DOCTOR WHO -THE DAEMONS

Doctor Who - The Daemons (1971)

I AM THE GOD OF HELL FIRE!

It is a wild & stormy night & the "Magister" wants to resurrect an ancient, malevolent (or is it?) evil, in the picturesque village of Devils End. Meanwhile, Your average, local, white witch Olive Hawthorn, tries to stop a stubborn Professor from awakening this great & deadly entity on his archeological dig. Live on BBC 3, courtesy of the naive public. It is Beltrane, the age of Aquarius. The Doctor also tries to stop the Professor from stupidly awakening a major threat to all humanity! They both fail & Azal is awoken by the Master with a little help from his friends, Professor Horner & tv presenter Alistair Fergus of BBC 3. Can the Doctor stop both the Master & Azal & save humanity from being another failure in a test tube & thus destroyed?!

Thank you, you're a lovely audience!

This was a joy to behold. This should be watched on a dark, Halloween night, I think I've done that! Even though the Doctor & Jo rush out to try & stop chaos from being woken up, Captain Yates & Sergeant Benton would rather watch rugby at Twickeham on another channel. It makes it all the more funnier when they switch over to see Jo crying over the not so deceased Timelord. Azal goes for a stroll, all 30 feet tall, & all. He treads on the poor, village, pc plod. Azal leaves giant hoof prints through the English countryside that would make Bigfoot jealous. Doesn't anyone else, a drifter, a dog walker, farmer, poacher, etc, see him wandering about so huge?!

Gotta take a quickie in the bushes

Azal has put a mile high, invisible & deadly force field surrounding Devils End. Anyone touching it is automatically evaporated. The Brigadier finds himself on the outside of it. Missing most of the fun, inside! The effect of a 30 foot tall Azal is well realised for this Whovian considering it was made in 1970!

Trick or Treat?

Bok pictured here, is some kind of ninja, statue, goblin entity. Our hero makes it believe in a small shovel as a "magic" weapon thus scaring it off. Though it does take a blasting from UNIT soldiers, yet, keeps on ticking along not fade away. This thing belongs in a manga or something completely different .

Well, size isn't everything!

I would love to see the Raston Warrior Robot from the Five Doctors (1983) up against Bok! Meanwhile, it is obvious to all fellow Whovians everywhere of the Erich Von Daniken influence for this story. Shouldn't Devils Hump be protected by English Heritage, Professor? Azals spaceship although the size of a Star Wars toy, weighs 750 tonnes because it can change size. It is 100.000 years old, & comes from 60,000 light years from the other side of the galaxy. The Doctor could be wrong about one thing, if Erich Von Daniken is right, then Azal IS the Devil or a blue print just like Quatermass & The Pitt! Watch the Satan episode of Ancient Aliens! :)

I put a spell on you!

White Witch Olive Hawthorne is immune to the hypnotic effects of the Magister who in fact turns out to be ..drum rolls..the Master of course. She is a wonderful character, full of spirit (pun not intended!), & believes in magic. Hence the irony that while the Doctor agrees with her about Azal he believes it is more science, & to this Whovians opinion he is correct. Elementally, my dear Benton!

Chap with wings, five round rapid!

Why does the Doctor allow himself to be captured by a bunch of morris men? & doesn't it show how gentle Jo (Katy Manning) Grant is that she breaks her cover to save a chicken from being sacrificed only for herself to be the chosen one instead? Aah. The Doctor mentions the bumblebee shouldn't being able to fly as his 4th persona will do, again, in Robots of Death (1977).

The Doctors car Bessie predates KITT from Knight Rider by a good decade, though Bessie is the more shy, silent type. As mentioned, the effect of a giant Azal is amazing. I prefer watching this in black & white monochrome as I'm sure I did on PBS in Louisiana like the Silurians (1970). But the Pertwee era is the first in psychedelic, technicolor! look for me!

Jo is so gentle.

Azal poses for Playdude!

Obey me

This is understandably considered a classic of the Pertwee era. The effects don't hinder, not that such things ever mattered to this Whovian. It's the magic of this adventure that flows with this Whovian! But, how could we not forget the picturesque setting of the village of Devils End, real name is Aldbourne, Wiltshire. Many a fan has made a pilgrimage, I've yet to do so, but promise to do so!

The church has been rebuilt since it blew up!

It's the apocalypse, but keep calm & carry on.

Did I forget to mention Azal allegedly destroyed Atlantis, yet, in this same era we see it getting destroyed (I don't recall seeing Azal there!) on the Time Monster (1972) The Master is his usual deliciously evil self, hungry for power, An all you can eat buffet that Azal will give him? I ate this Target book up as a brat. The fact that both the Doctor & Master looked as but insects to the giant Azal in the church, in the book, of course. This also came out on VHS, but I didn't get to get it until DVD.

Allegedly, in the UK, this got complaints for the church blowing up, it was that realistic to viewers in 1971, most of whom would have still had black & white sets. It equally got complaints in the US for its portrayal of Azal looking like the Devil. You should probably take these tall tales with a pinch of salt. Down under it probably just got enjoyed with a can of Fosters which is what this blogger was doing to watch this again for his blog & a Devils delight it was too!

UNIT era tv nostalgia?

Find a couch to watch this one because you're going to need it with the lights off. I cheated & watched during yesterday afternoon for this blog, sue me!

Stewart aka borgduck,