Christopher Morley plays with madness, and rifts on the Fifth Doctor historical encounter with The King's Demons.
The King's Demons
served as a triumphant return
for two main reasons- the Master was back, & the 'pure
historical' format made a comeback, of sorts, for the first time since The
Highlanders! But just which
royal from the annals of yesteryear was the Fifth Doctor off to meet?
King John would have that pleasure- you might remember him as the one
who signed the Magna Carta
( or ' Great Charter' for those without at least a working knowledge
of Latin).
Why's
that so important, you may well ask? Its the first of many steps
towards the English constitutional law we know today, is the simple
answer. In essence it was a concession on the part of the monarch to
protect the rights of the feudal barons of the time, a sort of
precursor to the modern-day peerage in return for services to the
King. But when Five, Tegan & Turlough make their appearance at a
joust something seems to have gone very wrong....
Proving
the general rule that the rich get richer off the backs of the
moderately wealthy & poor, Johnny's first seen trying to get a
higher tax sum from Sir Ranulf Fitzwilliam. He's a knight who's given
rather a lot to support the King & by extension the Crusades- in
fact on this very day ( March 4, 1215) history records that the man
with the crown should be in London taking the Crusader's
Oath as he prepared to set off
on the Fifth Crusade!
So
how can he be in two places at once? The Doctor of course knows all
about the Crusades, having been present at the Third such battle
between the Christians & Saracens/Muslims ( The
Crusade) & met both Richard
the Lionheart & the sultan Saladin. Either way, the 'King' has
engaged his champion, Sir Giles Estram- note a certain ominous
anagram- to duel Sir Ranulf's son Hugh. Giles wins seemingly with
minimal effort...
His
attempt to torture poor Hughie as part of a royal banquet are thrown
off by the sudden arrival of ' Sexy'- the arrival of his nemesis
causing the Master to abandon his cover & reveal himself. The man
formerly known as Koschei flees back to his own TARDIS, which he
never calls sexy- handily disguised as an iron maiden...
Not that one, though! In case you're unaware, in this case an iron maiden is actually a torture device dating back from around 1793. A rather nasty creation, its a cabinet big enough to house an unfortunate prisoner, covered in spikes on the inside.
You can guess what happened to anyone who stayed in one too long! Unless you're Steve Harris, in which case you got the inspiration to form a popular heavy metal band. But the Doctor & chums can't sit around savouring the likes of Prowler & Remember Tomorrow for too long. They've a dastardly scheme to uncover! Not before the Time Lord might have to consider trading in his cricket gear for some more knightly attire though. After all ' Sir Giles' has seemingly bravely run away, away- so the 'King' needs a new champion. One of the privileges of the position is free run of the castle though, which might come in handy sooner or later.
Not that one, though! In case you're unaware, in this case an iron maiden is actually a torture device dating back from around 1793. A rather nasty creation, its a cabinet big enough to house an unfortunate prisoner, covered in spikes on the inside.
You can guess what happened to anyone who stayed in one too long! Unless you're Steve Harris, in which case you got the inspiration to form a popular heavy metal band. But the Doctor & chums can't sit around savouring the likes of Prowler & Remember Tomorrow for too long. They've a dastardly scheme to uncover! Not before the Time Lord might have to consider trading in his cricket gear for some more knightly attire though. After all ' Sir Giles' has seemingly bravely run away, away- so the 'King' needs a new champion. One of the privileges of the position is free run of the castle though, which might come in handy sooner or later.
Particularly
when it offers the chance to learn more about the Master's plan after
overhearing the King play the lute in a moment of leisure...
'Hang on a minute', you'd be forgiven for thinking. ' That sounds
nothing like Running Free!'
But while the King may not yet have grasped the basics of heavy
metal, he is at least actually metal. For in reality he's Kamelion, a
sentient robot capable of impersonating anyone a stronger mind that
its own wishes it to.
Having
escaped Xeriphas with the handy cybernetic impressionist ( surely a
candidate for a most interesting unseen Masterly adventure ripe for
novelisation by any keen writers?) the Master now intends to use it
to avert the Magna Carta
& thus the foundation of Parliamentary democracy by having ' King
John' alienate his people & provoke a rebellion with the aim of
removing the real John from power.
Got that? But the solution is
simple- a battle of wills for control of Kamelion! Of course Five
wins, & takes the metal man aboard the TARDIS as a new companion
with pleasure. Maybe he misses the days when he used to have a
certain 'tin dog' at his side & simply craves something similar
if not as good at chess?
As
he no doubt knows, one defeat at the board is bad enough. Their first
game occurs in The Sunmakers.
The Doctor is of course easily beaten by ' the machine mind'- fair
play advocates will say he deserved it for boasting! They'll lock
horns in rather competitive friendly competition once more as well...
The
second chessboard battle of wits between the Doctor & his
metallic mutt occurs in The Androids Of Tara (
the dog having been programmed with the results of every big
championship game since 1866), with the Doctor reminiscing over that
time he saw Alekhine beat Capablanca to become World Chess Champion
back in 1927. In the process he gave his name to Alekhine's Defence-
whether you're an amateur or seasoned player the basics can be
explored here.
Of
course there's a third such game for the Seventh Doctor in
The Curse Of Fenric, strangely
similar to Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal.
Rounding off our series of games, there is of course the Eleventh
Doctor's battle with Mr Clever the Cyber-Planner ( Nightmare
In Silver), technically playing
against a version of himself just to up the stakes...
For the Fifth, though, the excitement doesn't end there! Next up he's off back home to meet his four previous incarnations ( The Five Doctors) & get caught up in the Game of Rassilon...including a First who doesn't look quite right. Perhaps they can catch up on their experiences of the Crusades. Never mind the fact that they've skipped three between them ( First, Second & Fourth)....
Unless
of course past or future selves were present at the aforementioned
conflicts? Definitely one to ponder, as the battle for control of the
Holy Land was no mere domestic dispute. Thousands signed up to be
purged of all past sin in exchange for military service in God's
name- for more you can see Thomas Asbridge's series Crusades-HolyWar.
For
God & The Doctor!
