Who Review: The King’s Demons

England, 1215, and King John is a guest in the castle of Sir Ranulf Fitzwilliam. But when the king is insulted, Sir Ranulf’s son must fight the king’s champion, Sir Gilles Estram, in a jolly joust. However, the contest is interrupted by the arrival of a blue box, inhabited by strangely-clad people. The king calls them demons, but they introduce themselves as the Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough. They are received as guests of the king, and an appreciative Sir Ranulf when the Doctor spares his son from death after he his defeated by Sir Gilles. His son is shamed by the dishonor of being denied death, and bears the Doctor a grudge. But this is the least of their troubles. The Doctor senses something’s not right. According to English history, at this point, three months prior to the signing of Magna Carta, King John should be in London. His suspicion is confirmed by Sir Ranulf’s cousin, who has just arrived having left the king in London only four hours ago. And there’s something not quite right with Sir Gilles, either. It seems Sir Gilles and this pretender King John have concocted a plan that would change the course of history. And the person behind the plot is no stranger to devious and dastardly plans…

SPOILER ALERT!! My comments may (and likely will) contain spoilers for those that haven’t seen this serial. If you want to stay spoiler-free, please watch the story before you continue reading!

This two-part story, by the writer of the last two-parter (the previous season’s “Black Orchid”), Terrance Dudley, takes the TARDIS to medieval England and an encounter with bad King John, whom the Doctor says really wasn’t that bad after all. There’s some truth to what the Doctor says, in that while John made a lot of enemies during his reign, he actually managed the kingdom well. And though his brother, the former king Richard, was a lot more popular, as a hero of the Crusades he spent more time abroad than he did in England. At least John stayed close to the home front to keep an eye on things.

Alas, the dubious Sir Gilles Estram is scheming to ruin the king, and prevent Magna Carta from being signed, thus depriving the world of parliamentary democracy. But who would devise such an evil plan? Only the Estram… I mean the Master (yes, another clumsy anagram, no doubt devised by producer John Nathan-Turner, who had a penchant for that kind of thing). Fresh from his ordeal on Xeriphas (see “Time-Flight”) where he managed to escape with a relic of a former civilization–the robot shape-shifter Kamelion–the Master is out to take down Earth’s governments… well, Western Civilization… well, Western Democracy… well, the Parliamentary form of democracy as practiced in certain parts of the Western world on Earth. Not really a very ambitious plan for a renegade Time Lord who’s used to destroying planets and trying to take over the universe. In fact, if I was the Doctor, I would be waiting for the real Master to show up, not this wanna-be pretending to be a French nobleman with a bad accent.

But it gives the BBC the chance to show off its period drama skills (which is always a feast for the eyes), and it seems Terrance Dudley likes these historical jaunts, so it gives him a nice sandbox to play in. And, to be fair, there’s not a whole lot you can do plot-wise in a two-parter. Although, that’s about the length of a single episode of New Series Who, and there are some pretty far-reaching evil plans executed in many of those 45-minute stories.

So, with the Master’s unambitious scheme, the bad French accent, and the very staged-looking sword fight (quite unlike the swash-buckling encounter between the Doctor and the Master in “The Sea Devils”), is there anything about “The King’s Demons” that makes it worthwhile? I could be mean and say the fact it’s only two parts, but it really isn’t that bad. It doesn’t sparkle, and there are no outstanding performances, but it’s certainly watchable. Maybe the best line is when the Doctor is warned about Sir Gilles being the best swordsman in all of France, and he comes back with, “Well fortunately we are in England!”

At the end of the story, the Doctor steals Kamelion, and despite Tegan’s protests, the robot becomes part of the TARDIS crew. If you recall, Tegan objected to Turlough, too, so I’m not sure what her issue is with new companions. In response to her objection, the Doctor offers to take Tegan home. But she doesn’t want to go home, at least not yet. Which is just as well, because the Doctor wants to take them all to the Eye of Orion…

In short, “The King’s Demons” is completely missable, but since it’s only two parts, you might as well give it a watch. Who knows, you might enjoy it!