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The Kings Demons Format Reviewed: VHS Review The Kings Demons is a two part story set against the background of the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta, or 'Great Charter', is the most important legal document ever written, being that it influenced the development of most democratic constitutions and bills of rights in the Western world, such as the US Constitution. With this backdrop, a brief flirtation with a potential meddling in history by The Doctor's enemies might appear slightly facile, but nevertheless it gives a good scope for the story to go forward with gravitas. At a duel instigated by King John, proceedings are interrupted by the arrival of the TARDIS. The TARDIS crew are greeted as 'his Demons' by King John, who The Doctor knows should be elsewhere taking The Crusaders Oath. Local Lord Ranulf then receives visitors who have been in London with King John, and they are taken prisoner by the King's champion, Sir Giles Estram, as is Ranulf's wife Isabella. Eventually, The Doctor and Sir Gilles duel with swords to unmask the bogus King and his champion, which The Doctor wins, but Sir Gilles is then revealed to actually be The Master who escapes in a torture chamber known as the Iron Maiden, which is actually his TARDIS. The Master then manages to turn the whole castle against The Doctor, as they believe the 'King' is still who he purports to be. The 'King' is then unmasked as an android, Kamelion, and order is restored when The Doctor escapes in his TARDIS with Tegan, Turlough and Kamelion. The Master also escapes, but finds his dimensional control altered. I think The Kings Demons has a slightly split personality. On the one hand there is an overly elaborate and very contrived plot, some questionable disguises and some poor effects. On the other hand the story is forced to be a lot tighter than normal due to it being two episodes rather than the customary four. Including The Master here is fine, but his 'disguise' is surely never going to fool anyone? Ainley does his best to portray a Frenchman in England, but he is still just too much like Anthony Ainley for me. We also see that every time The Master is involved in a story, we get every more elaborate and unbelievable plots. Why does someone who can in theory change history easily need to go to such bizarre lengths to accomplish their ends? There were much easier ways of stopping the Magna Carta from being signed, and plots like this really look like excuses to involve The Master again rather than plots that suit him. In this two part story, there is unsurprisingly a relatively small cast, and not much time to establish the characters. Davison barrells along in his now customary style as The Doctor, with Janet Fielding and Matthew Strickson largely left watching as Tegan and Turlough. The main other characters are The Master as played by Anthony Ainley, King John as played by Gerald Flood and Ranulf portrayed by Frank Windsor. Ainley is not very well disguised when playing Sir Gilles, but carries it off much better when playing The Master. Frank Windsor is slightly bemused it seems, and many scenes seem to pass him by. Gerald Flood is however dominant as King John, and convincing in his role. As mentioned above, The Kings Demons has the benefit of being only two episodes, and therefore is not padded nearly as much as many other stories are that have 4 parts. The action is direct, to the point and does keep the interest of the viewer throughout. The Kings Demons is also a fun little story, that was broadcast before the twentieth anniversary special, The Five Doctors. From this perspective, it sits well in the collection of any Doctor Who fan. Overall, The Kings Demons is a nice little story that will stand up quite well to repeated viewing. There are problems, such as the contrived plot and elaborate way in which The Master is crowbarred into the story, but it has the essential ingredient of any Doctor Who story, fun, and this fun barrells along throught both episodes. Rating:  |