Product Details

• Actors: William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison
• Writers: Sydney Newman
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 2
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: February 11, 1997
• Run Time: 150 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304304234
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #99,571 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

The Five Doctors: Someone is taking the Doctor's past selves out of time and space, placing them in a vast wilderness, a battle arena with a sinister tower at its center. As the various incarnations of the Doctor join forces, they learn they are in the Death Zone on their home world of Gallifrey, fighting Daleks, Cybermen, Yeti...and a devious Time Lord Traitor who is using the Doctor and his companions to discover the ancient secrets of Rassilon, the first and most powerful ruler of Gallifrey. Starring Peter Davison, Jon Pertwee & Patrick Troughton with Richard Hurndall, Tom Baker and William Hartnell. The King's Demons: It is thirteenth century England, and King John is visiting the castle stronghold of Sir Ranulf Fitzwilliam. Ranulf's personal fortune has dwindled away, freely donated to King John to help fund the Crusade. While staying with Ranulf, the King's greed is criticized by the baron's head-strong son, Hugh. As a result, Hugh is challenged to a duel by the monarch's French Knight-at-Arms, Sir Giles Estram, a duel the young Englishman has little hope of surviving. When the TARDIS materializes and disturbs the joust, the Doctor's party are proclaimed friendly demons by the King, who seems stragely interested in their "blue engine". Before long the Doctor becomes embroiled in court politics, and he realizes that there is far more to the situation than a simple battle of honor between nobles. Starring Peter Davison

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Watch OUT!, August 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Doctor Who: King's Demons & Five Doctors [VHS] (VHS Tape)

There's a revised version with "All new Special Effects." DON'T BUY IT! The New effects aren't that special, and some of the changes are downright silly. The nice (if campy) black triangle is replaced with this wibbly warbly ripple that shows evidence of Photoshop and Debabblizer. Racilon's voice get's replaced with an idiotic confucius accent. Go for the original!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Filler 2-parter, followed by classic Five Doctors, July 18, 2002

By 

Daniel J. Hamlow (Narita, Japan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Doctor Who: King's Demons & Five Doctors [VHS] (VHS Tape)

In The King's Demons, the Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough, interrupt a jousting match between Hugh Fitzwilliam and Sir Giles Estram, King John's champion. The onlookers are astonished but King John seems unfazed, and welcomes them as his demons. But why is he at
Fitzwilliam Castle and not in London to take the Crusader's oath, and what of Sir Geoffrey de Lacey's confusion that he left the king four hours ago in London?

The interior of the castle is superior and I was reminded of Robin Hood movies, and the Doctor shows his usual compassion on Hugh, "Clearly there is a victor and a vanquished. Must blood be shed?" Turlough has a super line, when he, Hugh, and Isabella are chained in the dungeon. Hugh: "Can you not call on Hell [to free us]?" Turlough: "I could, but then so could you, and with a better chance of success, I fancy." Ouch!

While I rate the two-episode King's Demons as good, I must say this. 25-minute two-parters (to distinguish between the 45 minute Colin Baker ones) were limited by their length, which is why I question their necessity. I sometimes wondered what was wrong with deleting a story to make two five parters or make two three-parters. They did that in the Sylvester McCoy years but that's another story.

Speaking of another story, how about that classic, the Five Doctors, and the special edition, to boot? Some scenes have a few seconds added to them, and changing the time scoop to an "Abyss-creature" watery effect instead of a mere black pyramid was a great move. The special effects are a vast improvement over the original.

After a wonderful bit of scenery at the Eye of Orion, where the Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough are resting, the suspense begins with the appearance of a black-gloved figure manipulating controls. Cut to a scene of the First Doctor, played with great William Hartnell-ness by Richard Hurndall, being kidnapped by the Time Scoop. A miniature of the Doctor appears. Hmmm, who around here likes shrinking people? Familiar?

This happens to the Second and Third Doctor, as well as other companions, but a glitch occurs with the Fourth Doctor and Romana II, who are trapped in a time eddy.

The High Council of Time Lords, still led by Borusa, summon the Master to rescue the Doctor from Gallifrey's Death Zone, "the black secret at the heart of your Time Lord paradise" which is "not the most hospitable of environments."

The Cybermen play a major role here, as three squads of them come out. However, they prove no match to the "most perfect killing machine ever devised," the Raston Warrior Robot, who steals the show. It's like killing mosquitoes with Raid.
There's plenty of fabulous dialogue here. The Master tells us why the Doctor is so endeared to fans: "A cosmos without the Doctor scarcely bears thinking about." Something the Beeb should have remembered in 1989.

My favorite Doctor, Jon Pertwee, comes off the best here, "ever so resourceful," as the Master says. He's still the charming, improvising guy with ideas; it's as if he never left the series, and he's a calm counterpart to the strung out Sarah Jane.

An interesting double-entendre is when the First Doctor sees traces of two other Doctors. "Well, well, well, so two of them made it. I wonder what happened to the other." This last sentence spoken in such an acidic tone, might be a reference to Tom Baker's refusal to participate in the story.

And the Second Doctor's solo presence implies that he came here inbetween the verdict and sentencing at his trial--there is a hint of that when he encounters two of his companions.

One goof is the First Doctor's approximation of pi--3.14287. How about 3.14159265, which if I recall, was spoken in the original version of the Five Doctors--I'll have to check on that later. Another is the Cybermen led by the Master--how could they note fail to spot the Doctor and Tegan in the chessboard room upon entering?

A welcome reunion of sorts from some Who alumni, past and present, (they even included some William Hartnell and Tom Baker footage) with old pairings up (Doctor Two and the Brigadier, Doctor Three and Sarah) bringing back fond memories of the past, as well as new pairings (Turlough and Susan). It figures--we see writer Terrance Dicks utilizing his tool of pairing off figures and thus splitting up the story. Is this guy great or what?

King's Demons gets 3, Five Doctors gets 5--overall rating is 4.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars "Look at the size of that bed!", May 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Doctor Who: King's Demons & Five Doctors [VHS] (VHS Tape)

"The King's Demons" looks and sounds very medieval. Although, it does seem very inconsequential, and the conclusion is a little awkward. Ainley and Davison's swordfight looks like they're rehersing. And if the production team were trying to make Kamelion the new K-9, well, I'm glad he was just in two stories. This might be the only 2 parter that should have been a four parter(padding is needed). A tolerable pseudo-historical.