The Dæmons

PEAK WHO I FEAR

Some of the most fun Delgado gets to have all season, and that's saying something given he's in everything.

Generally just a really fun vibe for this story, putting the doctor more on his own for most of it with the Brig and UNIT reinforcements trapped outside, aliens that inspired myths are always fun, and I love the contrast between the dark underbelly of cults and magic run by the master vs the quaint little village over on top, especially when the latter gets to influence the former as the story progresses.

If I didn't love Bessie before I absolutely would now, this story cements her as a brilliant part of the UNIT family, I especially love The Master trying to get away in her and then being slowly driven back.

The effects also surprised me, Azul isn't the greatest effects-wise, but he's not too bad either, and UNIT showing off the heat barrier was some great practical effects.

All in all just a brilliant story!

Stories like this are why we watch the show. There is so much quality on display in The Dæmons with some of the most inventive moments featured in Doctor Who so far. There is so much for the actors to get their teeth into after the terrible flop of Colony in Space.

The heat force field surrounding Devil's end is typical of this stories' creativity and inventiveness. It is ambitious, novel and successfully pulled off. It keeps UNIT away from the centre of the action until the moment is perfect, but also gives them something entertaining to play with in the meantime.

Miss Hawthorne is another novel and exciting element of this story, a wonderful character. Having such an interesting woman on the show is a blessed relief (can she be in this every week?) If Big Finish did not have her back then that was a missed opportunity. To have a fascinating, morally strong and credibly portrayed white witch in one of the most sceptical eras of the show brings an much needed dynamic tension to the show.

The unusually high amount of location filming makes this show feel expensive (again, can we keep this up?!) Out of all the stuff shot on film I am in love with the documentary style cold open - this is a genius move which puts you straight into the world this story is set and makes this Doctor Who especially stand out. The television reports make the story flow nicely from one location to another giving the narrative a very natural and large scale feel.

Motorbikes! Morris dancers! The devil! There is no shortage of visual stimuli in this adventure. Visually speaking, if Colony in Space was 2% The Dæmons is 99%. There are almost too many wonderful ideas to mention (BBC Three!)

This story plays to all of The Master's strengths, never has his hypnotism and willingness to dabble with the dark side of reality ever sat so well in the show. The clandestine and shadowy individuals The Master leads in the cavern has a wonderful spirit to it. If only he had not appeared so frequently this season, this would have been yet another satisfying and surprising element of the show.

The build up to Azal's reveal is fantastic, instantly the footprints seen from the helicopter spring to mind, this moment had me very giddy with excitement. It is a small shame that the footprints are so much smaller once we hit the ground (although as we find out Azal can grow and shrink!) I feel his reveal well handled, especially when considering that the main villain of this story is more of a concept than a creature - Azal is far better a monster than we necessarily needed here.

The 'small spaceship' thing was a little strange, I'm not sure that this added too much to the script. However, the only slightly disappointing element of this story is the ending. Azal collapses and dies in a confused rage due to witnessing an act of unselfishness and self sacrifice. This a somewhat illogical ending. It is slightly irksome seeing as going into Episode Five I was expecting this to be my favourite Pertwee story so far. Alas, that accolade still lies with his debut.

I didn't enjoy The Daemons as much as others seem to have. On the one hand, there is some fun storytelling to this serial and good world-building in regards to how Doctor Who does and would handle the supernatural (broadly speaking at least) going forward. The Master gets to play cult leader and has some pretty fun moments. The Doctor, Yates, and Jo all get plenty of fun scenes together and Yates in particular feels like a very welcome presence in growing the sense of there being a staff to UNIT.

On the other hand, I hate some of the effects in this serial. Even by Third Doctor era standards, some of these cheesy green screen shots and awful make-up for the Azal. Azal's defeat isn't terribly exciting or impressive, either, just kind of noisy.

What I do like are the quirky characters like Bert the Landlord and Miss Hawthorne, who are both pretty fun, and what I love even more is the actual ending to the Daemons, where everyone dances around the maypole while the Brigadier goes to the pub. That was really fun and cute, and a very nice way to cap off this "Master Season."

Nonsense, wonderful nonsense.

The Daemons might be the story I have the most fun watching, I am not going to pretend it's particularly deep or complex, but such concerns for what makes a story “good” fall aside as I watch, and isn’t that the biggest complement of all. From Bok to Miss Hawthorne to remote control Bessie, to the Master’s plan this episode, it's truly an entertaining ride. Best of all, after Jo and Yates have had a season to settle in, the character dynamics between the members of UNIT are the best they have ever been.

A perfect story to watch for May Day or Halloween