Behind the Sofa - The Collaborative Doctor Who Blog

High on a hill was a lonely goatherd

The Dæmons - Episode 5

Nah. Stop messin' about.

"Yates played a solo on Benton's pink tuba."

Anyone can see she's not a virgin, they're clearly backing the wrong donkey in this race. It's no good sacrificing her to your unholy mutton-based dark lord. It's not going to work, and you'll not be able to return her unless she's in resalable condition. Why not go for that Mr Benton? Bet he's still a virgin. If you don't count that time in the communal showers when Yates played a solo on Benton's pink tuba. And no-one does since the failed court marshal.

"Thank Christ the BBC lost the sixth episode."

And four and a half episodes into a five episode story the Master utters the immortal line, "Ah Doctor. I've been expecting you". You don't fucking say?! In what's becoming something like a cross between a Church of England recruitment video meets Charmed, via the Sound of Music, we at least get some indignant Third Doctor verses Master action. One of the only reason why anyone's still watching. It's not for the remainder of the dialogue, as the Doctor describes Hitler as a bounder. Probably a cad to boot. And more than likely played by Peter Bowles.

After Azal's left in utter confusion regarding the virginal status, or otherwise, of Jo Grant it's left to Bok to sum up the whole sorry mess by simply going all hard.

I thought someone said this was a classic? Thank Christ the BBC lost the sixth episode...

The Bumper Book of Made Up Doctor Who Facts has this to say about part 5 of The Dæmons: racked by guilt in his later years, following the mistreatment of many Gothic architectural features during the filming of The Daemons, Guy Leopold's last will and testament stated that his entire fortune should be donated to the Holborn home for discarded gargoyles, whilst his last wish was that his body be cast in stone and mounted as such a feature above Milo's XXX Books and Lubricants, Soho.

Science not Sorcery

Get your free pair of Stephen Thorne earplugs in the latest issue of ‘UNIT Adventures’ on sale 14^th June 1971, price 2d

The Daemons Part 5

So this is it - with the world perched on the edge of the ‘Greatest Danger it has Ever Seen’ (again) Sergeant Osgood revises his estimate for the energy exchanger like some cowboy builder trying to up-sell a conservatory. Meanwhile in the cavern - where back in the sixties he used to hang out with the Fab Four - Azal has finally risen to his somewhat lanky height and now prepares to give judgment on all Mankind. Problem here is that Stephen Thorne’s characteristically ‘vocal’ performance - see also ‘The Three Doctors’ and ‘The Hand of Fear’ for further examples of eardrum-damaging diction - makes it sound like he’s delivering his lines from the middle of a hurricane. Maybe the maxim ‘less is more’ should have been mentioned by Christopher Barry around this point..?

Anyway Bok’s in his element, dancing around like a cross between an over-excited toddler and someone’s sex-gimp, zapping anyone who moves a side-burned head in his direction. On which point, what exactly happens to those unfortunate to receive one of the gruesome gargoyle’s thunderbolts? Are they dead or merely shifted to some astral plane where they hang around for all eternity like people on the phone to the worst call centre in creation? Either way it’s a tough one to explain when UNIT get round to dishing out the condolence letters for the bereaved families. ‘Zapped by Animated Statue’ would likely leave you without a full sense of closure…

Maybe the maxim ‘less is more’ should have been mentioned by Christopher Barry around this point..?

(At this point, let us pause and hear it for ‘Chap with wings there - five rounds rapid’, seeing as it’s bound to give Nicolas Courtney another reason to write his memoirs.)

With the UNIT convoy finally breaking through the heat barrier - after some more Olympian dithering by Osgood - Azal has a sudden migraine and even Bok finds that all the random zapping he’s been doing has left him feeling like an oversexed homunculus who’s run out of Viagra. As the Master and his cohorts prepare Jo for sacrifice - causing Dennis Wheatley to spit his rich tea across the living room - the Doctor comes to a typically ungrateful rescue. And before you can notice that this story’s almost over and it’s the first time the Doctor and the Master have met, Pertwee is delivering another Barry Letts rant about Man’s use of knowledge to poison and destroy. As a result of which Azal - somewhat unexpectedly it has to be said - decides to confer all his powers on him rather than the Master.

With things looking grimmer than an Aldbourne housewife’s pulling potential - and UNIT spending all their time taking pot-shots at a midget in lycra - Jo offers herself as a sacrifice instead of the Doctor; causing Azal to question all logic and disappear in a Top of the Pops-style conflagration of bad visual effects. As a young Russell T Davies sits at home, marvelling at the genius cop-out of it all (while, no doubt, scripting his own equally implausible ending) everyone makes a run for it as the model church explodes so convincingly that some people were moved to write to Radio Times and complain about the sheer vandalism of it all. Seriously.

...a young Russell T Davies sits at home, marvelling at the genius cop-out of it all

With the day saved and the Master captured with all the skill of Group 4 on a particularly careless day, all is well once again. As the fiendish Jackanapes is driven away to the baying boos of a Jeremy Kyle audience, the Doctor and Jo join in with the Mayday festivities while the Brigadier and Yates decide that a pint is in order. Though knowing Nick Courtney it’s likely to be more than one.

Exit Season 8, rather charmingly.

(The Bumper Bok of Made-Up Daemons Facts has this to say about The Daemons 5: Sergeant Osgood’s later career as an electrician was recently investigated by the team from BBC’s Watchdog)

Five Rounds Rapid

The Daemons Paert 3

What is it with third parts of Pertwee six part stories containing over long and over elaborate chase sequences, this one involving a helicopter, the Doctor and Jo in Bessie and Captain Yates on a motorbike. At least this one didn’t last the entire episode, but it certainly felt like it lasted longer than was absolutely necessary.

The rest of the episode seemed to be a diatribe about science versus magic, which is basically what the crux of this entire story is. On the one side you have Miss Hawthorne, the white witch who passionately believes in magic and then on the other side you have the Doctor, the scientist, who believes all things have a scientific explanation. That is what the episode is all about.

Typically the Doctor just cannot trust any of the Brigadiers men to do a job properly so has to come all the way out to the Brigadier to explain to him and the tech guy (who is wearing glasses so he must be a bit of a boffin) how to get through the hear barrier, but the tech guy was doing his best Scottie impression by saying that “the machine cannae take it Brigadier” but the Brigadier and the Doctor shot him down by just telling him to get the hell on with it.

The cliffhanger was a bit crap, when all is said and done and saw the Master backing away from the shadow of Azal. I mean what is this programme called? Master Who?

The Daemons Paert 4

In part 4 Guy Leopold decided that is was about time the plot started to kick into gear and let the Brigadier join in the fun, and that perhaps the Doctor and the Master ought to meet at somepoint in the near future, I mean four whole episodes and they hadn’t met yet, what the hell is going on? As a result part 4 is very fairly quick paced and quite a bit happens.

This episode also features the famous scene of the morris dancers and the Doctor being trapped by a load of middle aged men dancing around with ribbons hanging off them, and then being threatened by a loaded gun. We also get the biggest cliff hanger of them all with Azal finally rising.

The Daemons Paert 5

We finally reach the end of the story and have another episode where Pertwee, Miss Hawthorne and some of the villagers argue about the old debate science versus magic. The Doctor manages to persuade them with help from Benton, and from his remote control device that controls Bessie. Luckily the inhabitants of Devil’s End are easily taken in by these sort of things, hence why The Master was able to take over the community without much hassle.

Jon Pertwee had his moment in this episode and a proper confrontation with the alien baddie unlike Tennant in The Satan Pit.

The Daemons is one of those stories that has a better reputation than it actually deserves. All this talk of it being the best of the Jon Pertwee era gave it that mythos that is was a brilliant story which people who had never seen it, but only read the novelisation couldn’t disagree with, but once it had been released on video, people were able to watch it and actually have their own opinion on it, and since then, it has lost a lots of its cache as being the best Pertwee story ever.

Personally I think that The Green Death is a far better example of the UNIT family than this story is, and that it is a lot more original than this faux Dennis Wheatley story of devil worshipers that we are given here.

And , boy, doesn’t the colour work on this story look pretty dated now? I watched a video copy of the story to review this story and it also had the edition of Tomorrow's World that showed you how they actually did it. Pretty high tech at the time, fifteen years later is does look pretty dated and not the sort of stuff we expect now from our Doctor Who stories. I am sure that it will be a while before The Daemons is given the full DVD treatment.

Remember Atlantis... and SG1

The Dæmons - Episode 4

Recruitment and retention. That's the key to a successful business. Whether you're trying to corner the market in synthetic spiced meat rods, luxury German vehicular bags or peddling Universal domination.

"That's not going to cut any ice with the girls from the typing pool next time they're taking a Diet Coke break."

The Master (who's current mood is somewhere between an evil Derek Nimo and a Phones 4 You advert) needs to call upon the best of the best in his latest enterprise. And instead, what does he end up with? A hirsute goatmanbeast with breath that could slice through infinity and body odour that brings tears to granite. He might come with top notch references but that's not going to cut any ice with the girls from the typing pool next time they're taking a Diet Coke break, now is it?

"UNIT's battle cry is simply a comedy 'wah-wah-waaaaaaah'."

It's not as if he could learn any lessons from UNIT, whose soldiers are rarely, if ever, bested. Apart from when faced with a team of Morris Dancers, or an Italian waiter attempting to steal a helicopter, or well, anything really. Even their battle cry is simply a comedy "wah-wah-waaaaaaah". Is it any wonder that any of these adventures even have an end? As two monolithic blocks of witlessness come crashing together, their equal and opposite stupidity density instantly cancelling each other out resulting in them being locked into an unbreakable daisy chain of spiralling absurdity.

Until a boy scout appears on the scene with a slingshot and enough ammunition to threaten 6 old age pensioners. Then we'd see some action.

The Bumper Book of Made Up Doctor Who Facts has this to say about part 4 of The Dæmons: Guy Leopold unsuccessfully pitched 3 other story ideas for the Third Doctor: Doctor Who and the Stylistic Inference of Time, Doctor Who and the Vestibule of Uncomfortable Renal Pain and Doctor Who and the Meat Paste Men.

The Daemons, Fits the Third, Fourth, and Fifth

I always forget that the Daemons is only five parts.  Perhaps it's that the Pertwee era seems to be alone in having odd-numbered serials, save for a handful in McCoy's time(which, being a McCoy fan I find disappointing, as another half-hour of Survival would please me to no end).  Which, by way of explanation, is why I've reviewed it in 2/3 time.  I was originally planning on doing 3 reviews, but then I looked on the menu of my Creative Zen, and noticed there were only 5 episodes. Briefly flirted with the idea of tacking on Return to Devil's End, but passed.

This episode, I view as a breakthrough in some ways, merely for the third Doctor admitting that something actually took him by surprise.  There's enough "Elemental, my dear Benson" moments in his run alone to make Sherlock Holmes look like quite a nice bloke by comparison.  That seems to be the only break though, as just about everyone in this episode seems to be a complete git, at least towards the poor Brigadier.  Little wonder he sometimes wishes he worked in a bank, as, like someone mentioned here earlier, his soldiers and scientific advisor seem to have very little respect for his authority as a military leader. If I were him, I'd have sacked the lot by now, and arranged a small accident for Pertwee's Doctor to gamble on a slightly more respectful model.  Oh, and traded Jo Grant in for someone else, as well.  Maybe see if Liz wanted her job back.  Come to think of it, The Master, despite being the clear-cut villain in the story, seems to show the Brig the most love, or at least the least spite, save for Yates's "don't ask, don't tell" moment there at the end.  Pity that, the Brig may have made Yates a happy man, at least for a few minutes.  Where's Captain Jack when you need him?

It's a shame the Goatman Azal had so little to actually do, despite having 2 and a half hours to do it in.  Maybe with a higher budget, Azal could have been quite the baddie.  Or he might have had six minutes of screen time before collapsing into a black hole.  Or 2 minutes of screen time before having an energy-gasm contest with Benton before disappearing entirely.  Meh, then again maybe we should just be happy with what we got.  It was a nice touch that he almost granted his powers to the Doctor instead of the Master purely out of spite for the latter.  I bet McCoy's Doctor would have gone for it.

"Chap with wings there. Five rounds rapid." This is, and will always be, a classic line. And the look on Benton's face as he blows Bok to smithereens with that bazooka.  A man like that should really be either dismissed from the military for mental reasons, or given plausible deniability and sent somewhere unpleasant.

The May Day Morris Dancers.  Oh good lord.  That's all I can say.  I've nothing against Maypoles, or modern reinterpretations of ancient pagan rituals, but..but..no.  No more from me on that.  Except..ah..oh, the newspaper suit. 

The ending really strikes me as a very calm, rational one.  Instead of some big monster and explosion as the last scene, or Jo and the Doctor running off in the TARDIS, or the Master seeming to die horribly, he's arrested.  ARRESTED.  Earth authority actually doing it's job, and taking the prisoner in alive, despite under heavy guard. Which, of course, leads into one of my favorite Pertwee-era moments, when Jo and the Doctor go to visit the Master several serials later, only to find that he's taken control of the Prison that UNIT put him in.  One sneaky monkey, that Master. 

ROll on, Robots of Death, and one of the most fabulously flamboyant costume-sets ever in the history of Sci-fi!

Failure will not be tolerated!

Well, a good 5 days since I reviewed episode 2, I'm going to try my hand at episode 3. I realise that time has run out, but I said right at the start that I would review EVERY EPISODE and I do not intend to let the fact that I've been working solidly for 4 days affect that. And thanks to Damon, I've got Fatal Death to review as well! Brilliant, just brilliant. Briefness will now be manditory.

The Daemons Episode 3

Trying to remember what happened in the last episode is the big challenge. Fortunately, none of it seems to matter. What I don't remember is either covered or unneeded, and I find myself more confident with the plot than before. The Doctor and Jo have been attacked by Bob, (or Bok if you prefer. I thought his name was Azal!?!) and all it takes to get rid of him is a trowel and a line from Little Bo Peep. Now THAT's classy scriptwriting. The time comes for the plot to be explained to the viewers.

Einstein's General Theory of Doctor Who Explanations states that the understandabity of the plot is the direct inverse of the square of the stupidity of the human characters divided by the number of sidekicks. In other words, the more stupid each character is, the more companions are needed to tell a more complicated story. So:

That's why the explanation in Parting of the Ways didn't make sense, because he was explaining to no-one in particular, and those that were listening were incredibly stupid. And that's why even though City of Death only had one companion, she was very intelligent, and so it was clear. Here, there are four listeners to the conversation, with ranging levels of intelligence, but because there are so many it makes sense. That's Einstein for you. I guess if you treat your characters like intelligent people (or at least a lot of stupid people), you treat your audience like intelligent people, and it'll be much more comprehensible.

The age old question of magic vs science is brokered. I believe i have had quite a few rants on this very blog regarding the differences between Fantasy and Sci Fi, and here is a wonderful example of a compromise, that magic and Science are equal, just seen from different points of view. Another interesting point raised is evil vs amoral. I suppose that the only race that comes even close to being evil in Doctor Who are, in fact, the Daleks. They kill because they want to, because it's their choice. The Master isn't really evil: he just wants to rule everything, just to lead the best life for him the best way he knows. Selfish, he may be, but evil? No. Perhaps that's the one thing that Doctor Who has yet to do: a race/creature that kills just because they enjoy it. Not for food, not for survival, just for the sheer enjoyment of it. Purest evil.

Anyway, back to the story. The Master has hypnotised a roomful of people, and the Doc is attacked by the most expensive shot of the 1970s. However, some fancy manoeuvring and the chopper goes straight into the "heat barrier" (I love these technical terms, don't you?). Pertwee gets to rid another vehicle as he steals Yates' motorbike without so much as a "Nice wheels, yoink!". And he explains to the viewers at home that bees can't actually fly, and anything you see that looks like a bee flying must clearly be the product of a deranged imagination.

The episode ends on a rather good cliffhanger involving the Master cowering behind a POV shot, 35 years before spiders, Werewolves, Krillitanes, and eyes-in-spaceships.

Did I say brief?

Fridae

JO GRANT
MEMBER SINCE: 1971
LOCATION: Dingy church basement
MOOD: O.O;;;;;;

Everything got v. exciting today but I was down in stuffy cavern with pongy goat man and missed all the fireworks outside. Dust v. also bad for sinuses. When I asked Doctah afterwards what happened, said he would explain later. V. annoying, bet he never does this with other assistants. Tried to escape while Master was laughing but got stopped by gargle. Dishy Mike Yates' gun not working, either gargle was bulletproof or Yates was firing blanks. Yates then tied up by rough men in black, happens to him a lot. Master wanted to sacrifice me instead of chicken but was going to be v. v. disappointed if he thought I was a virgin. Screamed and cried a lot because white gown looked really horrid and clashed with my boots.

Outside, Spotty Osgood was still fiddling with thermic vibrator while Doctah was playing with his gadgetbox. Not fair, everyone having lots of fun except me. I'll give them violent emotions when we get back to HQ. Brig ordered Osgood to switch thermic vibrator on. Daemon staggered around and looked v. v. uncomfortable so vibrator must have been working. POONIT then drove through barrier but thermic vibrator went bang because Spotty Osgood came too late with it, should take it back to shops for refund.

Gargle started zapping people but Doctah gave it the slip and came in to rescue me. Tried to shout at him where had he been but Master and Doctah and Daemon all v. v. louder, surprised church didn't fall down. Then POONIT turned up and wasted more bullets that don't work on stone gargles. Brig ordered five rounds rapid and didn't share them with anyone, the big piggy.

Daemon said man was a failure, Doctah said no and tried to talk daemon out of destroying the world but did v. v. bad job of it. Wouldn't want Doctah on school debating team. Master claimed ultimate power but Doctah then made mistake of saying Hitler and lost due to Godwin's Law, so two-nil. Doctah even refused ultimate power when he could have done good things for mankind like world peace and ending famine and more soaps and England winning Wimbledon for a change, v. selfish. Not looking good, was getting v. fed up with everyone shouting so jumped in front to tell everyone to shut up, in hindsight worst move ever. But daemon went and blew a fuse from own power, Doctah calls this something like a deuce ex McEnroe.

Then church fell down. Brig now happy cos something blew up with v. v. v. big bang and didn't cost him anything. Didn't know what happened but Doctah thinks Daemon couldn't understand why I'm still hired cos I can't run and can't see. Bald patch, dandruff AND nits. POONIT rounded up Mickey Master club, Master tried to escape but Bessie's gadgetbox brought him back and POONIT carted Master off while everyone booed. Gadgetbox used so many times it's silly, wouldn't get away with that again.

So happy ending and all smiles. Miss Horseface roped Benton into doing fertility dance calling it a Mayday miracle that she could still pull someone. Made Doctah join in with me while Yates and brig decided on five rounds rapid in pub with their own special ceremony. Doctah sez there's magic in the world after all, it's all about love and hope and team spirit and good will and happiness. Actually that sounds v. soppy, probably wouldn't get away with that again either.

Bye bye,

- Jo

Mayday, Mayday

Listen carefully during the recap and you can hear the Master doing his karaoke version of ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’.

The Daemons Part 4

As Azal rises and the whole of Aldbourne is pitched once more into the mirrorlon experience, the Doctor continues to give the hapless Sergeant Osgood a crash-course in how to channel the National Grid through one UNIT van. No wonder the poor sod looks as though he’s about to tell Pertwee where to shove his generator gizmo, and who could blame him? On a sliding scale of annoyance, the Third Doctor is just above the Crazy Frog and hot on the heels of a supermarket full of screaming toddlers. Still, at least he gets to say ‘Reverse the Polarity’ so that’ll keep the condescending little bugger sweet for an episode or two.

So Azal - or at least his ankles - has risen from his long sleep, only to find arguably the worst master-criminal in 10,000 years of megalomaniac cock-ups is after his crown. The Master wants him to confer his power so that he can enslave the human race in a manner which the Daemons originally intended. Though seeing as Azal was watching the Jackanapes’ earlier attempts to recruit for the local neighbourhood watch, then it’s no surprise he’s less than thrilled with this proposition. Still, given Stephen Thorne’s understated performance from the school of drama and shouting, then at least the pair have got something in common.

On a sliding scale of annoyance, the Third Doctor is just above the Crazy Frog and hot on the heels of a supermarket full of screaming toddlers

It’s another episode full to the brim with more filler than a club sandwich, with Jo’s particularly pointless and panicked run around the village doing little more than boost Aldbourne’s tourist profile; and the return of the Black Magic Twister board this time seeing it emulate the ‘Grab a Grand’ machine that celebrities regularly embarrassed themselves clutching twenty pound notes in on Noel’s House Party. But on the bright side Pertwee does at least stop patronising everyone long enough to get all Quadrophenia; riding his Vesper down the country lanes until someone has the sense to take a pot-shot at him and knock the smug little f**ker on his velvet-caped arse. Shame by the time it happens he’s turned into Terry Walsh.

you start wondering whether you’d rather see Pertwee or Nicolas Cage burn at the stake

Arriving back in the village - and to the sounds of Robin Hardy coughing-up another hobnob - the Doctor finds everything’s gone all Wicker Man in his absence; as the Mayday celebrations see him smacked on the arse by grown men dressed as paper trees and getting tied to a stick awaiting conflagration. Besides the sub-Two Ronnies spectacle of it all - not to mention the possibility of spotting future Sooty-fister Matthew Corbett amidst the rabble - Benton is also engaging in some studio-bound gymnastic work with one of the maypole maniacs. Before displaying a feat of sharp-shooting that would have put to shame the villager whose Pertwee-perforation marksmanship was tragically below par.

But just before you start wondering whether - at a push - you’d rather see Pertwee or Nicolas Cage burn at the stake, the Master’s singing 'Tight Fit' again and extending his evil repertoire to chicken-murdering (though it’s perhaps refreshing that he doesn’t shrink it first). Leading to Azal finally - after one or two false starts - rising to all his CSO glory as the village shakes once more and poor old Osgood ends up with soot all over his rosy cheeks again.

Next week: keep your finger on the volume control as Stephen Thorne opens his big, bearded gob.

(The Bumper Book of Made-Up Doctor Who Facts has this to say about The Daemons 4: Brian Blessed acted as unofficial voice coach on this story)

Thursdae

JO GRANT
MEMBER SINCE: 1971
LOCATION: In bed
MOOD: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Didn't get enough sleep last night, was in bed having lovely dream about ponies when big earthquake suddenly woke me up and everyone had another asthma attack. People shouting about the devil so decided to be very brave and sneak out of window and down to church where rotten Mister Master was hiding. Not scared of heights this time and didn't even get flares caught in ladder rungs, v. v. v. proud of myself. But forgot about knotted sheets hanging out of window, and dishy Mike Yates found them and came after me and scared me in the church basement. Showed me it was full of traps. Master in for big fine from missing library book, serves him right.

Doctah still being v. bossy, played noughts and crosses on motorbike windscreen while shouting at spotty Osgood with National Health specs on who was using big cable from transmitter to watch telly but kept getting wrong programme. Brig wearing shoes down from pacing around. Osgood said thermic vibrator still not in phase. Don't think that's really a problem, probably needs new batteries.

Doctah returned to village but was tied to maypole by Landlord Bert wearing Blue Peter Christmas tree made of newspaper strips and funny morris men doing jungle war dance who had had too many drinks. Bert wanted everyone to burn my Doctah up for being a witch but they let him go after Miss Horseface made Doctah pretend to be Great Wizard Yingtongiddleipo from Magical Mystery Tour. V. silly, even I wouldn't have fallen for that. But Doctah had lots of help from Bessie's gadgetbox and from Beefy Benton who brig sez is a crack shot (though again may have heard this wrong). Miss Horseface and her heavy ball also sez Benton is a dab hand with a spinning cock. Not sure how she'd know.

Yates and me hid in cavern, Master started black magic ceremony while coven members wearing cowls and Batman masks played v. slow game of musical statues. Master then tried to sacrifice a chicken. Big rotter knows I'm vegan so I shouted and made him stop, in hindsight not brightest move ever. But was too late, Master was laughing and evil goat man appeared and grew v. v. v. v. v. v. v. big! Haven't been so frightened since autons. And alien mindbox. And axons. And space miners. V. scared indeed, hope my Doctah gets here quickly before I start blubbling.

Wet my knickers too but got so cold when goat man grew big it all froze up. Not v. comfortable to wear.

BBL (i hope!)

- Jo

The Daemons: setting the bar for religious tolerance.

Ah, The Daemons.  Or the Damons.  Or Demons.  Or that squiggly letter I can't make in Notepad. What a story.  What a tale. What a load of bollocks I'm spewing while I'm trying to remember everything I watched last night.

This town has a "local white witch." REALLY?  Britain of the 70s must be much more liberated than America of the 70s, as they were still burning witches in various parts of the southern US until at least the mid-80s, while this sleepy little English town has its own official, tolerated, accepted, local white witch.  Is that an actual council job?

Jo's interaction in this episode goes completely towards why, while I think she's well fit, she's everything I hate about female stereotypes.  The Doctor (keep in mind, Pertwee's the smug git that I like least) is abusive, mocking, downright rude to her throughout much of these first two episodes, and yet she still gazes adoringly at him, brushing off his mistreatment with little more than a bemused shake of her head.  What does this about Jo in particular, and women in general? Meh, it's a study for another time and place.  Suffice it to say, I keep waiting for Jo to perk up and give him what-for.

It's nice to see the entire staff of UNIT save the Brig(yes, all three of them: Benton, Yates, and that other guy) gathered around watching something educational.  A smart army is an effective army.  Stand up, Torchwood.

Speaking of Torchwood, those giant hoofprints have me wondering if possibly Azal(he's the big one, right?) is related to the Beast from End of Days, or just another random "evil from the dawn of time" that happens to stand higher than some buildings. I am rather fond of the little stone bugger, though.  Looks dead silly, but a nice costume nonetheless.

I've got the theory that by now, UNIT has realized what a smug git the third Doctor is, and are trying to get rid of him. Watch, as they let him run off to Devil's End with no backup(no, Miss Grant doesn't count).  Marvel as Jo calls for immediate assistance, with Yates responding they'll be there "first thing in the morning." Giggle uncontrollably as, while dressed in their ridiculous "street" clothes, they get immediately sidetracked by the giant footprints, with Benton completely forgetting why they were heading to Devil's End in the first place, thinking with his stomach instead of his head.

And the Irish get shafted again, as the constable is not only brainwashed, but dead by the end of episode two.

I can't wait for the explanation for the Corgi miniature spaceship of Doom weighing in at 750 tons.  Wouldn't, at that weight, it cause some sort of stress fracturing in the ground around it?  And on a last note, bravo to the heat shield around the town.  That's got to be one of the more brilliant ideas during the Pertwee era, and costs about as much as a sack of dirt and some poppers. Oh, and one poor minivan that didn't look too much longer for this world anyway.

The Bumper Book of Made Up Doctor Who Facts has this to say about The Daemons: The name "The Daemons" was a cruel joke perpetrated on the Doctor Who-loving populace of the time, as it wasn't until decades later that Windows 95 would strike a blow against typing weird characters.  Of course, 10 years later, most of us are too lazy to use a character map to find the "ae" letter anyway.

EDIT: I just noticed this.  The Brig's chopper has, plastered across it's front end: G-UNIT. Which means that Brig, Yates, and Benton are none other than, in disguise, these gentlemen.