Let’s take in a Renaissance festival!
The Doctor (Peter Davison), Turlough (Mark Strickson), and Tegan (Janet Fielding) materialize in England in 1215 just before the signing of the Magna Carta. Unfortunately, the Master (Anthony Ainley) has plans for the Magna Carta and has plotted against King John (Gerald Flood) and he has a new ally in a mysterious robot called Kamelion. The Doctor finds history is about to be altered and that the Master and Kamelion must be stopped!
Doctor Who: The King’s Demons aired in the twentieth season of the BBC’s Doctor Who. The serial aired in two parts from March 15, 1983 to March 16, 1983 and introduced the Doctor’s companion Kamelion. Following Doctor Who: Enlightenment, Doctor Who: The King’s Demons has been collected as part of The Peter Davison Years as Story #129 (or Story #128 depending on how you count the unaired Tom Baker story Doctor Who: Shada).
Seriously…this is my new friend?
The short episodes of Doctor Who have a problem. I generally feel four episodes is too long for a story, but often two episodes is too short. With apparently no room to compromise on three episode series, this entry like other two episode stories feels a bit underdeveloped…and it is too bad because it has a nice historic set-up (and the historic ones are some of my favorite stories).
I would have liked the whole thing to lead up to the Magna Carta, but the story just kind of piddles out with the Doctor and the Master fleeing the area. The special leads into the big anniversary special so it just feels more like filler for a bigger story.
Kamelion is sad that he didn’t get his invite to the Rock-aFire Explosion at Showbiz Pizza
Doctor Who: The King’s Demons was meant to be a change for the Doctor with an exciting new companion…Kamelion (voiced by Gerald Flood). Kamelion was promised to walk and movie, and I really don’t get how producers fell for it. Most see Kamelion as K-9’s replacement, but K-9 (who also never worked right) was stellar compared to the new robot companion who pretty much could just sit there. Despite this, I do find something rather eerie about Kamelion…maybe it was because I found manikins horrifying, and he looks just like one…but moving (sort of).
Doctor Who: The King’s Demons is a story with potential but not enough bite. It feels incomplete and led to the bad companion of Kamelion (who was written out of most stories due to the fact the robot never worked). Doctor Who is in a rather dark period at this point. I’m not a fan of the companions or the writing and this hurts Peter Davison who had potential. Doctor Who: The King’s Demons was followed by the 20th Anniversary episode Doctor Who: The Five Doctors.
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Preceded By:
Doctor Who: Enlightenment (Story #127)
Followed By:
