| THE DAEMONS by Guy Leopold |
| Story 59 Synopsis: There's trouble at Devil's End. Reverend Magister tries to smooth over the concerns of local resident Olive Hawthorne. There is a major archaeological dig going on, unearthing an ancient barrow, with Professor Horner leading the excavation under the watchful eyes of BBC3. The Doctor belatedly gets interested, and tries to stop Horner, but fails, and nearly dies. When he recovers, he takes Jo to investigate, and they find a walking gargoyle statue, but they fool it, and escape. The Doctor theorises that the barrow contained a creature called a Daemon, an alien of immense power, who has caused an impenetrable heat barrier with a 1-mile radius covering Devil's End. It transpires that Magister is the leader of an occult coven who have summoned the daemon, Azal, who will bestow its power to an individual. Also, that Magister is the Master in disguise. The Doctor tries to build a machine to zap Azal's power, but fails. He tries to bluff Azal into clearing off, but the daemon sees through this. The Master wants Azal to give him his power, but Azal chooses the Doctor. The Doctor refuses, because he just wants Azal to leave. Azal decides to give the power to the Master after all, who demands the Doctor be killed. Azal agrees, but Jo steps in the way, offering herself as a sacrifice instead. Azal cannot understand this principle, and self-destructs. The Master is finally put into UNIT's custody. |
| Review:- This is a pretty straightforward tale, made legendary by the apparent happy atmosphere amongst the cast and crew. As the final story in a season where the Master has turned up every time, in various states of control, here we see his final act, and the highest stakes so far. His alias is subtle enough to fool most, and his status is enhanced by the tale of his predecessor's sudden disappearance, couple with Canon Smallwood's apparent good nature. Surely we can trust a man of the cloth? Not only is the Master on both sides, he is manipulating everyone to get the greatest prize. And he very nearly gets it. Great stuff. The Doctor has a curious time. His warnings are generally ignored, he very nearly dies with Prof Horner, he tries his best to help UNIT through the heat barrier, he fools Bok with a similar trick to Spearhead From Space, he knows all about the daemons, and he puts himself on the line in the final showdown, without a back-up plan other than sheer guts. I love the idea that even when surrounded by the coven, and in the face of the daemon, he still makes it clear to the Master that he isn't scared. If a man has nothing to lose, he has nothing to fear. Sweet little homily. Jo is mostly ignorable, which is just how I can stand her. She does get the big finish, which at least is a surprise ending, especially when it seems that all is lost. It is touching that having so totally failed to impress the Doctor in her debut, Terror Of The Autons, she has no qualms in putting herself in the firing line, ready to take a bullet for him. Quite moving, really, and one of her best moments. UNIT mug through, and are rather out of their depth against a creature of Azal's power. The heat barrier is a useful plot contrivance to keep them diminished, as the alternative might see mass slaughter. Miss Hawthorne is the most colourful of the locals, and manages to give Benton a pretty entertaining subplot. Her rescue of the "wizard, Quiquaequod" is inspired and shows she is not just a cipher. The rest of the villagers are a bit dull, either stooges or faceless fools. Still... I quite like this story. And the extra ending, where the Master finally meets his match by stealing the wrong car, is a fitting end to an oblique chase. Then again, nothing ever really ends on Doctor Who, does it? |
| Disclaimer: I've read the book, and seen the show on repeat. |