6 Nov 2006, 3:40 pm
Dorney
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The Daemons
One of the main reasons I decided to do a run through of the entire series in order was a thought I had at a convention in about 2002.
The opening to the convention was, if you can believe it, a compilation of clips set to music from Moulin Rouge. And at some point in the compilation, a clip from the Daemons popped up. It was, if I recall correctly, from this episode - Miss Hawthorne trying to calm the supernatural wind that errupts around her (insert your own joke here), just before the policeman picks up the rock. And I, sat in the audience, watched the screen and thought ‘You know, I really wouldn’t mind watching the Daemons.’
Now the reason that this was important was because I couldn’t actually remember the last time I’d watched it. In fact, I’d a sneaking suspicion that I hadn’t seen it again since the repeat transmission in 1992 (if I did, it wasn’t too long after).
Precisely why this was I’m not sure. I was in the first flushes of a dislike for Pertwee, which can’t have helped. But perhaps more so was something that people who’ve bothered to read my witterings on a regular basic might find familiar.
I’ve always had a theory that a lot of the stories we call ‘classics’ were decided by the older fans (the ‘elder statesmen fans’ as they were somewhat self-aggrandisingly known, sometimes to this day), and less on the basis of how good the stories were than other factors. So the ‘classics’ tend to be ones that would have looked really cool as kids, or the ones that fit an idealised template of perfect Who.
In the past few years this has turned around somewhat - the increasing popularity of Power of the Daleks over Evil, for example, a clear swap of the old position that held the latter to be the all time best - and if anything was a poster boy for my contention, it’s the Daemons.
For a long time, this was regarded as the best Pertwee. But the more people talked, it was hard to see why. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad - but as good as Inferno?
The only explanation for its fan popularity, it seemed to me, was the fact that this story was almost universally regarded as the Pertwee team’s favourite. Asked for a favourite story at conventions, it was always the Daemons. And the authorisation of the makers made some fans think we had to agree (the same principal that means the badly plotted and not very funny Red Dwarf episode Gunmen of the Apocalypse is regarded as a classic of that show).
So I suppose I was prejudiced against the Daemons, and didn’t really rewatch it. Maybe I confused ‘not as good as people say’ with ‘not good’. I dunno.
But the fact was that seeing that clip in Sydney four years ago interested me. It looked good.
You see it seems to me that there are stories we all forget to watch. I can think of loads where I would never really get around to slipping in the tape, not because I didn’t like it, but because there seemed no reason to watch it. The Daemons was one of these for me. So too are the Sea Devils and, heaven help me, the Mutants. Stories I kind of liked but never got round to looking at.
So a full run through helps as it forces you to watch every story. And it’s great. There are some that surprise you (Myth Makers most clearly for me). Some that disappoint you. But it’s a good journey to go on.
Suffice to say I was quite excited when I sat down this morning to watch this story. What would it be like? It was, bizarrely, almost like watching a new story.
1
Episode one has a lot of pluses - but a handful of negatives.
Firstly, the UNIT set up is now delightfully warm. Benton and Yates sitting down to watch the rugby is a human touch that reminds you they’re supposed to be real people as opposed to just a permanent cavalry. Pertwee is treating them with respect, rather than as an encumberance. It all feels pleasingly cosy, meaning it’s a group you want to come back to. Also, it does give a sense of a real world, connected to ours.
Secondly, this episode has noticeably fine characterisation. Everyone in the village is a beautifully drawn individual that appears to have some time spent being written. The most obvious examples of what I mean are Professor Horner and Alastair Fergus - two bit part characters who don’t go beyond this episode. The former is a plot device, the latter pure exposition. Yet both have well defined personalities and identities - Horner doesn’t suffer fools gladly, is gruff and no nonsense (his last words before death are ‘I’m not daft’). And Fergus is vain and self important. Compare him to the similar character played by Michael Wisher in Ambassadors and you’ll see how much more noticeable and memorable Fergus is (it’s a safe bet that no one would remember the Ambassadors character if it wasn’t for the actor playing him!). All this adds to a nicely dry sense of humour to the episode.
On the problematic side, this episode is curiously lacking in tension. I’m not sure why this is - the threat of demonic forces about to be unleashed coupled with a ticking clock should rack up the suspense. But it just doesn’t have that much impact.
Possible explanations that come to me are the lack of any real urgency to the countdown (we’re never really clear how much time Jo and the Doctor actually have to get there, so the ticking clock is underused). Also there’s the fact that the demonic forces seem a little unimpressive - knocking over fairly small trees, spinning a signpost. Hardly Omen-like acts of nastiness. The closest we get to it doing anything unpleasant is the (somewhat tacked on ) opening death - which is at worst from fright and no actual contact - and the attempted killing of Miss Hawthorne (which she, a somewhat dotty woman in late middle age seems to have no problem defeating, so it hardly seems a massive threat).
This combines with the vagueness of the actual threat. For all the talk of doom and destruction, we really have to take it on trust, as no one ever explains why the opening of the barrow should be seen as dangerous. The Doctor decides that Miss Hawthorne’s fears are accurate with no real explanation of why. In other words, it’s telling and not showing. There’s no sense of a building danger, a crisis that must be averted. It might help if it was implied that the opening would unleash devils and demons - but, unfortunately, the Doctor spends the first five minutes rubbishing such concepts. Not only that, but the humour of the episode doesn’t entirely help, as it should be used more to offset atmosphere, but with no real feeling of impending doom, it actually just takes the edge off the threat. Hawthorne is a lovely character, but the script does need someone terrified of what will happen, and that’s not her. How can we be scared of what’s going to happen if no one else is?
So something of a mixed opener, but it’s a well written piece with a classy central premise, and it looks well made for about the first time this season, so promising.
#500 7 Nov 2006, 11:32 pm
The Secretive Bus
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Well I don't know about you but the sight of the Master in a pair of Ronnie Barker spectacles sure gave me a fright...
The Dæmons is a story I've hardly ever seen either. I think I've watched it twice and it's really not one of my favourites. Actually, it's pretty wretched, for reasons I can't quite define. Certainly I know for a fact that I've watched The Mutants at least three times, and enjoyed it more.
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#501 8 Nov 2006, 2:06 pm
Dorney
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The Daemons 2
It struck me whilst watching this episode that the scenario of ‘open sealed tomb, unleash a devil equivalent’ is done elsewhere in Who - Pyramids of Mars. Yet, in clear contrast to the Daemons, depending on your point of view, it either gets its equivalent of the barrow opening out of the way three minutes in, whereas this story spends an entire episode building up to it, or uses it as the climax. In a way, it does both.
Both these versions emphasise a few of the problems with this episode. The first is that by placing the opening at the end of part one, with the Doctor aware of the problem and arriving too late to save the day, you don’t really leave him much to do in week two. He can stand around and try to close it. He can investigate further. But the story already has him knowing what’s going on, and needs to get him out of the way, so a large proportion of this episode is spent on keeping him away.
Now visualise a version of the story as a four parter that started with the dig, to get what I mean. You’d have it unleash hell on the TV screen, and then the Doctor and Jo (possibly with Benton and Yates) would fly down to investigate. The basic events of the episode wouldn’t really change. (Sure, there’d be some difference to the Benton/Yates plotlines, but they’re only given stuff to fill in time anyway - most noticeably in the Garvin/Benton confrontation which is all very effective, but completely negated when the bad guy is blown away by Azal the moment they step outside). The story puts the Doctor on the scene - but basically needs him not to be there. So the Doctor’s major plot function this week is not to get involved.
But this does pale next to the more significant problem - the story’s already had its finale. The Master’s achieved his objective, and the tomb is opened. As a result, the story looks like it’s going to be a sequence of attacks and resolutions disconnected from the central thrust of the plot. In other words, the Master’s going to spend the next three or so episodes coming up with ways to distract the Doctor, rather than the story having a plot per se. The Doctor doesn’t have a scheme to foil, so the story’s just going to be about keeping him busy for the next few episodes. Already here he knows what’s going on, who’s behind it (the Master), who the Master is disguised as and where he’s likely to be. Where’s the story got to go? With Pyramids, the story’s entirely about stopping the event that the villain’s trying to make happen - whereas here, it’s all about investigation of the thing that’s already happened, and finding pretty ways of keeping the regulars busy whilst the Master hangs around not doing much.
Now that’s not to say it’s a bad episode. It’s got an air of quality and maturity about it that a lot of its season eight contemporaries can’t match (even the stories I like - the closest is probably Mind of Evil), and it’s rather enjoyable. It’s filled with great moments, images and set pieces - the giant hoof marks, the fight in the crypt, the heat barrier. There’s a genuine sense of scale to Azal - (it’s an interesting choice, keeping him unseen - with a lot of the unseen foes, such as the Daleks in the original appearance, the mystery is about what the creature is - here, we know pretty much exactly what everyone sees - a giant devil figure with hooves and horns). There’s a sense throughout that everyone’s putting in a bit more effort than usual this time. Still, it does remain a flawed episode that slightly lacks tension (a story about the Devil should be scarier, surely?).
A few final words - once again, the characterisation is impeccable. Whereas the first episode concentrated on filling in the background characters (who for the most part make little or no impact here) this episode takes time out to deal with the regulars. Now, there’s a case to be made that this is pretty much the point where the series completely embraces portraying the UNIT crew as figures of fun rather than a credible force. Certainly, the Brigadier is clearly more of a bumbling buffoon this time round, more concerned about his helicopter than his personnel. However, I’d argue that it’s less the fault of this story as such, and more the fault of stories that copied its style with none of the wit or insight (in the same way that Star Wars didn’t destroy intelligence in the cinemagoing public as much as films that aped it). The Brigadier is funny because he’s being human, rather than because he’s being an idiot. Similarly, it’s great to see Yates and Benton being given something to do as actual characters for a change, and not simply identikit blokes with guns.
However, there is one massive exception to the rule. Just as the production team seem to have warmed up the UNIT team, they’ve done something horrible to the Doctor. Maybe it’s the contrast to the gentle humanity and new likeability of the other regulars, but the Doctor’s turned into a right jerk this week. He loudly berates others opinions (crying ‘nonsense’ at anything he disagrees with), and watch Jo’s face after he puts her down (‘Did you fail Latin as well as science?’). It’s a truly horrid moment and if you don’t want to hit him after it, you ain’t human.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that the third Doctor has been pretty smackably smug at times (at the Keller demonstration, to the scientist in Axos, most memorably) - but there was always a sense that he was attacking worthy targets. At this point, it’s almost like he feels superior to everyone. I don’t like it.
And it’s not like he can’t be a total cretin himself either. This episode contains a great example of dodgy dialogue that I’ve never heard mentioned before: The Doctor, upon being woken by the heat, says that it is ‘the final confirmation of my suspicions.’ Jo asks him to explain, but he puts her off, saying ‘No, I’ll wait until I’m certain.’ Eh? How many more ‘final confirmations’ are you going to need before you’re ‘certain’ then? Surely the whole point of a ‘final confirmation’ is that it’s conclusive proof! Sanctimonious git.
#502 8 Nov 2006, 4:34 pm
The Polar One
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Secretive Bus
"Actually, it's pretty wretched, for reasons I can't quite define. "
Morris Dancers.
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#503 8 Nov 2006, 7:43 pm
The Secretive Bus
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The Doctor was a git back in part 1. "Would you believe... magic?" "No, of course not." "Well Jo would. HA HA HA HA!!!" And the scene where he rushes into a pub and starts insulting everybody when they don't immediately give him full attention, as opposed to acting politely which would get things sorted out much more quickly...
And as a side note, today I bought a green velvet jacket. Some friends I was with pressured me into buying it. I'm aware I won't be able to wear it anywhere without being beaten up but it's still nice to have, in a way.
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#504 9 Nov 2006, 11:26 am
Dorney
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Good point Bus.
I got a blue velvet jacket about a year back. It's the tiniest bit too tight, which is a shame, but it's wearable and it was only £15 so worth it (as opposed to 40 for a green one that fit perfectly). Don't wear it out too often, though it did accompany me to a Divine Comedy gig as it was appropriate.
#505 9 Nov 2006, 1:41 pm
The Secretive Bus
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Yeah, this jacket was £20 and is too tight really, but wearable. Reckon it could go down well at some theatrical gigs at Bedlam.
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#506 9 Nov 2006, 3:49 pm
Dorney
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The Daemons 3
There are a number of stories that prove conclusively that atmosphere and direction can hide all sorts of story faults. The recent DVD release The Invasion is one such example. The Daemons is another.
You see, three episodes in nothing’s really happening. This story actually doesn’t have a plot. I wish I was exaggerating when I say that. But, as I predicted in the last episode, the story is entirely about keeping the characters occupied so we don’t hit the climax in three minutes flat, rather than it actually going anywhere.
This episode is something of a case in point. The Doctor knows who is behind the scheme, he knows everything about the monsters, but does he actually do anything to deal with either of them? Does he confront the Master? Nope, he hangs around in the pub putting on a slide show, and is more concerned about helping the Brigadier get through the heat barrier than iminent apocalypse. He really should be making actual moves to stop the threat, otherwise it doesn’t feel like he’s concerned - and if he isn’t we won’t be either. It’s all very well the script constantly telling us that the end of the world is nigh, but we’ll only feel that if the characters show us that.
And the slide show is another massive problem - the Doctor has somehow managed to figure out absolutely the entire plot from nowhere. It seems he must, at the very least, know the Daemons of old, but it does lead to the ultimate ‘tell not show’ scene, where we just get a massive info dump. He tells us who the Daemons are, what they do, what the Master wants with them, even the fact that Azal will manifest three times. All this from seeing a minute or so of a TV broadcast and a wander up to the hump. (And precisely when does he get the opportunity to source the slides for the slide show anyway? He’s clearly still wasting time when he should be in action).
The Master doesn’t do much better - having summoned a massively poweful demonic creature, he ignores it and his new project is getting the locals to help him. Again, this is entirely about keeping the Doctor occupied, rather than there being a good reason for it in the script.
Now this could have been dealt with fairly easily. Had the barrow opening not unleashed Azal proper, but opened the way to a ceremony that would be able to unleash him after some time, then you’d have a reason for the Master to need to distract the Doctor. As it is, it’s just filling in time. The plot’s gone about as far as it can go, and everyone’s just twiddling their thumbs until it’s time to wrap up the story - half the cast seem to spend all the time in the pub with no real sense of threat or urgency (Good as Miss Hawthorne initially is, she seems to have vanished from the plot completely).
Despite all this, it’s still pleasantly watchable, entirely down to the drily witty script and the atmospheric direction. The helicopter chase is shameless padding (and a clear attempt to fit at least one vaguely exciting bit into the episode), but it manages to be more enjoyable than similar time fillers in Colony. The UNIT team may be constantly set a series of distractions, but at least they’re well shot and enjoyable distractions. Shame the Doctor’s still a rude jerk (this weeks put down to Jo - demanding she show the Brigadier some respect is hypocrisy of the highest order).
A triumph of visuals and performance over content then.
Weird cliifhanger though.
#507 9 Nov 2006, 8:06 pm
bingo99
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Secretive Bus
"And as a side note, today I bought a green velvet jacket. Some friends I was with pressured me into buying it. I'm aware I won't be able to wear it anywhere without being beaten up but it's still nice to have, in a way. "
One of the great tragedies of modern life is we'll all be 150 before velvet jackets and capes come back into fashion. No idea why, I love the Pertwee lo
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#508 10 Nov 2006, 12:08 am
The Secretive Bus
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I've never quite understood why people don't like the episode 3 cliffhanger. "It's got the villain in danger! How stupid!" But isn't it supposed to make us even more afraid of Azal, showing how he's far more powerful than the show's main villain? Of course, this aspect is diminished by the fact that we've seen the Master getting trounced 4 times in a row but I'm sure that's what they were getting at (similar to one of the cliffhangers in Big Finish's "The Mutant Phase").
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#509 10 Nov 2006, 10:43 am
SecondDoctorWho
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Secretive Bus
"I've never quite understood why people don't like the episode 3 cliffhanger. "It's got the villain in danger! How stupid!" But isn't it supposed to make us even more afraid of Azal, showing how he's far more powerful than the show's main villain? Of course, this aspect is diminished by the fact that we've seen the Master getting trounced 4 times in a row but I'm sure that's what they were getting at (similar to one of the cliffhangers in Big Finish's "The Mutant Phase"). "
I think that’s exactly what it’s supposed to represent. I’ve never had a problem with that cliffhanger either.
Rob
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#511 13 Nov 2006, 11:13 am
Dorney
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The Daemons 4
One of the difficulties of reviewing a series on an episode by episode basis is the fact that occasionally stories will turn up where you might as well cut and paste the same review over and over again. I’m finding myself stuck with the same problem again. Once more we have an episode that doesn’t really go anywhere.
It’s particularly frustrating with this one though as for a change it initially looks like it might be doing something more interesting. With episode two being about keeping the Doctor away and episode three being him explaining the plot, episode four should be able to free itself of narrative shackles. And initially it looks like it might. Azal demands to speak with the Doctor, and you immediately think that’ll change the focus of the storyline with the Master having to involve his enemy, not keep him away.
But it just doesn’t. Within seconds, the Master has reverted back to random assassination attempts on the Doctor - attempts he doesn’t really need to do, as none of the goodies are really doing all that much to stop him.
If you look at the episode, no one is really doing anything throughout. Yates and Jo head for the chapel - and then don’t really do anything when they get there, hiding around until Jo decides to risk her life for the sake of a chicken. Benton and Miss Hawthorne hang around in the pub making tea. The Brigadier is still working on a machine outside the barrier. The Doctor spends the entire episode getting back to the pub. Even the Master ends the episode in pretty much the same place as he ended part three.
No-one’s really going anywhere, and all that happens are temporary diversions rather than plot developments. Entertaining diversions though - Osgood in particular is a nice touch, even if he’s the victim of the Doctor’s jerky nature this time (with no Jo around). The Morris Dancing scene is quite entertaining - a properly creepy exploration of the ‘Yeti on the toilet’ thing, with the contrast between unimaginable evil and the quaint village background manifesting itself in an unnerving and Wicker Man pre-empting sequence that plays on deep fears of sacrifice. Combining simple innocent pleasures and murderous threat is always a striking touch, and so it is here. It is a touch flawed in execution though, as it does seem to me that the villagers have gone from scared thralls of the Master to superstitious nutjobs with no qualms about burning a man at the stake and believing in witches (I don’t really care how many gargoyles attack you, surely you wouldn’t embrace paganism quite that quickly? Surely you’d at least appear vaguely regretful?). And also strangely underplayed (watch the villagers throughout - they’re just standing around like this is all perfectly ordinary). The resolution is an entertaining touch - finally, Miss Hawthorne actually gets something to do - even if the Doctor probably shouldn’t admit that he has no magical powers in earshot of the villagers and whilst still tied up.
Having said that, it does still illustrate a real problem with this story. It’s a great image, well made – but it makes no sense. The Master’s been perfectly happy using a sniper seconds before, so surely getting masses of villagers to put on a big dance isn’t the most logical plan? Not least because it relies on the Doctor – who has just had two people attempt to kill him – wandering through the village without a care in the world. The only possible reason that the villagers have to attempt to kill/capture him that way is that they know they’re in a tv show and it’ll look quite cool.
You get the feeling that this story is almost entirely a collection of good scenes and images that the production team thought up – but without a story to hang them off.
The upside of the messy plotting is that the characterisation is still strong - it has to be to fill in the time. Yates and Benton in particular come off well, looking like co-leads rather than sidekicks. They have their own threads for a change, rather than simply responding to the Doctor’s.
And finally Azal does come across as quite an impressive foe, properly powerful and menacing, which does give the story extra weight.
Still fun then.
#512 13 Nov 2006, 11:18 am
Dorney
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Secretive Bus
"I've never quite understood why people don't like the episode 3 cliffhanger. "It's got the villain in danger! How stupid!" But isn't it supposed to make us even more afraid of Azal, showing how he's far more powerful than the show's main villain? Of course, this aspect is diminished by the fact that we've seen the Master getting trounced 4 times in a row but I'm sure that's what they were getting at (similar to one of the cliffhangers in Big Finish's "The Mutant Phase"). "
Fair point - I suppose the problem I have with it is that it feels tacked on - as if they couldn't come up with an alternative cliffhanger. There's no real build up, it's resolved quite quickly, and it doesn't tell us anything that the exposition scenes with the Doctor haven't (we know it resembles the Devil, is thirty foot tall and massively powerful - what new information is added?)
#513 13 Nov 2006, 11:58 am
The Secretive Bus
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dorney
"Fair point - I suppose the problem I have with it is that it feels tacked on - as if they couldn't come up with an alternative cliffhanger. There's no real build up, it's resolved quite quickly, and it doesn't tell us anything that the exposition scenes with the Doctor haven't (we know it resembles the Devil, is thirty foot tall and massively powerful - what new information is added?) "
Ah, well I'll give you that, sunshine.
I remember a long while ago when you said that you were looking forward to reviewing The Dæmons. The only bit I really enjoy in this story is that poor sod who gets out of his van just in time to see it bursting into flames. I can't help but wonder if the story would have been better in the Hinchcliffe years, with villains and acolytes seeming truly dangerous. A Hartnell version would have been a nicely thoughtful affair...
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#514 13 Nov 2006, 4:51 pm
Scibus
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Hi!
New to the forum but love chatting about the Classic Series! I am working my way through every episode, but full time day job and night school make me more sporadic - not the discipline you've managed! In about a year, I have made it to Horror of Fang Rock, though.
Anyway, I'd love to tag along with some comments here.
You made a point about Jo "risking her life to save a chicken." It raises an interesting issue I've noticed in watching the series in order - some of my favorite companions get very annoying when you watch their episodes in order! Victoria suffers the worst - I could not stand the constant whinging, "What about Jaaaaamie??" every time he was not in immediate sight. But Jo - still one of my favorites, mind you - comes a close second. Once we get to "The Daemons" some of the hysterics - like the chicken here - start to get to me.
#515 14 Nov 2006, 12:57 am
Dorney
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The Daemons 5
The most frustrating thing about this part of the story isn’t the episode itself. It’s the four preceding it.
You see, this is a cracking season finale. The Doctor and the Master arguing with a God like creature in order to save the world? What’s not to like? It’s filled with great contrasts – it’s properly huge in scope, but played out in small scale (it’s about two men talking), unimaginable power against the background of a tiny village, a finale of debate balanced with a gunfight. Everything’s at threat, the stakes have never been higher (making it tense as hell).and only the Doctor’s wits can save us (or can they? More later…) This is how every story should end (well, actually, that might overdo it – but it’s certainly how every season should end).
It’s also a smart script. As I’ve said before, characterisation is strong – the Brigadier in particular gets a good run here. Shame that it’s pretty much impossible to take ‘Chap with wings there, five rounds rapid’ as a line in its own right any more. It’s so iconic that I seriously couldn’t tell you whether it’s a good line, or overly silly… I think it’s the former, but it’s so hard to tell. I still can’t help but feel that Miss Hawthorne doesn’t really do anywhere near as much as people think (fans sometimes suggest a faint romance with Benton which seems to be based more on them talking to each other a bit than anything that’s actually in the script). But for giving the regulars individual personalities and moments of resourcefulness (remember, episode 4 has Benton being smart enough to rescue the Doctor) it’s hard to beat.
With the final capture of the Master, and the beautifully filmed epilogue sequence of dance and drinking, it’s generally a cracking episode (with one slight exception). And it just makes me regret the fact that the story as a whole doesn’t entirely work.
This is, like Terror, still the story of hanging around. A story that spends half it’s running time, a full two and a half episodes, focusing on getting the Brigadier through a forcefield. A story where the Doctor doesn’t meet the main villain until the last fifteen minutes of the story (despite having known who he is and where is he is for the previous hour). Heck, none of the regulars meet the Master til the last few seconds of episode four. Everyone is miles away from events. Even in this episode, the Doctor basically says ‘let’s not attack any one for the moment – all we can do is wait for the Brigadier – which does rather beg the question of why he even considered wandering back to the village in part four at all).
Yes, it does feel like Letts and Sloman had the idea, and just nothing to fill the story. I just can’t understand why the entire story needs to be about the multiple appearances of Azal – surely that’s what it should have built to. And it’s not like there weren’t plenty of ways to fill in the intervening time. The Doctor should have spent some time deducting the Masters plan, or trying to prevent it, or, as I suggested earlier, having Azal only scheduled for one appearance, but the Master actually has something he needs to do throughout to make this happen. But it’s all just been time filling. It’s telling that from the moment the Doctor meets the Master and Azal, everything is tied off in ten minutes. Does keep making you wonder: ‘why didn’t he do that in part two?’ What does the Master actually do for the story apart from send people to kill the Doctor or mooch about in a cellar.
Of course, he doesn’t do anything at all. The notorious finale of the story is the self sacrifice of Jo for the man who’s been belittling her for the past twenty four hours. There was an interesting observation in the DWM Third Doctor special that the Devil is defeated by love. It’s a fair point, and the method for dooming the Daemon is perfectly appropriate. What it misses is that the problem isn’t the idea, but the execution. If there’d been some proper attempt at a rationale for it, it might have worked (couldn’t they have set up the weakness in the faffing about of the earlier episodes?). There’s a faint element of this in the suggestion that the Master’s rituals created some vaguely psychic energy that drew Azal forth – surely, an inference that a powerful positive feeling could have caused him harm would have worked? Unfortunately, that’s not they way it’s represented – it’s presented as confusion, and the Doctor backs this up. Perhaps most heinously of all, it’s the speed with which everything changes – you’re all hyped up by the dramatic to and fro (the Doctor’s agonised shout of ‘But I don’t want it’ is a brilliant moment), and then it’s all over in four lines, as if they’ve simply run out of time.
There is, however, enough good stuff here to make this a good episode though. It’s fun, and has a beautiful atmosphere (as I said above, the maypole dance at the end is exillerating, and the Brigadier and Doctor’s respective last lines are things of beauty, full of positivity and good nature). And that, in contrast to my statement for episode four, is the good thing about reviewing on an episode by episode basis. Sometimes you’ll get episodes that transcend the rest of the story. And this is just such an episode. Were the rest of the story like this (bar the defeat of Azal) it’d be about as good as the show could be. Unfortunately, someone forgot to bring a story.
#519 18 Nov 2006, 4:01 am
Korvin
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A splendid review of Daemons5 there; since before it fell from favour in the 90s I think, the story has suffered from the weakness of the sacrifice endgame with Azal - but I liked the way you brought out the love as relevant - perhaps this makes the Doctor's gittishness seem relevant too - while critiquing the execution, in script and performance, of the denoument.
On Miss Hawthorne, her part in the drama you miss out is her non-action: the wu-wei figure, as she advises Benton at one point - the Dr will come, or else he won't.
The ending is as lovely as you describe.
Quote:
"as I said above, the maypole dance at the end is exillerating, and the Brigadier and Doctor’s respective last lines are things of beauty, full of positivity and good nature"
I agree, as is Hawthorne's line: the May day miracle.
It's the first of the Lett/Sloman magic/science Bhuddist season closers isn't it? A sense the ideas are undeveloped I guess.
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#520 19 Nov 2006, 5:25 pm
Dingdongalistic
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Quote:
Originally Posted by codywillis1
"I turned off Terror last time I tried to watch it a few years back. Though it's partly to do with the fact I'd just watched Inferno the week before and the contrast between the sheer grittiness of that and the camp comic-strip of Terror did not do the latter any favours...
Love Jo, though. Adorable."
I love Terror. It's got its faults, but in reality I don't think a bit of lightness and camp does Doctor Who any bad within reason.
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5 Dec 2006, 3:17 am
Spade Aceman
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Huzzah, good sir Dorney!
Was home sick from work today, and spent most of my time resting by the computer and reading your reviews here. I've not visited OG much lately, but this thread got me hooked very quickly, and, foolhardy as it may sound, I've read it all in one go.
Overall, very well written and insightful. You've clearly watched (or listened to) these stories with a lot of thought and attention to detail, going beyond the surface to the underlying story. I particularly like how you focus on plot development and progression, which helped me better understand what it is about some stories that works better than others.
And the many observations (why Inferno's parallel-world plot works where others fail, the best "padding" being characterization, true drama needing more time to build than today's attention-deficit-minded TV makers seem to allow, reasons why fans choose certain stories as their favorites, and many others) have given me much to think about. Which is always a good thing.
Very much looking forward to reading more!
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#523 11 Dec 2006, 6:25 pm
Michael S Collins
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just to let you know, Mr Dorney, that I am still keeping tabs on your wonderful reviews. Looking forward to the next season of Pertwee as it contains one of my favourites, Curse, and one of the my sisters faves, Sea Devils, as well as two I've never seen because fandom has scared me off (Mutants, Time Monster).
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