'Doctor Who: The Daemons' (1971)


I did have plans for yesterday but what I actually ended up doing was staying in bed, all day, and watching TV. I wouldn't do it every day but every now and then? I would totally recommend pushing everything else to one side and watching all that stuff you've been meaning to but never got round to because... you know all the reasons ;o)

There was a lot of horror watched yesterday but I also made some time to catch up with the little pile of Doctor Who DVDs that I keep for occasions like this. For me, 'Doctor Who' really began with Tom Baker but of course, there were other Doctors before him and a whole load of stories where I may have read the book but never saw it on TV, what with not having been born yet and all :o) This time round, I thought I'd give 'The Daemons', a Third Doctor tale, a go...

In the peaceful village of Devil’s End something very strange is happening. A professor is preparing to open a nearby burial mound and a local white witch has foreseen death and disaster. Meanwhile, the new vicar looks suspiciously like the Master and he is using black magic to conjure up an ancient Dæmon.

Can the Doctor, Jo and UNIT stop their old enemy before he succeeds?

It goes without saying that I enjoyed 'The Daemons', I'm a fan of 'Doctor Who' so there was no chance that I wouldn't enjoy it on one level or another. I didn't expect to enjoy it quite so much though, it was a lot of fun to watch. I think a large part of this is that the story very deliberately splits the Doctor and his companions up (inside and outside the village) and forces them to tackle problems that they would normally work through together. It was particularly entertaining, for me, to see the Brigadier's 'irresistible force' meet the 'immovable object' of the force field as well as watching the Doctor talk a Unit soldier through a task that he could have completed in seconds. Things are shaken up nicely and there's also the added tension around the Master basically having free reign to pursue his plans in the meantime.

And I thought the Master was meant to be a master (sorry) of disguise? He really wasn't trying hard at all here and clearly thought that if Superman can disguise himself by just wearing glasses then so could he. That really didn't work well and he was lucky that no-one in the village knew who he was. Luckily, there's a lot more going on in 'The Daemons' to occupy us and I guess we can forgive the Master a rare 'off day' with the disguises.

'The Daemons' is a nice mix of science vs. superstition and the two play off each other to give us a decent reason behind there being Daemons that have spaceships buried outside old English villages. Well, it worked for me anyway ;o) What really got me though was how much action there was in the five episodes. Seriously, I'm talking helicopter chases, gunfights (some involving a living gargoyle) and the Doctor being shot at while on a motorbike. I don't think I've ever seen so much action in a Doctor Who story, it was like the Doctor suddenly decided that he was going to be James Bond for a bit. I mean, you always know that the Doctor will make it through but there were occasions. in 'The Daemons', where I found myself wondering (just a little bit)...

It all made for a story where I wasn't planning on watching the whole thing but did without even really thinking about it. I am probably the last 'Doctor Who' fan to see 'The Daemons' (it's usually the way) but if you haven't seen it and get a chance to, definitely check it out. It's well worth your time.

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