The Daemons - Episode 5

The final episode of season eight has to do a lot in this episode and that is to give a satisfactory end to not just this story but to the season. The story starts off again with Azal appearing in his full form for the first time. It’s a good cliffhanger but I don’t think that it’s resolved very well. I like the explanation that the Doctor gives the villagers about what’s going on and after a while it goes back to the science vs magic argument between the Doctor and Miss Hawthorne. It’s fairly good that they use Jo as the sacrifice. It might be what you could argue the companion is for but it gives Katy Manning something to do other than fall over a lot.

After being stuck on the outside of the action for most of the time, the brigadier finally gets through and into the action and it’s a massive relief as I wondered quite what the point was for Nicholas Courtney to be in the story until this episode. There was also a look of relief on Nicholas Courtney’s face as he got to do something constructive. The episode features one of the most iconic lines in Doctor Who and the most famous that Nicholas Courtney says. “Chap with the wings there, five rounds rapid”. Once he’s involved in the story he doesn’t hang around and is firing at the gargoyle with everything that

There is a nice twist when Azal offers to give power to the Doctor and not the Master who refuses instantly. This must really have annoyed the Master after all he has gone through but this is clearly another instance where the Master hasn’t thought things through. Hopefully he goes away and thinks about how to do plans. Maybe watch a bond film or something like that.

The way that Azal is defeated is quite clever really as its Jo’s heroic moment of wanting to sacrifice her life instead of the Doctor’s does the job and I think that whilst it might have been the best way of finishing of the story, I found that it meant that the companion helped defeat the baddie and that makes a change from the Doctor swooping in at the last moment.

Now way back in episode one it was shown to us that the Doctor could use Bessie via remote control and it becomes relevant and prevents the Master from escaping. At the end of the episode he is seen being driven off and I still half expected him to find a way of escaping so it was nice and refreshing and felt like it left the door open for his return at a later date. Roger Delgado has been a  brilliant addition to the show and maybe a bit of a break will do the character and the show some good but he has been fun to watch.

The last shot is of them all dancing round the maypole with Yates and the Brigadier off to the pub. It does feel like the end of the season and it’s a nice way to sign off this season which has been largely good. I think that apart from Colony in Space, the stories have good but to be honest I think that the use of Roger Delgado in the vast majority of the season has been a bit of a mistake but I think that Katy Manning has really developed well in this season and I look forward to her second season.

The Daemons - Episode 4

The penultimate episode of this season finale story and I’m still in two minds about this story but for different reasons than at the beginning of the story. I think that the problem is that like most six part stories, this is too long for the story. Admittedly its only one episode too long but its still too long. Azal’s first appearance is a rather odd shot of its feet/hooves, the next would be the back and side of its head. His involvement in the episode is brief yet important and after spending three episodes talking about him its good that there seems to be some on screen development in this area.

In the initial moments of the episode, the Master looks like the assistant as opposed to the main person. This is just as surprising as the cliffhanger from the previous episode. This weird look doesn’t last for long as the moment he leaves the crypt he’s back to his old self. The sight of the Doctor on a bike is something that still takes a bit of getting use to. As is the scene where is he shot at and falls off the bike. Pertwee’s Doctor is very much an action figure and he shows it again here and has a very good episode unlike Katy Manning who does really get much to do apart from running from one place to another and falling down a lot. Roger Delgado on the other hand continues to impress from start to finish and has his best scenes when he’s in the crypt talking to Azal. Despite my disapproval of how the Brigadier has been used in recent episodes having been kept outside the main action, I must say that I felt he was given slightly more to do but compared to Jo he looked like he had a million and one things to do.

The whole business of the Doctor being tied up and trying to convince the locals that he has powers and it means that we get to see Bessie moving seemingly on her own like she did in episode one. When he was looking for things to move he had help from Benton who deserves some praise as he feels frustrated that everyone seems to be doing something or cant be found and he’s having to endure Miss Hawthorne who has a wonderful smile on her face for the whole episode.

The CSO shot of Azal didn’t start off particularly well but by the end it looked and it was a good cliffhanger and it ended was a pretty pedestrian episode. Apart from a few brief moments of action from Jon Pertwee, nothing of much interesting happened. It’s quite surprising that considering we are so close to the end that it doesn’t feel like the end is in sight and this also feels like a padding episode.

The Daemons - Episode 3

As we approach the second half of the story we are starting to get to where all the plot threads start to make much more sense and take on more importance. At the end of the previous episode, the gargoyle was about to attack the Doctor and Jo but this obviously doesn’t happen. It’s weird that after the gargoyle has been sent packing the Doctor reveals that the words he had said were a funny rhyme. It was a good way that they solved this particular cliffhanger because it was essentially a battle between the Doctor and the Master but they weren’t even in the same room.

There is a nice bit with the Doctor and Miss Hawthorne and its very much the believers vs the non-believers. It’s an argument that is good at first but does seem to get in the way of the story. The slideshow that the Doctor presents to the others does seem like a throwback to when Patrick Troughton’s Doctor would do a demonstration to highlight a plot point. Here the Doctor uses it to show that they are dealing with aliens which is a relief after all the black magic nonsense. The Daemons are using the earth as a science experiment and the Master is trying to use this to his advantage. Speaking of the Master I think that he really has fun in this story. In particular when he’s talking to some of the locals and reveals some of their private secrets to the whole room and this does a good job of getting them to convince them of his point of view.

There is a nice action sequence with the Doctor driving Bessie and Yates riding a motorcycle. It’s over rather quickly but does end up with Jo being flung from the vehicle and being the one that gets to spend time in bed. It made me chuckle when the Doctor gives her something to make her sleep and it seems like he’s doing us as well as Jo a favour. The performances from everyone has been consistently good and in this episode I think that both Jon Pertwee and Roger Delgado are the star turns. Nicholas Courtney appears in this episode but unfortunately is still outside of the action and apart from a brief scene with Jon Pertwee spends most of his time in the episode at the other end of a microphone. Shame really.

The cliffhanger is a rare thing indeed and it’s the Master in peril and its just brilliant to see someone else apart from the Doctor and Jo in the thick of the action. I think at this moment the Master is starting to realise that he doesn’t have quite the grip on things that he thought he had. You would have thought that by now he would have thought about his plan a bit more. The episode is the first one that I feel has some legs to it and it felt like every moment kept my attention and that’s the first time in this story that its really done this.

The Daemons - Episode 2

Episode 2 of The Daemons is the 300^th episode of Doctor Who. Quite hard to believe it’s been 300 days since I started this marathon. Every time I reach a milestone I am impressed that I haven’t chucked in the towel. I can’t deny that I haven’t thought about quitting over the last 300 days. When it was the 200^th episode, it was episode three of ‘Fury from the Deep’ and I don’t think that this was a great episode for the milestone whereas I can say without doubt that this is a better way of celebrating reaching 300. At the end of the previous episode, things started to go a bit wrong and the Doctor is out cold (literally) in this episode, he spends the vast majority of the episode asleep. Once he does wake up it’s like he’s just had a quick nap.

Benton and Yates become some amusing double act, it starts with them having two separate phone conversations. This then moves onto them taking the brigadier’s helicopter to Devil Hump and there is a great shot when they spot hoofs in a field which must show that what caused it is massive but sadly the closest we get to see is a shadow that forms on a police officer. There are some good effects used to hide the fact that we don’t see what it looks like and there is a nice POV shot where its moving along the floor of the crypt.

The brigadier tries to get into Devils Hump but has trouble as there is a barrier preventing anything from getting in or out. This does mean that his involvement in this episode is somewhat restricted and he cant really interact with the regulars apart from walkie talkie. Roger Delgado’s involvement doesn’t feel as big as it did in previous stories. Something that I did notice was the role and costume of a vicar does suit him. Katy Manning seems to get the lions share of the screen time in this episode which is quite surprising considering how little she was used in one episode of ‘Colony in Space’.

The cliffhanger is another good one as the gargoyle is in the dig with the Doctor and Jo and is blocking the exit. It’s not clear what exactly the gargoyle will do to them but that’s the magic of it. I think that as an episode it moves on enough and there is a nice mix of comedy and drama and all the performances are really good and I think that apart from the black magic stuff which I’m still not sure about is a good way to end the season.

The Daemons - Episode 1

The Daemons is the final story of the eighth season and its written by Guy Leopold who in reality is Robert Sloman and Barry Letts who has already directed a story this season as well as produced the entire season. This is a story that I cant quite make my mind up, on one hand there are things to like and yet there is the whole occult stuff which I really cant be bothered with so every time I watch this story I am wrestling with whether I should like this story or not. It seems strange that after letting the Doctor go to another planet, they sent him straight back to earth. But I suppose it needs to be a gradual change in setting considering its been a season and a half on one planet.

The opening scene is very good and quite atmospheric, it continues with Miss Hawthorne being introduced. Miss Hawthorne is at times an annoying character but it cant be denied that she’s a useful character and will become quite important as the episodes. The rest of the supporting characters are all quite funny and look like they have stepped out of ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ and help create a great atmosphere and the right setting.

There is a good scene with the Doctor, Jo and Mike Yates which involves Bessie moving via remote control. This is fun but wont become relevant until the final episode. Another thing that comes from this opening scene with them is that it states quite clearly that the Doctor doesn’t believe in magic and Jo is more willing to believe. Its good to remind us that the Doctor is a scientist and it’s the beginning of good performances from Katy Manning and Jon Pertwee.

This story features BBC3 which wouldn’t exist until 2003 and pretty soon wont exist again but that’s the charm of this story that they predicted BBC3 so long before it appeared.

Mr Majester is the vicar of the village and it of course there is something not quite right about him and this is realised when its revealed that the previous vicar left in mysterious circumstances. For 1971 viewers they should have instantly know what was coming. In ‘Colony in Space’ it wasn’t until episode four that Roger Delgado appears in the story and in this one it takes 15 minutes. Roger Delgado is only in the story briefly where he tries to hypnotise Miss Hawthorne but Delgado is really good and just oozes the brilliance that he has shown in every episode he has been in.

The effect when the stone is pulled is somewhat disappointing if I’m being honest. The rest of the effects were all quite good. As a cliffhanger its one of the better ones that we have seen over the course of the season. After the disappointing ones that we have had its good that we are getting some good endings. As an episode it does its job very well and I think that this season will end on a high note which is as it should be.