The Dæmons

The main asset that The Dæmons possesses (ha!) is atmosphere. In attempting to portray Satanism in a scientific context for a family audience, director Christopher Barry makes the story seem reminiscent of (then) recent British horror films. The opening is very Hammeresque and in other places, notably the malevolent Morris dancers, the story seems to anticipate The Wicker Man by two years. Barry's direction is very effective throughout, with crane shots and the lighting throughout is very evocative- scenes set in the crypt are lit with red and exterior shots are always a bit murky (although this could be an effect of the primitive colourising process used to restore the story)

However, the story stumbles when it comes to plotting. The story is stuffed with good set pieces, but they are very poorly integrated and do not constitute a cohesive narrative. For example, the opening scene where a man is killed in the churchyard is great- until it becomes obvious that Azal has not risen, nor Bok activated- so what killed him? The resolution of the story is terrible- Azal is ready to kill the Doctor, but destroys himself when Jo willingly offers to be killed in the Doctor's stead. This is after the Doctor has spent a good deal of time supervising the building of a machine to break the heat barrier and drain Azal's energy- which then blows up shortly after it is turned on. This machine is the most gratuitous piece of padding in the story and should not have taken up more than 10 minutes, if this was all the plot significance it was going to have.

The other main problem is the guest cast. This has to be one of the most uninspiring ensemble of actors that a Doctor Who story has ever had. Colony in Space had good actors playing dull characters, whereas here, we have the opposite problem. The most interesting characters are Professor Horner and the BBC crew and they only really appear in episode 1. Of the remainder, Don McKillop as Bert the Landlord is reasonably good as is Rollo Winstanley as the Squire. The others are pretty much faceless and phone in their performances- not good if you want a village full of malevolent rural types and you get a bunch of Mummerset mumblers. Then there is Damaris Hayman as Miss Hawthorne. It is a good thing that the actress has such an interesting screen presence, because she gives one of the most annoying performances I have seen in the programme.

The regulars are on good form- it is interesting to see UNIT in civvies and they are clearly having a whale of a time. Of special note is Jon Pertwee- the Doctor is clearly moody after a long drive with many wrong turns and his bad mood continues for a good portion of the story. He is impatient and rather patronising and it's only the natural likeability of the actor that makes us stick with him.

The Dæmons is perfectly entertaining and enjoyable. The trouble is, it will dawn on you afterwards that it's not particularly good.

NEXT: Day of the Daleks