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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 non-humanoid companion since K-9.
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 One
In 1215, the Court of John of England/King John of England is at the castle of Sir Ranulf Fitzwilliam to extort more taxes, and when the lord refuses to pay the King insults him. To defend his honour his son Hugh takes on the King’s champion, Sir Gilles Estram, in a joust. The latter wins easily, though the joust is disturbed by the arrival of the TARDIS. The Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough are greeted as demons and welcomed by the King.
Having established the date, the Doctor concludes the King is not himself - in fact, he is not the King at all, as he is actually in London taking the Crusader’s Oath. Sir Geoffrey de Lacy, the cousin of Sir Ranulf, arrives at the castle and confirms he knows the King is in London. Sir Gilles is about to torture him as a liar during a royal banquet when the Doctor intervenes. It seems the King's champion is not who he claims to be, either: Sir Gilles sheds his disguise and reveals himself to be the Doctor’s arch nemesis, the Master, who aims his tissue compression eliminator at the Doctor...
Part Two
The Master flees in his own TARDIS, which had been disguised as an iron maiden (torture device). The King knights the Doctor as his new champion, and he is given run of the castle. After a series of mishaps, including the death of Sir Geoffrey at the Master's hands, the Doctor confronts the King and the Master and discovers the truth. The monarch is really Kamelion, a war weapon found by the Master on Xeriphas, which can be mentally controlled and used to adopt disguises and personas. Disguised as King John, the Master intends that Kamelion will behave so appallingly so as to provoke a rebellion and topple the real King from his throne, thus robbing the world of Magna Carta, the foundation of parliamentary democracy. It is a small plan on the Master's usual scale, but nevertheless particularly damaging to the normal progress of Earth society.
The Doctor resolves the situation by testing the Master in a battle of wills for control over Kamelion. He takes control of the robot and steals it away in the TARDIS, thus foiling the Master’s scheme. Kamelion reverts to its robot form and thanks the Doctor for his assistance and rescue. To Turlough's surprise and Tegan's dismay, the Doctor accepts Kamelion as a new travelling companion aboard the TARDIS. Tegan insists that she does not wish to be returned home, however, and the Doctor admits that the co-ordinates are already set for the Eye of Orion.
Cast
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
Production errors
to be added
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 Xeriphas" 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 planet on which he was found DW: Time-Flight and his eventual demise in Planet of Fire.
- 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 November 1995 as part of a boxed set with the Special Edition version of The Five Doctors.
- It has been announced that this story and Planet Of Fire will be released in a Kamelion boxset in early 2010.
Novelisation
- Main article: The King's Demons (novelisation)
- Novelised by Terence Dudley in 1986.