Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Watching The King's Demons again, about 25 years after my first viewing, it's
actually hard to see why the story is so derided. Though not a classic piece of
TV by any stretch, it's still a fun way to spend an hour. In fact, compared to
many Doctor Who stories of the same period, this one has aged remarkably well.
As with the previous season's trip into the past, Black Orchid, the historical
setting helps in this regard, since (as the saying goes) nothing dates like the
future. As a result, there are few if any of the fashion victims that sometimes
make "classic series" episodes hard to enjoy, and even the interior sets feel
more substantial. All of this would be trivial, though, if the story itself
didn't have merit.
The faults are, not surprisingly, fairly easy targets. The Master's plot is (as
the Doctor points out) "small-time villainy", some of the historical background
is a bit shaky, and the resolution is somewhat lacking in drama. That said, the
process of getting to that resolution is quite enjoyable, especially the build
up of a historical mystery that takes place over the course of the first
episode. Some of that sense of intrigue falls by the wayside once the Master's
involvement is revealed, but even then there are enough questions posed to keep
things lively.
Ultimately, you get the impression that this lack of substance is the sole
reason for the story's bad reputation. If so, that's a shame because there's a
lot to enjoy here. Even though the BBC's golden-age of costume drama was a few
years past at this point, they still had the ability to create convincing period
settings that looked far more impressive than you'd expect with the kind of
tight budget a two-part Doctor Who story would have had. Better yet, both the
regulars and guest stars like Gerald Flood give very strong performances.
Of particular note is Peter Davison. Like many fans of my generation, raised on
Tom Baker's widely syndicated early seasons, I really didn't appreciate
Davison's lower-key Doctor until fairly recently. In some ways, lightweight
stories like this and Black Orchid are ideal showcases for Davison, because you
can appreciate the quiet conviction he brings to the role and how much he does
to hold the viewer's interest. In that respect, this story calls to mind, the
historical stories of William Hartnell's tenure as the Doctor, where budgets
were even tighter, and that's no bad thing.
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England, March 1215. King John is visiting the castle of Sir Ranulph Fitzwilliam. The arrival of the TARDIS disturbs a medieval joust, but the Doctor and his companions are proclaimed to be friendly demons by the King, who seems strangely interested in their \'blue engine." It soon becomes clear that neither King John or his Champion, Sir Gilles Estram, are who they pretend to be. One of the Doctor\'s oldest and deadliest enemies threatens the future of democracy on Earth, and he must be stopped!
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