The King's Demons (TV story)

The King's Demons
Doctor:	[[doctor::Fifth Doctor]]
Companion(s):	Tegan Turlough Kamelion (introduction; joins}
Main enemy:	The Master Kamelion (while under the Master's control)
Main setting:	England; 3rd and 4th March 1215
Key crew
Writer:	Terence Dudley
Director:	Tony Virgo
Producer:	John Nathan-Turner
Release details
Story number:	129
Release number:	Season 20
Premiere broadcast:	15th March - 16th March 1983
Format:	2 25-minute episodes
Production code:	6J

The Master . . . wants to rob the world of Magna Carta. Small-time villainy, by his standards, but nevertheless something I intend to stop if at all possible. The Doctor

The King's Demons was the sixth story of Season 20. Technically it marked the end of the season, however later in the year the anniversary special The Five Doctors was broadcast, and it is generally considered the conclusion of Season 20. This story marked the debut of Kamelion, the first-ever non-humanoid companion.

Synopsis

The Doctor and his companions arrive at a medieval joust and are surprised to be greeted warmly by King John, who calls them his demons. But when a young nobleman returns, having just left King John in London, the Doctor realizes that this king must be an impostor! Then the Master makes an appearance and the Doctor's worst fears are confirmed...

Plot

Part 1

to be added

Part 2

to be added

Cast

• The Doctor - Peter Davison
• Tegan - Janet Fielding
• Turlough - Mark Strickson
• The Master - Anthony Ainley
• The King / Voice of Kamelion - Gerald Flood
• Ranulf - Frank Windsor
• Isabella - Isla Blair
• Hugh - Christopher Villiers
• Sir Geoffrey - Michael J. Jackson
• Jester - Peter Burroughs

Crew

• Assistant Floor Manager - Sue Hedden
• Costumes - Colin Lavers
• Designer - Ken Ledsham
• Fight Arranger - John Waller
• Film Cameraman - Remi Adefarasin
• Film Editor - Mike Rowbotham
• Incidental Music - Jonathan Gibbs, Peter Howell
• Lute Player - Jacob Lindberg
• Make-Up - Elizabeth Rowell, Frances Hannon
• Producer - John Nathan-Turner
• Production Assistant - Sue Upton
• Production Associate - June Collins
• Script Editor - Eric Saward
• Special Sounds - Dick Mills
• Studio Lighting - Peter Smee
• Studio Sound - Martin Ridout
• Theme Arrangement - Peter Howell
• Title Music - Ron Grainer
• Visual Effects - Tony Harding

References

• The Master used Kamelion, the tool of an earlier invader of Xeriphas, to escape from the planet and then impersonate King John.
• Kamelion does have a mind of its own, but can be controlled psychokinetically.
• The Master's Tissue Compression Eliminator is referred to as a 'compressor' on several occasions.

Story Notes

• This story had working titles of; The Android, The Demons, A Knight's Tale, Demons Keeper.
• Part One was promoted by the BBC as the 600th Doctor Who episode.
• In order to conceal the fact that the Master featured in this story the Radio Times credited him as Sir Gilles Estram played by James Stoker - 'Estram' being an anagram of 'Master' and 'James Stoker' being an anagram of 'Master's joke'.
• This story marks the debut appearance of short-lived new 'companion' Kamelion - in reality a computer controlled, sound activated, animated robot created by software designer Mike Power and computer hardware expert Chris Padmore of a firm called CP Cybernetics.

Ratings

• Part One - 5.8 million viewers
• Part Two - 7.2 million viewers

Myths

• This story was originally to feature the Meddling Monk. (There is no evidence that this was the original intention. Fan speculation postulates this due to its medieval setting and the fact that The Master's scheme in this story is more similar to the Monk's modus operandi than his own usual more grandiose schemes. Whether it would have been as the Monk or a later regeneration of the same Time Lord, it would have involved recasting the part as Peter Butterworth, who originated the character in The Time Meddler, had died.)
• The King's Demons used the same set as The Black Adder. (Not outside the realm of possibility--both were BBC productions, and were filmed at roughly the same time (late 1982/early 1983)--but there's no particular reason to think it's true, either, and no evidence that it's anything but an Internet rumour.)

Filming Locations

• Bodiam Castle, Bodiam, East Sussex
• BBC Television Centre (TC1), Shepherd's Bush, London

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

• What happened to the desire Turlough expressed to return home at the end of Enlightenment? He could have had a change of heart, the Doctor might not have been able to steer the TARDIS back to Trion during the right era, or there was an intervening, untelevised adventure where they did make it back, but Turlough decided to stay with the Doctor for the timebeing.
• Much of the history in this story doesn't make sense or is wrong:

• The Master's iron maiden TARDIS has an anachronistic Elizabethan ruff. Sloppy use of the chameleon circuit by the Master. The locals wouldn't have realized it as anachronistic, merely a little odd-looking of an iron maiden.
• The Magna Carta's importance was fabricated in the 17th century: it achieved very little in the 13th century. Taking into account the Master's ironic and smug smile when the Doctor proposes Magna Carta as the reason for today's scheme, it might well be that the Master was after something much more interesting and neglected to tell what it was.
• French was still the language of the court in the early 13th century, so why does only Sir Gilles speak it? Logically, with The Doctor's universal translator, everybody, even Sir Gilles should be speaking English.

Continuity

• In the final TARDIS scene of the story, the Doctor introduces Tegan to the android that is Kamelion. He says that Kamelion's story "appears to begin on Xeraphas" and that it will "end with the Master". This neatly ties together both the other televised stories that have anything to do with Kamelion: the introduction of the race that created him in DW: Time-Flight and his eventual demise in Planet of Fire. Kamelion was the product of a race that had invaded Xeraphas, not the of the Xeraphins themselves.
• The Doctor re-establishes himself as a fair swordsman, having shown skill with a blade in both his third (DW: The Time Warrior) and fourth selves (DW: The Masque of Mandragora, The Androids of Tara). In fact this is the second sword fight between the Doctor and the Master. As in the first such contest (DW: The Sea Devils), the Doctor shows the greater skill. His abilities in this arena are again displayed by his tenth self. (DW:The Christmas Invasion)
• The story (and, thus, the season) ends in a minor cliffhanger, although it is unlikely initial viewers will have thought of it as such. Much like the link between DW: Invasion of the Dinosaurs and Death to the Daleks, the Doctor here offers to take his companions to a "wonder" of the universe, later referenced in the following story. Unlike the similar promise the Third Doctor makes to take Sarah Jane to Florana, however, the Fifth Doctor's vow to Tegan and Turlough is actually fulfilled. He proposes to take them to the Eye of Orion, the initial setting for The Five Doctors.
• There probably was a real Sir Gilles, whom the Master killed and impersonated. In MA:Sanctuary, set in 1242, the Doctor meets a relative of the real Sir Gilles, whose true fate was never known.

Timeline

• This story occurs after: DWA: Fungus
• This story occurs before: ST: Falling from Xi'an

DVD and Video Releases

• The King's Demons was released on video by BBC Worldwide in 1995 as part of a boxed set with the Special Edition version of The Five Doctors.

Novelisation

Main article: The King's Demons (novelisation)

• Novelised by Terence Dudley in 1986.

External Links

• The King's Demons at the BBC's official site
• The King's Demons at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• The King's Demons at Shannon Sullivan's A Brief History of Time (Travel)
• The King's Demons at The Locations Guide