Doctor Who: The King's Demons (Story 129) |  | Actor: Peter Davison
Studio: BBC Warner
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $8.83
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Seller: -importcds
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 295
Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Languages: English (Subtitled), English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
UPC: 883929096800
EAN: 0883929096800
ASIN: B003O97W2S
Release Date: September 7, 2010 (New: This Week)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
England, March 1215. King John is visiting the castle of Sir Ranulph Fitzwilliam. The arrival of the TARDIS disturbs a medieval joust, but the Doctor and his companions are proclaimed to be friendly demons by the King, who seems strangely interested in their “blue engine.” It soon becomes clear that neither King John or his Champion, Sir Gilles Estram, are who they pretend to be. One of the Doctor’s oldest and deadliest enemies threatens the future of democracy on Earth, and he must be stopped!
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| Customer Reviews:
 A great two-part adventure! June 12, 2010
Jero Briggs
7 out of 12 found this review helpful
I disagree with the two other reviews, this is a GREAT adventure for the Doctor. Much better than most of the stories of this season, and a hell of a lot better than "Black Orchid". There are only three things that I hate about this story. For one thing it's a remake of "The Time Meddler", for the second thing the Doctor picks up a new companion in this story and yet he's absent for the next five stories with no explanation and then suddenly reappears again in the sixth story with still no explanation of where he's been all this time, and last it is quite obvious that Sir Gilles Estram is in fact the Master. But on the plus side, this was better than "The Time Meddler" and made a very good and exciting story in which we also get to see in it an epic sword battle between the Doctor and the Master.
The Doctor and his companions arrive in mideval England to find that the Master is attempting to alter Earth's history by preventing the signing of the Magna Carta. But this is just one part of a much bigger plan that will allow the Master to gain control of the entire world, and to help him is a cool-looking shape-shifting robot named Chameleon.
A great plot, great acting, great production values, and a lot of mystery and excitement. Highly recommended!
Doctor Who - The Kings Demons August 16, 2010
GrannyPapa (Iowa, US)
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
What the heck???
This is a good story, a TRUE Doctor Who Fan wouldn't CARE a bit what some people write. Doctor Who is GREAT, old, new, which ever Doctor you choose, I don't care what some intellectual wannabe critics say.
Yes some are better than others, but this is a good story, and entertaining to boot.
 Lightweight but still worthwhile August 27, 2010
Never the Twain
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Watching The King's Demons again, about 25 years after my first viewing, it's
actually hard to see why the story is so derided. Though not a classic piece of
TV by any stretch, it's still a fun way to spend an hour. In fact, compared to
many Doctor Who stories of the same period, this one has aged remarkably well.
As with the previous season's trip into the past, Black Orchid, the historical
setting helps in this regard, since (as the saying goes) nothing dates like the
future. As a result, there are few if any of the fashion victims that sometimes
make "classic series" episodes hard to enjoy, and even the interior sets feel
more substantial. All of this would be trivial, though, if the story itself
didn't have merit.
The faults are, not surprisingly, fairly easy targets. The Master's plot is (as
the Doctor points out) "small-time villainy", some of the historical background
is a bit shaky, and the resolution is somewhat lacking in drama. That said, the
process of getting to that resolution is quite enjoyable, especially the build
up of a historical mystery that takes place over the course of the first
episode. Some of that sense of intrigue falls by the wayside once the Master's
involvement is revealed, but even then there are enough questions posed to keep
things lively.
Ultimately, you get the impression that this lack of substance is the sole
reason for the story's bad reputation. If so, that's a shame because there's a
lot to enjoy here. Even though the BBC's golden-age of costume drama was a few
years past at this point, they still had the ability to create convincing period
settings that looked far more impressive than you'd expect with the kind of
tight budget a two-part Doctor Who story would have had. Better yet, both the
regulars and guest stars like Gerald Flood give very strong performances.
Of particular note is Peter Davison. Like many fans of my generation, raised on
Tom Baker's widely syndicated early seasons, I really didn't appreciate
Davison's lower-key Doctor until fairly recently. In some ways, lightweight
stories like this and Black Orchid are ideal showcases for Davison, because you
can appreciate the quiet conviction he brings to the role and how much he does
to hold the viewer's interest. In that respect, this story calls to mind, the
historical stories of William Hartnell's tenure as the Doctor, where budgets
were even tighter, and that's no bad thing.
 For ten bucks and change this makes a nice drink coaster! May 30, 2010
David W. Curry (Philadelphia,Pa)
9 out of 21 found this review helpful
This one is not worth a propper review so hear are some bullet points:
* The Master story and the two parter for season 20.
* Tegan finally gets something else to wear.
*BBC saves money by using "cut out" likeness of Mark Strikson since Turlough has nothing to do in this story.
*Anliey's worst Master episode (yes I saw TIME-FLIGHT). Geez did he forget how to act for the two mnutes it took to film this story?
*The Plot: The Master tries to steal the Magna Carta. No, you did not mis-read The Master tries to steal the Magna Carta. wow (Thank GOD he was stopped because I think he had his eye on the Declaration of Independence and my ten year old nephew's science fair project.)
*The high point #1: The Doctor and friends pick up this really cool robot named Kamillion who can shape shift into King John and Tegan Jovanka and any one else the owner of this thing desires. For me it would be King John and Julie Newmar....But I digress.
*The high point #2: Uhmm. Did I already mention the shape shifting robot??
*Last bullet: Buy it anyway it's only $10 bucks...And Planet of Fire will make a lot more sense to you.
Peter Davidson's worst outing as the Doctor. June 11, 2010
Graves (Pennsylvania)
3 out of 10 found this review helpful
The King's Demons is quite probably the worst Dr Who adventure of the Peter Davidson era. He had some very good adventures, Earthshock, and some stinkers, Timeflight, but far and away this is the one that the BBC should be paying *us* to take off their hands.
The rare 2 part adventure with the Doctor and his companions in 12th century England at the court of King John, where the Master is attempting to steal the Magna Cater with the help of a shape changing android. It manages the unenviable juggling act of simultaneously feeling rushed, needlessly cluttered and half finished all at once. The plot doesn't hold up, amazing given the underlying open premise of the show, traveling anywhere in time and space
The ending, SPOILER WARNING includes one of the greatest missteps in the Dr Who history. He takes the android into his TARDIS as a companion at the end and promptly loses him until several episodes later when he `dies.' It's like he was forced into the script with a happy ending and then the script editor promptly drops the ball. His absence is never explained or even commented upon. It's like he went to the "little robots' room" and got in the halls lost for several adventures.
The overall feel is that it was something rushed together by people more concerned with filling 2 half hour time slots than actually crafting a story. The King's Demons is one of those rare adventures that the BBC should have lost. Even at this low price this one isn't worth it.
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