to run by itself via solenoids and a remote control.

Yet, let's get one thing straight here. Azal is amoral, not evil, as the Doctor points out. Take Prometheus, a cousin of Azal. In Greek mythology, Prometheus was punished by the gods for giving fire to man. He eventually escaped with the help of his brother and continued giving knowledge to man. As a Rational, Prometheus is my hero, but should he have perhaps let mankind develop at its own pace, as the Doctor claims Azal should have done? Series producer Barry Letts, using the alias Guy Leopold, wrote the story, and how wonderful it was to have had an introspective, intellectual philosopher at the helm of Doctor Who!

The Daemons remains one of my favorite Who episodes. At the end, the Doctor tells Jo, "There is magic in the world." as they and villagers dance around the Maypole. You tell'em, Doctor!

One of my favourite Jon Pertwee era stories originall broadcast May 22 through June 19 1971, this adventure was extremely controversial in the UK at the time with campaigner Mary Whitehouse calling for it not to be broadcast.

Full of references to withcraft and mysticism the story combines ancient English practices of Morris Dancing and the Maypole with Dridic and Celtic legends. Throw in some witchcraft, black and white and Satanism and you have all the makings of a good science fiction story.

Actually the story links the magical elements more with superior science than with devil worship and clearly attempts to show that the representations of the horned demons owes more to early visits from aliens than satanism. The rites and rituals thus evolved as ways of communication with the aliens and ways to cope with their powers.

This story owes a lot to the earlier Quatermass movie where a strange spaceship is discovered in a London Undergound station in an area dominated by streets with devilish names. It is soon discovered to contain elements of Martian life which have a devilish appearance and which cause the local inhabitants to indulge in group killing and other alien behaviours.

There is also a strong undercurrent of the writings of Dennis Wheatly in the script as the devil worshipping practices are measure and correspondent to Christian ones, with the Master assuming the role of the High Priest.

Towards the end of the story the portrayal of the Daemon as being intelligent armed with superior science but with a simplistic moral code is a dramatic scary affair but which makes a good point.

Highly recommended.

Takes a while to get going, and I don't like the ending at all, but inbetween this is among the best of the Jon Pertwee years. The Master attempts to control the power of the awesome Azal, last of the Daemons, for whom Earth is a scientific experiment gone wrong. The more interesting bit, though, is how the Master uses "black magic" to manipulate the miserable townspeople into doing his bidding, and how the Doctor (with help from an eccentric white witch) turns them against him. Actually co-written by producer Barry Letts and Robert Sloman ("The Green Death," "Planet of the Spiders"). Note: the recolorization isn't as good as "The Silurians" or "Terror of the Autons," but the tape includes the original color print of episode 4.

Once regarded as one of the great stories of the Jon Pertwee era, "The Daemons" unfortunately falls short of achieving "classic" status. It is a story propagated by nostalgia; the fond memories it gave viewers are probably better than the actual story itself. This is not to say that "The Daemons" is bad. On no account. It has great moments. The first episode is excellent - it builds up the tension and is extremely atmospheric. All the night scenes are wonderfully done, as are those in the pub. The second episode is also well done; unfortunately the story tends to sag during the third. It becomes a bit of an action for action's sake runaround - helicopter and motorcycle chases that just wear a bit thin. The attempts to break through the heat barrier go on far too long and are loaded with technobabble. The ending is also a bit rushed and is very implausible. However "The Daemons" is littered with some great moments. The gargoyle Bok is fun to watch (when he first moves in the cavern near the end of episode one it is downright frightening). The village meeting in episode three is an interesting probe into the lives of the inhabitants and there are nice directorial touches - for instance the shadow falling across the police constable's face when the unseen Daemon stands over him and the sweat on the Master's brow as he summons Azal at the end of part three (probably caused by the studio lighting, but works to terrific effect). Azal's presence in the cavern in the final episode is also well realised. I also feel this story is better in black and white. It was transmitted in this format the last time it was on Australian television and I feel that monochrome added to the story's horror atmosphere (especially the first episode). The colour reconstruction of episodes 1-3 and 5 give this effect slightly (you can tell it's from a black and white print), but part 4, the only surviving colour episode, just looks too slick and glossy for the type of story. All in all "The Daemons" is enjoyable - although it tends to deteriorate halfway through.

After purchasing "the Daemons" from Amozon, I had my doubts, but that soon all changed when I watched the tape the entire way.
Roger Delago (who plays the Master) gives it his best in this 5 part half fantasy/ half science fiction story from the Dr. Who archive.
It starts out like any Dr. Who story with something odd happening,like a man walking a dog dissapearing in a gravevard in a small town called Devil's End, meanwhile BBC 3 is making a documentary about a tomb on a hill called the devil's hump, which a archiologist has suddenly discovered, which he thinks hold treasures of a warrior's tomb.
The Doctor of corse races to the digging with Jo to stop what he thinks is the returning of something evil.
The story gos on from there, with concepts of demons, devils, wiches, living gagoyle servents, and a Master all decked out in demon summoning clothes with a town of hypnotised followers to summon a great evil.
Delago does great scenes like the summoning of the Daemon Azal, and his mis-fired escape in the Doctor's car.
In all i believe this is a must for all Pertwee and Delago fans.

This one is a good example of why dr who is so good. One thing i like about it is it strays a bit. usually toward the end of every episode te doctor is in danger. Well in this one our old frind the Master ends up on the short end of the stick at the end off one. I thought that was neat as the master almost always has everything under control. Good show even if the brigadier wasnt in the action like you know he would like to be.

This is the best Jon Pertwee Doctor Who series you can can buy. Some of the special effects look dated now, but the brooding atmosphere and demonic creatures left an indelible mark on me as a 10 year old. Another reason for its excellence was one of the earliest appearances of the Master, who was marvellously played by Roger Delgado.

Sadly this still isn't available on DVD. However when it is eventually released it will hopefully include a documentary that was made in the early 1990's when the cast revisted the location the series was filmed at.
If you can get the video at a decent price its definetly worth getting, but I'm waiting for the DVD which will undoubtably be remastered and include the usual quota of commentaries and extras.

There's something wrong at Devil's Hump. The opening of a tomb, magic, aliens guiding the human race's destiny and the devil! Well, maybe not the devil, but Azmael, the last of the Daemons. "The Daemons" is very enjoyable. This must have been the Halloween episode of Who, and its very apparent. Some decent effects, the Master dressed for the Black Masses, Bok, the living statue and some ok action and gun play. The regulars are very good. Miss Hawthorn one of the more ecentric guests in the show. The one problem I have with this one(and the other stories in this season)is that Jo's character is written just horribly. Rotten! Like the"Claws...", Jo is semi-conscous, wailing on finding the Master before she is sedated. And worst of all, she gives Mike Yates and her cover away to save a CHICKEN that's about to be sacrificed!! Nice to see Mike and Benton in civiies! "You're right, Jo, there is magic in the world!"

A satisfying dark and mysterious story, with good effects, and a great performance by the Doctor, Jo and UNIT, but the ending has got to be one of the worst in the series, with Azal basically going "Arrgh! That does not make sense!" and blowing himself sky high.

A good Pertwee adventure. The plot is excellent, but the story suffers badly from a lot of technobabble and a confusing ending. Half the time you don't know what the hell the Doctor is talking about - even with explanation. The Doctor's distinction between science and magic is very confusing. The Doctor states that the Daemons' powers are scientific, not magical. But when he describes how their powers work, it sounds exactly like magic with absolutely no scientific explanation. And the defeat of Azal at the end is very confusing.

On the positive side, the acting and directing are both very well done. The story keeps you hooked throughout the entire thing. All of the cliffhangers are excellent. It has a very good plot - especially when there were no other Dr. Who stories like this at the time. The Daemons are fantastic looking creatures. It's action-packed with even a few scary parts here and there. This is a must-have for any Doctor Who fan!

P.S.
On the David Tennant episode "The Satan Pit" listen for the name Daemos. It's mentioned in that episode.