Doctor Who: The Daemons (2 Discs)

Wow is all i can say great story and lovely performances and a great use of a may pole - ooooeeers lol. Yes again another strong release from 2ntertain and my favourite story of the Pertwee era! once again not going to spoil the story all i can reitterate is that it is very much drawn from the same pool as Hammer House of Horror movies but aimed at famiy viewing - resulting in compelling viewing! Action and adventure all the way - Delgardo as the BEST and original master gives another brilliant performance. U.N.I.T. trown in for the explosions and gun play - utterly brilliant! Nice extras and nearly all the special effects stand up so the most hard core fan should be able to palate this one. As per usual great extras for a great story as to be expected from 2ntertain releases. All i can ask is for the full 2012 schedule on the classic Doctor Who DVD's to be released. Only 8 more stories to be released and then thats the classic Doctor Who DVDs completed with the existing stories unless there have been any other stories found or 2ntertain may have animated the existing soundtracks of the classic stories - that would be a nice idea and a great way to celebrate 2013 Who's 50th birthday ;0)

Over forty years seems a life time ago when this was first shown, although it was repeated in 1992 when it was first re-coulurised. This is know as Jon Pertwee's favourite story and when you sit back and watch it you can see why. The hole of series eight dealt with the Doctor's struggle with the master and this was the climax of the series. For its time the effects are not bad, so much so a viewer complained at the blowing up of the church at the end of the story. As a five parter it works well not to long and not over stretched like many of the six parters. I very much doubt anyone needs to be told about the story the majority of people who buy Who DVD's are fans and no the show off by heart. So what's the picture like, well time has moved on since the original restoration, and the four episodes which were re-coloured are a lot better than the old VHS. First of all the black and white film print has been cleaned up Vid-fire has been used to bring the picture back to the original video look and then the colour NTSC video source has been then added to give excellent results, ok there is a slight difference with episode four which was the only episode left in its original format but its not nearly as noticeable as it was with the VHS issue. This is a two disc issue and the extras are interesting with the original Tomorrows world article about recolouring the story. I suppose one extra would have been nice but I assume rights were the problem, the documentary return to devils end with Pertwee himself would have been a nice extra. Remembering Barry Letts A look at the life and work of Barry Letts, is a welcome extra as this is the man who saved Dr who being cancelled after Troughton left the show and improve the ratings by double figures from season six.The Devil Rides Out Cast and crew talk about the making of the story, this was recorded quite a while ago but is up to the standard we expect of the extras on the disc. All in all if you love classic who, or just want to look at what the show was like on its first run, you can not go wrong with this story

This is the very first Doctor Who I ever saw, it s a classic which I love watching.

For years 'The daemons' has been hailed as a classic by many Who-Fans who were old enough to have seen it on first transmission. This became accepted lore and in the eighties (before the advent of video releases and before DVD was ever dreamed of) no one questioned it.

But, is the story any good..?

Well...yes and no.

The setting and premise - English country village becoming increasingly isolated as 'Satanic' forces take control is a staple of many a televison/film production - and here it works beautifully. Lovely locations and some nice clever tricks.
The population of the village (Squire, landlord, Vicar, White Witch, Policeman etc) are all present and correct and play their allotted roles with varying degrees of conviction (the bizarre range of accents for such a small, out of the way place as Devils End is rather bewildering though.)

The forces of Darkness as presented here range from the sublime (The Master played by Roger Delgado never puts a foot wrong. This actor is simply superb & his untimely death was a real tragedy), the so-so (Azal the eponymous Daemon is a standard 'Who' villain with iffy make up who SHOUTS a lot & his comeuppance is a bit 'suspect!) to the ridiculous ('Bok' the living Gargoyle is a little fat man in a body stocking with tiny flappy wings & a string tail who postures a lot and fails to convince on any level you care to mention.)

The resident team of 'Goodies', well here the Doctor's assistant is Jo Grant played by Katy manning who veers from being groovily 'cute' to being a right royal pain in the backside. Not the greatest of actors to have played a companion role, she gets by on her own 'kooky' personality - which serves the narrative but not much else. Likewise, Jon Pertwee's Doctor is arrogant, pompous and condescending to all and sundry...but manages to maintain varying degrees of 'likeability'. If he was your Doctor when you were growing up, you'll love him, otherwise...well he may take a bit of getting used to. He ranks pretty far down in my pantheon of favourite Doctors, but here the beauty of the countryside and the more fantastical elements of the plot seem to dilute any major problem.

One Very Bad Thing though - the music score. It's awful and VERY inappropriate. Aficionados of this era of 'Who' deem the vast array of warbles, electronic farts & synthesised hokum as being so 'outre', experimental and 'daring'. In some stories that may (MAY) be the case. Stories such as 'The Mutants', 'The Sea Devils' and even 'The Silurians' benefit from such bizarre, alien sounds...but a tale of Devil worshipping in a quaint English village needed a more orchestral musical score...something in the vein of Hammer Horror, or even 'Who's' own 'Pyramids of Mars'. Here, the music is distracting, obtrusive & destroys almost all the atmosphere the production would seem to be trying to create.

The Direction is fairly unremarkable (remember it's pretty modest TV (and BBC TV at that!) fare from the earliest eras of the 1970s, so there's no 'cinematography' as such - it's very much 'point the camera and shoot the thing'. The location work is nice though, but once in the confines of the studio for all the interiors things become very much more pedestrian.

Don't think about the ending too much either....it's a bit silly (though in principle it's got it's roots firmly in witchcraft/wiccan lore - it's just not explained at all, so it comes across as ...'What..???'

So, it's a nice little slice of 70s 'Who'. Vastly overrated though..but pleasant and inoffensive enough. The separate elements all work well and (more importantly) combine well. If you love the Pertwee years - this will be the ultimate in viewing for you. Enjoy i

I have heard nothing but good things about Doctor Who: The Daemons from friends of mine who have watched Doctor Who but never seen it before, so im glad it's coming to dvd in 2012 and in March as well. I got the new Doctor Who mag and read about some of the extra features on the dvd. It has a commentary with Katy Manning (Jo Grant) Richard Franklin (Mike Yates) Damaris Hayman and director Christopher Barry. Also it has the devil rides out, remembering Barry Letts and tomorrow's world looking at the technology to restore The Daemons.

The Doctor Jo and Unit find themself's trapped in the village of Devil's End where the new vicar who is also The Master is using black magic to bring back an ancient daemon. Can the Doctor stop him or will The Master finaley have unlimated power.