The classic Doctor Who story, The Daemons has always been a
favourite of mine. It's popular with a lot of classic Who fans too. In it the third Doctor, played by Jon Pertwee has a run-in with The Master, who’s
using black magic to bring stone statues to life, and conjure up an ancient creature that looks remarkably like
the fabled ‘Horned Beast!’
The action takes place in the peaceful village of Devil’s
End during the festival of Beltane, and as the local white witch, Miss
Hawthorne says,” When Beltane is come, tread softly, for lo the Prince, himself
is nigh… the Prince of Darkness!”
Spooky stuff, and a homage of another vintage BBC serial,
Quatermass and The Pit, which like The
Daemons, put a scientific slant on the supernatural. The story also takes ideas from a number of other classic sci-fi films and books.
Anyway, I know it’s actually coming up to Halloween, and not the festival
of Beltane (unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere), but as a bit of fun,
I’ve dug out my Character Options set of Daemons figures for a supernatural
photo shot.
Bok is a stone gargoyle who normally resides in the cavern
under the church. He comes alive when
The Master summons up the powerful, Azal, the last of The Daemons. In the story he’s played by Stanley Mason, and
the costume was inspired by a rooftop Gargoyle on the cathedral of Notre Dame
in Paris, the difference being the costume’s wings are dragon wings, rather
than angels’ wings.
The Master, in the story played by the wonderful Roger
Delgado, here dressed in his ceremonial robes.
Using the superstitious locals he creates a black magic coven to channel
their psychic energies to summon The Daemon, and inherit his power. The
producers had concerns about using a supernatural story line for Doctor Who’s
family audience, however, as long as the black magic elements had plausible
scientific explanations it was deemed acceptable.
The Brigadier, in the story played with military precision
by Nicholas Courtney, who is totally unfazed by the sight of supernatural
happenings at Devil’s End, and seeing Bok, the stone gargoyle guarding the
entrance to the church, utters that famous line to one of his men, “Jenkins,
chap with wings there, five rounds rapid!”
For added scariness, I’ve included the Eaglemoss figure of
the Daemon, Azal, played in the story by the booming Stephen Thorne. The
amoral, Azal is an ancient alien from the planet, Daemos, sixty thousand light
years away on the other side of the galaxy. His kind arrived on Earth one hundred thousand
years ago to steer humanity throughout history.
For those who celebrate it, Happy Halloween, and for those in the southern hemisphere, Happy Beltane for the 1st November.
Excellent choice for a Halloween photo narrative, Scoop. The Daemons script is one of my all time favourites from the Jon Pertwee era . I loved the location, characters and story. As a lad I thought Bok was a terrifying creature. Are the action figures by Character Options? They look spot on :)
ReplyDeleteYes, of course they're Character Options. Just found my specs and re-read the piece. Superb :)
ReplyDeleteThanks. I don't have too many action figures Tony, as I prefer vehicles, but they're fun to photograph, so I might invest in more :)
DeleteI'd certainly like to see more photo narratives like this if you do, Scoop :)
DeleteLove the detail on these figures.I have actually seen some of these in the States,in a drugstore chain called Walgreens and a bookstore chain called Books -a- Million.The detail and variety were staggering,and available in 2 sizes.I snapped up a handful of the 3 3/4 inch figures for future use.Now I want to open them!
ReplyDeleteI never buy things to keep them in the box, Brian. Get those boxes opened and get playing with 'em ;D
DeleteThat's all I needed to hear!
DeleteI like it ;D
Deleteone of my faves but a rip of quatermass and the pit + satan
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't call it a rip off, Konsumterra, more a homage. The story borrows elements from a lot of stuff - A.C. Clarke's, Childhood's End, Night of the Big Heat and Invasion, as well as The Devil Rides Out, of course. There's a lot of intentional Quartermass influences in Doctor Who that are not hard to spot.
DeleteI find I'm reminded of a lot of classic (and not so classic) sci-fi in early Pertwee Doctor Who I was watching Pertwee's debut story, Spearhead from Space the other day, and that's just a fun mix of Invasion and They Came from Beyond Space.:)
A superb photo-strip Scoop in the spirit of old Warren photo stories like the Horror at Party Beach. Really enjoyed it and it was you that first introduced me to the Daemons a few years back. So much so that I rented the series on DVD and watched the lot. i think there may be a non-Doctor sequel but I'm not sure. Dr. Who was always at ots best for me when the supernatural was mixed in like Daemons and The Curse of Peladon about the tusked monster. We want more photo-stories Scoop!
ReplyDelete