N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!
Whilst Doctor Who‘s eighth season perhaps took away some of the seriousness of the previous year, it still courted controversy – whether it’s acid-spraying plastic, exploring alternatives to capital punishment or blowing up a church and having gunfights in graveyards.
It certainly wasn’t light children’s fare.
“I’ve had enough of your knavish tricks.”
Jo Grant, The Dæmons: Episode One
I do wonder why Jo Grant put up with the Doctor and UNIT though. Pretty much from the minute we meet her she’s either being patronised or told to stay behind by the chaps in UNIT. (My son noticed this too!)
By the time of The Dæmons the Doctor is pretty much being constantly rude to Jo – insulting her manners, training, scientific knowledge and grasp of Latin in that one story alone. That said, he seems in a bad mood with pretty much everyone in The Dæmons. Perhaps his trip to Uxarieus has increased his grumpiness in exile, showing him what he’s missing by not being able to travel. Then again, irascibility has always been one of the Doctor’s traits.
Of course, it’s the Master who’s the big star of Season Eight. Played with panache and aplomb by Roger Delgado – Roger Caesar Marius Bernard de Delgado Torres Castillo Roberto to give him his full name – he’s the perfect charming and debonair supervillain to the Third Doctor’s dashing hero. Together with the Daleks and the Cybermen, the introduction of the Master completes the top-tier triumvirate (try saying that after a few drinks!) of classic Doctor Who bad guys.
Speaking of which, whatever happened to those pesky Skarosians? Did they really meet their final end?
"My favourite Third Doctor stories so far are Inferno and The Dæmons."
"My least favourite Third Doctor story so far is Spearhead from Space."
