Day 601: The King's Demons Part 2

A new companion is introduced in this episode: Kamelion. A shape shifting robot that once was under the control of the Master as part of an evil ploy to prevent Magna Carta, it has regained its free will and now travels aboard the TARDIS. It's actually a really cool thing to see, first of all because the shape-shifting aspect of the companion is a neat idea. Aside from the plot related instances in which it can be applied, it can also allow for a range of guest actors to play the role of the companion, which can lead to a bit of variety within the TARDIS team.

The second cool thing to see is the prop itself. It's actually a fully functioning machine, which, although it clearly isn't brilliant, by virtue of the fact that this is the 1980's, I actually have to admire it. Unfortunately, the nature of Kamelion proved to be its downfall, as it's controller sadly died almost immediately after production completed on The King's Demons, and as he never left any notes about the operation of this machine, it never really appeared again until some time in the next series. It's a shame, as this is something that does have a lot of potential, but sadly, this potential was never realised on screen.

Day 600: The King's Demons Part 1

600 days. That's an awfully long time to be watching Doctor Who episodes for. In that time, there's been Aztec priests, disused yetis, Metebelis crystals, imbeciles called Harry Sullivan, a Romana who was one of the noblest of her name, and a companion plagued with an impossibly difficult task. It's been a fun ride (and there's only around 200 days left to go!), and so to celebrate, I'm watching a mediocre Doctor Who story.

I'm perhaps being a bit unfair to The King's Demons, as there are some good things in it. The only problem is that it is a story featuring the Master, where the Master is again disguised. This time, his disguise consists of wearing a beard and speaking in a French accent. It is, perhaps, the worst disguise the Master has ever used. Aside from the eternal question of "Why has the Master disguised himself this time", it is at least something that we can have fun with as an audience. Doctor Who, in all of its history, has occasionally delved into the joy of being enjoyably bad (c.f. The Horns of Nimon, The Underwater Menace), and that at least makes the story somewhat enjoyable (contrast with Arc of Infinity earlier in this series, which was just bad for bad's sake).

Speaking of history, this episode seeks to get in some real world history as well. We learn about King John, and his role in signing the Magna Carta. Similarly, we also get a picture of what it was like living in a medieval castle (very cold, it turns out). This is a nice call-back to the early days of Doctor Who, whereby the series was intended to be educational and, as such, dropped in little history lessons here and there. That said, the history stories were generally either grand epics (e.g. Marco Polo) or bright comedies (e.g. The Gunfighters), but here we have just a light adventure, lacking in the scope of the epic or the humour of the comedy. But it's nice to be reminded of these things, as we have more fun with The King's Demons.