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The King's Demons

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Synopsis

The Doctor and Kamelion

It is thirteenth century England and King John is visiting the castle stronghold of Sir Ranulph Fitzwilliam. Ranulf's personal fortune has dwindled away, freely donated to King John to help fund the Crusade. While staying with Ranulph, the King’s greed is criticised by the baron’s head-strong son, Hugh. As a result, Hugh is challenged to a duel by the monarch’s enigmatic French Knight-at-Arms, Sir Giles Estram, a duel the young Englishman has little hope of surviving.

When the TARDIS materialises and disturbs the joust, The Doctor's party are proclaimed friendly demons by the King, who seems strangely interested in their “blue engine”. Before long The Doctor becomes embroiled in court politics, and he realises that there is far more to the situation than a simple battle of honour between nobles.

Ranulf's cousin, Sir Geoffrey de Lacey, arrives at the castle and is astonished to find the King present. He has just left His Majesty in London preparing to sign Magna Carta, a document that will shape the future of democracy in the western world. The Doctor learns that neither the King nor Sir Gilles Estram are exactly who they claim, and that their true identities involve a battle-ravaged alien planet light-years away, and one of The Doctor's oldest and deadliest enemies...

Source: BBC VHS Video

General Information

Season:	Twenty
Production Code:	6J
Story Number:	128
Episode Numbers:	600 - 601
Number of Episodes:	2
Percentage of Episodes Held:	100%
Working Titles:	"The Android", "The Demons", "A Knight's Tale" and "Demons Keeper"
Production Dates:	December 1982 - January 1983
Broadcast Started:	15 March 1983
Broadcast Finished:	16 March 1983
Colour Status:	Colour
Studio:	BBC Television Centre (TC1)
Location:	Bodiam Castle (Bodiam, East Sussex)

Writer:

Terence Dudley

Director:

Tony Virgo

Producer:

John Nathan-Turner

Script Editor:

Eric Saward

Editor:

Mike Rowbotham

Production Assistant:

Sue Upton

Production Associate:

June Collins

Assistant Floor Manager:

Sue Hedden

Designer:

Ken Ledsham

Costume Designer:

Colin Lavers

Make-Up Designers:

Elizabeth Rowell and Frances Hannon

Cameraman:

Remi Adefarasin

Lighting:

Peter Smee

Visual Effects:

Tony Harding

Fights Arranged By:

John Waller

Incidental Music:

Jonathan Gibbs and Peter Howell

Special Sounds (SFX Editor):

Dick Mills

Studio Sounds:

Martin Ridout

Title Sequence:

Sid Sutton

Title Music:

Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Peter Howell

Lute Player:

Jacob Lindberg

Number of Doctors:

The Doctor:

Peter Davison (The Fifth Doctor)

Number of Companions: 3The Companions: Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka), Mark Strickson (Turlough) and Gerald Flood (voice only) (Kamelion) (Joins) Guest Cast: Anthony Ainley (The Master / Sir Gilles Estram), Additional Cast: Gerald Flood (The King), Frank Windsor (Ranulf), Isla Blair (Isabella), Christopher Villiers (Hugh), Michael J. Jackson (Sir Geoffrey), Peter Burroughs (Jester)Setting: England (3rd and 4th March 1215) Villain: The Master

The Episodes

No.	Episodes	Broadcast (UK)	Duration	Viewers (Millions)	In Archive
600	Part 1	15 March 1983	24'48"	5.8	PAL 2" colour videotape
601	Part 2	16 March 1983	24'27"	7.2	PAL 2" colour videotape

Total Duration

49 Minutes

Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions)

6.5

Doctor Who Magazine Poll (1998)	56.26% (Position = 140 out of 159)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2009)	54.34% (Position = 181 out of 200)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2014)	55.16% (Position = 228 out of 241)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023)	Position = 18 out of 20

Archives

Both episodes exist as PAL 2" colour videotapes.

Notes

"The King's Demons" is a two-part story where The Doctor, Tegan Jovanka and Vislor Turlough become involved with The Master in the historical world of the Magna Carta. This story also introduced the ill-fated Kamelion - a fully animated robot and the first non-humanoid companion since K9.

As with every story, during Season Twenty, "The King's Demons" featured an enemy from The Doctor’s past. For this story it was the turn of The Master, whose previous appearance in the show had been in Season Nineteen’s final story "Time-Flight".

Kamelion came about when, in November 1981, freelance effects designer Richard Gregory, who had been involved in several Doctor Who stories through his company, Imagineering, notified Producer John Nathan-Turner of a project conceived by software designer Mike Power in conjunction with CP Cybernetics, a computer company owned by Chris Padmore, who had devised a functioning robot prop, whose body could move and which could mime speech along to pre-recorded dialogue. Richard Gregory felt that the robot might be something that Doctor Who could make good use of.

After a demonstration of the robot prototype was given to John Nathan-Turner and Script Editor Eric Saward they were duly impressed, seeing in the android the possibility of another K9-type success. Terence Dudley, who had just finished writing the 1982 story "Black Orchid", was approached about developing a storyline to introduce the machine. After a second demonstration was held, which Terence Dudley also attended, John Nathan-Turner formally agreed to use the robot, although he requested that Chris Padmore continue to improve upon it, particularly with a regard to making the android more mobile.

In addition to introducing the robot in his two-part story, Terence Dudley was also asked by Nathan-Turner to bring back The Master. Anthony Ainley had been contracted for one story a year (a decrease from John Nathan-Turner’s original vision of two appearances by the arch-villain every season), but no Master story had yet been touted for Season Twenty. Consequently, Terence Dudley returned to an old idea he had had for Doctor Who prior to writing "Black Orchid", which took the TARDIS to the thirteen-century England of King John. Keeping in mind the limitations of the robot, Terence Dudley made it a shapeshifter, so that an actor could play the role whenever necessary. It was also Terence Dudley who coined the name Kamelion.

This story was Terence Dudley’s last contribution to Doctor Who. He passed away in December 1988, after a long illness.

Cast as both the voice of Kamelion and King John was Gerald Flood, whose previous television work included Crane, The Rat Catchers, and the science-fiction series Pathfinders in Space and its sequels, produced by Sydney Newman, before he became one of the creators of Doctor Who. Gerald Flood later returned to voice Kamelion in Season Twenty One’s "Planet of Fire" and for the brief regeneration sequence in "The Caves of Androzani".

The part of The Master was once again played by Anthony Ainley. Two pseudonyms were employed to mask his appearance. In his masquerade as a French knight, The Master calls himself ‘Sir Gilles Estram’ (‘Estram’ being an anagram of ‘Master’) while the credits for episode one would list Estram as being played by ‘James Stoker’ (which is an anagram of ‘Masters joke’).

The guest cast includes: Frank Windsor, well known as Sergeant Watt in Z Cars and its Softly, Softly spin-offs; and distinguished stage and television actress Isla Blair.

The Director assigned to this story was Tony Virgo, who had previously helmed episodes of The Bill.

Like the previous two stories the recording of this story took place in the midst of a labour dispute with the BBC’s electricians union. Despite this location shooting began in December 1982 at Bodiam Castle, in Sussex. Terence Dudley’s scripts actually specified the location as Odiham Castle near Basingstoke in Hampshire. But it was discovered that this structure was in fact largely in ruins. Interestingly the construction of Bodiam Castle actually occurred in 1385, nearly two centuries after the events depicted in this story.

Studio recording started as planned, on the 18th December 1982, in the wake of the industrial action. However, this appeared to be at risk, and for a time it appeared that this story - along with the stories before and after it, "Enlightenment" and "The Return" - would not be completed at all. In the event, only "The Return" was lost; this necessitated Eric Saward having to rewrite the final scene. Originally, this saw the TARDIS being trapped in a Dalek time corridor, leading into "The Return". Eric Saward’s new version, of the ending to "The King's Demons’s", became a lead-in to "The Five Doctors", a special story which was then in the planning stages, which would celebrate Doctor Who's Twentieth Anniversary in November 1983.

Despite studio recording starting as planned, this story was due to be completed in the second studio session, planned for the 20th (the intervening day being given over to a remount of "Terminus"). Unfortunately, serious problems had arisen with Kamelion.

Kamelion’s creator sadly died in a boating accident, just after Kamelion was introduced in filming, and it was found that no one was able to adequately control it while manual programming of its speech took nearly two weeks per episode (not to mention BBC union issues!). Furthermore, Kamelion constantly broke down and lost synchronisation with Gerald Flood’s pre-recorded dialogue and the robot’s walking mechanism still had not been perfected. As a result, not all the required material could be completed by the end of the 20th, forcing John Nathan-Turner to schedule a remount on the 16th January just before the first rescheduled studio session for Enlightenment.

Peter Howell was originally scheduled to complete the entire incidental score. But because of the remount and other commitments, Radiophonic Workshop newcomer Jonathan Gibbs was asked to handle the incidental music for this story, in place of Peter Howell. Peter Howell did contribute some material to the programme including the lute music heard being performed by the King (the lyrics for which had been composed by Terrance Dudley and played by Jakob Lindberg).

The credit details for this story in the television and radio listings magazine Radio Times, has the ‘Lute Player’ credit for Jakob Lindberg mistakenly referring to a character. Part One named Jakob Lindberg as a member of the crew, while Part Two listed credited Jakob Lindberg as a cast member instead of part of the crew.

The first episode of this story was promoted by the BBC as the sixth hundredth Doctor Who episode.

It was intended that Kamelion would become a regular companion, but given the many problems that were experienced John Nathan-Turner had already made the decision to write the android out of the show as soon as possible. Any thought of Kamelion playing an active role in each story had been entirely abandoned and the robot only appeared again in Season Twenty One’s "Planet of Fire" and for the brief regeneration sequence in "The Caves of Androzani".

It is revealed that The Master used Kamelion, the tool of an earlier invader of Xeriphas (see "Time-Flight"), 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.

At the time fans assumed that this story was originally going to feature the Meddling Monk. (However, 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 Meddling Monk’s modus operandi than his own usual more grandiose schemes. Whether it would have been as the Meddling Monk or a later regeneration of the same Time Lord, it would have involved recasting the part as Peter Butterworth, who originated this character in the 1965 First Doctor story "The Time Meddler", had passed away in 1979).

This story marks the last appearance of the TARDIS Console Room set which had been in use since the 1977 Fourth Doctor story "The Invisible Enemy". A new Console Room would debut in the next story "The Five Doctors", although the console itself would be reused as the Second Doctor’s console in the 1985 story "The Two Doctors".

It seemed that once Tegan is able to make The Doctor’s TARDIS take off and land on her own (as with "Four to Doomsday"). However, much of this might be where the TARDIS is acting to minimise potential damage.

The Doctor re-establishes himself as a fair swordsman, having shown skill with a blade in two of his previous incarnations. These were the Third Doctor (in the 1972 story "The Sea Devils" and the 1973/74 story "The Time Warrior") and the Fourth Doctor (in the 1976 story "The Masque of Mandragora" and the 1978 story "The Androids of Tara"). This is the second sword fight between The Doctor and The Master - the first being in" The Sea Devils"). The Doctor Tenth Doctor also demonstrated this ability in the 2005 Christmas story "The Christmas Invasion".

Peter Davison and Anthony Ainley did their own swordfighting - no stuntmen were involved in that scene. Though the jousts did use stuntmen replace the actors.

This story contains a number of errors. Namely: The Master’s TARDIS is disguised as an iron maiden. The earliest iron maiden known to historians is the Iron Maiden of Nuremberg, which was built in 1515, 300 years after the setting of this story; French was still the language of the court in the early 13th century, so why does only Sir Gilles speak it? The Doctor’s claim that King John wanted the Magna Carta as much as his nobles and that he could have defeated the barons easily is historically untrue. King John signed the Magna Carta after it became clear that he could not suppress the Baron’s Revolt, and immediately appealed to the pope to release him from his oath to support the Charter’s terms.

In the final TARDIS scene of the story, when The Doctor introduces Tegan to Kamelion, he is heard to state that 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 ("Time-Flight") and his eventual demise in "Planet of Fire".

As a lead in to the next story The Doctor mentions the Eye of Orion to Tegan and Turlough confirms that he has been there before.

This minor cliffhanger (although it is unlikely initial viewers will have thought of it as such) is similar to the link between the 1974 Third Doctor stories "Invasion of the Dinosaurs" and "Death to the Daleks", where The Doctor 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 Smith to Florana, the Fifth Doctor’s promise to Tegan and Turlough is actually fulfilled.

Technically this story brought a premature end to Season Twenty. This season, however continued later in the year with the Twentieth Anniversary special "The Five Doctors".

The first episode of this story scored the lowest rating since the Fourth Doctor’s final season.

This story was repeated on BBC One in July 1984.

There probably was a real Sir Gilles, whom The Master killed and impersonated. In Virgin Book’s The Missing Adventures novel "Sanctuary", which is set in 1242, The Doctor meets a relative of the real Sir Gilles, whose true fate was never known.

First and Last

The Firsts:

The introduction of companion Kamelion voiced by Gerald Flood.

The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Tony Virgo.

The Lasts (Subject to Future Stories):

The last appearance of the TARDIS console room set which had been in use since the 1977 Fourth Doctor story "The Invisible Enemy".

The last Doctor Who story written by Terence Dudley.

The Plot

WARNING: May Contain Spoilers

Hide Text

King John

The date is 1215 and the Court of 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 with his lack of generosity towards the crusade. To defend his honour his son Hugh takes on the King’s champion, Sir Gilles Estram, in a joust.

The following morning, villagers and knights gather to watch Hugh and Sir Gilles joust for the King’s honour. But the joust is disturbed by the arrival of the TARDIS. When they go outside The Doctor, mystified as to why the TARDIS has arrived at this place and time as he didn’t set those co-ordinates, and his travelling companions, Tegan Jovanka, and Vislor Turlough, are taken aback when they are greeted as demons and welcomed by the King.

They watch the remainder of the joust, which Sir Gilles wins. The Doctor intercedes to plead for Hugh’s life, and the youth is spared. Everyone then returns to the castle, where Turlough becomes separated from The Doctor and Tegan. The Doctor thinks there is something afoot - King John is supposed to be in London at this time, taking the crusader’s oath.

The Doctor and Tegan

Turlough is captured by a disgruntled Hugh - in sparing his life, The Doctor denied him honour - and taken to the dungeon. Sir Gilles likewise imprisons Ranulf’s wife, Lady Isabella, to ensure Ranulf’s good behaviour. He also has Hugh himself chained up alongside Turlough and Isabella. Meanwhile Ranulf decides to trust The Doctor and voices grave concerns about the King’s behaviour. The Doctor suggests that the King here is an impostor, but Ranulf finds this hard to believe.

Two riders then approach the castle and are met by Sir Gilles. The lead rider is Geoffrey de Lacey, just returned from attending the King in London. Sir Gilles has him taken prisoner.

The Doctor
The Doctor

At the next meal, the King plays the lute and sings a song in praise of war. Sir Gilles then brings in an iron maiden and prepares to have Geoffrey placed inside it. The Doctor again intercedes, claiming that Sir Gilles has behaved outrageously in even attempting to follow the King’s fine performance. Sir Gilles challenges The Doctor and they fight with swords. The Doctor wins, but Sir Gilles pulls out a familiar weapon and his face transforms into that of The Master. Tegan throws a knife at The Master, but he catches it and offers The Doctor the choice of weapons: the knife or his tissue compression eliminator. The Doctor snatches the eliminator but The Master merely laughs: he knows his adversary would never use it. The King then orders The Master placed in the iron maiden, and The Doctor is unable to prevent this. The Master is held inside the device and the door closed.

Suddenly the iron maiden fades from sight - it was The Master’s TARDIS all along. After the King knights The Doctor, as his new champion, The Doctor then makes a pretence of placing Geoffrey under arrest in order to gain access to the dungeons. The Master gets there first, however, and releases Hugh and Isabella, claiming that The Doctor is plotting to topple the King from the throne. After they have gone, The Doctor arrives with Tegan and Geoffrey and releases Turlough. He also rigs up The Master’s eliminator at the back of the iron maiden.

The Master turns the whole castle against The Doctor and has Geoffrey shot in the back as he tries to leave for London to warn the real King. The Doctor and Tegan are captured, but Tegan gets inside The Doctor’s TARDIS and dematerialises it, allowing The Doctor to slip away in the confusion.

The Doctor and Kamelion
The Doctor and Kamelion

The Doctor makes his way to the King’s chamber, where he finds a sophisticated android playing the lute and singing in the King’s voice. The Master appears and explains that he used the android Kamelion to escape from Xeriphas, the planet on which The Doctor trapped him at the end of their previous encounter. The tool of an earlier invader of Xeriphas, Kamelion was designed as a decoy weapon, capable of infinite form and personality, all controlled by concentration and psychokinetics. The Master is now using Kamelion to discredit King John and thereby ensure that the Magna Carta is not signed.

Ranulf and his men burst into the King’s chamber and there ensues a battle of wills between The Master and The Doctor for control of Kamelion. This is won by The Doctor when Tegan materialises the TARDIS in the chamber, distracting The Master and the watching men. The Doctor, after causing Kamelion to adopt Tegan’s form, hustles the android and Turlough into the TARDIS.

The Master makes his escape in his own TARDIS, unaware that The Doctor’s tampering with the tissue compression eliminator will have affected its dimensional control.

Inside The Doctor’s TARDIS, Kamelion, who has a mind of his own, asks if he may travel with The Doctor. To Turlough’s surprise and Tegan’s dismay, The Doctor accepts Kamelion as a new travelling companion. After welcoming Kamelion aboard The Doctor sets the co-ordinates for the Eye of Orion.

Kamelion

The Master with the King

The Doctor, Kamelion and The Master

Sir Geofrey de Lacy

The Master

Ranulf Fitzwilliam

Isabella Fitzwilliam

The Doctor and Kamelion

Quote of the Story

'You may disguise your features but you can never disguise your intent.'

The Doctor

Release Information

Format	Title	Release Date (UK)	Code Number	Cover Art	Remarks
LP	Doctor Who: The Music II	1985	REC 552		Music score
Tape	Doctor Who: The Music II	1985			Music score
CD	Doctor Who - The Five Doctors - Classic Music From The BBC Radiophonic Workshop Volume 2	1992	FLMCD 710	Alister Pearson	Music score
VHS	The King's Demons	November 1995	BBCV 5734	Colin Howard	Released as part of a boxed set with the Special Edition version of "The Five Doctors" and a postcard book
DVD	The King's Demons	June 2010	BBCDVD 2738	Photo-montage	Part of the "Kamelion Tales" Box Set Released along with "Planet of Fire"
Blu-Ray	Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 20 (Limited Edition)	September 2023	BBCBD 0515	Photo-montage	Blu-Ray Limited Edition boxed set containing 7 specially restored stories

In Print

Format	Title	Release Date (UK)	Publisher	Author	Cover Art	Remarks
Novel	The King's Demons	July 1986	Target No. 108	Terence Dudley	David McAllister	ISBN: 0-426-20227-9
CD	The King's Demons	May 2016	Target No. 108	Terence Dudley	David McAllister	Audio version of the Target Novel read by Mark Strickson (Turlough).

Doctor Who CMS Magazine (In Vision)	Issue 68 (Released: November 1996)
Doctor Who Monthly - Preview	Issue 75 (Released: April 1983)
Doctor Who Monthly - Review	Issue 81 (Released: October 1983)
Doctor Who Magazine - Archive	Issue 269 (Released: September 1998)
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team	Issue 382 (Released: May 2007)
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction	Issue 496 (Released: March 2016)

Photo Gallery

The Doctor and Companions

The Fifth Doctor

Tegan Jovanka

Turlough

Kamelion

On Release

Audio LP - Doctor Who: The Music II

AUDIO

Audio Tape - Doctor Who: The Music II

AUDIO

Doctor Who - The Five Doctors CD Cover

AUDIO

VHS Video Cover

VIDEO

DVD Cover

VIDEO

The Collection Season 20 Limited Edition Blu-Ray Cover

VIDEO

In Print

Target Book Cover

NOVEL

Target Audio CD Cover

Magazines

Doctor Who CMS Magazine (In Vision): Issue 68

Doctor Who Monthly - Preview: Issue 75

Doctor Who Monthly - Review: Issue 81

Doctor Who Magazine - Archive: Issue 269

Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 382

Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 496

Who's Who

Who Me

Episodes of the
Fifth Doctor

Season 20

References

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